Korean Air Lines has applied for authority to operate service from Seoul to Boston and Denver, proposing single-aircraft, one-stop service to both U.S. destinations. The Boston service would be operated via New York, beginning Sept. 3, and the Denver service via Los Angeles, starting Oct. 28. (Dockets OST-96-1380&OST-96-1381)
The Lufthansa Group's operating profit rose 3% in 1995 to 756 million Deutschmarks from DM736 million the previous year, enabling the group to raise its dividend to DM5 from DM4. Lufthansa said its profits would have been "much higher" had it not been for the sharp appreciation of the Deutschmark, which cost the group DM458 million in lost income in 1995. Despite the positive results, Lufthansa Chairman Jurgen Weber said the group will launch a major cost-savings program affecting all areas of activity.
AMR Eagle has signed an $8.5 million service contract with AlliedSignal Aerospace to maintain the environmental control systems on its 79 ATR 72s and ATR 42s. The systems include cooling turbines, pneumatic valves and heat exchangers. All work will be done at AlliedSignal's Anniston, Ala., facility.
American Automobile Association and the Travel Industry Association of America predict that more Americans will travel this summer, but they will take the family along and scale back on cost. The associations say vacations will reach the same spending level as last year but will include more people, resulting in lower per capita expenditures. During this weekend's Memorial Day holiday, 30.4 million Americans are expected to travel at least 100 miles from home. AAA estimates 26.7 million of them will travel by automobile and 3.7 million by airplane, train or bus.
Moody's Investors Service assigned an A2 rating to Continental for an issue of $82.5 million Class A Certificates, Baa1 to $35.36 million Class B Certificates and Ba1 to $35.36 million Class C Certificates. All three issues are due July 2, 2014. The ratings agency assigned a B1 to $18.51 million of Class D Certificates due April 2, 2008. The certificates are tied to the financing for 757 and 737 aircraft.
Ashtech Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., announced availability of a new GPS/Glonass satellite navigation receiver today in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the Differential Satellite Navigation Systems conference. The GG24 receiver is the first single-board receiver to integrate tightly U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass) technologies. Having both the U.S.
American West said yesterday it has launched a series of debt and equity repurchases worth more than $50 million. The purchases include a payment of $25 million in principal on its 10 3/4% senior unsecured notes due 2005, as well as about 2.185 million warrants to purchase shares of the company's Class B common stock. The transactions are expected to close in the next 10 days, America West said. It also said it has completed a repurchase of 500,000 share of its Class B common stock.
Used Jet Aircraft Deliveries February 1996 Carrier # Type Engines Previous Operator Aero Zambia 1 737-200C JT8D-9A Avn Consultants Air 21 2 F-28-4000 Spey555-15p USAir Inc. Air Micronesia 1 727-200A(F) JT8D-17R DHL Airways Air UK 2 Fokker 100 Tay 620-15 TAT Europe Airborne Express 1 DC-9-40 JT8D-11 SAS
Sabre Travel Information Network and the Civil Aviation Administration of China have implemented "seamless connectivity" between Sabre and CAAC's airline reservations system in China. Sabre is using the CAAC link to expand in the region and "improve the Sabre channel as a valuable option for our supplier and agency customers," said Jeff Katz, president. The link, announced last November, gives Sabre subscribers access to 24 Chinese carriers.
Continental will launch daily Las Vegas-Cincinnati service in July with code-sharing partner America West. Continental will operate the flight, which will carry the America West code. Fares start at $119 one way.
Aviall has completed sale of its Miami-based accessory services business to Curtiss-Wright Flight Systems, a subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright Corp. of New Jersey. The sale was "an important step in the strategic move to exit our airline engine and component repair operations and accessories repair business," said Robert Lambert, chairman, president and chief executive of Aviall.
