OAG Travel News

US law regulating commercial human spaceflight dates to 2004 and the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act (CSLAA), created to balance the needs of public safety with the technological immaturity of a tourism industry that did not yet exist. In December last year a review of that law made a no-change recommendation to the US Congress, which otherwise would have had to act in accord with a 2012 sunset clause in the 2004 Act. Had that sunset clause kicked in, it would have seen additional rules and might have ended the informed consent principle. Today this principle underpins the CSLAA, which defines space tourists as "spaceflight participants" and states that they fly in an "environment of informed consent". That means the tourist is given documented evidence of the risks, which are also explained to them verbally, and they are required to sign a document indicating they have understood the risks before they can fly.

US Dept. of Transportation said airlines cancelled 1.2% of their scheduled domestic flights in February, down from 3.6% in the year-ago month. American Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines had the highest rate of cancellations at 2.2%, while Hawaiian Airlines (0.1%), Frontier Airlines (0.2%) and Northwest Airlines (0.6%) had the lowest. The 19 reporting carriers had an ontime rate of 82.6% in February compared to the 68.6% reported in the year-ago month. HA (91.2%), Southwest Airlines (88.3%) and Pinnacle Airlines (86.8%) had the best ontime rates and Alaska Airlines (76.3%), Comair (76.6%) and Continental Airlines (77.7%) the worst. The mishandled baggage rate of 3.56 reports per 1,000 passengers compared to 6.41 one year ago.

The US airlines' on-time performance is off to a promising start in 2009, as recently trimmed capacity is leading to faster turnarounds at gates. Nearly 83 percent of flights handled by the nation's 19 largest airlines arrived on time  or within 15 minutes of schedule  in February, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. It was an improvement over both February 2008's 68.6 percent and January 2009's 77 percent.

The world's aviation community has struck a global deal to speed the roll-out of next-generation satellite-based air navigation to help drive efficiency and shrink air transport's carbon footprint. The system entails a shift to more accurate and efficient aircraft trajectories by moving away from reliance on ground-based navigation aids in favour of satellite-guided area navigation procedures.

Baggage handling improved at all 17 airlines, the report said. "Baggage handling probably needed to improve given the fact that people are now paying for it," Wichita State Associate Professor Dean Headley said. "The airlines would have had a real problem had they lost the same number of bags." AirTran had the best baggage handling rate with only 2.87 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. American Eagle was the worst with 5.19 mishandled per 1,000 passengers.

Hawaiian had the best on-time performance at 90% while American Airlines was worst at 69.8%. JetBlue had the lowest involuntary denied boarding rate at 0.01 per 10,000 passengers while ASA was last at 3.89 per 10,000 passengers. Southwest Airlines had the lowest consumer complaint rate at 0.25 per 100,000 passengers while US Airways had the highest rate of 2.01. Headley said the positive performance for airlines in 2008 should be taken "with a grain of salt," explaining, "We know the system performs better when it's less stressed by higher passenger volume. The economy scared away both business and leisure travelers in 2008."

US airlines' customer service improved for the first time in five years in 2008, researchers from St. Louis University and Wichita State University said yesterday in releasing their annual Airline Quality Rating report. Improvement was across the board, with carriers scoring better on baggage handling, ontime performance, denied boarding and customer complaints, researchers said. The airline with the best overall AQR among the 17 graded was Hawaiian Airlines, followed by AirTran Airways, JetBlue Airways, Northwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Regionals were rated the lowest, with the worst ranking going to Atlantic Southeast Airlines, with American Eagle, Comair and Mesa Airlines doing only slightly better.

 
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. The Keukenhof, the gardens and tulip fields that are one of the Netherlands top attractions are now 60 years old, has decided to name a special tulip after KLM. But these organizations share more than just longevity. Both are also renowned Dutch institutions and both are active on the world stage. Many KLM passengers visit the Keukenhof every year. With visitors averaging around 800,000 in just two months, the gardens rank among the Netherlands top tourist attractions. Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade Frank Heemskerk emphasized KLMs economic importance to the flower industry. KLMs success as an airline echoes the wider success of the Dutch logistics industry. The Netherlands is rightly called the Gateway to Europe, because it connects Europes 500 million consumers with the world's markets, he said. www.frederiqueschoice.com.

 
Air France KLM and Gol signed an agreement Friday linking their respective loyalty programs and establishing a codeshare arrangement under which AF will add its code to Gol flights between Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and 13 Brazilian cities by mid-year. A similar deal is being prepared between Gol and KLM. The European carriers operate 21 weekly flights to Sao Paulo Guarulhos and 14 to Rio de Janeiro Galeao.

