Royal Jordanian, Turkish Airlines sign code share agreement Royal Jordanian and Turkish Airlines (TK) signed a codeshare agreement on routes between Jordan and Turkey on September 14, which is set to further expand travel opportunities for the customers of the two airlines. The agreement will be effective as of September 21, 2015. The signing ceremony took place at RJ’s headquarters in Amman. Royal Jordanian President/CEO Captain Haitham Misto and Turkish Airlines Deputy Chairman and CEO Temel Kotil, PhD signed the deal in the presence of the Turkish Ambassador to Jordan His Excellency Sedat Önal and officials from both sides. This new code share agreement is bound to broaden the commercial partnership between the two companies. At the same time, passengers of both airlines will be given more travel options between Jordan and Turkey. Under the terms of the agreement, Royal Jordanian and Turkish Airlines will place their carrier codes on each other’s flights between Amman and Istanbul and Royal Jordanian will place its carrier code on Turkish Airlines’ flights between Aqaba and Istanbul. The agreement might also enable the two carriers to put their codes on the flights to other destinations operated beyond the two capitals in the future. Captain Misto expressed satisfaction with this commercial partnership with a well-established and rapidly growing carrier like Turkish Airlines, which enjoys a broad route network. Several worldwide points that Turkish Airlines serves will be open to Royal Jordanian passengers flying from Amman and Aqaba to Istanbul and from there to various airports on the Turkish Airlines’ network.
Misto stressed that travelers of both airlines will experience a streamlined level of services to the destinations covered by the agreement onboard two modern fleets of aircraft. He also expressed hope that the step will be the first on the way to further enhancing relations between the two airlines in the future. Temel Kotil, PhD said: ―We are extremely pleased to sign this codeshare agreement with Royal Jordanian and aim to improve our partnership to maximize the travel opportunities offered to our passengers through the networks of both airlines. Additionally, we believe that this partnership with Royal Jordanian will bring enormous benefit to both airlines from a commercial perspective in rapidly growing relations between our countries.‖ Both Royal Jordanian Airlines and Turkish Airlines operate 14 frequencies weekly Istanbul – Amman flights, and 3 weekly regular flights between Istanbul and Aqaba being operated by Turkish Airlines. This latest agreement raises the number of code share agreements with RJ to 16, half of them with oneworld carriers and the other half with Arab and international airlines. They are: American Airlines, US Airways, Air Berlin, British Airways, Iberia, Siberia airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, Oman Air, Middle East Airlines, Tarom, Gulf Air, Syrian Air, Meridiana Fly Airlines and Qatar Airways.
The CAPA (Centre for Aviation) reported that Malaysia Airlines was one of the 16 publicly traded airlines in Southeast Asia that improved its profit in the first half of 2015 and this, he said, augured well for the first year restructuring initiatives. ―However, fresh financial challenges threaten MAB‘s profitability, as the drop in oil prices do not directly translate to savings by Malaysia Airlines, given the steep plunge in the ringgit causes a mismatch in revenues earned mostly in ringgit, while expenses are incurred in US dollars,‖ said the economist. - Therakyatpost
http://www.atn.aero/
QATAR AIRWAYS CONTINUES NETWORK EXPANSION ACROSS EUROPE Qatar Airways is continuing its rapid growth and responding to increasing demand within Europe with a substantial increase in flight frequencies to Stockholm in Sweden, Copenhagen in Denmark and Brussels in Belgium. From 1 December 2015, flights from Doha to Stockholm, Sweden, will expand from a 10-times weekly service to 13 flights per week, a capacity increase of 30 per cent on the route. The increase is seasonal and valid until 25 March 2016. A double-daily service will be operated every day except Wednesday by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, offering customers 254 seats across its Business and Economy Classes. With the launch of these additional frequencies, customers from the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa in particular will benefit from improved connectivity to the Swedish capital via Qatar Airways' Doha hub. Qatar Airways‘ flight network to Scandinavia will be further enhanced with the expansion of flights to Copenhagen from 2 December 2015. The airline will increase frequencies from an 11-times weekly service to double daily flights, representing an increase of almost 30 per cent in additional seats to Copenhagen every week. All flights will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and customers flying from the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa can look forward to even smoother connections via the state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport. On 4 December 2015, five years after the introduction of the route, flights from Doha to Brussels will also be increased from seven to eight times weekly representing a 14 per cent increase in capacity on this route and enhanced connectivity for both leisure and corporate customers, particularly from the Middle East and the Indian Sub-Continent.