Briefly Noted

Airline Industry Information, Nov 19, 1999

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C) 1997-9 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

The Dubai government has initiated a USD540m airport expansion project at Dubai airport in order to allow the airport to accommodate the rapid growth being experienced.

City Bird SA, an international airline based in Brussels, Belgium has agreed to lease four Next Generation Boeing 737- 800 aircraft from Boullioun Aviation Services.

An air traffic protocol establishing a joint office in Thessaloniki, Greece to coordinate air traffic control has been signed by Greece, Albania and Macedonia.

Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is to make a public offering in 2003 of a minority stake to private investors, but the size of the offering has not yet been disclosed.

Private Egyptian carrier Midwest Airlines has agreed to purchase two Airbus A320 aircraft from European aircraft manufacturing consortium Airbus Industrie and has also taken two options. The contract value was not revealed.

South African Airways has announced that it is now fully Y2K- compliant and that it will continue to monitor the Y2K- readiness on all routes it is currently serving.

On 17 November Pan Am started its first scheduled passenger 'Clipper' service between Gary-Chicago and Sanford/Orlando and will also commence a service from Gary-Chicago to Portsmouth, NH on 18 November.

Air Jamaica has been awarded the title of the 'Caribbean's Leading Airline' at the 1999 World Travel Awards - the second consecutive year it has won the title.

United Airlines has awarded a contract to provide web-based e- mail services to its worldwide network of employees to USA.NET.

A loan of USD20m for the construction of a new terminal building at Beihai Airport in Nanning, the capital of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has been made by British company AIRSYS ATM.

Mauritanian carrier Air Mauritanie has started a new twice- weekly service from the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott to the Ivory Coast via Mali.

At a seminar to promote the development of direct air services across the Taiwan Straits the deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China urged Taiwanese authorities to respond positively to the idea of a direct route with the mainland.

Japan Airlines is to establish a new wholly-owned subsidiary in Tokyo called JAL Sales Network Co that will commence operations on 1 April 2000 and will handle JAL Group's sales and marketing activities.