Effective June 29, Air Jamaica will offer seven weekly flights between Orlando and Jamaica. The addition of two new flights will give passengers direct service to Kingston after a stop in Montego Bay. Air Jamaicas new summer schedule has 246 weekly flights to 12 destinations, with service between Jamaica and Toronto, New York (JFK), Chicago (OHare), Baltimore, Philadelphia, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Curacao and Nassau, as well as service between New York and Grenada. For more information, call Air Jamaica at 800-523-5585 or visit www.AirJamaica.com.

Air Pacific
Passengers who book a new flight on Air Pacific originating in North America to Fiji through June 30 and travel by Dec. 31 can get a full refund if they lose their job before their trip. We understand that travelers might be hesitant to book their next dream vacation due to these uncertain times, said Candy Andrus, Air Pacifics regional general manager of the Americas. We are delighted to announce this special offer to help keep our passengers minds at ease. Fiji is a place for relaxation. We want to make sure this starts when you book your flight with Air Pacific. www.airpacific.com.
 
AirAsia X today announced a promotional campaign for flights from London to Kuala Lumpur by offering a special fare of £399 for its XL' premium seats- inclusive of airport tax and charges. AirAsia X's £399 premium seat sale is open for booking from 8 - 26 April, 2009, for travel between May 5 - July 31, 2009. With a seat pitch of 60", AirAsia X has 30 premium seats on its new Airbus A340-300, offering guests executive-level comfort for prices comparable to economy fares on legacy carriers and a fraction of typical business-class fares.
 
Chengdu and Xi'an will be added to AirAsia's network later this year, bringing the number of routes it operates to China to 10.
 
AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc., announced today plans to begin service in Allentown/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, effective June 25, 2009. The low-cost carrier will offer roundtrip nonstop flights between Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and both Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida and Ft. Lauderdale - Hollywood International Airport in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
 
AirTran Airways will operate seasonal service from Atlanta to Portland, Maine, and Harrisburg June 11-Sept. 8 aboard 717-200s.
 
Alaska Airlines has announced new nonstop service between Bellingham, Wash., and Las Vegas starting June 25. The flights will operate each way on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines will also continue to offer four-times-daily Bellingham-Las Vegas service via Seattle. Alaska Airlines is offering $59 one-way fares on the new nonstop route for tickets purchased by April 22, 2009, for travel through Aug. 30, 2009. The airline also is offering Las Vegas Vacations packages for as low as $208 per person, which includes roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations for two nights. Travelers can earn double Mileage Plan miles on the new flights from June 25 through Aug. 30, 2009. For more information, visit www.alaskaair.com.
 
Allegiant Air said it will end Wilmington, N.C.-Tampa service on May 17 and Bellingham-Reno service on May 29 "due to lack of market demand." It will launch twice-weekly Columbia-Fort Lauderdale flights on May 27.

Asiana Cargo has begun serving Halifax with a 747-400F. Weekly flight arrives from New York JFK via Anchorage then flies to Brussels and Incheon.

The Atlanta Airport Marriott has created the Take Me Out to the Ballgame Atlanta Weekend Getaway Package to celebrate this popular summer sport with rates starting at $129 per night. The package includes airport accommodations, breakfast for two, complimentary hotel parking, and sports amenity at check-in. The package is valid through Oct. 4, 2009, and offers weekend for two package rates from $129 and weekday for two package rates from $199. Atlanta Braves baseball game tickets are not included in this package. Be sure that the promotional code SPE appears in the Corporate/Promotional code box when making your online reservation, or call 800-834-7015 and ask for promotional code SPE. To purchase game tickets, visit www.atlanta.braves.mlb.com/ticketing . For more information, package terms and conditions, visit www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-deals.

British Airways has announced a raft of service changes to its summer schedule following the dropping of several routes last month. In March BA dropped flights from Gatwick to Dublin and Zurich, and Heathrow flights to Dakar and Kolkata due to "commercial reasons," a BA representative said. BA plans to suspend Geneva services departing from Gatwick Airport for the summer, to resume on October 25. Flights from Heathrow to Riyadh and Jeddah will resume from May 31. BA moved its daily Atlanta flights and twice daily Toulouse flights from Gatwick to London Heathrow Airport last month. www.ba.com

British Airways has announced that it has welcomed more than 20 million customers through Heathrows Terminal 5 during its first year of operations. BA says it has received the most positive feedback scores ever, and is also achieving its best punctuality and baggage performance in almost a decade.
 
