Plane lands safely after bomb hoax

Dubai: A Malaysian Airline plane grounded in Karachi after a bomb threat, arrived safely in Dubai late Thursday after it was found to be a hoax, the airline manager here said.

The flight had left Kuala Lumpur and transited in Karachi, where airport security received a bomb threat, said Halimy Mahmoud, regional manager of the airline. The plane was inspected and it was determined the threat was a hoax, he said.

Clearancet

The flight arrived in Dubai on Thursday at 10:15pm after being delayed for five hours.

After receiving clearance from Dubai Airport, it left for Kuala Lumpur, transiting again through Karachi. Mahmoud said no problems were reported in Karachi on the return flight.

He said this was the first bomb threat targeting a foreign carrier in Pakistan. Previous threats had targeted Pakistan International Airlines.

Malaysian Airlines doubted that this incident would affect its operations or affect visitors to Malay-sia, which is trying to draw more tourists to celebrate the country's 50th anniversary of independence.

Jet unveils Brussels luxury lounge

Above and below: Views of Jet Airways' new first- and premiere-class lounge at Brussels Airport

Indian airline Jet Airways has today inaugurated a new lounge at Brussels Airport. A Hindu priest blessed the lounge before it was officially opened by Belgium’s deputy Prime Minister Freya van den Bossche.

The 522m² lounge is open to Jet’s first- and premiere-class passengers and offers a comfortable waiting area, including Italian leather design chairs, three entertainment zones, a business centre and meeting rooms. Passengers can also choose from a wide choice of Indian and European food in the buffet area. First class passengers may even take a shower.

It has capacity for 18 first-class and 59 premiere-class passengers at the same time.

“The Jet Airways lounge is arguably one of the finest in the world. No effort has been spared to give our passengers facilities and comfort in a luxurious setting,” says Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal.

Last spring, Jet Airways took the decision to set up a European hub at Brussels Airport in close cooperation with Brussels Airlines. The hub offers passengers the opportunity to fly to India or North America with Jet Airways, while feeder flights within Europe are operated by Brussels Airlines.

Jet’s European hub became operational last August. The airline already operates flights from Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai via Brussels to New York and Toronto.

Flybe opens four new airport lounges

Flybe, which claims to be Europe’s largest regional airline, has opened new executive lounges at Manchester, Exeter, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports and refurbished its existing lounge at Jersey. The new lounges boast panoramic views of the airport runways, plasma screen TV, work stations, cafe lounge seating area and refreshments. WiFi facilities will be available soon.

Ben-Gurion passenger tax set to soar

Airport tax at Ben-Gurion International Airport will rise by more than 50% next year to boost the airport’s security budget and allow improvements to infrastructure and technology. The Israel Airports Authority says the per-passenger tax will rise from US$13 to at least US$20.

Transportation Ministry director general Gideon Siterman claims the new, higher, airport tax will still be among the world’s lowest.

“We want to improve our service,” he says. “Today, the tax is US$13, and it was last raised in April 1994. Compare it to Heathrow in London. There, British citizens pay about US$80 and Israelis pay US$120,” Siterman says.

Hotel planned for Belfast City Airport

Plans have been revealed to build a hotel close to the terminal at Belfast City Airport, probably on the site of the short stay car park. A formal planning application will be made early next year. A spokesman says the airport will continue to explore commercial development in selected areas of its site despite recent objections from neighbouring residents opposed to development.

Vienna expands terminal to meet traffic growth

Above: Expansion of Vienna's terminal will add 63 check-in counters and 17 new pier positions at the airport

Vienna International Airport (VIE) is expanding its existing terminal facilities to cope with the growth in passenger numbers and to separate Schengen and non-Schengen traffic. The airport recorded double-digit growth in traffic during September, increasing its passenger numbers by 10.7% to 1.8 million. Passenger traffic (scheduled and charter flights) to eastern Europe grew particularly strongly, up 23.1% compared with the same month last year.

During the first nine months of the year, the number of passengers handled by the airport rose 9.4% to 14 million and transfers increased by 6.1%.