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: ―We are delighted to offer our customers wishing to travel to and from Sweden, Denmark and Belgium an even greater choice of connection opportunities and this further network expansion is evidence of the growing demand on these routes. Qatar Airways continues to expand rapidly, not only in terms of our global network but also in terms of the service we offer our customers. Complementing our five-star service in the skies on board one of the youngest fleets in the industry are our transfer facilities at the state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport in Doha.‖ Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 18 years of operation and today flies a modern fleet of 166 aircraft to 152 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. At this year‘s Skytrax Awards, the airline won Airline of the Year, Best Business Class Airline Seat and Best Airline in the Middle East. Customers flying Qatar Airways can also enjoy the newly launched in-flight entertainment system, Oryx One, with up to 2,000 movies, TV shows and entertainment options available to view on board.
http://m.travelweekly.co.uk/ Formal complaint issued against Lufthansa GDS fee A formal complaint has been filed in Brussels against Lufthansa Group‘s controversial €16 GDS fee. The European Technology & Travel Services Association (Ettsa), which represents global distribution services and online travel agents, is claiming a breach of key provisions of the EU's code of conduct on computerised reservation systems. The complaint to the European Commission covers the German airline and its associate carriers, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines. The complaint was filed to the Commission's Directorate General of Mobility and Transport, which holds enforcement powers on the code of conduct. The Distribution Cost Charge was imposed from September 1, with Ettsa claiming Lufthansa and the main airlines under its control are now discriminating against those customers who use independent travel agents to book their tickets by adding €16 to the ticket price. Ettsa's secretary general, Christoph Klenner, said: ―The only way for travel agents to avoid the discriminatory surcharge is to switch from traditional GDSs to an alternative platform controlled by Lufthansa, where only such content is shown that Lufthansa chooses to show. "In addition to taking travel agencies hostage and forcing them to spend unnecessary resources on the switch to Lufthansa‘s platform, Lufthansa‘s move will severely hurt comparison shopping and competition. "Ultimately, this will lead to a more restricted choice and increased prices for consumers who will become increasingly captive.‖ He added: ―That Lufthansa wants to compete with GDSs and travel agencies is not a problem for Ettsa. On the contrary, Ettsa welcomes new competitors in travel distribution. ―However, there are rules to follow if you want to be in this business and those rules do not allow the sort of discrimination that Lufthansa is using to push its competitors out of the market. If Lufthansa wants to run a GDS, it needs to follow the rules for GDSs. "The EU code of conduct was designed precisely to prevent abuse by airlines who control GDSs. Therefore, the European Commission has a duty to step up and intervene in the interest of continued transparency and consumer choice,‖ Klenner concluded. Lufthansa chief commercial officer, Jens Bischof, introduced the charge saying: ―We need to increase our profits. The costs for using GDSs are higher than for other booking methods.‖ The carrier objects most to the incentive payments GDSs make to larger agents. Bischof said: ―We‘re not willing to pay the bill any more.‖
http://wgno.com/ American Airlines: ―Somebody screwed up‖ sending wrong plane to Hawaii WASHINGTON (CNN) — American Airlines confirms to CNN that it accidentally put an Airbus A321S aircraft — that was not certified to fly over the Pacific — on a long-haul flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii. American spokesman Casey Norton said ―someone on the ground‖ realized the mix-up sometime after AA Flight 31 had departed LAX on August 31st, filled with passengers and crew. American Airlines declined to identify who first noticed the mistake. Norton said American immediately notified the flight crew and the Federal Aviation Administration and the decision was made to allow the crew to complete the flight, and the plane landed safely in Honolulu. Hawaii-bound aircraft are required by the FAA to have extra fire suppression equipment in the cargo hold and extra medical equipment on board, including oxygen — since there are no points in between for an aircraft to divert to if there is an on board emergency. American Airlines said the correct aircraft, the A321-H, was just put into service on August 18th. Norton said the new plane was part of the airline‘s long-term strategy to upgrade service, and it replaced a Boeing 757 that flew that route up until last month. ―Somebody screwed up big-time, somewhere,‖ an American Airlines pilot, who is not authorized to speak on the record, told CNN. The pilot explained that maintenance crews have to sign off on all extended operation certified equipment on any long-range aicrcraft and have a checklist of items that they have to go through and approve before a plane is certified to fly.