Cathay Pacific is offering low roundtrip business class fares to Asia. Sample roundtrip fares including fees are $3,791, JFK-Manila; $4,622, San Francisco-Hong Kong; and $5658, JFK to Hong Kong. The JFK to Manila fare requires a seven-day advance purchase and outbound travel must occur by June 30, 2009. The fare shown is for Monday through Thursday departures. Weekend departures begin at $3,991. Stopovers in Hong Kong are permitted for an additional cost. Seats are limited and available on Flights CX888/889 only. Other restrictions may apply. Other fares shown from New York JFK must be purchased by Dec. 31, 2009, and outbound travel must occur by that date. Fees and taxes are included. Seats are limited and other restrictions may apply.
 
Continental Airlines has had its application to join the Star Alliance approved by the US Department of Transportation (DoT). The approval will allow Continental, Lufthansa, United Airlines and Air Canada to act as a single airline and pool sales, revenues and marketing operations on transatlantic routes. Star and the four carriers applied for ATI after Continental decided to switch from rival alliance SkyTeam. Continental is also in talks with United about a possible merger.

Travelers to Kansas City International Airport will find Northwest Airlines gates relocated to Terminal B, starting on Tuesday. As a result of Northwest Airlines Inc. merging with Delta Air Lines Inc., Northwest is leaving its gate locations in Terminal C to take up the space occupied by Delta Air Lines. Northwest travelers returning to KCI after the terminal switch takes place overnight on Monday are advised to take a Red Bus from Terminal B to Terminal C if they are parked in the Terminal C garage or circle lot. Those same travelers should take a Blue Bus from Terminal B to the economy lot transfer station and request to be taken to Terminal C if they are parked in the economy lot.
 
Northwest Airlines has won a license to fly from the USA to Vietnam. Starting ub June, the carrier to fly between San Francisco and Ho Chi Minh City, with a transit stop in Tokyo, using a Boeing 757 aircraft. This would make it the second US carrier to fly to Vietnam. In 2004, United Airlines began flights from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City via Hong Kong. That made it the first carrier to fly to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975 with the death of 58,000 Americans and an estimated three million Vietnamese.

EasyJet launched London Gatwick-Vienna service on April 2. The LCC transported 3.5 million passengers in March, down 6.3% year-over-year. Load factor fell 2.8 points to 84.7%.

Emirates Airline is set to increase connections to Africa with flights to Angola, its 17th African destination. The Dubai-Luanda service, which begins Aug. 2, will operate three times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Operating the Airbus A330-200, the new Emirates service will help support the nations oil-led boom, the emerging tourism market and the thousands of migrant workers, many of whom are from China. For more information, visit www.emirates.com/usa
 
Etihad Airways will launch weekly Abu Dhabi-Astana flights on May 7 aboard an Airbus A319. Four-times-weekly service to Almaty will become thrice-weekly.

Flybe announced that it will open a base at London Gatwick, its 14th, and launch 18-times-weekly flights to Dusseldorf on June 22. Flybe is the third-largest slot holder at LGW but has not based any aircraft there. It plans to operate "nearly" 500 weekly flights from the airport during the summer schedule. It recently opened a new lounge at LGW's South Terminal. The carrier said the move "reaffirms its ability to grow even in challenging economic times and that it also has "big plans to grow further in Germany."

The Gulf emirate of Dubai announced on Monday the launch of its first budget airline called flydubai, which will be taking to the skies in two months despite the global financial crisis. Flydubai will start with flights to the Lebanese capital Beirut on June 1 and to Jordan's capital Amman on June 2. It will operate two next-generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft on both the Beirut and Amman routes, Sheikh Ahmed said. The emirate owns the largest Middle East carrier, Emirates, and has the busiest airport in the region which handled more than 37 million passengers in 2008, a nine percent increase from 2007. The new airline will be based at Dubai Airport, where it will operate from Terminal Two. There are at least four other budget airlines operating in the region.
 
Fraport Cargo Services yesterday resumed handling for Turkish Airlines at Frankfurt following a six-month gap. FCS MD Winfried Hartmann said the company was "able to restart negotiations under different conditions and could offer [THY] a new service package." The airline will operate passenger service between FRA and six Turkish cities during the summer schedule as well as a four-times-weekly A310 freighter service to Istanbul Ataturk.