Central to the capacity expansion programme will be the VIE-Skylink terminal, which is under construction and due to open in spring 2009. The VIE-Skylink terminal is designed to be flexible, allowing the airport to expand capacity as required. It will add 63 check-in counters to the airport, as well as 17 new pier positions, 52 shops and 3,500m² of food outlets.

Designed to maintain VIE’s one-roof concept, the VIE-Skylink terminal and the new pier allow the airport to guarantee airlines a minimum connecting time of 25-30 minutes.

VIE handled 16.9 million passengers in 2006 and the VIE-Skylink terminal will raise capacity to 18 million passengers initially, rising to 20 million by 2010.

China predicts doubling of air traffic in three years

Right: The number of flights from Chinese airports is set to double over the next three years

Top Chinese officials predict the country’s aviation industry will grow at a record rate over the next three years, effectively doubling in size during that period.

“The industry should grow at about 14% a year between now and 2010,” says Sha Hongjiang, deputy director of the planning and development department in the country’s General Administration of Civil Aviation.

Three factors are driving this growth: the Beijing Olympics next year, and the World Expo in Shanghai and Asian Games in Guangzhou, both in 2010.

Speaking yesterday at a two-day forum, organised by the China Air Transport Association and China Civil Airports Association, Sha said that by 2010 China’s annual passenger transport capacity will double to 270 million and the number of airports will increase to 186 from the current 147.

Private and foreign funding will be encouraged in the air cargo sector, added Sha, especially in the central and western parts of China.

He told delegates that challenges remain to future growth, including insufficient infrastructure, relatively poor airport management and the strict control of airspace.

AIRPORT NEWS

Pudong goes green with second phase expansion

Above: Environmental measures have informed the design of Pudong International Airport's new development

Pudong International Airport is planning an environmentally friendly air traffic hub for the second phase of construction at the airport. The new building should slash energy consumption to half of what was originally envisaged.

Officials hope the project will save about 130,000,000kW/h of electricity each year after the project, cutting the airport's annual energy consumption to US$20 (Yuan 150) per cubic metre. Payback on the US$13.33 million (Yuan 100 million) energy-saving project is expected within eight years.

One of the most impressive aspects of the design is a massive skylight feature (pictured right) comprising 138 separate skylights, which is not just an energy-saving measure, but also a way to showcase the airport's striking architecture. The project designers say it will cut about half of the airport's projected lighting consumption. The skylights are made from double-layer anti-radiation glass with high transparency and a 100mm heat preservation layer, and are designed to screen the interior from strong sunshine and heat radiation without hampering light flow.

Designers will include a series of ventilation holes on four sides of the terminal to make use of the high wind pressure around the airport to provide natural ventilation. The airport’s air conditioning system will be supplemented by two large steel water holders in the airport’s energy centre, which are cooled to freeze the water at night and used for cooling during the day.

Designers say water from the river around the airport will be treated and recycled for the terminal's toilet flushing and car washing operations.

These measures are expected to reduce tap water usage by about 2.5 million tonnes per year, say project designers.

Four more airlines to join SIA at T3

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has made an offer to four airlines to move their operations to Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 3. The four airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and United Airlines, will join Singapore Airlines in operating from Terminal 3. Terminal 3, currently undergoing tests and trials, opens for flight operations on 9 January 2008.

The decision to offer the four airlines to move their operations to Terminal 3 was reached after careful and detailed assessments. CAAS had earlier written to all airlines at Changi Airport to check which airlines would be interested to be considered to operate from Terminal 3. Dialogues were also held with airlines to address their questions and concerns about moving their operations.

CAAS assessed the airlines’ interest to move to Terminal 3 based on the guiding principle of distributing capacity usage across all three terminals, so as to optimise the usage of airport capacity and facilities.

CAAS’ Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lim Kim Choon, said, “CAAS has made in-depth assessments of the airlines’ interest to move to Terminal 3. Our main aim is to optimise the usage of all three main terminals, which will provide capacity for airlines at each terminal to grow their operations. The four new airlines moving their operations to Terminal 3 will also enable Changi Airport to spread out usage of the three terminals in a balanced manner.”

