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KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Jamaica's struggling national carrier Air Jamaica will increase weekly flights to the Caribbean island of Grenada from New York in a bid to boost regional tourism, official said.
The decision came a week after Air Jamaica announced it would resume flights to St. Lucia, after a nearly year-long suspension.
The New York-Grenada route "has been doing well for us, and we believe it is a good thing for tourism in Grenada and the Caribbean" to increase the number of weekly flights from six to eight, airline spokeswoman Sandrea Falconer said Wednesday.
The additional flights will begin by February 23, she said.
Air Jamaica suspended service in March to Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia, in an attempt to recover from losses due to higher fuel costs and a drop in passengers after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Airline flybe has launched its first scheduled flights from Exeter to Chambery in France and Geneva in Switzerland for this winter's snow sports season.
Skiers and boarders can now fly direct to Chambery, the capital of France's Savoy region at the foot of the Alps. The new route gives skiers easy access to the French ski resorts of Chamonix Mont Blanc, Courchevel, La Plagne, Meribel, Tignes and Val d'Isere. The new route from Exeter to Geneva offers skiers a direct route to the Swiss Alps, with easy access to dozens of ski resorts in France and Switzerland.
Mike Rutter, chief commercial officer at flybe, said: "The introduction of these services shows (our) commitment to offering passengers in this area a great range of exciting destinations from their convenient regional airport."
BMI is cancelling some of its services between Scotland and London in the period just before and after the New Year break, it has emerged.
The airline, previously known as British Midland, has reassured passengers that it has no intention of permanently cutting the route.
A spokesman said that the services were so empty that the firm had no choice but to reduce flights.
BMI has recently cut some transatlantic routes and many of its onboard frills.
Chief executive Nigel Turner told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that the decision on the Scottish routes was prompted by a low number of seasonal passengers.
Mr Turner said: "With it being the holiday season we do very closely examine the loads and if there is a specific flight, or one or two specific flights, where demand is very low then we will cancel those.
"BMI operates day-to-day from Edinburgh and Glasgow into London Heathrow, we've done so for the last 30 years and will continue to do so for the next 30 years."
Flights being cut on the Glasgow and Edinburgh routes to London Heathrow include services due to fly between 31 December and 4 January.
Air Arabia LLC, the first and only low-fares airline in the Middle East and North Africa, is now flying to Moscow twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday.
Adel Ali, CEO, Air Arabia said,
'Air Arabia is delighted to fly to Russia today and we shall continue to offer affordable travel to more and more people, expanding to new regions and new countries. We look forward to growing trade and tourism links between our two countries and bringing the region closer.'
Flights to Russia will operate twice weekly Moscow every Tuesday and Friday, departing Sharjah at 09:40 and arriving in Moscow at 13:30, and then departing Moscow at 14:45 to arrive in Sharjah at 20:55 local time. Air Arabia will fly to Vnukovo International Airport, just 11 kms from Moscow with excellent speed rail and train links to the heart of the city.
VIRGIN Blue is confident all passengers will get to their Christmas destinations on time as operations return to normal today after a mechanical problem disrupted flight schedules.
Unscheduled maintenance on a Virgin aircraft yesterday disrupted pre-Christmas travel for thousands of the airline's passengers.
Flights were suspended and a handful were cancelled.
A Virgin spokeswoman today said operations were back to normal.
"There were a few minor delays of less than an hour on a couple of flights as a flow-on effect (this morning), but it's pretty much operations as normal today," she said.
Christmas Eve is one of the airline's busiest days of the year with about 300 flights Australia-wide.
The spokeswoman said she was confident all passengers would reach their Christmas destinations on time.
SCOTS budget airline flyglobespan today announced its first flights to Greece.
The fast-growing carrier said it would fly to Athens and Crete from Glasgow Airport.
The airline will fly weekly to the Greek capital and Heraklion starting in May with fares starting at just £69 one way.
The latest expansion means flyglobespan will now serve 18 destinations from Glasgow.
And it will also pit the airline into battle with its smaller rival Air Scotland which has long served Athens.
Flyglobespan boss Tom Dalrymple said: "These are our first Greek destinations.
"We are very pleased to launch the flyglobespan model in that market and we look forward to further expansion there."