Gulf Air of the Kingdom of Bahrain announced today it would be adding additional flights and capacity to several of its key destinations this summer. The move follows a prediction by the airline that the summer travel demand to many of its key destinations will be strong despite the current economic climate. The airline has expanded its flights to Frankfurt from 9 to 11 per week while increasing its flights to Kuala Lumpur to a daily service. Asias other popular tourist destinations, Bangkok and Kathmandu, will see double daily flights from Bahrain during the summer season. Flights to Tehran will become a daily service, while flights to Manila have been increased to 12 per week. Destinations in the Levent region will see bigger planes offering more seats to meet the summer rush.
 
Tourist traffic to the Hawaiian islands may be down, but Hawaiian Airlines still managed to bag the distinction of being the nation's top-ranked carrier for service quality in 2008, as reported by the 19th annual national Airline Quality Rating (AQR).

Jet Airways will launch daily Chennai-Dubai service and a second daily Mumbai-Dubai flight on April 23 aboard 737-800s. Both Jet and JetLite have started operating daily New Delhi-Srinagar service.
 
A passenger in Los Angeles recently picked up a fast-food meal for two and was mildly shocked at the price (he doesn't get out much) -- the tab was close to $14. Here's something even more shocking: For the same money, he could have flown from Los Angeles to New York on JetBlue. Crazy times call for crazy measures and that one-day promotion by JetBlue got the message out that cheap airfare is available. And you better believe the airlines want that message out there -- they need to get more bodies on their planes.

LAN Airlines has announced new rates on Premium Business Class fares from LAX to Santiago, Chile. Now passengers on the West Coast can reach the bustling metropolis of Santiago in utmost comfort and style at a substantial discount. The new class combines the best of First and Business classes and features comfortable, full flat, 180-degree reclining seats, so passengers can sleep in a totally horizontal position, which only a select group of airlines in the world offer their passengers. For more information, visit www.lan.com.
 
LAN Cargo affiliate ABSA launched a daily Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Manaus service aboard a 767-300F.

LAN Ecuador began domestic operations uniting Guayaquil and Quito today, the country's largest cities. LAN Ecuador offers 7 daily flights between the cities and will subsequently add the city of Cuenca and the Galapagos Islands to its schedule.

Heathrow Express, the train that gets passengers from Heathrow Airport to the center of London in just 15 minutes, is offering a free upgrade this summer, when it is booked online at www.heathrowexpress.com/US09. The offer is and valid for travel from June 15 to Aug. 31. The First Class cabin delivers a high-end travel experience with plush leather-trimmed seats and personal tables as well as complimentary copies of magazines, newspapers or use the extendable tables to catch up on some work. It also features Onboard TV, Internet Wi-Fi access and uninterrupted cell coverage. Heathrow Express cabins are level with the platform, making it easier to get luggage onboard. All cabins are climate controlled and include modern, accessible toilet facilities. www.heathrowexpress.com.

With more space now being available at Heathrow Terminal 1, Star Alliance is preparing to implement the next stage of its "Move under one Roof" (MuoR) strategy. This sees current Terminal 2 carriers - Austrian, Croatia Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS and TAP - relocating to Terminal 1 this summer. Passengers flying on these five carriers can look forward to a substantial improvement in their travel experience from Heathrow, as compared to Terminal 2.

London Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 was evacuated temporarily after reports of a suspect package, its operator said on Thursday. A spokesman for BAA said the incident was reported at 12:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT) in the departures area and did not affect arrivals. The area was closed for about an hour but has reopened and it was "business as usual", he said. "I can confirm a suspect package was reported, and the building was partially evacuated. Things are getting back to normal," he said.

Lufthansa is switching its Berlin service from London City Airport to Heathrow to allow the route to be operated by an Airbus 319. The move, which will increase capacity on the route by over 50%, forms part of Lufthansa's summer timetable. The new timetable also sees the seasonal return of a third daily frequency between Edinburgh and Frankfurt, and the introduction of an Inverness-Düsseldorf from 20 June to 12 September. In addition, new flights will be offered by start-up Lufthansa Italia between Heathrow and Milan Malpensa.

OpenSkies, an all business airline, announced today that it has completed its merger with L'Avion, the first all business class French airline. The combined airline is now referred to as OpenSkies. A premium subsidiary of British Airways, OpenSkies has been working to fully integrate L'Avion since it acquired the airline in 2008. This is the first European transatlantic merger to include full integration. Travelers flying the new OpenSkies will benefit from additional enhancements and will receive the same advantages they experienced with both L'Avion and OpenSkies - flexible pricing structure, premium comfort, personalized service, and exceptional value. The new OpenSkies will provide customers with the best of both airlines.

