News in Brief

¦ Menzies Aviation announced the award by BA of cargo, passenger and ramp handling contracts to its JVs in Hyderabad (HYD). The airline will commence operations to HYD, its new destination in India, from Dec. 7, 2008. This will be the second station in India where BA has chosen Menzies JVs to be its handler. Earlier BA chose Menzies JV in Bangalore (BLR) to perform its cargo handling since May this year.

¦ Japan Airlines has announced that it is revising its cargo fleet, route and frequency plan for the second half of fiscal year 2008, ending March 31, 2009. The airline is suspending its freighter-only operations between Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and New York. It is also reducing freighter flight frequency from six to five weekly flights on its Tokyo-Los Angeles route.

¦ Gulf Air and Goldair Handling signed a long-term agreement for the provision of ground handling services in Greece. The agreement refers to ramp, passenger and cargo services for Gulf Air flights. Gulf Air operates a daily flight on BAH-ATH-BAH route.

¦ Siemens has been awarded a $7.2 million design-build contract from Greenhut Construction Co. for a new in-line baggage screening system at the Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. The design-build project will apply the design guidelines rolled out by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Siemens will provide 1,436 feet (438 m) of baggage handling conveyor, 11 Siemens-patented high-speed diverters, and a screening matrix consisting of three L3 and one CT-80XL Explosive Detection Systems (EDS) and four Vertical Sort Units. Siemens will also provide eight baggage piers for carrier-specific sorting and three baggage carousels to replace existing ones.

¦ Qatar Airways has awarded a three-year contract to Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) to provide full passenger and ramp handling at Houston’s George Bush International Airport. The airline commences daily, non-stop Boeing 777-200LR services from Doha to Houston on Dec. 8, 2008, and has plans to introduce daily flights on the route. This new contract extends the working partnership between WFS and Qatar Airways, which already includes the provision of handling services for the airline in Washington Dulles and Newark in North America and Bangkok, Thailand. WFS won this latest contract through a competitive tender process.

People in the News

¦ Swissport International has appointed Nils Pries Knudsen as senior vice president Europe within its cargo services division. He assumes his new duties on Jan. 1, 2009. Knudsen is a proven specialist in the cargo and logistics sectors. He will join Swissport from SAS Cargo Group, where he is currently serving as vice president for global sales with global functional responsibility for marketing and sales.

¦ John Lee was appointed as the vice president and division manager of JBT Aerotech in August 2008 and is based in Orlando. Prior to joining JBT, he served as the president of Carrier Refrigeration, North America, a unit of United Technologies Corporation. During his 15 years at United Technologies, Lee served in a variety of leadership roles within its Carrier, Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky Aircraft business units, including more than 10 years of experience in Asia heading progressively larger operations in Singapore, Korea and China. Prior to joining United Technologies, Lee held various marketing, sales and strategic planning positions in the aerospace industry with Northrop and McDonnell Douglas Corporations.

¦ West Star Aviation Inc. announced that it has named Dave Krogman general manager of its Grand Junction, CO (GJT) facility. Krogman will replace Rick Brainard, who vacated the position to become West Star Aviation’s new vice president of sales. Krogman will oversee all day-to-day operational activities at the full-service aircraft maintenance facility and FBO.

¦ MN Airlines LLC dba Sun Country Airlines announced that Stanley J. Gadek was appointed as chairman of the Board and John S. Fredericksen as director. Gadek joined Sun Country in March 2008 after leaving AirTran where he served as senior VP of finance and chief financial officer for eight years. Fredericksen is currently vice president and general counsel of Sun Country Airlines. Fredericksen has served in this role since 2003. Prior to that, he held senior positions with Mesaba Airlines and was counsel for the FAA.