―All (extended operation) related equipment must be certified and be operational before a plane is cleared to fly. That means everything from oil quantities, to crew oxygen quantities, to retardants — they all have to be looked at,‖ he said. ―All I can say is, thank God they didn‘t have an emergency on that flight.‖ For its part, American Airlines said once the mistake was identified they acted quickly. ―When we realized what happened, we immediately notified the FAA and began a thorough review of our procedures,‖ Norton said. ―Already, we have revised our software to properly identify the correct aircraft are operating the correct routes.‖ The return flight on that aircraft was canceled, and the plane was flown back to LAX with just a minimal crew on board. ―The A321-S flies over water regularly for many missions, but is not (extended operation certified), which is required by the FAA for American‘s Hawaiian flights,‖ Norton said, adding that both planes are very similar otherwise, with the same engines and same range.
http://www.aircargonews.net/
European airlines record August declines in air cargo demand and load factors The tough times continued for the major European airfreight carriers in August as they recorded declines in demand and load factors. The latest monthly statistics from European airlines revealed that Lufthansa, IAG Cargo, Air France KLM and Finnair http://www.finnair.com/all recorded demand declines during August. Load factors were also down at Lufthansa, AF KLM and Finnair, while IAG does not provide this data. It was no surprise that Finnair and AF KLM recorded the largest declines in demand as they are in the process of adjusting their offering; reducing freighter capacity in favour of bellyhold space. Finnair saw August traffic decline by 10.5% year-on-year to 71.5m revenue tonne km (RTK), while AF KLM recorded a slide of 8.9% on a year earlier to 759m RTK. Finnair year-on-year comparisons were affected by its withdrawal from the use of leased NGA freighter aircraft capacity in Asian traffic. In August, its cargo traffic consisted almost entirely of belly cargo on scheduled flights. Overall, its August capacity was down by 7.7% on last year to 123m available tonne km.
As a result of demand declining ahead of supply, its load factor slipped to 57.9% from 59.7% last year. Meanwhile, AF KLM‘s full-freighter capacity was down 31% compared with a year ago and overall space was 7.6% behind last year at 1.3bn ATK. Its load factor slipped to 57.9% compared with 58.7% a year earlier. Europe‘s largest air cargo carrier, the Lufthansa Group also had a tough time during the mid-summer month even though it has not been making any structural fleet adjustments. The German group was in fact the only one to have increased capacity during the month, recording a 2.6% increase to 1.3bn available cargo tonne km. The increase in capacity follows the pattern for prior months of 2015; it has added capacity on last year in every month but January. Meanwhile, it was not able to sell the additional space and August demand declined by 5.7% year on year to 805m revenue cargo tonne km. The capacity additions and demand increases resulted in load factors sliding by 5.2 percentage points on last year 61.1%. Its strategy of sticking with its current freighter fleet, despite capacity additions on the passenger side of the business and a weak cargo market in Europe meant that it recorded the largest percentage point slide in load factor. This is the lowest load factor level it has recorded in at least the last five years. Despite the decline, the German group still managed to record the highest load factor of all three of the airlines which provide this information. Finally, IAG Cargo, made up of British Airways and Iberia, saw demand slide by 4.8% on a year earlier to 417m cargo tonne km. The figures reflect a difficult period for the European air cargo carriers as demand remains down on last year‘s levels. The trend looks set to continue in September as a result of China‘s economic troubles, while Lufthansa faced two days of industrial action.
