Archive for May, 2010
Airlines have criticised the latest decision to ban flights at a raft of UK airports because of volcanic ash.
Sir Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, said the closure of Manchester airport was “beyond a joke”.
A BA spokesman said the bans were “not justified on safety grounds” and called for airlines, not authorities, to be responsible for the decision.
But the Civil Aviation Authority said all the airlines had agreed “on the way forward” at a conference on Friday.
The authority uses Met Office data to set out no-fly zones in the UK.
Manchester, Liverpool, East Midlands and Doncaster airports are among those that have been closed since 1300 BST, with Birmingham and Norwich having shut at 1900.
Airports in Northern Ireland, Prestwick near Glasgow, some Scottish islands and the Isle of Man are also affected as volcanic ash from Iceland drifts across the UK.
Many are not due to reopen until 0100 BST on Monday at the earliest.
Revised threshold
Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano has caused disruption to thousands of flights since April, when airspace across Europe was shut down for five days over concerns ash could turn to molten glass in high temperatures, crippling plane engines.
Scientists and engineers have since revised the safe-to-fly threshold, however clouds of volcanic ash have continued to drift over Europe, causing airport closures, flight delays and cancellations.
However, Sir Richard said tests by airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers showed there was “no evidence” planes could not continue to fly “completely safely”.
“Over 1,000 flights took off from France last week in similar conditions to that which exist in Manchester today without encountering any problems or showing any levels of ash concentration,” he said on Sunday.
“We need strong leadership to intervene to avoid doing further unnecessary damage to the UK economy and lives of travellers.”
‘Over restrictive’
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said Sir Richard’s remarks were “quite surprising bearing in mind we had all the airlines and manufacturers into a conference on Friday, including Virgin”.
“They all agreed the way forward including his airline,” the spokesman said.
He stressed that everyone was working together to find a way to raise the threshold level of ash considered safe for flying.
But a British Airways spokesman said the airspace authorities were being “overly restrictive” and the airline had “no confidence” in the model being used as a basis for deciding on airspace closures.
“While we welcome the steps that have been taken since mid-April to moderate the restrictions, it is clear there is too much reliance on the theoretical model of ash spread produced by a single body – the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.
“As a global airline, British Airways has operated for many years in areas of volcanic activity, and we believe airlines are best placed to take the final decisions on whether or not it is safe to fly,” he said.
The Met Office, which operates the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, said the model was “well proven” and provided results “consistent” with other models, such as those in France and Canada.
“It has shown over many incidents – not only volcanic eruptions – it works very well. It is a sophisticated model, which retains residual ash – so it’s not just a snapshot of what’s erupting now, but provides a fuller picture of what’s in the atmosphere,” a spokesman said.
“It is important to remember the Met’s role is to provide forecasts to standards and tolerances set by regulator,” he added.
Paul Charles, an aviation analyst and the former head of communications at Virgin Atlantic, said the airline industry was voicing its “anger and frustration” as it faced more uncertainty and “its worst peace-time crisis”.
He said the industry had lost £1bn during the flight bans in April, and there was a danger “many more million pounds” would be lost.
The “number one cardinal rule” in the airline industry was safety, he said, but the problem was there were so many different views – from forecasters, operational teams and airlines – that some believed it was “perhaps possible to fly through this ash cloud”.
“The problem this time round is it’s much denser, it’s at a higher altitude, nearly 30,000ft, and no-one wants to take the risk – not least an airline – for being the one that has a problem should something go wrong,” he said.
For passengers, it was a “very bad week” to travel, he added.
BA is facing industrial action in the coming days, potentially adding to travel disruption.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has thanked British Airways and all BA staff for their commitment to keeping all flights operating to and from Gatwick airport throughout the previous and pending strike periods.
Hon. John Maginley, CTO chairman said: “We were very impressed by BA’s responsiveness to supporting the Caribbean during the initial strike action. All Caribbean flights from Gatwick were ring-fenced and our guests were able to enjoy their visits as planned. We are equally encouraged by BA’s firm commitment to the Caribbean and by the contingency plans the airline has instituted to protect business to the region throughout any future strike action.”
Willie Walsh, British Airways’ CEO said: “We’re proud to fly more flights to the Caribbean than any other UK airline. Our services to the region from Gatwick have been unaffected by the dispute with the trade union Unite and will continue to operate as normal. Our cabin crew and staff at Gatwick have done a fantastic job in recent weeks and they are committed to giving excellent service to all our customers flying to the Caribbean which is a very important market for us.”
