Porter Airlines, the fledgling carrier with a controversial plan to run flights between Toronto’s island airport and Ottawa, took delivery of its first aircraft on Tuesday.
The privately owned company is still waiting for clearance from Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency to commence operations at Toronto’s City Centre Airport, which it hopes to do by fall.
source: CBC News
Alaska Airlines has conducted water-landing and evacuation drills that could lead to FAA approval for flights to Hawaii. The Seattle-based airline hasn’t said it intends to fly to Hawaii.
source: Kirotv
Frontier Airlines has received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to expand its Mexico service by offering non-stop service to Cabo San Lucas (SJD) from Kansas City (MCI). With seasonal operation of one flight per week, the service is planned to begin Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006. The new route represents Frontier’s third Mexican destination from Kansas City, complementing Frontier’s six flights between Kansas City and Denver (DEN). Frontier currently operates service between Kansas City and Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
source: Infozine
A Comair passenger jet that mistakenly took off on a short runway crashed into a woody field on Sunday, killing all but one of the 50 people aboard. An initial examination of the flight recorders, or so-called black boxes, indicated that the pilots of the Bombardier Canadair jet used a 3,500-foot runway – much shorter than is typically required for a fully loaded aircraft of that type – instead of one twice that length that is perpendicular to the shorter runway and is used most by commercial jets at the Blue Grass Airport.
source: Herald Tribune
Low-cost airline EasyJet stepped up the challenge to Spanish carriers like Iberia on Thursday by naming Madrid as a base for domestic flights and a hub for southern Europe.
The airline is already the second biggest international carrier to Spain behind Iberia, shuttling 7.5 million people there last year, and from mid-February 2007 it will operate domestic flights from Madrid’s Barajas airport.
EasyJet, which is recruiting new pilots and cabin crew for the Madrid operation, said it would announce new routes in September. It already flies from Madrid to five airports on the European mainland and four in Britain, and from 11 other Spanish airports.
source: Reuters
A Northwest Airlines Corp flight that turned back to Amsterdam on its way to India because of security worries is to reach Bombay without 12 arrested passengers.
source: Forbes
American Airlines is to run its biggest marketing campaign in the UK since the 11 September attacks to establish itself as the leading airline servicing routes between the UK and US. The carrier, which has struggled to recover from the impact of the terror attacks, is spending more than £5m on the activity.
source: Brand republic
Twelve passengers were in custody Wednesday after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam with a fighter jet escort.They have not been formally charged, police said. But an airport policeman said authorities have enough information to hold the 12 for at least three days.
Flight 42 returned to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport “after several passengers displayed behavior of concern,” Northwest Airlines said in a written statement.
source: CNN
Michigan’s largest passenger air carrier joined others nationwide two weeks ago when it suspended an $80 charge to coach passengers wishing to check a third bag. The move was to allow passengers to adjust to new security restrictions.
The new rules were put in place after British officials thwarted an alleged plot to bomb U.S.-bound planes. Most liquids, gels and lotions now are banned in carry-on bags.
United and American Airlines also have resumed charging for a third bag.
A Russian passenger jet carrying at least 170 people â?? including 45 children â?? crashed Tuesday in eastern Ukraine after sending a distress signal, killing all aboard.
Russian authorities said they had ruled out terrorism, and Ukrainian officials said there was bad weather in the area at the time.
The Pulkovo Airlines Tu-154 was en route from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa to St. Petersburg and disappeared from radar screens while flying over eastern Ukraine around 2:30 p.m. local time.
source: canada.com
