All Networks news – Page 1152

  • News

    Cool head in a hot seat

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    The glass must always look half full to Fernando Pinto. The first thing that Varig's president and chief executive officer wants to point out is that his airline is in a better position today than it was three years ago. It would be easy to overlook this piece of ...

  • News

    Virgin truce puts Irish operation on hold

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Simon Montlake ATI LONDON Virgin boss Richard Branson has brokered a truce between disgruntled pilots and managers at Virgin Express, the Brussels-based low-cost carrier. But the agreement, signed by Branson and staff representatives, has only put off the day of reckoning for Virgin Express Ireland, the new subsidiary at ...

  • News

    EasyJet gives tickets away

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    London Luton-based easyJet has taken low-cost travel into new territory with its decision not to charge for some of its flights. In response to Swissair's successful block on the application for a route licence between Geneva and Barcelona, the carrier will fly passengers free. These services would be classed as ...

  • News

    Arkia move sparks Arab backlash

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Peter Bennett VIENNA Israeli group Arkia says it will invest up to $100 million in loss-making flag carrier Balkan Bulgarian after it won the rights to buy a majority stake. But problems with some of Balkan's Arab routes have set in, with some countries objecting to dealing with an Israeli-owned ...

  • News

    EasyJet goes for Gatwick

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    EasyJet will begin flying out of London Gatwick to Geneva this autumn in a move that departs substantially from its use of lower-cost airports such as London Luton and Liverpool. The no-frills airline has also applied for slots at Heathrow, but says that its fares will remain "affordable". Source: ...

  • News

    New dawn for Sun Air?

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Roger Makings JOHANNESBURG South African Airways (SAA) is poised to move in on its ailing domestic competitor, Sun Air, after securing an exclusive three-month agreement with shareholders to work out a commercial relationship. Sun Air, in desperate need of a cash injection following the eight-month price war on South ...

  • News

    Japan's start-ups lose ground

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    David Knibb BRISBANE Skymark Airlines and Hokkaido International Airlines (Air Do), Japan's domestic start-ups, are taking a beating as a result of fare cuts by Japan's major airlines. In a full-blown fare war leading into Japan's summer season, falling ticket prices are bringing down the newcomers' load factors. Skymark ...

  • News

    Indian fare war erupts

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    India's airlines have slashed their fares by 20-25%, taking them to their lowest level in four years and setting the scene for a long and bitter war. Besides discounts, a wide range of gifts are on offer, from free holidays to complimentary stays in hotels and free travel for spouses. ...

  • News

    Qualiflying seamless service

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    With its new joint sales initiatives, the Qualiflyer grouping could be stealing a march in the alliance stakes. The promise of seamless customer service from the global alliances may seem a little distant, but progress appears to be under way. At the forefront has been a series of announcements from ...

  • News

    Playing your cards right

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Jackie Gallacher LONDON Frequent flier co-operation is reaching new levels of sophistication within the global alliances, threatening to leave others out in the cold. Not so long ago, an alliance based only on links between frequent-flier programmes (FFP) would have seemed hopelessly optimistic. Yet the real force of the global ...

  • News

    Playing it safe at KAL

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Nicholas Ionides SEOUL A big management shake-up at Korean Air has produced a new president and chief executive, Shim Yi-taek. His main task is to improve KAL's safety. Each day at noon, thousands of Korean Air (KAL) employees working at the carrier's Kimpo Airport headquarters building in Seoul make ...

  • News

    Netting a bargain

    1999-08-01T00:00:00Z

    Now in their third year, sales of discount fares via the Internet appear to be a rousing success for US carriers. Is this a glimpse of the future? American Airlines started it all three years ago. Other US majors were quick to follow. Now, Internet discount fares are beginning ...

  • News

    50 years ago...

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    As Airbus fine tunes its A3XX design, the world celebrates a half century of jet travel On Wednesday 27 July, 1949, the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland (DH) 106 Comet, made its first flight from Hatfield airfield, just north of London. That historic half an hour trip marked ...

  • News

    Back to the future

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Capacity is driving Airbus' future large airliner plans but cost will decide how and where it will be built Julian Moxon/TOULOUSEAirbus will know only after a six-month commercial marketing campaign that begins in January whether it has predicted correctly the demand for its A3XX. If enough airlines, with enough geographical ...

  • News

    Pan Pacific plans for Let L-420 flights to small US communities

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Pan Pacific Airways' plans to serve small communities in the north-western USA are back on track after the company agreed to acquire Czech-built Let L-420s. An aircraft arrived in mid-July to enable training to begin. Burlington, Washington-based Pan Pacific hopes to begin operations by year-end. Chairman and ...

  • News

    UPS share sale

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    United Parcel Service (UPS) is to sell 10% of its shares by the end of this year in what is likely to be one of the biggest initial public offerings ever, raising up to $3 billion. UPS, one of the largest privately held companies in the USA, and says the ...

  • News

    DHL poised to take British Airways 757s

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways is in final negotiations with express package specialist DHL for the sale of almost half of the UK airline's Boeing 757s, with a deal expected to be concluded in the coming months. The transaction, valued at around $500 million (including conversions), would give Boeing a launch ...

  • News

    South Africa to levy 'safety' fee

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Doug Birch/LONDON Foreign airlines flying to South Africa will have to pay fees totalling almost $3 million over the next 18 months as a contribution to an "aviation safety charge", according to the South African Civil Aviation Authority. The fees replace a fuel levy implemented in January by ...

  • News

    All systems go for Transpac Express Pacific services

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Australian cargo start-up Transpac Express has received outline approval to launch cargo services to Pacific islands, using widebody freighters. The draft approval from Australia's International Air Services Commission will allow the Brisbane-based company to operate separate weekly freight services from Brisbane to Nauru, New Caledonia, the ...

  • News

    Eurocontrol settles on remedies to increase capacity

    1999-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Eurocontrol's Council has approved measures to increase air traffic capacity in Europe this summer and cope with potential capacity shortfalls between 2002 and 2005. At its 16 July meeting, the council approved the process for enhancing co-operation between area control centres (ACCs) to improve traffic flow. Eurocontrol has already ...