All British Airways Gatwick flights will operate as normal to Antigua, Barbados , Bermuda , Grenada , Kingston , Montego Bay, Punta Cana, St Kitts, Saint Lucia and Tobago
Caribbean economies depend strongly on visitors from the UK . The region receives 1.4 million tourists from the UK annually, representing 25 per cent of all European arrivals, and 6 per cent of total arrivals. For example, 39 per cent of tourist arrivals to Barbados are from the UK . Other islands where UK visitors are a significant part of total arrivals include: Antigua (34 per cent), Montserrat (29 per cent), Grenada (28 per cent), St. Lucia (29 per cent), St. Vincent and the Grenadines (18 per cent), Bermuda (11 per cent), and Jamaica (11 per cent).
About the Caribbean Tourism Organization
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with the headquarters in Barbados and marketing operations in New York , London and Toronto , is the Caribbean ’s tourism development agency and comprises membership of over 30 governments and a myriad of private sector entities.
News that the APD would be scrapped came as the 11th Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development was winding down in Barbados. BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday May 13, 2010 – Britain’s new coalition government has announced it’s getting rid of the controversial Air Passenger Duty (APD). And Caribbean tourism officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the change will be for the better.
The APD is to be replaced with a tax on planes, not passengers, according to agreements made between Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats.
But there’s still uncertainty about how the new tax will work.
The British government’s plan to replace the APD with a per flight duty, in keeping with the manifesto promises of both the Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties which now form the new administration, was among the list of agreements made to reach a coalition deal on Tuesday. The agreements were made public yesterday.
The agreements gave no further details on the rates of the tax replacing the APD, but it will generally mean that full flights will be cheaper, while flights with fewer passengers will be more expensive.
The APD, which was imposed by the Labour government of former prime minister Gordon Brown, saw passengers paying tax depending on the distance between London and the capital of their destination. The duty on long-haul economy fares to the Caribbean rose from £40 (EC $159) to £50 (EC $198) in November 2009 and was to increase further this November.
Regional tourism stakeholders had complained that the APD was discriminatory and had lobbied the UK government on several occasions to review it.
News that the APD would be scrapped came as the 11th Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development was winding down in Barbados.
Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Secretary General Hugh Riley told a closing press conference that the Caribbean is “extremely happy about the fact that the matter has been given such importance as to be mentioned so early in the tenure of the new government”.
“That speaks volumes to us about the importance that the UK government has attached to this matter of the APD,” he said.
“It speaks volumes to us too about the strength of unity of the Caribbean. We got together and we made our voices heard and we did what we did what we felt was necessary to bring attention to anything that threatend our livelihood.”
Meantime, under another agreement reached between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats which could have an impact on people from the Caribbean, there will be an annual limit on the number of non-European Union economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work.
“We will consider jointly the mechanism for implementing the limit,” the agreement said.
FORT WORTH, Texas — /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — American Airlines Cargo Division (AA Cargo) yesterday announced it has been named “Best Cargo Airline from the Americas” by Air Cargo News magazine for the third consecutive year. The annual award is determined by freight forwarders from more than 90 different countries around the world who participate in online voting to determine winners in various geographical categories. The results are audited by the British International Freight Association (BIFA).
“We are very honored to receive this highly competitive and prestigious industry award for the third year in a row – which is especially meaningful since it is determined by our customers. We extend the recognition and applause to every American Airlines employee who contributes to the success of our Cargo business worldwide,” said Dave Brooks, President – AA Cargo.
About American Airlines Cargo
American Airlines Cargo(SM), a division of American Airlines, Inc., provides more than 100 million pounds of weekly cargo lift capacity to major cities in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia. American’s combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. AA Cargo provides one of the largest cargo networks in the world, with cargo terminals and interline connections available across the globe.
Current AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) releases can
As of 10.00 CET on 12 May 2010, EUROCONTROL has the following update to make with regard to the situation of air traffic in Europe:
Today EUROCONTROL expects normal amounts of traffic across Europe.
The areas of high ash concentration at high altitude which had caused major difficulties in recent days over the Atlantic and the Iberian Peninsula dispersed during the night.
Areas of high ash concentration at lower altitudes are still causing some difficulties for trans-Atlantic flights. They are also affecting Madeira and the Azores. Areas of high ash concentration at lower altitudes, which could result in airport closures, are currently found in the Mediterranean between the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands, and are moving north east. At the current time all airports are available, however with the Balearic Islands airports operating at reduced capacity.
