Airline News March 2005

Airguide Online, March 30, 2005

NTSB proposes expanding safety reporting requirements, but airlines object. Some large airlines object to moves by the National Transportation Safety Board to expand requirements for reporting safety incidents, such as engine failures, electronic cockpit display failures and anti-collision alerts. The Air Transport Association has said that some of the proposed changes are "neither necessary nor beneficial." Investigators want to broaden the rules as commercial air travel grows at a record pace.

Mar 30, 2005

New screening machines will sniff passengers for explosives. Airports are adding screening machines that will sniff travelers for explosives, USA TODAY reports. The machines are the size of phone booths and cost $100,000 each. They will be installed at 150 commercial airports within the next year and help lessen the need for pat-down searches, the Transportation Security Administration said.

Mar 28, 2005

China may seem a strange place to establish a resort hotel but the world is moving on. Hilton International, a British company, will later this year open the Sanya Resort & Spa, a low-rise beachfront resort in what has been hailed by tourism officials as the budding "Hawaii of China". Located in Yalong Bay on the southernmost tip of Hainan Island and separated from the mainland by 15 miles of the South China Sea, the luxury resort will be Hilton's first Worldwide Resort in the People's Republic of China and will form an important part of the growing network of seven Hilton hotels in China. Sanya is linked to Hong Kong with frequent 90 minute flights. http://www.hiltongroup.com

Mar 21, 2005

Monaco has quickly followed France in selling its wonders to the British holiday and conference market except that this time they chose posh Mayfair rather than the Tower of London. Amongst the hotels, spas and facilities putting on displays was Heli Air, who continue to run one of the longest established and most popular scheduled helicopter operations, that between Nice airport and the Monaco helicopter base. There are up to 25 services each day usually in five passenger turbine Ecureuils. The one way fare is E73. Nice is now a very popular UK destination with flights from Belfast, Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow, Leeds-Bradford, Liverpool, Luton, Newcastle,Nottingham and Stansted. Our website photo shows (left to right) Karen Rice, Banks Sadler; Berenice Wurz - Monaco Convention Office London; Michel Bouquier, President - Monaco Government Tourist and Convention Authority; Marianne Huve- Allard, FTSE Group and Charlotte Bally, Pernod Ricard - World Travel. http://www.monaco-tourisme.com

Mar 21, 2005

France is making a big effort to ensure that it continues as a major holiday destination for the British. 13.4m visited the Republic last year, probably a little less than Spain, which has not published figures, that number thought to be around 1m more. For reasons that we cannot make out the French regions chose the Tower of London for a press workshop last week where representatives were on hand to articulate (usually in perfect English) about their corner of France. Good food and plenty of wine helped to brighten a dour early March day. If there was any criticism it was that the transport contractors, typically Air France, Eurostar and the ferry companies did not have desks. http://www.fncrt.com

Mar 14, 2005

Oneworld, the airline grouping led by American Airlines and British Airways, has won the race between the three airlines to go completely electronic as far as interlining is concerned. Clients can now travel with the convenience of just one e-ticket reference throughout the combined network served by the alliance's eight member airlines - American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN, Finnair and Aer Lingus - and their 17 affiliates. Passengers have no traditional paper ticket to lose or risk having stolen, checking-in is quicker and smoother, and they have access to the speed and convenience of new automated features, such as self-service or Internet check-in, helping eliminate queues at airports. http://www.oneworldalliance.com

Mar 14, 2005

Star Alliance reaches agreement for minihub in Paris. The Star Alliance has signed an agreement with Aeroports de Paris which will allow the airline alliance to build a minihub at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, Air Transport World reports. The alliance will build the hub in Terminal 1, where 12 of the 15 airline partners will be located.

Mar 9, 2005

FAA deadline for replacing insulation looms. The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring airlines to replace insulation on certain planes made by McDonnell Douglas by June 30. The total cost for the 719 planes is estimated at $368.4 million.

Mar 7, 2005

Galway, on the far west coast of Ireland, and about 50 miles of not very good roads north of Shannon, is to have direct London flights for the first time. Euromanx will introduce a new twice weekdaily (plus once on a Sunday) service at the start of the summer season on Monday 18 April flown by an Avro RJ70. This will be the airline's second route from LCY, the Isle of Man based airline taking over the London City - Ronaldsway route from FlyBe in January. Aer Arann also flies to Galway from Luton with an ATR offering a minimum daily service. EuroManx is owned by Warren Seymour who also operates Club 328. http://www.euromanx.com