NewsCommercial
Global Air Freight Demand Up 1.6 Pct In March
Air freight volumes rose 1.6 percent in March, IATA said, continuing a steady growth path after February was boosted by the Chinese New Year. In the first quarter, air freight demand grew by 5.3 percent, slightly higher than IATA's forecast for 4.5 percent this year. "The air cargo industry is on a solid but unspectacular growth trend," IATA Director General Tony Tyler said in a statement accompanying the body's monthly update.
LinkAirlines
Alaska Air Group reports higher traffic for April
Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported traffic rose 9.8% in April on a year-over-year basis. Traffic increased 9.9% for Alaska and 8.8% for Horizon for the month.
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Delta to offer nonstop Seattle-Orlando service
Delta Air Lines Inc. is adding nonstop service from Seattle to Orlando beginning Dec. 19. The nonstop flight departs daily from Seattle at 10 p.m., arriving in Orlando at 6:30 a.m. the following morning. Flights from Orlando depart at 7 a.m., arriving in Seattle at 10:15 a.m.
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Emirates Vows "Sledgehammer" Reply To Subsidy Allegations
Emirates will deliver a "sledgehammer" response to a report compiled by US airlines accusing major Gulf carriers of receiving more than USD$40 billion in unfair government subsidies, its president Tim Clark said. "Having read the report, you could drive a bulldozer through just about everything... We will deal a sledgehammer to that report as far as Emirates and Dubai is concerned," Clark said at a conference in Dubai.
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FedEx lends a hand in Nepal aid effort
FedEx is donating a chartered flight carrying medical supplies to Nepal to help with aid efforts. FedEx is also donating cash, transportation and logistics services to the earthquake relief effort. "Working together with international relief organizations, we are utilizing our global transportation network to assist in this massive recovery effort," said Frederick Smith, chairman of FedEx.
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Hawaiian is poised to capture more of home market
Adam Levine-Weinberg writes that Hawaiian Airlines should enjoy profitable routes in its home state and that the inter-island market should be a source of steady profits for the carrier.
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JetBlue, Amazon Agree Media Streaming Deal
JetBlue Airways and Amazon have agreed to stream television, movies and music from the Internet retailer in-flight, broadening passengers' entertainment options. The service will be available on a majority of JetBlue's aircraft this year via the airline's free WiFi, allowing passengers to use their laptops and mobile devices. Titles will be able for rent or purchase from Amazon, or free if they are Amazon Prime members. The companies did not disclose the commercial terms of the agreement.
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JetBlue is likely to expand in Latin America
Alexander MacLennan predicts that JetBlue Airways will expand its presence in Latin America. "Unlike most flights to Asia and Europe which typically require widebody aircraft, JetBlue can and is serving Latin America with narrowbody aircraft," he writes.
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Lufthansa's Loss Narrows, But More Needed On Costs
Lufthansa posted a smaller operating loss in the first quarter, but said further action was needed to lower costs, especially in light of a rising pension burden and staff-related expenses. Lufthansa reported a first quarter adjusted loss before interest and tax of EUR€167 million (USD$186 million), thanks to cheap oil but said its pension provisions had swelled to EUR€10.2 billion due to low interest rates.
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Thomas Cook Airlines debuts A330 leased from AirTanker
Thomas Cook Airlines has made its first commercial flights with an Airbus A330-200 being operated under a three-year “damp lease” agreement with the UK’s AirTanker Services. One of five A330s from a “surge” fleet contained within AirTanker’s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) deal with the UK Ministry of Defense, the aircraft registered G-VYGK has been adapted for airline service after originally being delivered as a Voyager tanker/transport.
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U.S. carriers add flights to Colombia
South America has been a difficult region for the big three U.S. airlines for months, due primarily to the troubled economies of Brazil and Venezuela. But South America also has its bright spots, particularly in Colombia, Latin America’s third largest economy after Brazil and Mexico. The Colombian economy is growing and travel is booming.
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WestJet's Q1 Earnings Jump On Lower Fuel Costs
WestJet Airlines reported first-quarter earnings of CAD$140.7 million, helped by lower fuel costs and an improvement in other operating costs. The net earnings compared with CAD$89.3 million in the year earlier period. Revenue rose 4 percent to C$1.08 billion. Total revenue rose from a year earlier, but revenue per available seat mile eased 0.7 percent, and the airline's load factor slipped to 81.6 percent from 83.1 percent.
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All-new Zero-G set to restart science flights
One of the world’s most demanding flight programs is set to resume on Tuesday, 5 May, when Bordeaux Mérignac-based Novespace resumes microgravity flying in its new “Zero-G” Airbus A310. Theaircraft replaces an A300 worn out by flying more than 18 years of service during which it undertook more than 13,000 high-stress parabolic maneuvers, each giving onboard scientists and astronauts in training about 20sec of valuable time in microgravity.
LinkAirports
Houston airports aim for U.S. flights to Cuba
American businesses are salivating for the opportunity to do business in Cuba, and the Houston Airport System wants to get them there. While it may be a while before any flights depart for Havana, it won't be for a lack of effort. The Houston Airport System is in discussions with at least three carriers to fly to Cuba, Mario Diaz, director of the Houston Airport System, told the HBJ.
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Fla. airport debuts free trading cards
Orlando International Airport is offering free trading cards in a partnership with Airports Council International. "Kids of all ages are fascinated by airports, and this card is just one way to reach out to aviation enthusiasts," said Phil Brown, executive director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. The airport offers 35 trading cards.
