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Aviation History
1999
1999 - 3175.PDF
Am riumzpunr ROUTES ++ British Airways franchise oper ator British Regional Airlines has been cleared to take over KLM uk's services from Jersey in the Channel Islands to Southampton. Jersey European Airways and Aurgney had also been vyingforthe route. ++ American Airlines and French rail company SNCF are to jointly market air-to-rail connec tions. American will offer connect ing high- speed rail services with a codeshare from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Lille, Lyon and Nantes. ++ Air Canada is expand ing its US network with 11 new des tinations along the US Eastern seaboard via Washington Dulles and Chicago, with its new code- share partner United Express car rier, Atlantic Coast Airlines. ++ German airline European Air Express is launching a three times daily service on weekdays and one daily service on Saturdays and Sundays from London Luton Airport to Dusseldorf Express Airport, Moenchengladbach. The service replaces flights operated by Debonair, which has suspended operations. ++ New York-based startup JetBlue Airways has revealed its first two destinations when it launches operations next January from New York Kennedy. They are Buffalo, New York, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. JetBlue, which is acquiring a large fleet of Airbus A320s, plans to serve 11 cities with 10 aircraft by the end of its first year. Other points it will serve in the first year include Rochester and Syracuse in New York state and Burlington in Vermont. ++ easyJet has launched a service between London Luton Airport and Liver pool. The low-cost operator will operate flights three times daily. ++ US Airways adds a new low- fare route between Orlando and Syracuse with the launch of a daily non-stop MetroJet service. ++ Copa Airlines will launch a daily non-stopflightfrom Panama Cityto Lima at the end of October. ++ United Airlines will launch daily services between Los Angeles and Paris Charles de Gaulle next April using Boeing 777s. Kenya Airways weighs options for long-haul aircraft renewal JENS FLOTTAU/NAIROBI KENYA AIRWAYS is prepar ing to undertake a long-haul fleet-renewal programme. The carrier has issued requests for pro posals to Airbus and Boeing and to leasing companies. A decision on the new long-haul fleet could be made as early as January. Although the airline's new chair man Richard Nyaga has declined to name the aircraft being consid ered, the 250-seat Airbus A3 30- 200 and Boeing 767-300ER widebodies are believed to be the prime candidates. The carrier is thought to be planning to acquire aircraft on lease in the short term, before deciding on a purchase. Kenya Airways' long-haul ser vices are operated by four 10-13- year-old Airbus A310-300s, due to be replaced in 2002. The airline is seeking a single widebody type suit able to operate long-haul routes such as Nairobi to London, and regional flights to points such as Johannesburg, Dubai and Lagos. Netherlands flag carrier KLM, Kenya Airways' alliance partner and part owner, is a major 767- 300ER operator, with 11 aircraft, plus one on order, all leased from International Lease Finance. The airline operates the twinjet on its Nairobi-Amsterdam services. KLM says the 767 suffers pay- load restrictions under certain con ditions. Nairobi has an airfield elevation of around 5,250ft (1,600m), but a KLM source sug gests that the two airlines might decide to undertake a joint acquisi tion of the type, with KLM plan ning to acquire two more aircraft for its own fleet. Once the long-haul fleet strate gy is established, Nyaga says the airline will turn its attention to replacing its domestic fleet in three or four years' time. Four Boeing 737-300sandtwoageing737-200s are operated. KLM and Kenya Airways have started to build a regional hub at Nairobi, with both airlines flying daily Amsterdam-Nairobi services. The two carriers have integrated their African sales and marketing organisations and Nyaga says the African carrier is close to finalising codesharing agreements with Air Afrique and Air Zimbabwe. Kenya Airways traffic increased by 3 0 % in its financial year 1998/9, with 1.04 million passengers being carried. The airline's turnover was 13.22 billion Kenyan shillings ($175 million), and the carrier made a pre-tax profit of 1.42 billion Kenyan shillings. Q Renamed Suckling displays its new colours on one of its Fairchild Dornier 328s English fly Scots flag SUCKLING Airways has been relaunched as ScotAirways, fol lowing investment by Brian Souter and Ann Gloag, Scottish founders of transport operator Stagecoach. The airline, based at Cambridge Airport, operates from Amsterdam, Dundee, Glasgow, London City, London Luton, Manchester, Norwich, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Southampton. Delta learns crash lessons with mask deal DELTA AIR Lines is to equip all its aircraft with full-face cockpit oxygen masks from BE Aerospace. The move follows a number of fatal fires and comes ahead of an anticipated Federal Aviation Ad ministration ruling on their use. The airline plans to fit the sys tem to all 600 of its Boeing 737, 757, 767, 777, MD-11, MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft by the first quarter of 2001, including all new- delivered aircraft, for $7.2 million. BE's newly acquired Nellcor Puritan Bennett subsidiary will deliver the first 150 masks in January, with the new equipment to be made a standard fit on flight training simulators from April. Delta has opted for a single- piece self-sealing mask, incorpo rating an oxygen regulator and goggles. The mask's harness inflates when pulled from die stor age and can be fitted and operating in less than 5s using one hand, claims the manufacturer. The sys tem is certified for use up to 45,000ft (13,72 5m). Other carriers to have ordered the single "sweep-on" or two-piece system include America West, FedEx, SAS and United, but Delta is thought to be one of the first planning to equip its entire fleet. "After the Swissair and Valuejet crashes, a lot of airlines are order ing," says an industry official. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 27 October - 2 November 1999
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