Industry News

July 13, 2007

Briefings ...

airmall®—at Baltimore/Wash-ington Int’l Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport opens an M&T Bank full-service branch, pre-security.

air taxi assn. (atxa)—is formed with the backing of major next-generation air taxi providers in the U.S., with initial air taxi providers in Europe, to unite air taxis and provide services to increase demand. Companies on the group’s policy board include DayJet, Earthjet, ImagineAir, JetBird, JumpJet, Linear Air, TaxiJet Spain, and SATSair. Dr. Bruce Holmes, DayJet Director of Aeronautical Research and former NASA researcher, will serve as ATXA chair; www.atxa.com.
 
arapahoe county (co)—and Centennial Airport reach an agreement with Dove Valley Business Park Associates, Ltd. to acquire property east of the airport, including covenants that restrict residential development.

cargo airport services usa, llc—acquires the Cargo Zone Group of Companies based in Montreal, with operations in Toronto and Montreal. Acquisition adds to CAS customer base Korean Air, Air Transat and Lot Polish, along with freight forwarders DHL Global, Hellmann, BAX Global and Kuehne and Nagel. Cargo Airport Services USA is based at JFK Int’l Airport.

colorado springs airport—is sued by a contractor of a $4.8 million parking lot rework for $290,000 in cost overruns it alleges airport officials caused. Torix General Contractors LLC says the airport hindered and disrupted the 2005 project by, among other reasons, changing the project schedule to reduce the airport’s “lost parking revenue.”

detroit airport officials —consider selling the naming rights for the entire Willow Run Airport, the North Terminal at Detroit Metro, 32 clocks in Metro’s McNamara Terminal, 25 clocks in other facilities, seven play areas at McNamara, and 26 jet bridges at the North Terminal under construction.  

dfw int’l airport—and British Airways announce BA will move its daily DFW-London Gatwick flight to Heathrow Airport, marking the first major int’l flight change since the new ‘Open Skies’ agreement between the European Union that took effect April 30.

eclipse aviation—opens its Eclipse Service Center in Gainesville, FL, the Southeast maintenance center for Eclipse 500 customers, and a maintenance base for DayJet.

ft. lauderdale/hollywood int’l airport—will gets its long-delayed runway extension, following approval by Broward County commissioners. Move will extend the 5,276-ft. south runway to 8,000 feet by 2012.

ft. wayne (IN) Int’l airport—says if it gets a $1 million federal grant, the airport will offer passengers a $50 rebate on some flights in an effort to lure passengers away from Indianapolis, Chicago, and South Bend.

grubb & ellis/bre commercial, lls—a provider of integrated real estate services, and Bourn Partners, LLC announce they are selected by Learjet Inc. to execute the marketing for a vacant 255,000-sq. ft. Dunnair aircraft modification and completion facility in Tucson, also known as Building 3 Complex. Building is part of Bombardier’s MRO complex at Tucson Int’l Airport.

EUROpean union—and the U.S. plan to cut emissions from aircraft by improving air traffic control systems, via an agreement between the European Commission and FAA. Agreement allows for quickly putting in place emission-reduction technologies that would lower greenhouse gases released from aircraft. These include using a system that reduces engine power when landing planes that saves fuel, cuts down on noise, and releases less carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

greater toronto airports authority—reports that more than 120,000 passengers sign a petition urging the government to reduce the airport’s rent in an effort to reduce costs to airlines.

hainan zhong hang tai general aviation airlines—the Hainan, China-based operating entity of Ameritech Aerospace, places a firm order for 50 Adam Aircraft® A700® VLJs.

hawker beechcraft corp. — and NetJets® Europe reach an agreement for the purchase of 32 Hawker 4000 aircraft for NetJets’ global fractional fleet in Europe.

int’l spy museum—begins selling its products in Mid-Atlantic airports this summer. The museum sells merchandise in its F Street Northwest (D.C.) store, online, and by catalog.

macquarie infrastructure co. (MIC)—enters a definitive agreement to acquire SJJC Aviation Services LLC, which owns fixed base operations doing business as San Jose Jet Center and ACM Aviation. SJJC Aviation Services LLC will be acquired by Macquarie Infrastructure company in an expansion of the acquisition of Mercury Air Centers, announced in April. MIC will acquire a total of 26 FBOs in the Mercury transaction. The total purchase price, including all fees, expenses, debt service reserves and pre-funded integration costs, will be approximately $615 million.

orlando int’l airport—awards concession contracts to Areas/Hojeij , a partnership between a subsidiary of a Barcelona, Spain-based concession company, an Atlanta food firm, and two Orlando restaurants, who take over the newly renovated food court and restaurant space in Airside 3 next year. Contract is valued at $350 million over 15 years.

san bernardino int’l airport—sets in motion a $38 million project to bring the 66,000-sq.ft. terminal building up to standards, after post-9/11 security measures rendered the building obsolete.

signature flight support —and NetJets Europe announce the execution of a Europe-wide handling agreement, designating Signature as NetJets’ preferred handler at locations in Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

southwest airlines—plans to sell seats on ATA Airlines flights from the U.S. East Coast to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean by 2009 and later to Europe, according to Southwest CEO Gary Kelly.

transportation security administration—selects Trinity Technology Group, Inc., of Fairfax, Va., as the private screening contractor for Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County (CA) Airport under the Screening Partnership Program.

  • TSA also issues guidance to airports titled “Enhanced Fuel Farm/Fuel Storage Facility Security Measures and Fuel Vehicle Access Procedures,” following threats at JFK Int’l. Grants the authority to airports to inspect fuel trucks each time they enter the Security Identification Display Area or other secure areas of an airport.

u.s. dot—issues its Final Decision in Alaska Airlines v. Los Angeles World Airports (LAX III), validating much of the methodology adopted by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) in 1996 for terminal rental fees, and adopts many of the arguments offered in intervenor briefs filed by ACI-NA and funded by the ACI-NA Legal Center.

Case was initiated by seven domestic and 21 int’l airlines, alleging that increases in the terminal rates for domestic Terminals 1/3 and the Tom Bradley Int’l Terminal (TBIT) at LAX are unreasonable and discriminatory. The terminal rental increases do not apply to several carriers which still operate under long-term leases at LAX.

DOT held that an airport does not violate requirements that its rates be reasonable if it uses a “commercial compensatory” method that allocates costs of public terminal space on the basis of “rentable” (revenue-producing) space (versus “useable” space); concluded that fair market value (FMV) is not inherently unreasonable and can be used in setting terminal rental rates, provided that FMV is determined either by agreement or by an independent objective appraisal of what other aeronautical users would pay; and upheld LAWA’s allocation of indirect costs, including airport security costs.

u.s. house—passes the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 2881), which provides $15.8 billion for the Airport Improvement Program; nearly $13 billion for FAA Facilities & Equipment (“F&E”); $37.2 billion for FAA Operations over four years; increases the Passenger Facility Charge cap from $4.50 to $7; funds the Essential Air Service program with increases each year from $127 million to $133 million over four years.

virgin atlantic airways— plans to set up a business class-only carrier, initially flying from Europe to New York and other U.S. cities, followed by the UK. Move follows Open Skies agreements that allow airlines such as Virgin to operate from European Union States to the U.S.
 
zoom airlines—of Canada launches a daily flight from New York’s JFK Int’l Airport to London Gatwick, with one-way fares of $199 on Boeing 767-300 aircraft.