Greece has long been a hot favourite with Scots holidaymakers.
Around a quarter of a million people fly to Greek resorts from Glasgow Airport alone.
Flyglobespan will be aiming to take a share of that market - not least by offering to arrange hotels for passengers as well as flights.
The company is well on its way to achieving its target of carrying two million passengers in 2006.
It already flies to such major European destinations as Barcelona, Prague, Amsterdam and London.
And tickets for its flagship transatlantic service to Orlando in Florida, unveiled earlier this winter, have been selling fast.
"Orlando is looking at being very good for us but there are plenty of other encouraging signs as well," said Mr Dalrymple.
"For example, we had originally planned to fly Glasgow-Ibiza once a week next summer but demand has been so good we have upped that to two flights a week
"It seems to us the more destinations we can fly to, the demand is there.
"We have other places in mind for next year but there is no point going public with them until we have organised good landing times and sorted out appropriate accommodation."
Stephen Baxter, the managing director of BAA Scotland, the firm that owns Glasgow Airport, said: "Greece is one of the most popular countries from Glasgow Airport, attracting almost 250,000 passengers a year.
"Demand for these new services is likely to be very high.
"This latest round of expansion is further evidence of flyglobespan's growing ambition.
"With more flights from Glasgow than any other airline, and further expansion on the way from both Glasgow and Edinburgh, flyglobespan has really transformed the low fares market from Scotland."
Air Scotland flights to Athens are currently unavailable - although the destination is still advertised on the airline's website.
A spokeswoman said Air Scotland, which recently changed ownership, had still to load its full summer schedule on to its internet site.
NEW budget flights direct from Edinburgh to Finland were announced today.
Low-cost Danish carrier Sterling will take holidaymakers from the Capital to Helsinki from the end of March next year.
Prices for the twice-weekly service - beginning on March 30 - will start from £54 each way. The move comes just months after Finnair announced it will also introduce a similar service next summer, giving Scots access to their extensive network of routes across Asia.
Edinburgh Airport's managing director, Richard Jeffrey, said: "We have long been focused on increasing the number of international routes available to and from our capital city.
"This new service is just the latest in a series of exciting announcements that shows this hard work is really paying off. Helsinki is not just one of the fastest-growing financial centres but also a great place for holidaymakers to visit.
"This new service will further improve Scotland's connectivity with Europe and help the effort to bring more visitors to the Capital and to Scotland as a whole."
Finnish tourist board director Anne Lind added: "The opening of these routes is excellent news for Helsinki and for other parts of Finland, as well."
The start of domestic services out of Adelaide's new airport terminal has again been delayed.
A temporary solution to an ongoing fuel contamination problem was to have allowed Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue to use the terminal from tomorrow.
The airlines have remained in the old terminal for the past two months.
Adelaide Airport managing director Phil Baker says he has had confirmation that the underlying fuel contamination problem is now fixed.
He says the temporary solution will not be ready until Thursday at the earliest.
"If not Thursday, at least between Christmas and the new year," he said.
Qantas says it is now unlikely to move its operation until the new year.
Virgin Blue says it will still look at moving in before Christmas, if the terminal is ready.
Virgin Blue Adelaide airport manager Fray Bowden says the latest development is a further step back.
"I think it's fair to say it's frustrating for everybody involved ... however, we need safe fuel for the aircraft," Mr Bowden said.
The heavy rains in Gaborone and surrounding areas on Sunday thwarted Air Botswana evening flights to and from Johannesburg, Maun and Francistown.
An Air Botswana plane from Francistown to Gaborone had to be turned back after it failed to land at the Sir Seretse Khama Airport (SSKA) because of bad weather. A spokesman for Air Botswana, Kago Mmopi said the flight had left Francistown at 5pm and was expected to land at the SSKA at 6pm. After attempting to land several times, the pilot headed back to Francistown.
Mmopi said the plane landed in Gaborone yesterday morning. He revealed that a 5pm flight to Johannesburg on Sunday failed to take off due to bad weather. Eight of the passengers had to be put on a South African airliner that did not have trouble sailing through the Gaborone storm. Eleven passengers had to be accommodated in a Gaborone hotel before they left yesterday morning. Mmopi said that a Maun bound Air Botswana aircraft had to return to the SSKA minutes after it had taken off because of mechanical problems. Thirty-three passengers that were on board had to be offloaded into another aircraft. Mmopi said they have lost a lot of money because of the weather problems. He denied that the problem had to do with the small Air Botswana planes.
