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Profile America — Monday, March 8th. The first helicopter for commercial use was licensed on this day in 1946 — just seven months after the end of World War II. The Bell Model 47B was operated by the New York Journal — American newspaper for news coverage and to deliver photographs. The helicopter proved ideal for moving around the crowded metropolitan environment, with its ability to rise and descend vertically, hover, move sideways and even backwards. It could fly forward at speeds up to 100 miles an hour. Helicopters continue to grow in popularity. There are nearly 9,600 in the general aviation fleet today — up 25 percent since 2000. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, conducting the 2010 Census beginning April 1st.
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
March 8, 2010
China plans this year to buy 218 aircraft, including jumbo jets and regional planes, to meet surging demand, the head of the country’s civil aviation agency said.
There were 230 million air passenger trips last year and the number is expected to more than triple to 700 million by 2020, Li Jiaxiang, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, was cited as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
(Reuters)
March 8, 2010
A fire broke out at a power generation unit at Istanbul’s main Ataturk Airport on Sunday evening, state run news agency Anatolian reported.
The fire only affected generators at the airport’s natural gas-fired power unit, nearly 200 metres away from the airport terminal, and no flights were affected, said Transportation Under Secretary Habib Soluk.
Broadcaster CNN Turk said the fire had started at 22:00 local time (2000 GMT).
Firefighters were called to the airport to control the blaze. The cause of the fire was not known.
Turkey’s TAV Airports operates the airport, which is the hub of operations for Turkish Airlines.
(Reuters)
March 8, 2010
Iran has given Russian commercial pilots working in the Islamic Republic two months to leave the country as it has no need for them, Transport Minister Hamid Behbahani was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency said the idea to order the Russian pilots to leave the country gained momentum after a Russian-made aircraft caught fire as it landed in northeastern Iran in January, injuring more than 40 people.
The plane belonged to Iran’s Taban airline but the pilot was Russian, Fars said. It did not say how many Russians currently worked as pilots for Iranian carriers.
“Upon an order from the president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), the Road and Transport Ministry has set a two-month deadline, upon the expiry of which all Russian pilots will have to leave the country,” Behbahani said.
“When our country itself possesses plenty of professional and specialist pilots, there is no need to bring in pilots from abroad,” he told Fars.
Iran has suffered a string of crashes in the past few decades, many involving Russian-made aircraft.
In 2009 a Tupolev aircraft flying to Armenia caught fire in mid-air and crashed, killing all 168 people on board.
US sanctions against Iran have prevented it from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West, forcing it to supplement its ageing fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes with aircraft from Russia and other former Soviet states.
Behbahani said about 120 aircraft out of 193 planes in Iran’s commercial fleet were currently active, with the rest grounded for one reason or another.
Russia, which has significant trade ties with Iran, is among six world powers trying to find a diplomatic solution to the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Moscow has indicated it could support new sanctions against Iran provided they are not too severe. Iran denies Western accusations that its nuclear work is aimed at developing bombs.
Iranian officials have voiced growing frustration at Russia’s failure to supply the advanced S-300 missile defence system, which Israel and the United States do not want Tehran to have. Russia last month said it would not sell weapons if it leads to destabilisation in any region.
(Reuters)
SAO PAULO — /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL and BM&FBOVESPA: GOLL4), the largest low-cost and low-fare airline in Latin America, announces its preliminary traffic figures for February 2010.
Management Comments
In February 2010, demand on GOL’s route network grew by 46.9% over the same period last year (47.9% in the domestic market and 40.3% in the international market), pushed by economic growth in Brazil and Latin America and the expansion of GOL’s competitive advantages, especially its cost structure, exemplary service, dynamic fare management and the revitalization of the SMILES program. These factors also contributed to the 47.9% domestic demand growth.
Thanks to fleet renewal and strong demand, aircraft utilization exceeded 12.5 block hours/day, above the 11 block hours/day recorded in February 2009. These two factors helped increase GOL’s cost advantages in its operational markets.
Another February highlight was the Company’s dynamic fare management, which fueled demand among Brazil’s emerging middle class by ensuring attractive prices for people booking their tickets in advance. At the same time, the share of business and high-income passengers moved up, thanks to the revitalization of SMILES, Latin America’s largest mileage program with more than 6.6 million participants and over 160 commercial partners, and high punctuality, regularity and safety levels.