According to the forecasts, the areas of higher ash concentration are expected to dissipate further during the day. The latest ‘Air Ash Concentration Charts’ describing those areas where no-fly zone proposals have been made to the EUROCONTROL Member States are attached.
On Tuesday 11 May, there were 27,807 flights within the EUROCONTROL CFMU area, which is approximately 500 below normal traffic levels.
Monday, 10/05/2010
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that March 2010 international scheduled air traffic showed continued strengthening of demand. Compared to March 2009, passenger demand was up 10.3 percent, while cargo demand grew 28.1 percent. Both are improvements over the 9 percent and 26.3 percent growth for passenger and freight demand, respectively, recorded in February.
Although these are strong gains, the data is being compared to March 2009, which was the low point for international air travel during the recession. “March results show that the pace of the upturn is strong. But the trauma of the recession is not over. The industry has lost two years of growth, and passenger and freight markets are still 1 percent below early 2008 highs.
Nonetheless, the pace of improvement, based on an improving global economic situation, is much faster than anybody would have expected even six months ago,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO. IATA noted that the International Monetary Fund revised global GDP growth forecasts from 3 percent to 4.3 percent for 2010.
With a 78 percent load factor recorded in March, passenger load factors remain at record highs. While demand expanded by 10.3 percent in March, capacity increases stood at 2 percent, boosting the load factor and creating much tighter supply and demand conditions.
Global capacity remains 3 to 4 percent below pre-crisis levels. International freight markets are also experiencing tighter supply and demand conditions. The 28.1 percent improvement in demand outpaced the 5.3 percent capacity expansion in March. This drove freight load factors to 57.1 percent — the highest since November 2002 when international freight load factors stood at 58.8 percent.
North American carriers posted a traffic growth of 7.8 percent, lagging the global average, although considerably improved from the 4.4 percent recorded in February. Uncertainty over government budget cuts and tax increases is dampening demand for air travel, compared to other regions, particularly Asia-Pacific. North American carriers posted the highest load factor among the regions (81.6 percent) as a result of continuing careful capacity management.
Latin American carriers posted the weakest growth of any region, increasing only 4.6 percent in March. This is in sharp contrast to February when the region’s carriers grew by 8.5 percent. The reduction is largely due to the impact of the earthquake in Chile.
Panama’s Copa Airlines is looking for growth by adding new destinations and increased flight frequencies on existing routes rather than through a cross border merger, its chief executive said.
The carrier, which has more than quadrupled its fleet to 56 aircraft since 1998 and now serves 45 destinations in 24 countries, has already identified another 30 cities where it could add service in the future, Copa Holdings Chief Executive Pedro Heilbron said at the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit.
“We have the advantage of being right in the middle of the Americas, so we can serve most of the markets out of Panama without needing to buy into another carrier in another country,” said Heilbron.
“It’s not something that we are going to ignore if there’s a good possibility in the future but it’s not something that we are actively looking for,” he said when asked about the possibility of acquisitions.
The airline may add three or four new destinations through the end of 2010 and into late 2011, he added.
Copa Holdings is the parent of Copa Airlines as well as Colombia’s Aero Republica, which was acquired in 2005.
Colombian rival Avianca and El Salvador-based TACA airlines merged earlier this year in a bid to create a Latin America-wide network carrier.
Copa last year placed orders for 15 Boeing 737-800s, one of the largest orders for Boeing airplanes placed in 2009, according to Heilbron, as it targets a fleet of 72 jets by 2012, including 42 modern 737s capable of flying from Panama City to destinations as far away as Argentina.
“Latin America is the brightest – if not the brightest one of the brightest – spots in the world of aviation,” said Heilbron.
“We have in Latin America some of the leading airlines in the world in terms of economic performance.”
Copa’s first-quarter results were hurt by a charge due to the currency devaluation in Venezuela and higher costs but the company continues to project its margins will be in excess of 20 percent this year.
Source: uk.reuters.com
DUBLIN – Ireland reopened its western airports Friday but warned that a 1,000-mile-long (1,600-kilometer-long) cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland was still lurking offshore.
The Irish Aviation Authority, which ordered a half-dozen airports shut overnight, quickly reopened them once it became clear that the cloud was staying sufficiently far from Ireland’s Atlantic coast — at least until the winds shift once again.
“While the northerly winds are keeping the bulk of the cloud out in the Atlantic, the increased size of the cloud continues to pose a risk especially if the winds change,” the authority said in a statement.
“The restrictions were required as the increased level of recent volcanic activity has created a massive ash cloud stretching 1,000 miles long and 700 miles wide,” it said.