The merger is reflected in an adapted livery, with the name OpenSkies written in purple on the fuselage, mixing in tones of L'Avion's signature purple, and a rebranding of its two classes into Biz Bed and Biz Seat from BIZ and PREM+ respectively. The future Biz Bed section will feature 12 seats reclining 180 deg. while Biz Seat cabins will have up to 72 seats. The fleet comprises four 757-200s, two from British Airways and two from L'Avion. One former L'Avion aircraft has been repainted with the updated EC livery and the second should be completed by mid-May. The company said it plans to operate with its existing four aircraft until the current economic environment improves; it had planned to grow the fleet to five by year end. It flies from ORY to Newark and New York JFK and from Amsterdam to JFK.

With Earth Day just two weeks away, Qantas fares as low as $800 and a favorable exchange rate, Tourism Queensland is promoting eco-friendly getaways in Australia. Queensland offers a variety of green getaways including the Cape York Turtle Rescue at the Cape York Turtle Rescue camp in Tropical North Queensland. Stay in comfortable tent cabins on raised platforms and help local Aboriginal rangers and wildlife officers as they tag and measure nesting turtles, protect freshly laid eggs, remove fishing nets from the beach and collect valuable data. The camp, which runs from July to October, costs about $906 ($1,275 AUD) per person for week-long stay. For more information, visit www.capeyorkturtlerescue.com.

Qatar Airways landed the first flight on its new route from Doha, Qatar, to Houston this week. The airlines CEO, Akbar Al Baker, was on the inaugural 18-hour flight, but instead of sitting back and enjoying his companys latest achievement, Al Baker told a group of dinner guests later that night that he spent the entire flight pacing up and down the airplanes aisles making sure everything was in order. Al Baker became Qatar Airways CEO in 1997, about three years after the airline first received the highest five-star ranking from SkyTrax, an independent airline industry audit. Qatar Airways has since grown from a four-aircraft regional airline to operating a fleet of 68 aircraft that flies to more than 80 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, the Far East and North America.

Argentine regional carrier Sol Lineas Aereas is considering setting up a Uruguayan subsidiary to operate long haul flights using Airbus A340s. The airline admits being in conversations with the Uruguayan Government over setting up a local airline, based in Montevideo, with the initial objective of re-establishing direct air connections to Madrid. Uruguay's Pluna abandoned this route last September, leaving Iberia as the sole non-stop operator on the route.
 
South African Airways announced plans to expand its already extensive route network in Southern Africa with the introduction of new daily jet service between Johannesburg and Maun, Botswana. SAAs regional partner, South African Express (SAX), will begin operating one daily flight on July 1 with a 50-seat Canadair CRJ-200 regional jet. For more information, visit www.botswanatourism.us or www.flysaa.com.

South African Airways announced plans to expand its flight schedule with a new morning non-stop service from New York JFK, which begins May 1. For more information, visit www.botswanatourism.us or www.flysaa.com
 
Southwest Airlines will launch its New York LaGuardia service on June 28 with five daily flights to Chicago Midway and thrice-daily service to Baltimore, the LCC announced yesterday.
 
Southwest Airlines in November made a bid to take over the takeoff and landing rights of bankrupt carrier ATA Airlines at LaGuardia. The aggressive competitor last year became the largest domestic passenger-carrier in the U.S., while holding the industry's strongest balance sheet. Starting June 28, the Dallas-based airline will offer eight daily nonstop departures -- five between Chicago Midway and LaGuardia and three between Baltimore/Washington and LaGuardia. Fares will range from $89 one-way for Chicago flights and $49 one-way for Baltimore/Washington flights with a 14-day advance purchase.
 
New Yorkers who make frequent flights to Chicago and Washington, D.C. are about to find themselves paying less for airfare. On Tuesday, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Inc. said it would begin eight daily nonstop flights from New York City's LaGuardia Airport to Chicago Midway and Baltimore-Washington airports, beginning June 28. The low-cost carrier also offered historically low ticket prices on its LaGuardia routes, with one-way flights to Chicago for $89 and to Baltimore-Washington for $49. That's bound to put pricing pressure on rivals like AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and UAL Corp.'s United and low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways Corp.

Southwest Airlines has cut fares between Phoenix and California. Southwest has $49 flights each way between Phoenix and San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Burbank and Ontario. The Dallas-based airline is also offering $79-one way fares between Phoenix and the San Francisco and Silicon Valley area. The fare sale runs between April 20 and June 25.
 