In comparison with the previous month, demand fell by 11.9% given that January marks the peak of the high summer season. In addition, there were a smaller number of calendar days (31 in January and 28 in February — the daily average decline was only 6.6%) and Carnival. Although the holiday generates heavy air traffic, load factors are highest at the beginning and end of the period (February 13 and 17 this year), with demand falling off in between.
Operating Data Feb Feb Chg. % January Chg. %
2010* 2009* (YoY) 2010* (YoY)
Total System
ASK (mm) (1) 3,467.6 2,932.8 18.2% 3,936.7 -11.9%
RPK (mm) (2) 2,523.1 1,718.0 46.9% 3,066.0 -17.7%
Load Factor (3) 72.8% 58.6% +14.2pp 77.9% -5.1pp
Domestic Market
ASK (mm) (1) 3,026.4 2,469.0 22.6% 3,443.2 -12.1%
RPK (mm) (2) 2,192.4 1,482.3 47.9% 2,662.3 -17.6%
Load Factor (3) 72.4% 60.0% +12.4pp 77.3% -4.9pp
International Market
ASK (mm) (1) 441.2 463.7 -4.9% 493.5 -10.6%
RPK (mm) (2) 330.6 235.7 40.3% 403.7 -18.1%
Load Factor (3) 74.9% 50.8% +24.1pp 81.8% -6.9pp
( * ) February 2010 - preliminary figures; February 2009 and January 2010 - figures from the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac).
Demand on GOL’s international route network increased by 40.3% over February 2009, thanks to the following additional factors: (i) the appreciation of the Real against the Dollar; (ii) adjustments to the international route network, including frequencies; (iii) the launch of new routes between Brazil and the Caribbean, such as those to Aruba and Curacao; and (iv) the more favorable macroeconomic scenario.
As a result, the Company delivered a total load factor of 72.8% in February 2010 - 72.4% in the domestic market and 74.9% in the international market, the latter increase being 24.1 percentage points above the 50.8% recorded in February 2009, while the domestic ratio climbed by 12.4 p.p. over the 60.0% registered in the same month last year.
In accordance with the Company’s disciplined capacity growth strategy, while demand grew by 47.9% year-on-year, capacity only moved up by 22.6%, less than half the demand figure. This strategy was equally apparent in the international market, where the Company reduced its capacity by 4.9%, versus a 40.3% upturn in demand, improving the quality of the consolidated load factor.
Yields averaged around 19 cents (R$), very close to January’s ratio. The Company believes that current yield and load factor levels are in accordance with its future prospects and financial projections.
(1) Available seat kilometers (ASK) is the sum of the products obtained by multiplying the number of seats available on each flight stage by the distance of the average flight stage.
(2) Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) is the sum of the products obtained by multiplying the number of revenue passengers carried on each flight stage by the average stage distance.
(3) Load factor is the percentage of aircraft seating capacity effectively used, which is calculated by dividing the number of passenger-kilometers flown by the number of seat-kilometers available.
About GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A.
GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL and BM&FBOVESPA: GOLL4), the largest low-cost and low-fare airline in Latin America, offers around 800 daily flights to 50 destinations that connect all the important cities in Brazil and ten major destinations in South America and Caribbean. The Company operates a young, modern fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, the safest and most comfortable of its class, with high aircraft utilization and efficiency levels. Fully committed to seeking innovative solutions through the use of cutting-edge technology, the Company — via its GOL, VARIG, GOLLOG, SMILES and VOE FACIL brands — offers its clients easy payment facilities, a wide range of complementary services and the best cost-benefit ratio in the market.
This release contains forward-looking statements relating to the prospects of the business, estimates for operating and financial results, and those related to growth prospects of GOL. These are merely projections and, as such, are based exclusively on the expectations of GOL’s management concerning the future of the business and its continued access to capital to fund the Company’s business plan. Such forward-looking statements depend, substantially, on changes in market conditions, government regulations, competitive pressures, the performance of the Brazilian economy and the industry, among other factors and risks disclosed in GOL’s filed disclosure documents and are, therefore, subject to change without prior notice..
SOURCE GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A.