Low-fare airline Ryanair cancelled 600 return flights this winter today due to late delivery of new planes.
The cancellations cover the months of January, February and March and are across the Irish carrier`s entire network.
The axing of the flights will reduce the no-frills operator`s passenger numbers by 100,000 a month in the first three months of next year.
Ryanair stressed that the cancellations amounted to only 1% of its total flying programme and that passengers affected would get their money back or be offered alternative flights.
Ryanair said that as a result of the strike at US planemaker Boeing during September and October this year, all of Ryanair`s aircraft deliveries this winter would arrive approximately one month after their scheduled date.
The airline added that it had been able to meet this four-aircraft shortfall during October, November and December by extending the flying programme on a number of older Boeing 737-200 series aircraft due for retirement.
However, it had not been possible to extend the use of these aircraft beyond the end of December 2005, as the aircraft had been sold and the pilots had been retrained on Boeing 737-800s.
A decision to axe flights had therefore had to be taken, with services returning to normal in April 2006 following the arrival of the last four aircraft from Boeing.
Ryanair`s deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said: "We very much regret having to reduce our schedule to allow for the late delivery of new aircraft from Boeing and the planned retirement of our older 737-200s in December. These aircraft have already been sold.
"We apologise sincerely to all our passengers who may be inconvenienced by these schedule changes, and we look forward to welcoming them on board the new flights from East Midlands and Pisa when the new aircraft are delivered and based there during April 2006."
Air Malta will be entering into the Italian domestic market with Reggio di Calabria to Rome flights, operated daily between Mondays and Fridays.
The airline said yesterday that these flights, which will commence with the summer 2006 schedule, follow the successful operation of a programme of flights between Malta and Reggio last summer.
The announcement was made at a press conference in the Reggio town hall, addressed by the mayor of Reggio, Dott Giuseppe Scopelliti, and Air Malta’s chief officer – strategic planning, Dominic Attard.
This is another milestone for the airline, which is exploiting the freedoms acquired as a result of Malta’s EU membership.
“We are increasing our activities in the intra-European market because we believe that there are opportunities which make sense to us and because we have the courage to compete,” Mr Attard said.
“Domestic operations have their own characteristics which are different to international operations. We have been studying this route for months to ensure that we can make a success out of it. We are convinced that it will add up to our intra-EU services.”
In May 2004, Air Malta had successfully launched its first intra-European services between Catania and London Gatwick and is now planning to expand this operation.
As with all other EU-registered airlines wishing to fly within EU countries, no special permits or concessions are required by Air Malta to operate this latest addition to its network. Intra-EU routes are freely open to EU airlines and there is no need to have agreements or permits in place.
Korea is to start regular direct flights to Spain, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said Friday. The agreement came during two-day Korea-Spain aviation talks that started on Wednesday at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. They agreed to operate four flights a week. The direct flights to the Spanish capital of Madrid or to Barcelona will be arranged in the near future,a ministry spokesman said.
Ryanair says more than 7,000 seats have been booked for its four new routes out of Nottingham East Midlands Airport.
The Dublin low-cost carrier begins flights to Limoges and Bergerac, in France, and Wroclaw and Lodz, in Poland, on February 8 and 9.
Hyderabad, Dec 12 (UNI) Director to Iran Tourism Affairs and Cultural Heritage Corporation Ali Hashemi Baharmani today said the Iranian Government proposed to operate direct flights between Tehran and Hyderabad to give a fillip to tourism in both the countries.
Participating in ''Indo-Iranian Cultural Exchange Programme'' organised by the AP State Museum here, Mr Hashemi said the Iranian and Andhra Pradesh Governments had sought permission of the Civil Aviation Ministry to operate the flights.
Stating that there was tremendous scope to boost tourism between Iran and Hyderabad, Mr Hashemi said his government had held meetings with the tourism operators of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and invited them to participate in a conference being organised in Iran next month.