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Military
KC-390 or A400M could lift Swedish air force capability
The Swedish air force is likely to field a replacement for its aged Lockheed Martin C-130H tactical transports at some point during the next decade, with potential candidates including the Embraer KC-390 and Airbus A400M. Later this year, the air force will mark the 50th anniversary of its introduction of the Hercules, with its active fleet now including five transports and one KC-130H tanker. Two other aircraft have already been retired and are in storage in the UK, and the service could in time decide to reduce its operational fleet to only four examples, says chief of staff Col Marcus Björkgren.
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Swedish AW109 performing well for EU off Somali coast
The Swedish Defense Helicopter Wing has made a successful operational debut aboard a surface ship operated by another nation, with an AgustaWestland AW109 having supported the EU’s Operation Atalanta activity off the coast of Somalia for almost three months. Sweden early this year deployed two AW109s and 14 personnel aboard the Royal Netherlands Navy amphibious assault ship Johan de Witt, alongside a Dutch NH Industries NH90. One of the Swedish rotorcraft, which is ordinarily based in Ronneby, is maintained in an operational condition, with the other acting as a spare.
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US approves possible $3b Japan V-22 tiltrotor deal
The US State Department has approved the possible sale of 17 Bell Boeing V-22B Block C Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to Japan. The potential Foreign Military Sales deal is valued at $3 billion, says the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in a statement. The deal also comprises 40 Rolls-Royce AE1107C engines, sensors, missile warning receivers, counter measures systems, and other equipment and services. The key contractors will be Bell Helicopter and Boeing Rotorcraft Systems.
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Aviation Quote
Eagles may soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet air intakes.
— Anon.
On This Date
---In 1896... After four years of work and failed flights, Samuel P. Langley succeeds in obtaining good results with his steam-powered, model-size, tandem-wing airplane. His model No.5 makes a flight of 3,300 feet (c. 1 km).
---In 1908... The Wright brothers fly for the first time since 1905, at Kitty Hawk. Wilbur pilots the 1905 Flyer III, modified so that the pilot and a passenger can sit erect, on a flight of just over 1,000 feet.
---In 1919... The first commercial flight, from Canada to United States, occurs as a Canadian Curtiss aircraft flies 150 pounds of raw furs from Toronto to Elizabeth, New Jersey. It is not a non-stop flight.
---In 1929…The Boeing F4-B1 fighter makes its first flight. It would serve as the US military’s primary fighter until the 1940s.
---In 1930…Boeing’s first commercial monoplane, the Monomail, makes its first flight.
---In 1937…The Hindenburg explodes at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, ending the era of the airship
---In 1940…Trans World Airlines receives their first Boeing 307 Stratoliner, one month after Pan Am becomes the launch airline.
---In 1941... Igor Sikorsky pilots the Sikorsky VS-300 helicopter in Stratford, Connecticut, on a flight of 1 hour, 32 minutes, 26 seconds, a world endurance record for a helicopter.
---In 1941…The first flight of the P-47 Thunderbolt. In its 25 years of service, more than 15, 600 were built by Republic Aviation in Farmingdale, NY.
---In 1949…Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) operates its first flight with a leased Douglas DC-3 with weekly service between San Diego and Oakland with a stop in Burbank, California. They would later be absorbed by USAir in May of 1987.
---In 1955…United Airlines begins the first nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco.
---In 1988…Wideroe Flight 710, a de Havilland Dash-7, crashes while on approach in Norway after descending four miles too soon and striking a hill in low visibility, leading to the deaths of all 36 aboard. This stands as the worst disaster for the aircraft type, as the aircraft was fully packed with passengers, even in the cockpit jumpseat.
---In 2001… The Russian Soyuz capsule, returning from the International Space Station (ISS), touched down right on time, carrying Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist.
---In 2004…An Air Cush Let 410UVP (9XR-EF) stalls on takeoff in Jiech, Sudan, due to an imbalance after a shift in its cargo load. The plane is sent crashing into the ground, killing 6 of the 10 occupants.
---In 2006…SkyValue USA and their fleet of one Boeing 737 (leased from Xtra Airways) ceases operations, citing poor demand and even blaming hot weather forcing them to fuel-stop on flights from Las Vegas to Mesa and Phoenix, AZ (Hot weather in the desert? Surely you jest!)
---In 2006…The U.S. Air Force retired the last Lockheed Martin C-141 Starlifter The Hanoi Taxi landed for the last time and was received in a formal retirement ceremony at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, located at WPAFB in Riverside, Ohio near Dayton.
---In 2012…An American unmanned aerial vehicle strike in eastern Yemen kills Fahd al-Quso, the al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, wanted in connection with the 12 October 2000 bomb attack on the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67).
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Editor’s Choice
Trivia
Airline Trivia
1. What airline began as a crop dusting company in Louisiana?
A..American
B. Continental
C. Piedmont
D. Delta
2. What airline was originally headquartered in El Paso, Texas?
A. Southwest
B. Continental
C. American
D. America West
3. Who was the first airline to establish a home page on the internet?
A. United
B. Northwest
C. Delta
D. Southwest
4. What airline was first to ban smoking on all North American flights?
A. Continental
B. American
C. Northwest
D. United
5. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, a Delta airplane takes off every ....
A. 8 minutes
B. 12 seconds
C. 5 minutes
D. 2 minutes
6. What airline was the first to use radio communications?
A. Delta
B. Pan Am
C. United
D. Northwest
7. What airline was the first to have oxygen masks on board?
A. American
B. Northwest
C. Pan Am
D. Alaska
8. Who was the first airline to offer in-flight motion pictures?
A. TWA
B. Pan Am
C. United
D. Northwest
9. What airline was first to offer 'Round the World' service?
A. TWA
B. Pan Am
C. Northwest
D. United
10. Which was the first airline to carry emergency life saving equipment on board?
A. TWA
B. American
C. Pan Am
D. Delta