Mr Lim added, “We look forward to welcoming the new airlines at Terminal 3 and Share their excitement about commencing flight operations at the new terminal.”

As at 1 October 2007, Changi Airport is served by 81 airlines operating some 4,220 weekly scheduled flights to 192 cities in 59 countries.

Online travel agents in China challenge conventional agencies

With nearly seven in 10 Chinese leisure travellers accessing destination websites, and about six in 10 using online travel discussion forums to source information, travel operators and tourism promotional bodies will need an effective Internet presence to capture the opportunities presented by Chinese outbound tourism, according to a new research study conducted by The Nielsen Company in partnership with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

The new China Outbound Travel Monitor 2007 reveals that traditional travel agents rank only second behind online sources (63%) as the most popular source of information for potential travellers while the use of traditional media is found to be much lower (40%) for newspapers and magazines.

Conducted in October 2007, via a combination of telephone and online interviews, the Monitor surveyed 1,500 travellers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, about their behaviour, attitudes and opinions of various destinations and provides insights into their decision-making processes, information sourcing, booking choices, accommodation preferences and more.

The Monitor covers all outbound leisure and business trips taken over a 12-month period between 2006 and 2007. Findings covering a further 23 cities throughout China will be released in early 2008.

"China`s outbound travel market is recognised as one of the key emerging outbound travel markets in the world and has evolved faster than any other Asian outbound market," said Dr Grace Pan, head of Travel & Leisure Research, The Nielsen Company, China.

"It is important for industry participants to keep a close eye on this lucrative market by tracking how Chinese travellers are evolving, in terms of their travel behaviour, travel motivations and satisfaction levels with tourism suppliers around the world."

PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre Director Mr John Koldowski said: "PATA is proud of our solid working relationship with The Nielsen Company. The Chinese outbound market in 2006 represented 35 million visits and continues to grow dramatically. We are confident this latest study will provide invaluable strategic insights, which in turn will help our members tap deeper into this burgeoning market."

Chinese outbound travellers from the three key cities are also turning to the Internet for their travel bookings. While the majority is currently using traditional travel agents (61%), Chinese travellers booking via online travel agents and hotel or transport operators websites (29% and 16% respectively) are on the rise, with their numbers expected to continue to increase.

"Given the astounding growth in China`s online population, the Internet will become the most efficient way to quickly understand consumers across China`s vast markets; marketers have to innovate to leverage the Internet to reach consumers as standard online advertising may not be adequate to capture the attention of the increasingly technology-savvy Chinese online population," continued Dr. Grace Pan.

Airbus A380 Completes First Commercial Flight

Reuters-An Airbus A380, the world's biggest jumbo jet, landed safely in Sydney on Thursday, ending its first commercial flight from Singapore.

The Singapore Airlines' Airbus A380 superjumbo emerged from low-lying cloud to touch down on time on a damp Sydney afternoon, completing its flight from Singapore's Changi Airport.

Watched by hundreds of airport staff and aviation enthusiasts lining fences outside the airport, passengers on the inaugural Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight disembarked without a hitch.

The wet Sydney afternoon did nothing to dampen passengers' enthusiasm.

"It was great being a part of history," Michael Sim, who said he had paid about 30 percent more for his ticket than he would have on other flights, said.

Passengers paid between USD$560 and USD$100,380 for seats on the inaugural flight, after bidding for the tickets as part of a charity auction.

"It was a very smooth rise, and much quieter than the 747," Rainer Silhavy said.

During the flight, first-class passengers reclined in suites modeled on luxury yacht interiors and slumbered in proper beds which the airline said can be converted into doubles.

French design house Givenchy designed the bedding, while passengers ate off fine bone chinaware and drank from crystal glasses bought in by the same designer.

"Of course it was the first flight, so you get most of the first class treatment, I hope they keep that up," said Sim.

The A380 can seat more than 800 passengers although Singapore Airlines, the first airline to take delivery of the plane, has configured the aircraft to seat 470 over two decks, hoping to attract more top-paying passengers.

