- Ferrovial Moved Closer to BAA Takeover[Jun. 09, 2006]
Ferrovial Group moved closer to completing its takeover of BAA yesterday as rival Goldman Sachs pulled out after the Spanish firm purchased an additional 12.9% of the UK airports operator's shares.Goldman had been considering increasing its rival bid for BAA but announced yesterday that it no longer was interested after Ferrovial upped its stake to 28.7%.
- Tianjin Will Be Site of Assembly Line[Jun. 09, 2006]
Airbus and the National Development & Reform Commission of China announced the selection of the Tianjin Binhai New Coastal District as the site for a potential A320 final assembly line should Airbus decide to move forward with the project.The selection follows the signing of an MOU between Airbus and NDRC last December. In a statement, Airbus said that Tianjin, which has a population of more than 10 million, was one of four cities considered and was chosen "after a thorough evaluation including multiple criteria such as, facility site and land, seaport proximity, airport characteristics, labor and industrial capability."
- InterConti Plans Aggressive China Move[Jun. 07, 2006]
Intercontinental Hotels Group is to expand aggressively in China on the back of an infrastructure boom similar to President Eisenhower's road-building programme that opened up America's Midwest, its chief executive said in a Financial Times interview.
- Leisure Travel Will Boom in 2010[Jun. 07, 2006]
By 2010, Amadeus will have sold its major stake in pan European travel site, Opodo, to a retailer-such as Tesco's, according to Henry Hardevelt, a senior researcher with Forrester Research.
- Transport Amount Contradicts Profitability[Jun. 06, 2006]
In the first quarter, the total aviation transport turnover amount actualized by China is 6.58 billion ton km, the passenger turnover amount is 52.11 billion person km, freight mails turnover amount is 1.93 billion ton km, increases 17.0%, 18.8% & 12.4% respectively comparing to the same period last year, especially the increase of domestic passenger transportation reaches 21.1%. The average passenger load factor reaches 72.4%, improves 3.8%, which shows the strong increasing trend.
- Westin Hotels & Resorts Go Smoke Free[Jun. 05, 2006]
Westin Hotels & Resorts today announced they will become the first hotel chain in this region to introduce a smoke-free policy. Beginning July 31st, The Westin Sydney, The Westin Melbourne and The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa Fiji will be totally smoke free and join Westin's 77 North America hotels that introduced a smoke-free policy this past January. This new policy also reinforces Westin's new brand positioning around personal renewal and offering guests the services, products and amenities that allow them to relax, rejuvenate and restore during their stay.
- Boeing and FedEx Test Active ID Tags[Jun. 05, 2006]
SEATTLE, June 05, 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and FedEx have jointly initiated an in-service evaluation of active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on some major airplane parts for a FedEx MD-10 Freighter.
- ANA Sees Haneda Expansion as a Sword[Jun. 05, 2006]
Opening of the fourth runway at Tokyo Haneda in late 2009 will present ANA with new growth opportunities but also increased challenges, including the arrival of low-fare airlines, President and CEO Mineo Yamamoto said."We think we will see LCCs in Haneda in 2009," he told journalists in Tokyo last Thursday at an event organized by Star Alliance. Speaking through a translator, he noted that current plans call for the number of operational slots at the airport to increase by 40% vis-a-vis the current level to 407,000 annually.
- Govt Unlikely to Allow Fuel Surcharge Soon[Jun. 05, 2006]
With the declaration of National Development and Reform Commission that the aviation oil price of leaving the factory increased 500 yuan each ton on 24th May, the ever-rising fuel cost problem of airlines has became the hot spot again. Moreover, the voice that the airlines wanted to increase aviation fuel surcharge became higher and higher.
- Aviation Accident Insurance May Become Part of Flight Ticket[May 30, 2006]
The Aviation Accident Insurance may be included in the flight tickets in China, while the commission of authorised AAI Agents may face serious reduction if plan goes ahead.