DWS Aviation

One multimillion-dollar runway each has been opened at three of the major and busiest airports in the United States, intended to handle an anticipated increase in traffic and to cut delays, notwithstanding a slowdown in economy and a projected drop in domestic flights this winter.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking steps to strengthen security vis-à-vis general aviation (GA) “to minimise further the vulnerability of GA aircraft flights being used to deliver illicit materials, transport dangerous individuals or employ aircraft as a weapon.”

Delta Air Lines, which took over Northwest Airlines on October 29, 2008, has decided to charge a fee of $15 to check a first bag for customers flying in the United States.

The Middle East has finally ushered in the much important IATA e-freight initiative with Dubai becoming the first in the region and just 14th in the world to go for paperless cargo operations. This is believed to be a new milestone for the air cargo space.

Here is good news for some passengers of the United States-based Continental Airlines, the world’s fifth largest airline: Continental Airlines will waive its fee of $15 each way to check a first bag for Chase credit cardmembers and debit cardmembers.

Those residing in the vicinity of the north-south runway flight path of Sydney Airport in Australia are in for more aircraft noise as work starts on October 14, 2008, on the controversial safety area at the western end of the runway.

Airlines based in the United States could save as much as $10 billion a year in fuel costs by 2025 if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the agency of the United States Department of Transportation with authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the US, upgrades air-traffic control from the radar-based system to a satellite-based one.

Air France, the biggest airline of Europe, will discontinue from November 6, 2008, its flights between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the United States, and London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR).

Major airlines based in the United States achieved an on-time arrival rate of 78.4% in August 2008 – up from 71.7% in the same month in 2007.

Two airplanes scheduled to land on the Greek island of Lesbos were forced to circle above the Aegean Sea for about 40 minutes because an air traffic controller fell asleep.

The Conservative party in the United Kingdom has attracted widespread criticism for saying that, if elected to power, the party would scrap the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport and instead build a high-speed train link.

Venezuela is cutting the number of flights it will allow United States-based airlines to operate to and from the country.

  The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a warning on the security of airports in Venezuela. Compliance with standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is suspect, says US. 

  As a part of its continuing efforts at downsizing flights, American Airlines, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the United States, has sent notices of possible layoffs to 469 employees at airports in 5 cities in the United States.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it was delaying its plan for auctioning slot at Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey, the United States, in the facce of fierce opposition from airlines as well as from airports in the New York area.

An unprecedented malfunction in the computer software of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has caused delay of hundreds of flights at airports across the United States from Texas to New York. 

The chances of air passengers in the United States being bumped from an overbooked flight are likely to increase in the autumn of 2008 as more and more airlines are trimming down services in their efforts to get rid of unprofitable flights and inefficient planes.

The gateway to the Heathrow Airport has a new attraction. A giant model of an Airbus A380 has been installed at the spot, courtesy Emirates Airline.

Bangalore's traffic jams are legendary. Those landing at the Bangalore International Airport oftne have to travel hours through the slow-moving traffic to reach their destinations.

Taking its cargo solutions to a broader plane, IBS, the Kerala, India-based global provider of software solutions to travel tourism and logistics players, has taken its iCargo Cargo Terminal Operations module to the Tokyo International Air Cargo Terminal Ltd (TIACT).

A business group has recommended that the British Aviation Authority (BAA), the owner of London’s Heathrow airport, scrap about 5,000 flights a year in order to relieve congestion.

Air-traffic controllers appointed recently are leaving jobs at “dramatically higher rates” in 2008, United States Congress has been told.

American Airlines has decided to stop charging $2 a bag for curbside check-in throughout the United States also to revoke a ban on tips for skycaps at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

With the introduction of an innovative new facility at the Dubai International Airport hub, flying has just become even simpler for Emirates passengers.

The British government’s independent watchdog on sustainable development has asked that the government of the United Kingdom to “completely rethink” its aviation policy and shelve plans to expand Heathrow Airport and Stansted Airport.

The aviation industry as well as passengers in the United States are paying a heavy price for domestic flight delays – with the overall losses coming to a staggering $40.7 billion in 2007 alone.