Industry News

priva technologies, inc. — deploys its Cleared® Security Platform at Baltimore’s Thurgood Marshall Int’l Airport in a government-approved biometric airport access control security program. The program, called SecureScreen, is a joint effort of TSA, Southwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA), Coalition of Airline Pilots’ Associations, and Priva Technologies with support from BWI and the Maryland Aviation Administration.

renewable energy group — a biodiesel producer and marketer, announces its sponsorship of the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO). Renewable Energy Group (REG) has been involved in algae oil-to-biodiesel commercialization for more than two years, and recently announced it has implemented technology to refine the oil from a variety of algae strains and produce algae biodiesel exceeding ASTM standards. The ABO is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and advocate for the development of commercially viable transportation and power-generation fuels as well as other non-energy applications for algae biomass.

ruby’s diner — is expanding with a new location at Newark Liberty Int’l Airport, scheduled to open in November. Ruby’s Diner is an Orange County, CA-based restaurant group with more than 40 locations throughout Southern California, Washington, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. Ruby’s Diner currently has three other airport locations (LAX, Las Vegas, and Houston).

Service Elements — based in Phoenix announces the release of its new service delivery audit program for business and general aviation to systematically uncover service and service delivery issues and to define or uncover specific solutions; www.serviceelements.com.

siemens — is awarded a more than 5 million euro design-build contract from Greenhut Construction Co. for a new in-line baggage screening system at the Pensacola (FL) Gulf Coast Regional Airport. Siemens will provide 438 meters of baggage handling conveyor, eleven Siemens-patented high-speed diverters, and a screening matrix consisting of four explosive detection systems and four vertical sort units. Siemens will also provide eight baggage piers for carrier-specific sortation and three baggage carousels to replace the existing ones.

Signature flight support — headquartered in Orlando, acquires Southern Aero Services Ltd, which wholly owns Interflight Executive Aircraft Services, the sole-source provider of FBO services at London Gatwick Airport in the U.K. Signature Flight Support now has 23 locations at cities across Europe.

solazyme Inc. — announces it has produced the world’s first microbial-derived jet fuel. Solazyme’s algal-derived aviation fuel as analyzed by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a leading fuel analytical laboratory, passed the eleven “most challenging” specifications needed to meet the ASTM D1655 standard for aviation turbine fuel.

southwest florida int’l airport — in Ft. Myers reports August traffic at 449,000 passengers, a decrease of 8 percent compared to August 2007. Year-to-date, passenger traffic is down 5 percent over the same period last year.

tim hortons — the Canadian-based donut and coffee shop chain, begins construction of an outlet at Kelowna (HI) Int’l Airport. Restaurant is expected to be open for business in time for the Christmas travel season.
united airlines — announces that it has decided to halt its service out of LA/Palmdale Regional Airport starting Dec. 7. United, which was the only major carrier at Palmdale airport, says it was losing “significant money” on the initiative despite receiving government subsidies. The pullout comes 15 months after LA politicians welcomed United to Palmdale in an attempt to redistribute the passenger load away from LAX.

u.s. customs and border protection — signs a joint agreement with the United Kingdom Border Agency to strengthen both countries’ borders by sharing information on people who may present a threat — including illegal immigrants, smugglers and foreign criminals — before they arrive. As a result of the agreement, CBP’s National Targeting Center (NTC) and UKBA’s Joint Borders Operations Centre (JBOC) will strengthen the capability of the U.S. and the U.K. to verify travel documents, detect false identities, determine admissibility, carry out customs purposes, and identify persons traveling between our countries who may pose a security risk.