Mr Hashemi said the Iran Archeological Department would seek assistance from the state museum to preserve monuments.
Flights to Bangalore, a southern Indian city, are to be introduced by Jetstar Asia, a Singapore-based low-cost carrier, as part of its plan to expand its network.
The carrier, an affiliate of Australia's Qantas Airways, will fly to Bangalore five times a week starting from 23 January 2006. Jetstar said it is attempting to develop its service from Singapore to Bangalore, a city that has grown substantially in recent years and is recognised for technology.
Valuair, a sister airline of Jetstar, has also revealed its intention to begin flying three times a week to Bali, a resort island in Indonesia, from 27 January next year.
Hajj pilgrims witnessed utter mismanagement by the Biman Bangladesh Airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) yesterday. In the meantime a pilgrim, whose flight had been delayed, died at the airport.
Biman said hajj pilgrim Sujat Ali, 55, died of a heart attack. Other pilgrims, who were scheduled to fly with him, said the elderly man fell sick while waiting anxiously in Zia International Airport (ZIA) to catch his rescheduled flight.
Sources at ZIA said five hajj flights of Biman were cancelled between Sunday night and yesterday evening causing a pandemonium in the airport as Biman employees were scrambling to reschedule the flights of several hundred stranded pilgrims.
Protesting the mismanagement and cancellation of flights, a few hundred pilgrims demonstrated at the airport several times between Sunday night and yesterday noon.
A Biman press release said Sujat died at about 1:30am yesterday.
Having passport No. 031164, he hailed from Sreepur village under Kotwali police station in Pabna.
Airport sources said he was scheduled to board the 576-seater chartered flight BG-801, which had been scheduled to take off at 5.45pm Sunday but it was delayed and rescheduled to depart at 7.00pm due to not having landing permission in Jeddah from the Saudi authorities. Finally the flight was cancelled altogether sparking anger among the waiting pilgrims.
CAAB officials neither allowed the journalists to enter inside to talk to the distressed pilgrims, nor did they allow the pilgrims to come out to talk to the journalists.
However, duty controller of Biman told The Daily Star yesterday that the BG-801 flight would take off from ZIA at 8:00pm yesterday as they secured the landing permission from the Saudi government in the afternoon.
BIMAN STATEMENT
Biman authorities in a press release yesterday said they had sent the 'ballottee' (under government management) hajj pilgrims of Sunday's cancelled flight BG-103 to Jeddah by BG-801 flight last night while the 'non-ballottee' (under private management) pilgrims were sent by flight BG-105 the same night.
The release claimed that Biman arranged hotel accommodations for the pilgrims whose flights had been cancelled, but Sujat Ali and many others did not prefer to go out of the airport.
Sujat Ali died of a cardiac arrest at the airport at about 1:30am while asleep, the release said.
The body of Sujat was sent to his village home through his relatives in a Biman vehicle yesterday.
The first Hajj flight of Biman took off from ZIA on Sunday morning with 274 'ballottee' pilgrims out of 2,621 of them.
The press release also said this year 45,000 people will go to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj and five to six thousand of them will be ferried by foreign airlines.
A helicopter operator plans to launch an air taxi service based at a suburban Phoenix airport starting in mid-January.
Jim Ravens, manager of the Silver State Helicopters' flight school's Arizona operations, said he expects 15-minute flights between Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to be his service's bread and butter.
Ravens said the plan is to create a network of helicopter flights connecting all the Phoenix area airports, similar to one in the Los Angeles area.
"I've had people say they're surprised nobody's done this before, that it's long overdue," he said.
Ravens said he hoped to keep the cost of a one-way trip to Sky Harbor below $100. But he also expects to offer flights to any other major metro Phoenix destination that has enough room to set up a landing pad, such as the new Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale.
BANGKOK - The government should help offset losses suffered by Thai Airways International (THAI) on some key destinations; so the national carrier can resume flights and benefit the tourism industry over the long-term, according to Phuket's Tourism Association.
Pattanapong Ekvanich, the association's president, said on Saturday that the loss of direct flights from Japan to Phuket -- suspended after the last December tsunami -- would negatively impact tourism along the Andaman coast in the long-term.
THAI even reporedly plans to also suspend its Phuket-Sydney route after this year's holiday season.