In its latest cargo industry review, Tony Tyler, IATA director general and chief executive, said: ―The recent stock-market turmoil shows that investors have real fears about the strength of the global economy. And the disappointing July freight performance is symptomatic of a broader slowdown in economic growth. "The combination of China‘s continued shift towards domestic markets, wider weakness in emerging markets, and slowing global trade indicates that it will continue to be a rough ride for air cargo in the months to come."
http://www.incentivetravel.co. uk/
Europe‘s leading airline – Lufthansa receives World Travel Award 2015 Frankfurt‘s first class lounges also rank on top position in Europe Lufthansa has been named “Europe’s Leading Airline” for the fifth time in a row at the World Travel Awards on September 5 in Sardinia. Travel and tourism experts worldwide also honoured Lufthansa with the award of “Europe’s Leading Airline Lounge” for the lounges at Frankfurt Airport. “It is an honour to recognise Lufthansa as Europe’s Leading Airline once again this year. During our 22-year history, the carrier has consistently been one of the most innovative, forward-looking airlines in European aviation, and it is no surprise our voters have recognised their achievements once again this evening”, said Graham E. Cooke, President and Founder of the World Travel Awards during the gala event in Sardinia.
Jens Bischof, Member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Executive Board and Chief Commercial Officer of the Lufthansa Group, is delighted to receive the awards: “From this year onward our passengers can enjoy the full benefit from our multi-billion investments in quality, equipment and services. This enables us to continue to further expand our leading position in the group of international premium airlines”. Swiss International Air Lines were also named “Europe’s Leading Airline Business Class” which includes both short-haul and long-haul flights.
Recently, Lufthansa has been presented with other important awards as well. During the World Airline Awards in June, they came top in the categories “Best Airline Transatlantic” and “Best Airline in Western Europe”. The airline also received the award for “World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge”. Business Travel Awards 2015 honoured Lufthansa with the title of “Best short-haul Airline”. With innovations such as the Premium Economy Class and the new Restaurant-Service in Business Class, Lufthansa have taken further important steps to becoming a 5-Star Airline.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/
Air China gets ready to bring Asia closer to Montreal The introduction this fall of a non-stop flight to Beijing will save hours of travel time. For years now, Montrealers have taken the long way to Asia. Increasingly, local business travellers going to China must fly via Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago or Detroit — even endure overnight stays, pushing the one-way trek upward of 24 hours and making an important trip a two-way, four-day ordeal. Year after year, Quebecers longing for a non-stop flight to Beijing were told: ―You must make a connection, once or twice.‖ But on Sept. 29, Air China will depart Montréal-Trudeau Airport for its first 12½-hour direct flight to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). ―Montreal to Beijing in less than 13 hours is such a good thing for Montrealers,‖ said Christiane Beaulieu, Aéroports de Montréal‘s (ADM) vice-president of public affairs. ―From a business point of view, it‘s a big gain,‖ she explained, ―especially if you are sending people who can save a day each way.‖ From Beijing, it‘s just a two-hour hop to Shanghai, three to Hong Kong, while those extra stops and waiting times we‘ve had to endure make the flights to Asia longer than they need be, at least 18 to 19 hours. Air China, which offers more than 35 destinations in China and Asia, was a natural choice to introduce the non-stop flight, Beaulieu said. ―Alliances are important, and as a Star Alliance member partner with Air Canada, it was a big factor in getting the link and making sure it is successful.‖
The challenge to secure the con- nection was never about numbers, she added, as Montreal-to-Beijing travellers number around 45,000 annually, almost double that of Shanghai (23,000 to 25,000). Citing a Secor study in September 2014, she said ―there must be a minimum demand, usually 30,000, to tell an airline we have enough demand to make sure their flights will make money.‖ While Montreal had the numbers, still missing was the landing slot at Beijing, with the world‘s second-highest passenger traffic. ADM has worked intensely for several years to secure a direct link to China. The benefits are multi-faceted, Beaulieu said, as global agencies like the International Civil Aviation Organization, Airport Council International, and the International Air Transport Association draw many Chinese travellers. ―A lot of people are coming for meetings and conferences held by these organizations and additional numbers of people are discovering Montreal, so there is a boost to tourism on both ends.‖ Three weekly flights are expected to boost traffic and interest. Quebecers will no longer have to sacrifice four days of their vacation window to travelling. ―Gaining two days means this barrier to Asia is gone. They can go to Dorval, get on a plane and be in Beijing in 13 hours; it removes an obstacle for a new group of tourists.‖ It‘s also a boon to Montreal‘s thriving and growing Chinese community, facilitating business and family links, especially among the many Chinese students studying in Montreal‘s universities. Air China‘s decision to fly to Montreal also highlights MontréalTrudeau Airport as an increasing hub for cargo.