Ireland’s two major airlines, Ryanair and Aer Lingus, shifted services to Dublin Airport in the east and Cork Airport in the southwest during the early-morning shutdowns of other airports. Uncertain how long Shannon Airport in western Ireland would be shut, Aer Lingus opted to bus hundreds of U.S.-bound Aer Lingus passengers four hours east to fly from Dublin instead.
The Irish Aviation Authority said shifting winds, most recently coming from the north, had bundled recent days’ erupted ash into a mammoth cloud that is growing both in width and height by the hour.
Eurocontrol, a Brussels agency that determines the air routes that airliners use across the continent, said the ash accumulation posed a new navigational obstacle — because the cloud is gradually climbing to 35,000 feet (10,500 meters) and into the typical cruising altitude of trans-Atlantic aircraft. Until recent days, the ash had remained below 20,000 feet (6,000 meters).
Eurcontrol said as the ash cloud has expanded southward, it has squeezed the air space available to trans-Atlantic flights, creating a traffic jam in Spanish air space.
Eurocontrol warned airliners detouring along the southern edge of the spreading cloud to expect delays of up to 100 minutes.
“Flights are having to be rerouted south of the no-fly zone, which means there are many more aircraft passing through the Spanish air traffic control sectors, rather than taking the usual routes over Ireland,” said Eurocontrol spokeswoman Kyla Evans.
Until Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano stops its emissions, the key to the future course of Europe’s ash crisis will be the prevailing Atlantic winds.
When the winds blow to the northeast toward the unpopulated Arctic — typical in springtime — the danger to aircraft is minimized. But when they shift southward, as happened both this week and in mid-April, airlines’ ability to land and depart safely can be jeopardized.
The glacier-capped volcano, about 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) northwest of Ireland, has shown no signs of stopping since it began belching ash April 13. It last erupted from 1821 to 1823.
In Iceland, civil protection official Agust Gunnar Gylfason said the eruption intensified Wednesday and the volcano continued to emit a higher volume of ash Thursday. He said the ash plume’s maximum altitude was oscillating between 20,000 and 30,000 feet (6,000 and 9,000 meters).
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There is no doubt that Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism industry would receive a significant boost if there were direct flights between this country and Brazil. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and his Brazilian counterpart President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are exploring the possibility of establishing direct air links between the countries to facilitate trade in goods and services including tourism.
Brazilian cities being targeted for direct flights include Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Belem and Salvador, each of which has a population of at least one million.
The decision to explore air links was taken last week during a bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the margins of a Brazil-CARICOM Summit. Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister was one of only three CARICOM leaders who were afforded the opportunity to meet with the Brazilian President one on one.
“There is no doubt that Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism industry would receive a significant boost if there were direct flights between this country and Brazil. Brazil has a population of over 150 million people. That is a market we cannot afford to ignore,” Spencer said.
“Direct air links would not only allow us to increase our tourist arrivals but would also allow us to diversify our tourism base.”
The two leaders also agreed to deepen cooperation in tourism through the introduction of innovative multi-destination tourism packages.
These packages which would combine attractions in Antigua and Barbuda with those in Brazil can be expected to create significant demand in countries in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Brazil is a great friend of Antigua and Barbuda, and it is important that we cooperate in a range of areas including tourism. We are grateful for their assistance and we will continue to build this very important relationship,” Spencer said.
Both leaders also agreed to cooperate in a number of other areas including education, anti-drug trafficking measures, investments and renewable energy.
Source: Caribbean360.com
THE UNITED States and TT have reached a comprehensive Open Skies agreement to expand and liberalise bilateral civil aviation relationship, an email1313131313131313131313131313131313131313ed release from the US Department of State.
The release stated that the agreement was initialed on May 1, after three days of negotiation in Port-of-Spain between a TT delegations and an American team from the US Department of State and Department of Transportation.
The TT delegation was led by Cecil Bernard and the US delegation was led by Kris Urs, director, Office of Aviation Negotiations, US Department of State.
The Open Skies agreement initialed by the US and TT represents a market-oriented approach to aviation relations: airlines, not governments, will decide which cities to serve, the frequency of flights, the equipment used, and the prices charged.
“The agreement will strengthen and expand our already strong trade and tourism links with Trinidad and Tobago and provide significant benefits to airlines of the United States and Trinidad and Tobago and the travelling public, while preserving our commitments to aviation safety and security,” the email1313131313131313131313131313131313131313 stated.
Source: TT Newsday