The superjumbo replaces the Boeing 747 as the world's largest airliner in service.

Hundreds of airport staff and passengers armed with camera phones earlier watched the take-off from Singapore.

"I'm a big airplane freak and I love everything about planes," said Ernest Graaff, an A380 passenger as he waited to board the jet among beaming SIA flight attendants.

Graaff paid USD$40,000 for two business-class tickets on the jet. "I'm excited about being a part of history."

The aircraft will return to Singapore on Friday.

"Flying the aircraft itself is like flying any other big jet," said pilot Robert Ting, who was one of four pilots and a crew of 30 aboard the flight.

"This aircraft comes with the latest technology... for example this is an aircraft where we come with an electronic flight plan whereby we will have electronic manuals on board, we no longer carry paper copies," he told local television.

SIA is to take delivery of another five A380s in 2008. The airline plans to introduce the A380 on long-haul flights to London, Tokyo and San Francisco from early 2008.

Competitive and sustainable destinations discussed at European Tourism Forum

Strategies to make EU tourism destinations competitive by embracing sustainability will be the focal point of discussions at the 6th European Tourism Forum, which takes place today (26 October 2007) in Portimao, Algarve in Portugal. At the occasion of this conference, European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen will present the awards to the winners of the European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) today. At the forum the European Commission will also present its new communication launching a strategy to foster sustainable and competitive tourism in Europe. It invites all stakeholders to strengthen the contribution of sustainable practices to making Europe the most attractive tourism destination.

Commission Vice-President Gunter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy, said: "The success and growth potential of Europe as a tourist destination of the future will depend on our capacity to preserve and reinforce the assets of Europe through a combination of reasonable development and innovation of the tourism product."

Ministers of Tourism from Member States as well as Portuguese and European tourism authorities will participate in the European Tourism Forum to discuss the following topics:

• management and conservation of the natural and cultural heritage;
• management of resources and waste;
• sustainable management: corporate responsibility for competitiveness and job creation.

On Friday 19 October 2007, the Commission launched the “Agenda for a Sustainable and Competitive European Tourism”, which follows on the renewed EU Tourism Policy (see IP/06/344). In order to achieve a competitive and sustainable development of tourism in Europe the Commission invites all actors to embrace the following principles:

Take a holistic and integrated approach: All the various impacts of tourism should be taken into account in its planning and development.

Plan for the long term: Sustainable development is about taking care of the needs of future generations as well as our own. Long term planning requires the ability to sustain actions over time.

Achieve an appropriate pace and rhythm of development: The level, pace and shape of development should reflect and respect the character, resources and needs of host communities and destinations.

Involve all stakeholders: A sustainable approach requires widespread and committed participation in decision making and practical implementation by all those implicated in the outcome.

Use best available knowledge: Policies and actions should be informed by the latest and best knowledge available. Information on tourism trends and impacts, and skills and experience, should be shared across Europe. Minimise and manage risk: Where there is uncertainty about outcomes, there should be full evaluation and preventative action should be taken to avoid damage to the environment or society.

Reflect impacts in costs: Prices should reflect the real costs to society of consumption and production activities. This has implications not simply for pollution but for charging for the use of facilities that have significant management costs attached to them.

Set and respect limits, where appropriate: The carrying capacity of individual sites and wider areas should be recognised, with a readiness and ability to limit, where and when appropriate, the amount of tourism development and volume of tourist flows.

Undertake continuous monitoring: Sustainability is all about understanding impacts and being alert to them all the time, so that the necessary changes and improvements can be made.

The Commission`s Agenda aims at strengthening a voluntary and continuous process. It should be promoted by all tourism stakeholders in Europe: the different levels of government – local authorities, destination management organisations, regions, Member States – , businesses, tourists and all other bodies that can stimulate (trade unions, universities, research establishments, ...).

The Communication also contains a message of commitment by the Commission to this Agenda process. It builds the framework for the implementation of supportive European policies and actions in the tourism domain and in all other policy areas which exert an impact on the development of tourism and on its sustainability.