The spirit of collaboration and dedication to the link‘s success is appreciated, Beaulieu said. ―Aéroports de Montréal is working closely with the Board of Trade and others to encourage the city‘s business sector to take advantage of this new connection — and opportunity.‖ This, along with Tourisme Québec‘s and Tourisme Montréal‘s promotional efforts in China, signifies one of the few times there has been such a strong alliance of organizations to help support a flight, she noted. ―Everybody is ‗on board‘ for this!‖ The airport will respond to the new influx of Mandarin-speakers with increased signage and resources, and is working with Tourisme Montréal and Tourisme Québec to welcome them, as well as with taxi drivers to be more able to answer to their needs — be it by directing them to events of special interest ―or to just discover Montreal as we are. Once they get here they will want to see as much as possible. Montreal will be their door to Quebec, their door to Canada, from where they go on two or three excursions, be it the Laurentians, Eastern Townships, Quebec City, Ottawa and the Maritimes.‖ Montrealers could eventually see five weekly flights if enough people opt for business class over economy, as airlines thrive on business travel. With the flights from Beijing arriving in early afternoon, before the big rush of other international flights, such an increase in business class is a distinct possibility. ―The arrival of Air China non-stop flight Beijing is, again, very good news and for many reasons,‖ Beaulieu said, including hundreds of additional weekly travellers at Montréal-Trudeau going to duty-free, and patronizing shops and restaurants.
Linked to most of the important hubs in the world with roughly 130 direct connections, Montreal, ―from a gross domestic product perspective, is overserved in terms of airport links,‖ she said. Maintaining strong connecting traffic with Star Alliance and others illustrates that MontréalTrudeau plays an important role as a hub between North America and Europe. With this flight, it creates new opportunities at Montréal-Trudeau with connecting traffic between North America and Asia, something ADM officials hope to leverage with new flights. The news follows Montréal-Trudeau‘s record-setting passenger traffic last year — 14.8 million or 5.3 per cent above 2013. Domestic, U.S. and international flights showed good performance and there was significant growth in connecting traffic, rising to 17.7 per cent.
http://buyingbusinesstravel.com/
Etihad completes Amadeus fare integration Etihad Airways is implementing the Amadeus Fare Families tool in the indirect channel to support its merchandising strategy. The gulf carrier said the move to incorporate the technology will help the airline achieve higher growth through differentiation and upsell opportunities, via its extensive sales network. Through Fare Families, Etihad will ‗brand and differentiate‘ its products and services by showing the full value of each packaged fare on all its retailing interfaces for all customer segments and worldwide points of sale. Etihad said this will help agents advise customers and ―proactively upsell‖ from one fare family to the other. Etihad chief commercial officer Peter Baumgartner, said: ―We are delighted to extend our ‗Fare Choices‘ to the Amadeus travel community, thereby ensuring that our customers can always enjoy our full range of innovative services, irrespective of which channel they choose to shop on. ―Etihad Airways‘ offering, which combines air and non-air services to deliver the very best travel experiences, is a source of great pride for us. We are confident the opportunities the new tool opens up, will create an enhanced customer experience for our travellers who can now benefit from greater travel customisation. ―Through Amadeus, our packaged fares will now also be available in the indirect channel worldwide and displayed at all points of sale in a way that is consistent with our brand.‖ Last month, Lufthansa and Austrian joined SWISS and Brussels Airlines to complete Lufthansa Group‘s implementation of Amadeus Fare Families for distribution of new branded fares across all channels.
