Northwest ends 50 interlines
Northwest Airlines is terminating interline agreements with some 50 smaller airlines worldwide because they cannot offer electronic ticketing. The Northwest action is effective from January. It says 98.7% of its passengers now use e-tickets.
LAN affiliates join oneworld
LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador will become affiliate members of the oneworld alliance in 2007. They will join sister airlines LAN Express and LAN Peru, who are already affiliates. LAN Airlines has been a full oneworld member since 2000. The way was cleared for LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador to join after American Airlines and Iberia dropped earlier objections.
Porter takes flight
Canada's Porter Airlines has launched services, starting with frequent shuttle flights from Toronto City Centre Airport to Ottawa using Bombardier Dash 8s. In December it plans to add flights to Montreal. Currently Porter has no competition at the downtown airport because of an impasse between Air Canada Jazz and the airport operator.
Pluna moves toward sale
Uruguay is accepting bids to sell 49% of Pluna. The Uruguayan government hopes to complete the bidding and close a sale by year-end. The 14 parties who have expressed an interest include both airlines and non-airline investors. Following a government-backed capital injection in September, Varig's 49% stake in Pluna has been diluted to 7%.
MAS reconsiders Newark
Malaysia Airlines is to continue flying to New York Newark after the country's government asked it to reconsider a decision to drop the service. The airline had said it would drop its Kuala Lumpur-Stockholm-Newark service in January as part of restructuring efforts intended to return it to profitability.
Bolivia's LAB rebuilds
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano is starting to rebuild its network after a debilitating series of labour and ownership disputes. It plans to revive US routes with two Boeing 757s but LAB is still embroiled in a dispute with rival AeroSur over the Madrid route, which AeroSur launched during LAB's turmoil.
Source: Airline Business