Star Alliance said it plans to move current London Heathrow Terminal 2 tenants Austrian Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and TAP Portugal to T1 this summer. At that point, the 21 Star members serving LHR will remain split between T1 and T3.

TAM, Brazil's largest airline, and Britain's bmi, the second-largest airline operating out of Heathrow Airport in London, will initiate an operational codeshare agreement on April 14. The bilateral agreement will allow the two companies to expand services for customers traveling between Brazil and the United Kingdom, resulting in more destination options in both countries and convenient connections for the largest Brazilian and British cities.

TUIfly was hit by a wildcat strike yesterday at Hamburg, Hanover and Dusseldorf. Forty flights and 6,000 passengers suffered delays of up to 5 hr. as some 190 employees stopped working, although no flights were cancelled. The ver.di union called the strike and is seeking a 5% pay increase for its members. TUIfly staff has been concerned over job security since the announcement of the carrier's alliance with Air Berlin, which will begin operating 17 TUIfly 737s on scheduled routes.
 
Regarding the Turkish Airlines aircraft that mistakenly landed at a military air base in Georgia, pilot error is thought to have caused the aircraft, traveling from Istanbul to Tbilisi, to land at the base located some 17 kilometers from the main passenger airport, a Turkish Airlines source, who declined to be named, said. The Turkish state-run Anatolian news agency said 69 people were on board the Boeing aircraft. An aviation sector official in Istanbul confirmed the aircraft landed at the wrong airport.
 
Georgia's civil aviation administration has confirmed that a Turkish Airlines aircraft erroneously landed at a military airport in the country's capital today. According to the administration the Boeing 737-800 - registered TC-JFT - landed 4nm southeast of Tbilisi International Airport, at the Vaziani base. The military base, whose runway has a similar heading to Tbilisi's, was bombed during the Russian assault on Georgia in August last year. "It's the fifth time in Georgia for a landing the wrong runway," says the Georgian administration in a statement. The Turkish aircraft was carring 69 passengers. It is unclear what type of approach the aircraft was conducting, and whether the choice of approach was influenced by findings from the Turkish Airlines 737-800 crash at Amsterdam in February.

V Australia yesterday launched its second route, a thrice-weekly Brisbane-Los Angeles service, aboard a 777-300ER. Less than six weeks after it first took to the skies, Australias newest international airline, V Australia, launched its second route. The long-haul boutique style airline introduces the new three weekly flights, hot on the heels of the recently launched daily nonstop Los Angeles-Sydney service. In the past few weeks since its inception, V Australia has received resounding support both for its in-flight services, products and people, as well as the affordable fares it introduced in to the market. Compared to the same time last year, trans-Pacific fares have dropped 54 percent, a direct result of competition and a new player in the game. www.vaustralia.com.

Virgin Blue this week launched daily flights from Townsville to Cairns, Canberra, Gold Coast and Rockhampton and daily Canberra-Hobart service, all aboard E-170/190s.

Virgin Galactic. When looking for customers, how do you find the spaceflight enthusiasts among the world's 10 million or thereabouts US dollar millionaires? Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn is not entirely sure: "I don't think we have yet cracked it. We're learning as we go along. We have Sir Richard Branson, who is constantly travelling, doing public speaking, he meets people, they are fascinated." One of his first 100 customers-or "founders" in Virgin speak -is Danish-born London-based financier Per Wimmer, who agrees the sales challenge is significant: "It will take good marketing and efforts to identify the right high net-worth [individuals]." Another customer is US actress Victoria Principal, one of four celebrities known to have signed up, including Stephen Hawking and film director Brian Singer. To date the spaceline has found about 300 customers and they have deposited $40 million.
 
On 31 December 2008 the New Mexico government signed a 20-year lease agreement with Virgin Galactic. The agreement enabled the final release of state funds for Spaceport America's construction, a project with an estimated cost of $225 million. The lease ensures that Virgin Galactic's world headquarters will be in the southern US state and it is one of four spaceports the spaceline plans to use. The New Mexico lease signing followed the awarding of the spaceport's launch licence by the US Federal Aviation Administration for vertical launches. But a separate licence is needed for ascents using a runway, which Virgin Galactic needs. In the nearer term, the space port's ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for June. A hangar and terminal building should be completed next year, but companies already operating at the site include Lockheed Martin and UP Aerospace.

Source: ZZ AirGuide 090417

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