New United Airlines CEO faces long list of THE new chief of United Airlines faces a daunting list of problems he must fix, including late flights and technology that too often suffers embarrassing outages. BUT, if Oscar Munoz listens to people who fly his airline - and some who have stopped - he'll start his tenure by addressing a longtime problem for the world's second-biggest airline: poor customer service. Early signs point to a honeymoon for Munoz, the railway executive tapped to replace Jeff Smisek as CEO. United's labor unions and Wall Street analysts were mostly upbeat about Munoz's arrival - or maybe more accurately, Smisek's departure. Munoz knows the airline from his combined 11 years as a director first of Continental Airlines and then at United Continental Holdings Inc. Now he must guide United on a day-to-day basis: "I know from my time on the board we've made significant progress, but there's still a lot to be done," he says. Among the biggest challenges: Improve customer service: Frequent fliers often say that United's employees are less likely to help than counterparts at other big airlines. "Half of their flight attendants are genuinely kind, but the other half are resentful - like: 'Why are you flying on this airline?'" said Andrew Acker, who frequently flies on United for a software company in California. Brian Kelly, chief executive of travel site ThePointsGuy.com, said United's hub airport in Newark, New Jersey, "is ground zero for customer-service failures". Chicago-based United finished last in customer service among six traditional North American airlines in a recent survey by JD Power. It trailed Alaska, Delta, American, Air Canada and US Airways. Among the 12 largest US airlines, United had the second-worst complaint rate in the first half of 2015, according to the US Department of Transportation. Munoz has acknowledged to analysts that United must convince customers that it is committed to better customer service. "That is going to take a lot of time and effort," he added. Reduce delays and cancelled flights:
In the first six months of this year, United's on-time performance trailed its three largest peers - Delta, American and Southwest. In early 2015, it cancelled large numbers of flights on its United Express regional brand, which is operated by other carriers. Ed Pizzarello, who writes a blog on BoardingArea.com, said such operational problems and poor service have caused him to fly less on United this year. Pizzarello said he has platinum-level elite status on United but won't change a flight from American or Delta "to a carrier I'm having trouble trusting". Fix technology glitches: Since combining its reservations and other computer systems with those of Continental in 2012, United has suffered several widespread outages, often leading to hundreds of cancelled or delayed flights. United blamed the most recent outage, in July, on a faulty router. As if to put an exclamation point on Smisek's tenure, United's redesigned website went down for about two hours on the day he departed. It was replaced by the old website temporarily, a spokesman said. Resolve government investigations: Smisek and two other senior executives departed because of an ongoing investigation into whether United gave preferential treatment to the former head of an agency that runs New York-area airports including United's hub in Newark, New Jersey. Federal prosecutors wouldn't comment, and United executives haven't said much other than suggesting that they don't expect a large financial penalty. In addition, the Department of Justice is investigating possible collusion between United, American, Delta and Southwest to drive up prices by limiting seats. For all of United Continental's woes, Munoz is hardly being asked to save a dying company.
While the airline was slower to return to profitability after the last recession - it lost $US600 million ($A847.22 million) in early 2014 when Delta, American, Southwest and Alaska were solidly in the black - it has bounced back thanks to cheaper jet fuel. United posted a record profit in the second quarter and earned $US1.7 billion in the first six months of 2015. That newfound prosperity could give Munoz a cushion to ease up on job reductions and other costcutting moves that have angered employee groups. Labor leaders believe more of the newfound profits should go to front-line workers and less to shareholders in stock buybacks. While the bottom line performance rebounded, revenue lagged in the first six months of the year, down 2.6 per cent from a year earlier. Jim Corridore, an analyst for S&P Capital IQ, said that to boost revenue, Munoz must convince key business travellers - the kind who buy expensive, last-minute tickets - that United won't suffer the kind of meltdowns that have occurred in the last few years. Munoz might even offer travel rewards to lure back those who defected to Delta or other carriers, the analyst said. Scott Sneddon, a computer-networking architect, has stayed with United because he's got elite frequent-flier status and United has a good schedule of flights to Asia from his airport in San Francisco. He's not wild about the airline. He said service has declined steadily since the Continental merger - too many grumpy flight attendants, old planes and mediocre airport lounges. "I think about switching all the time," he said from the airport in Seoul, where he was on a business trip. "But that South America trip I took on Delta just wasn't any better, and I've never had a good experience on a domestic American (Airlines) flight. I feel like I'm kind of stuck."