Although THAI suffered losses on these routes after the last December's tsunami disaster, the government could help offset the losses, as benefits from tourism, including hotel revenues and shopping, would be huge and could be seen in long-term, said Mr. Pattanapong.
Tourism revenues in Phuket almost a year after the tsunami devastated the resort island had declined nearly 50 per cent, a loss of over Bt30 billion from the more than Bt75 billion the island formerly earned annually before the disaster took place.
Tourism along the Andaman Sea coastal provinces has started to improve steadily with the average hotel room occupancy rate in November-December reported at 70 per cent, Mr. Pattanapong said, and is expected to rise further to between 80-90 per cent in February and March next year.
Before the tsunami, Phuket was formerly fully booked at this time of year.
MEMBER OF Parliament Obeidulla Azmi announced here today that the Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport at Indore would get the status of an international airport by next year and Haj pilgrims from entire State would be able to take direct flights to Saudi Arabia, instead of having to go through Mumbai.
Azmi, who is on a three-day visit to the City, disclosed that Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had told him that he could give this assurance in front of the media in Indore. He was talking to media persons at the Indore airport this evening after his arrival from Delhi.
Asked about his development priority for the region, Azmi said that he would try and expedite the electrification of the Indore-Ujjain rail segment and also to complete the work of converting the single track to double track for the entire stretch. He said Ujjain was the main centre of pilgrimage for the Hindus and it was essential that it be properly connected to Indore.
Commenting on the defeat of the Congress party in Bihar, he said part of the blame lay with the Election Commission. Though not going as far as labelling him as ‘agent’ of the NDA, Azmi, however, said that the Election Commission was ‘inclined’ towards the NDA.
Elaborating, he said that the role of the EC should be to hold free and fair polls, but excessive police presence in Bihar during elections made it appear as if the entire state was under curfew. As a result, many poor people and Laloo supporters did not vote. At the same time, he admitted, it was mainly due to the EC strictness that Bihar elections were more or less free from violence. He regretted that the only person killed was a voter, that too by police bullets.
On the impact of Paswan’s refusal to join the Congress-RJD combine in Bihar, Azmi said that 80 per cent of the Muslim votes went to RJD-Congress combine, despite Paswan’s announcement that he would like to have a Muslim as Chief Minister.
Taking a dig at Paswan, Azmi said it was strange call to be given by a man who made a Muslim man from Uttar Pradesh his party president in Bihar. “Had all the Muslims of Bihar died that he could not find one who could be made president of the party.”
On Congress’ dismal performance, he said that it was not the end of the road for the party and these were part of politics. He also said that the Congress in Bihar had reached its nadir and it would only rise now.
Asked to comment on Uma’s dismissal from the BJP, he laughed and said, “What can I say, you all know better than me.”Earlier, Azmi was given a rousing welcome by his supporters at the airport. His main lieutenant in Indore, Tariq Khan, who is also his official representative, was present along with City Congress president Ujagar Singh, former IDA chairman Kripa Shankar Shukla, Congress vice-president Tulsi Silawat and former MLA Ramlal Yadav among others.
Six Taiwan-based airline companies on Friday announced their plans for direct chartered flights across the Taiwan Straits during the Spring Festival, Chinese Lunar New Year, according to local media in the island province.
The first flight by China Airlines, between Taipei and Shanghai, is scheduled to take off at Taipei's airport at 7:45 am on Jan. 20, 2006, and return from Shanghai airport at 12:10 the same day.
Meanwhile, six mainland airlines will join in the chartered flights across the Straits from next year's Jan. 20 to Feb. 13.
In related developments, the mainland's flag-carrier Air China has published its Spring Festival package on chartered flights across the Straits. The airlines plans to make 12 two-way flights on Beijing-Taipei and Beijing-Kaohsiung routes from January 25 to Feb. 5.
Air China's prices are 4,960 yuan (about 620 US dollars) for one-way business-class and 7,600 yuan (about 950 dollars) for return business-class, while the one-way and two-way tickets for tourist class are sold at 3,100 yuan (about 385 dollars) and 4,800 yuan (about 600 dollars).
VIVA Macau, a low-cost airline previously known as WOW!Macau, has pushed back its target date for launching flights to next summer because it hasn't obtained rights to operate from the city.
