- International Airlines Flock to Vietnam[Aug. 29, 2006]
Two important events to come about soon, Vietnam's admission to the World Trade Organisation, and the visa waiver among ASEAN members, are luring international airlines to Vietnam.
- Europe's Ryanair Files 5.7 Million Claim[Aug. 28, 2006]
Ryanair followed through on its threat Friday and submitted a claim for compensation worth just over 3 million ($5.7 million) to the UK Dept. for Transport.The LCC said the figure reflects its losses from cancellations and lost bookings over the week of Aug. 10-16. It insisted it does not want to profit from the operation and committed to donating all proceeds received from a successful claim to the Orbis charity, which is fighting to eliminate avoidable blindness in the developing world. Ryanair received negative publicity last year after removing nine visually impaired passengers from a flight to Italy. It said at the time it could handle no more than four such passengers per flight, but revised its policies afterward (ATWOnline, Nov. 18).
- Crashed Comair CRJ200 Used Wrong Runway[Aug. 28, 2006]
The pilots of the Comair CRJ200 that crashed into a field while taking off from Lexington, Ky., Blue Grass Airport early Sunday morning used the wrong runway, National Transportation Safety Board Member Deborah Hersman confirmed in an evening briefing.
- Qantas Caught Up in Giant Freight Probe[Aug. 25, 2006]
Qantas has been caught up in a giant international probe into air freight price-fixing and has been subpoenaed by the US Department of Justice.
- CASA Prepares for Drug & Alcohol Testing[Aug. 25, 2006]
The air safety regulator has made its first concrete move towards mandatory drug and alcohol testing with a series of workshops ahead of the release of draft rules later this year.
- FAA Imposes Slot Rule at Chicago O'Hare[Aug. 24, 2006]
US FAA released a final albeit interim rule finalizing slot limits at Chicago O'Hare that originally were imposed on a temporary basis in 2004.The rule takes effect Oct. 29, 2006, and terminates Oct. 31, 2008, at which point it is expected that the opening of a new runway under the O'Hare Modernization Plan will allow the airfield to accommodate more than "50,000 additional forecast operations" annually.
- US Government Opposes Northwest Strike[Aug. 24, 2006]
US Dept. of Justice yesterday waded into the dispute between Northwest Airlines and its flight attendants, arguing in a Statement of Interest filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA does not have the right to strike because the parties still are bound by the Railway Labor Act.
- Black Boxes Found in Aircraft Wreckage[Aug. 24, 2006]
Investigators last night recovered both the flight data recorder and the voice recorder from the wreckage of a Russian passenger plane that crashed into a Ukrainian field after apparently being hit by lightning during a severe thunderstorm, killing all 170 people aboard.
- Brazil's TAM Receives Eighth Airbus A320[Aug. 23, 2006]
Brazil's largest airline company, has received another Airbus aircraft A320. The aircraft will be incorporated as of Wednesday.
- Northwest, Air France Strengthen Bond[Aug. 22, 2006]
Northwest Airlines and Air France, SkyTeam partners who were rebuffed by the US Dept. of Transportation as part of the alliance's bid for transatlantic antitrust immunity last December (ATWOnline, Jan. 12), opted to move forward with a codeshare agreement announced yesterday.