http://www.post-gazette.com/
Airport delegation off to South Africa, aiming for direct flight to Germany Germany will be on the minds of a local delegation that will travel 8,500 miles to South Africa this week in search of more flights for Pittsburgh International Airport. Allegheny County Airport Authority officials plan to meet with three international carriers — Lufthansa, Condor and Air Berlin — about starting nonstop service from Pittsburgh to Germany. The meetings start Saturday at the World Routes 2015 Forum in Durban, South Africa. Christina Cassotis, the authority‘s CEO, said she has been talking to all three carriers about possible flights from Pittsburgh. The World Routes forum constitutes the ―next step‖ in that courtship. A direct flight to Germany has been a priority for the region and its many German-based businesses with offices or headquarters here since US Airways ended service to Frankfurt in 2004. According to the German American Business Circle, 70 Germanowned firms employ 11,000 people locally. Erika Daxbeck, marketing coordinator of the business circle, said members always are asking when nonstop service to Germany will return. ―For members, they bring it up in every way, shape or form whenever they can,‖ she said. Ms. Cassotis said recruiting an airline to start service could take three to five years.
http://wgno.com/ American Airlines: ―Somebody screwed up‖ sending wrong plane to Hawaii WASHINGTON (CNN) — American Airlines confirms to CNN that it accidentally put an Airbus A321S aircraft — that was not certified to fly over the Pacific — on a long-haul flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii. American spokesman Casey Norton said ―someone on the ground‖ realized the mix-up sometime after AA Flight 31 had departed LAX on August 31st, filled with passengers and crew. American Airlines declined to identify who first noticed the mistake. Norton said American immediately notified the flight crew and the Federal Aviation Administration and the decision was made to allow the crew to complete the flight, and the plane landed safely in Honolulu. Hawaii-bound aircraft are required by the FAA to have extra fire suppression equipment in the cargo hold and extra medical equipment on board, including oxygen — since there are no points in between for an aircraft to divert to if there is an on board emergency. American Airlines said the correct aircraft, the A321-H, was just put into service on August 18th. Norton said the new plane was part of the airline‘s long-term strategy to upgrade service, and it replaced a Boeing 757 that flew that route up until last month. Somebody screwed up big-time, somewhere,‖ an American Airlines pilot, who is not authorized to speak on the record, told CNN. The pilot explained that maintenance crews have to sign off on all extended operation certified equipment on any long-range aicrcraft and have a checklist of items that they have to go through and approve before a plane is certified to fly. ―All (extended operation) related equipment must be certified and be operational before a plane is cleared to fly. That means everything from oil quantities, to crew oxygen quantities, to retardants — they all have to be looked at,‖ he said. ―All I can say is, thank God they didn‘t have an emergency on that flight.‖
For its part, American Airlines said once the mistake was identified they acted quickly. ―When we realized what happened, we immediately notified the FAA and began a thorough review of our procedures,‖ Norton said. ―Already, we have revised our software to properly identify the correct aircraft are operating the correct routes.‖ The return flight on that aircraft was canceled, and the plane was flown back to LAX with just a minimal crew on board. ―The A321-S flies over water regularly for many missions, but is not (extended operation certified), which is required by the FAA for American‘s Hawaiian flights,‖ Norton said, adding that both planes are very similar otherwise, with the same engines and same range. CNN has reached out to the FAA for comment, but has not heard back.
ادارة العالقات العامة -الشركة القابضة لمصر للطيران