Airline News March 2005

Airguide Online, March 30, 2005

Mar 6, 2005

IATA has issued traffic figures for January which shows a 7.9% increase over the same period in 2004, with cargo improving by 15.5%. Asia- Pacific growth was stunted at 2.5% in the aftermath of the tsunami tragedy. Overall passenger capacity rose by 7.8% leaving the global passenger load factor at 73.5% for January. With the exception of Asia Pacific and the Middle East, traffic gains have lead capacity expansion. Asia-Pacific, Middle Eastern and European carriers are reporting increasing profit numbers while the US industry continues to experience severe difficulties. This is particularly true as US domestic yields suffer severe pressure. Redeployment of US domestic capacity to international routes and the continuing weakness of the US dollar are largely responsible for the 11.8% rise in traffic by North American carriers. http://www.iata.org

Mar 6, 2005

China has overtaken Japan as the largest air travel market in Asia and is second only to the US in terms of total scheduled departing seats, according to a new report from the ITTC consultancy division of Airclaims, which is headed by Peter Morris, former IATA chief economist.

Mar 4, 2005

Running low on fuel, GlobalFlyer persists, may reach destination March 3, 2005. GlobalFlyer, the experimental airplane that its pilot intends to fly around the world nonstop, was short on fuel Wednesday, but its pilot continued flying across the Pacific instead of landing in Hawaii. Pilot Steve Fossett said tailwinds were running higher than expected. He hopes to reach Salina, Kan., his destination, today March 3rd.

Mar 3, 2005

GlobalFlyer pilot successfully finishes solo flight around the world. GlobalFlyer pilot Steve Fossett completed the first solo nonstop flight around the world at about 2 p.m. Thursday March 3, 2005. Fossett, a millionaire adventurer, also holds the record for flying around the world alone in a balloon. He is attempting to break several aviation records. The GlobalFlyer flight took 67 hours.

Mar 3, 2005

Aegean Airlines, Olympic Airlines

Olympic Airlines may be bought by rival Aegean Airlines, following the disclosure that it is weighing up the value of the troubled Greekflag carrier. Aegean,which competes with Olympic on domestic and international routes, submitted abid last month focused on Olympic's flight operations. It is reported that five companies have entered the race for Olympic,including the one-time British Airways subsidiary DBA,which is now privately owned.http://www.olympic-airways.gr

Mar 28, 2005

Air Canada

Air Canada has adjusted its domestic schedule to add flights between major cities after Canadian low-fare carrier Jetsgo shut down operations on Friday stranding passengers. Jetsgo President Michel Leblanc said the airline deeply regretted having to shut down and would seek bankruptcy protection. Air Canada is busy adding new daily flights to Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Halifax as the March vacation break for college students is underway. Air Canada also will be adding 10 one-way flights per week to its Rapidair shuttle in the Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa corridor. "We are making these schedule improvements where we see demand increase for Air Canada services as a direct result of the withdrawal of Jetsgo," said Ben Smith, vice president of network planning.