The airline named Ngan In-leng, head of Hang Huo Enterprise Group, as its president Friday, and said its subconcession agreement with Air Macau is under the government review.
The agreement will allow VIVA Macau, which earlier planned to start services in April, 2006, to serve medium- and long-haul routes.
Ng said the airline will be equipped with a fleet of modern wide-body aircraft to fly across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
"We are making a firm commitment to building a strong network of international air services to and from Macau," Ngan said Friday at the brand launch celebration for VIVA Macau.
VIVA Macau will probably compete with another low-cost carrier, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, which last week won licenses to operate on several European and United States routes from Hong Kong. Oasis aims to start services to London Gatwick next June.
Ngan said a date for the launch of VIVA Macau's services and the range of new destinations will be announced once the Macau government approves and ratifies the airline's subconcession arrangement.
Air Macau, which operates under a 25-year government concession as the territory's exclusive home carrier, in June agreed to share its rights with Golden Dragon, a startup carrier that plans to operate regional jet flights to the mainland.
"Macau is becoming an increasingly important low-fare gateway to southern China, and we will support Macau International Airport's development as one of Asia's fastest growing air transport hubs." Ngan said.
More than a thousand additional airliners a week will fly over London under government plans to scrap the limit on the numbers of flights at Heathrow. The current policy of giving locals some respite from aircraft noise is to be abandoned. Do you sympathise with those who will be blighted by even more noise and pollution? Or does getting more people to use Heathrow outweight the negative effects of more planes in our skies?
It seems amazing that the Government funds the longest planning inquiry ever and then bins almost all of its recommendations within a couple of years. This will make life in most of West London almost unbearable. I feel we could be faced with the prospect of moving out of London if this is permitted. John Murphy, Feltham, Middlesex
That the Government has decided to renege on this agreement and to ignore the restrictions on numbers of flights produced as a result of the T5 enquiry should come as no surprise to residents already affected by aircraft noise. The Government is effectively railroading any opposition to these proposals by ensuring that local MPs such as Ann Keen (Lab Brentford) toe the party line and do not speak out for their constituents. Make no mistake, the Government pushes ahead with this denial of public opinion at its peril. Richard Collard, Brentford, Middlesex
Hawaiian Airlines said yesterday it will begin daily nonstop service between San Diego and Maui on June 9.
Hawaiian will use a 260-seat Boeing 767-300ER plane for the service. Flight 37 will depart San Diego International Airport at 10:05 a.m. and arrive at Maui's Kahului Airport at 12:35 p.m. The return Flight 38 will depart Maui at 2:05 p.m. and arrive in San Diego at 10:10 p.m.
Delta makes it easier for customers to return to the Gulf Coast in the New Year; New Orleans-Atlanta flight schedule restored to pre-Katrina levels; More flights planned at Mobile
ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines customers returning to the Gulf Coast for business or pleasure will find it easier to reach their destinations thanks to another round of expanded Delta service across the region planned in the New Year.
Dubai - Gulf Air on Sunday launched direct flights from Bahrain to Dublin and reinstated its flights to Johannesburg.
Gulf Air, owned by the governments of Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, said it would fly three times a week to Dublin.
The flights to Johannesburg, which were stopped in 1997 for commercial reasons, resumed with three weekly flights.
"With the growing contact between South Africa and the Gulf region for business and tourism, we felt that the time was right to return to Johannesburg," said Chief Executive James Hogan.
In April, Bahrain-based Gulf Air announced that it had turned a profit last year for the first time since 1997, overcoming years of management troubles and general airline industry woes.
"Gulf Air is the only pan-Arab airline to fly nonstop to Dublin. Passengers, particularly those travelling onward to US destinations, will find this very convenient as they can complete their US immigration formalities in Dublin itself, thus avoiding the queues in the United States on arrival and get on with their businesses," Hogan said.
In December 2002, the owners of the carrier agreed to inject 90
million dinars (R1.52 billion) into the airline. At that time, it had run up an estimated debt of $500 million (R3.19 billion).
Gulf Air's network stretches from Europe to Asia and covers 46 cities in 30 countries. It has a fleet of 34 aircraft.