The European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) Awards Ceremony will also be held in Algarve on the 26th October, with the participation of the winning destinations from across Europe. Both the European Tourism Forum and the EDEN Awards Ceremony will be web-streamed live from Algarve on the 26th October.

British Airways To End UK Franchise Agreement

British Airways said on Thursday it was ending its UK franchise agreement with GB Airways from March 2008 and planned to start services on some of the routes operated under the franchise.

GB Airways earlier agreed to be bought by budget airline easyJet.

"UK franchises have outlived their purpose. EasyJet has made an offer to buy GB Airways and this has enabled us to end the franchise agreement early. We had an option to buy GB Airways but we rejected it," British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a statement.

easyJet agrees to acquire GB Airways

easyJet announced that it has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of GB Airways Ltd, excluding its slots at Heathrow Airport, from the Bland Group Limited, for a cash consideration of £103.5 million. GB Airways is primarily a London Gatwick based point-to-point airline operating to destinations across Southern Europe and North Africa under a franchise agreement with British Airways PLC (“British Airways”).

It serves 31 destinations and operates 15 Airbus aircraft (9 A320s and 6 A321s) with an average age of 4.1 years, which are complementary to the easyJet fleet of 107 A319s. In total it operates 39 routes – 28 from Gatwick, 6 from Manchester, 5 from Heathrow.

Based upon its statutory accounts under UK GAAP for the year ended 31 March 2007, GB Airways reported profit before tax of £2.6 million and EBITDAR of £35 million on revenues of £250 million; it carried 2.8 million passengers; had gross assets of £182 million and net assets of £33 million.

The acquisition of GB Airways is consistent with easyJet’s expansion strategy and, importantly, strengthens its customer offering at Gatwick, the airline’s biggest base which has a highly attractive catchment area in London and South East England. The purchase adds valuable take-off and landing slots at Gatwick and the opportunity to accelerate easyJet’s route development. Following the acquisition, easyJet will operate 24% of Gatwick’s slots and will fly approximately 8 million passengers across 62 routes from Gatwick.

By Winter 2008/09, GB Airways will be fully consolidated into the easyJet business model, releasing cost savings. The acquisition will be positive to easyJet’s earnings per share and return on equity in easyJet’s current financial year, before one-off integration costs. easyJet anticipates GB Airways’ seat profitability reaching a similar level to its own at Gatwick in the first full financial year of operation.

Andy Harrison, Chief Executive of easyJet, said: “This is an acquisition which both strengthens our customer offering at London Gatwick, our biggest base with an attractive catchment area, and allows us to fully capitalise on the potential of the airport through a larger number of slots. The deal will bring major benefits to both easyJet and GB Airways customers, delivering a wider choice of destinations at easyJet’s great prices, and creating clear value for our shareholders. We expect the acquisition to be earnings positive in our current financial year and in the longer-term we will transition the GB Airways operation to easyJet’s cost base and operating margin levels. We expect to achieve both cost and revenue synergies as we expand our business at Gatwick.”

easyJet will co-operate with British Airways to ensure a smooth and orderly transition for customers. To this end GB Airways will continue to operate all routes under the British Airways brand until March 29th, 2008 after which flights will operate under the easyJet brand.

Kevin Hatton, Chief Executive of GB Airways, said: “The sale agreement brings to an end a period of uncertainty about the future direction of our company. We are pleased that the business and customer base built up by GB Airways will now be secured and strengthened under the ownership of the UK’s largest airline by passenger numbers, and one of the industry’s most powerful brands. We will fulfil our outstanding obligation as a franchise partner to British Airways and then look forward to a smooth operational merger with easyJet.”

The total consideration of £103.5 million is payable in cash of which £11.5 million is held in escrow as security for any claims under the acquisition agreement. GB Airways’ Heathrow slots will be exchanged under three separate agreements, the consideration for which will be passed on to the Bland Group (net of costs) on receipt. Completion is subject to the usual conditions, including approval from the relevant regulatory authorities. The transaction is expected to complete no later than 31st January 2008.