Archive for March, 2009
World airlines are set to lose USD$4.7 billion this year as a result of the global recession that has shrunk passenger and cargo demand, industry body IATA said.
The International Air Transport Association had estimated in December the industry would lose USD$2.5 billion in 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
The union for baggage handlers is calling for a cap on passenger luggage limits to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon footprint and the number of injuries sustained by baggage handlers.
Unite’s “Lighten Up” campaign is calling for the industry maximum of 32kg of luggage per person to be cut to 23kg. The union also claims the campaign is being backed by the International Air Transport Association. Read the rest of this entry »
KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 23, 2009 – Air Jamaica is set to pull a major plank from its marketing strategy – its popular champagne flights – as it moves to further cut costs.
Starting May 1, economy passengers will no longer receive either complimentary glasses of the bubbly or hot meals. Instead, they will get packaged snacks, tea, coffee, soft drinks and juices, but they will have to pay for alcoholic beverages. Read the rest of this entry »
US and overseas airlines asked the Obama administration to oppose an effort in Congress they said would threaten the global aviation alliances that allow relief from antitrust law to coordinate schedules and fares, particularly on transatlantic routes.
Lobbyists for airlines, hotels and other travel organisations said in a letter to US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Monday that ending the tie ups would cost jobs and weaken an industry nervous about softening demand amid recession. Read the rest of this entry »
Scheduled service airline passenger fatalities fell 25.2% to 439 in 2008 from 587 in 2007, though the actual rate of accidents decreased only “marginally,” according to preliminary figures reported by ICAO last week.
There were 11 fatal accidents worldwide in 2008, identical to 2007. “The accident rate for scheduled air services, measured in passenger fatalities per 100 million passenger-km. performed [the number of passengers multiplied by the number of km. traveled] decreased marginally, from approximately 0.01391 in 2007 to about 0.01370 in 2008,” ICAO stated. “This was almost identical to the 2007 rate.” Read the rest of this entry »
Air France will formally register its interest in Czech Airlines’ privatisation today, eyeing potential central and eastern European network gains.
Today marks the cut-off for expressions of interest in the privatisation, which was launched last month by the Czech finance ministry. It has placed just over 91% of the Czech SkyTeam member up for tender and is aiming to reveal the winning bidder by no later than 30 September. Read the rest of this entry »
Government will say this week if plans for the divestment of the cash-strapped national airline, Air Jamaica, will be completed by month-end.
Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance, Don Wehby, when pressed for an update on the status of the divestment, said he would be withholding comment on the matter for now. Read the rest of this entry »
David Shepherd, the manager of Berkeley’s Northside Travel, looked up San Francisco-London round-trip fares on the agency’s airline computer system and had a good chuckle.
There was a United Airlines fare for $184. He searched for British Airways. Bingo: $184.
“Clearly, no one is going to go lower than this,” said Shepherd. “This is ridiculously low to begin with.” Read the rest of this entry »
As well as addressing the challenges that a deteriorating world economy will bring to the travel and tourism industry, the key message in the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer is that times of crisis often lead to the biggest opportunities.
The industry is under no illusions that the course of 2009 will enforce wide-scale strategic re-thinks and many tough decisions will have to be made. But what is just as certain is that the industry is a highly-resilient sector and will eventually return to strong growth. Read the rest of this entry »
Air France is launching a new premium cabin in autumn. The Premium Voyageur will be deployed initially on services from Paris to New York, Tokyo and Osaka, then rolled out across its entire long-haul network of Airbus A340 and Boeing 777.
On its 777-300ER aicraft the airline will replace 50 economy seats and replace them with 28 Premium Voyageur seats. Read the rest of this entry »