Dutch police have arrested a pilot at Schipol airport in Amsterdam for flying with a fake licence. The 42-year-old Swedish man was taken into custody only moments before his Boeing 737 was scheduled for takeoff to Ankara in Turkey, with approximately 100 passengers on board.
It later emerged that he had been flying on a fake licence for more than a decade and used the forged documents for airlines in Belgium, Britain and Italy, reported The Telegraph. The pilot, whose name was not disclosed, was said to have expressed relief when confronted and taken off his pilot’s stripes.
Source ASC
March 5, 2010
Airport officials on Friday showed off new X-ray scanning machines they will use to screen more passengers with full-body imaging as called for by security advocates, a step that has alarmed civil libertarians.
The USD$170,000 machines show images of passengers’ bodies through their clothes to reveal hidden objects.
Three to be activated on Monday at Boston’s Logan Airport will be the first of 150 the US Department of Homeland Security officials hope to deploy in the next few months using funds from last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus.
The agency aims to have 450 advanced scanners at airports by the end of the year.
US congressional leaders called for more full-body imaging after a Nigerian man was charged with trying to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day using explosives smuggled onboard in his underwear.
DHS has asked for another USD$214.7 million to buy 500 more advanced scanners, which coupled with previous orders would place the imaging machines in most of the country’s largest airports.
Officials in Boston, where two of the four airliners hijacked on September 11, 2001, took off, said they asked to be the first to receive the machines, which the agency will also deploy soon in Chicago and Los Angeles, among other cities.
For some randomly selected passengers they will replace the ubiquitous metal detectors. Passengers can choose a pat-down search instead, though in past tests nearly all preferred the imaging scanners, officials said.
Logan airport has previously tested another imaging machine made by L-3 Communications that analysed natural “millimetre wave” energy radiated by travellers’ bodies.
The new machines, made by Rapiscan Systems, are known as “backscatter” machines and bounce low-energy X-rays off passengers.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
Both machines create similar ghostly on-screen images of the flesh beneath clothing. In a demonstration for journalists using Transportation Security Administration workers as volunteers, however, software obscured the individuals’ faces and groin areas to address privacy worries.
A cellphone one volunteer had concealed above her hip showed up clearly on the screen.
To win popular acceptance, TSA officials also set the machines to quickly discard the images rather than store them, and placed guards out of sight of passengers so they cannot tell who they are screening.
Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union are closely watching the rollout, citing worries over invasion of privacy for everyday travellers and raising concerns that images of naked celebrities could leak out to the public.
Travellers interviewed had mixed reactions at Logan airport. Sean Weston of Boston said he did not mind the machines, especially if the process used to pick passengers for screening is fair.
But his mother, Kathy Weston of Connecticut, was worried. “I think it’s an invasion of your privacy,” she said. Would the TSA’s extra privacy measures ease her concerns? “None of it sounds delightful,” she said.
(Reuters)
Delta will launch its nonstop service between New York Kennedy and Grenada earlier than planned. The new startup date is June 5 instead of July 3.
Flights will operate Wednesdays and Saturdays, departing New York at 1:15 a.m. and arriving in Grenada at 6:05 a.m. The return flights will depart Grenada at 7:15 a.m. and arrive in new York at 12:35 p.m.
Air Jamaica will cease its New York-Grenada service March 9, which prompted Grenada’s government to ask Delta to launch its new service earlier than July 3, according to Delta.
The Allied Pilots Association, which represents the 12,000 pilots of American Airlines, has leased a billboard near to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
The billboard, located on I-294 southbound at Touhy Avenue, Chicago, states “AA’s Priority? Not You!” and claims that the airline delayed or cancelled more than 250,000 flights in 2007.
More about this article Trading Markets
Source Trading Markets
UAL, the parent of United Airlines, America’s second-largest airline, today unveiled dramatic job cuts and slashed domestic capacity, as it struggles with rising fuel costs and America’s weakening economy.
The company said that it would cut capacity on its domestic flights by 14 per cent in the fourth quarter, shedding 100 planes from its fleet. Up to 1,100 workers will lose their jobs, on top of 500 previously announced redundancies. The company had already said that it would cut 30 Boeing 737s from its fleet.
To know more visit Times Online
Source Times Online