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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0013.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AIRLINE ACQUISITION MARY KIRBY / WASHINGTON DC Restaurateur serves up air services at second try Hooters owner gathers Pace in move to provide charter flights to Florida for golfers Hooters is hoping its reputation will prove popular with air travellers Popular US-based restaurant chain Hooters has revived its plans to launch air services under the Hooters Air brand, after owner Bob Brooks acquired North Carolina-based charter operator Pace Airlines. Hooters restaurants have become famous in the USA for tight-shirted waitresses serving beer and chicken wings in a testos terone-filled atmosphere. In 2002, Brooks made overtures to buy bankrupt Vanguard Airlines with the intention of rebranding the carrier as Hooters Air. Those efforts fell through, however, after Vanguard rejected Brooks' bid, call ing the offer "inadequate". Brooks says his acquisition of profitable Pace makes more eco nomic sense than taking on a bank rupt scheduled carrier. "I learned through my due diligence efforts that the charter service segment is a healthier business arena and is better suited for extending the Hooters brand," he says. Pace is a charter carrier that was formed by the management of the former Piedmont Airlines and is part of Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation. The carrier provides regular char ter services for sports teams, corpo rate accounts and tour operators using a fleet of 15 Boeing 737s and two Boeing 757s. Rather than totally rebrand the airline, Brooks will take a single Pace aircraft and alter the paint scheme to reflect the Hooters name and logo. The aircraft will be used to pro vide domestic charter services to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for golfers, beginning this year. Hooters Air may also acquire additional aircraft to allow it to offer charters to ski or gambling destinations. "The extent to which the famous restaurant's brand repre sentation will be used in that oper ation, beyond the name, is a work in progress," says Hooters. POWERPLANTS Lufthansa opts for R-R Lufthansa has selected the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 over rival offerings from General Electric and Pratt & Whitney to power the 10 Airbus A330- 300s it has on order. The 72,000lb (320kN) Trent 772B-powered A330s will be delivered to the German flag carrier between January 2004 and November 2005. Although it has been a major GE customer in the past, in 2002 Lufthansa selected the Trent 900 to power 15 Airbus A380-800s it has on order. It is also taking the Trent 500 on the Airbus A340-600, where there is no other engine option offered. START-UP NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE Charter carrier Deccan to offer India's first no-frills operation Indian air charter company Deccan Aviation is planning to launch the country's first "no-frills" airline this year with Bombardier Dash 8s. Managing director Capt G R Gopinath says passenger flights are due to begin in May. He says terms have been agreed with Bombardier for the lease of six Dash 8-100s for the move into scheduled services. The operation will be launched with four aircraft followed by two more three months later. Around 15 destinations are to be served in the south of the country. "We will be connecting under- served or totally unconnected areas," says Gopinath. "We have been looking at this for the last two to three years and feel the timing is right. India needs a low-cost airline and this will be modelled in some ways on Easyjet and Ryanair." Bangalore-based Deccan oper ates eight helicopters and two small fixed-wing aircraft on charter services. Gopinath says it is India's largest air charter company. The Indian government has been calling for the development of air services to underserved desti nations. Most of India's airlines operate larger aircraft such as Boeing 737s on domestic flights, although main private carrier Jet Airways now operates ATR turbo- props in addition to its 737s and is to add Embraer regional jets, while rival 737 operator Air Sahara plans to acquire Bombardier CRJs. AIRPORT • Brussels South Charleroi Airport increased its passen gers handled by 65% in 2002, mainly as a result of Ryanair operating three Boeing 737-800s to nine destinations. The airport expects to handle 1.7 million passengers in 2003 and is planning to add a new ter minal with capacity for 3 million passengers by 2006. Mean while, Brussels International Airport suffered a 16% drop in aircraft movements to 256,873 in 2002, back to levels last experi enced in 1995. This was as a result of the demise of Sabena, which accounted for 52% of Brussels' 2000 capacity. • The Zimbabwean government is studying the feasibility of devel oping a new international airport at Kariba, a main tourist destina tion in northern Zimbabwe. The government says the existing airport cannot cope with demand and is losing traffic to airports in Zambia. But the study comes as tourist traffic to Zimbabwe plummets due to political and economic instability and government critics have questioned the need for the air port. • The government of Singapore is allocating S$210 million ($120 million) to help maintain Changi Airport's status as a regional hub. The measures include 15% dis counts on landing and rental charges at Changi and sec ondary Seietar Airport from 1 January for three years, continu ing discount schemes that began last year. • Naples Airport has opened a new departures hall and enlarged terminal and doubles its check- in capacity to 27 desks, which marks the completion of the first phase of a €71 million ($74 mil lion) improvement. • Paris- based Optimum Group is to develop a $100 million commer cial complex as part of the redevelopment of Bahrain International Airport (BIA). Construction tenders will be invited next year and the centre will open in 2005. Bidding is meanwhile under way for the contract to build a new air traffic control tower. The BIA project includes the construction of a satellite terminal at the eastern end of Terminal 1. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 14-20 JANUARY 2003 11
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