The Platinum Card by American Express is offering complimentary companion tickets on 11 airlines with the purchase of a full fare in first class or business class. The program is good on travel to six continents, with new destinations in Asia, Africa and the Near East, and Asiana, China Air and Continental are the newest members. The companion tickets will be available until April 30, 1997, from Platinum Card Travel Service.
Aviation experts believe a strong British Airways link with American could give the U.S. and the U.K. the impetus they need to reach an open skies aviation agreement as well as a formidable partnership across the Atlantic. "Nothing will be done without a new bilateral agreement," said Raymond Neidl, an airline analyst with Furman Selz. "This could be a win-win for everyone. It doesn't have to be a loser for anyone," he added.
Air Transport Association is sparing little expense to prepare comments on proposed FAA rules that would limit pilots' flight and duty time.Preparing to submit comments on the proposal in June, the association has gotten outside assistance from a scientist, a public relations firm, an attorney and others to assess cost/benefit analyses. ATA members believe the science of pilot fatigue is weak, and its comments are likely to contain an abundance of scientific data.
DOT finalized yesterday its order granting antitrust immunity to Lufthansa and United and tentatively awarded similar status to the Delta-Swissair- Sabena-Austrian alliance. The actions left only American and Canadian Airlines International awaiting a determination on an antitrust application, and that decision is expected shortly. Final action on Lufthansa-United clears the way for the German government to sign the U.S.- Germany open skies aviation agreement.
Northwest and Hawaiian have signed a marketing agreement that includes code sharing among the Hawaiian islands, coordinated airport customer service and free travel plan cooperation. Northwest will code share on Hawaiian's flights between Honolulu and Lihue, Kahului, Molokai, Lanai, Kona and Hilo, connecting with those flights at Honolulu with its flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. In addition, Northwest will coordinate its flight schedules to Honolulu from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.
America West has unveiled a 757 painted in the colors of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, displaying the team's logo and a baseball on the tail. Forty Arizona residents were flown to Denver from Phoenix to watch a baseball game. The aircraft is America West's sixth theme plane.
Balkan Bulgarian Airlines has asked DOT to amend its exemption authority by adding rights to operate scheduled combination service between Sofia, Bulgaria, and New York, via Bucharest, Romania, with local traffic rights between Bucharest and New York. The carrier proposes 1.5 weekly roundtrip flights between New York and Bucharest, beginning June 15, while continuing to operate its twice-weekly Sofia-New York nonstop service. It also asked for permission to continue operating Sofia-New York/Detroit service via Malta, with fifth-freedom rights between Malta and the U.S.
Pratt&Whitney won its first customer for the newly created engine fleet management program, as Airbus Industrie's Asset Management Div. selected P&W to support Pratt-powered A300s and A310s owned or leased by Airbus units. Under the pact, announced yesterday, P&W will offer Airbus subsidiaries and lessees a complete engine maintenance package, including overhaul maintenance management, access to spare engines and engine performance monitoring. P&W will assign a full-time manager to the covered Airbus fleet, with overall responsibility for the program.
After issuing a final order approving antitrust immunity for United- Lufthansa last night, DOT is expected to issue show cause orders today on immunity applications from Delta and its partners Swissair, Sabena and Austrian, and from American and Canadian Airlines International.
Despite reaffirmation by ValuJet that it had no reason to believe the aircraft that crashed May 11 in the Florida Everglades was carrying hazardous cargo, crash investigators continued yesterday to probe the possibility that oxygen canisters on the airplane contributed to the disaster. On Sunday, the National Transportation Safety Board found that two metal end caps from oxygen generators aboard the airplane were embedded in a spare tire in the cargo compartment, and that there could have been as many as 119 of the canisters aboard.
Air-India and Gulf Air have stopped offering first-class service on flights between the Gulf states and New Delhi and Mumbai (formerly Bombay) under an agreement between the governments of India and United Arab Emirates, AI officials said. The large Indian expatriate population in the region has made the sector as a whole "extremely profitable" for India's national carrier, but AI officials pointed out there was little demand for first- class seats on these routes.