In September, the government of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, announced it was withdrawing from Gulf Air. Industry officials said that pullout would be completed in six months.
Pakistan on Saturday began Hajj flights operation with the departure of first flight carrying 456 intending pilgrims from Islamabad to Jeddah.
Overall one hundred sixty thousand Pakistani faithful will perform Hajj this time, which is the biggest number among Islamic countries, Minister for Religious Affairs Muhammad Ijazul Haq said while seeing off the pilgrims of the first flight at Islamabad international airport.
Ninety thousand pilgrims will proceed through regular Hajj scheme while remaining will go through private tour operators.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Saudi Airlines will operate 462 special flights from different major cities.
Twenty-nine thousand two hundred and fifty three pilgrims will proceed to Saudi Arabia through sixty-six special flights from Islamabad airport.
Hajj operation will be completed on January 4 with the departure of last Hajj flight from Islamabad.
Speaking at a reception hosted in honor of intending pilgrims, Ijazul Haq said that for the first time Hajj flights will also go directly to Mecca to facilitate the pilgrims while twenty-six thousand pilgrims will be airlifted to Medina directly.
He said that the government has set up two hospitals in Mecca and Medina besides eight dispensaries to provide service to the pilgrims.
Denver International Airport and United Airlines have struck a tentative deal that reduces United's debt payments on the airport's failed automated baggage system in exchange for the carrier bringing more flights through Denver.
United, which hopes to emerge from more than three years in bankruptcy Feb. 1, has been weighed down by $60 million in annual payments on the infamous bag-hauling system, which never worked as planned.
On Oct. 6, United jettisoned the entire carts-on-tracks system, after using it only for luggage going from ticket counters to planes for a number of years.
The baggage system, which frequently broke down or mangled luggage, was the first of its kind in the world but became the butt of jokes on late-night TV talk shows. United asked the city of Denver to build the system and has been paying for it since.
The deal announced Friday, which is subject to City Council approval, will erase about $184 million in United's bag- system debt. The system carries a total of about $600 million in debt.
United in turn is pledging to boost the number of connecting passengers the airline moves through DIA, meaning more passenger fees that the airport will collect from the airline. United's traffic has been declining in Denver.
"This prevents them from diminishing the importance of the Denver hub in the United system," Stan Koniz, DIA's chief financial officer, said of the agreement.
Most importantly, the agreement reduces United's debt without increasing the costs for any other airline at DIA, Koniz said.
The agreement also cancels construction of a proposed new regional jet facility that DIA had planned to build for United at the east end of the B concourse.
Shelving construction of the new gates will save DIA about $2 million a year for each of the remaining 20 years on United's airport lease. DIA will get the savings because the airport had pledged to subsidize construction of the regional-jet terminal.
United has the capacity at its other gates to handle growth in the use of regional jets so the airline can do without the new regional-jet terminal, carrier spokesman Jeff Green said Friday.
Besides revenue from passenger ticket fees, DIA will use excess cash it has accumulated and savings from recent bond refundings to pay off the $184 million in debt.
The United debt reduction is aimed at lowering the rates and charges the airline pays to DIA by $4.9 million next year, $8.5 million in 2007 and at least $11 million a year from 2008 through 2025, according to the agreement.
In exchange, United pledges a gradual increase in flight activity at DIA, to board the same number of connecting passengers at the airport by 2008 - 7.7 million travelers.
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For more details or to book, visit www.xl.com
Law allows Dallas routes to St. Louis
DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co. wasted no time in announcing Thursday that it will launch service from Dallas to St. Louis and Kansas City on Dec. 13, and American Airlines plans to challenge Southwest on those same routes.
Southwest's announcement came the day after President Bush signed a transportation bill that included a provision to make Missouri the ninth state that airlines can serve directly from Dallas Love Field.
Southwest said Thursday it would operate four daily nonstop flights to St. Louis and four more to Kansas City. Southwest said it would charge $79 each way for tickets bought 14 days in advance and $129 each way for other tickets.
Analysts say Southwest's new service would mostly hurt American by taking away customers and forcing it to cut fares on flights to Missouri.
Even before Congress acted on the Missouri exemption, American reduced fares on its flights to St. Louis and Kansas City from its hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. But its fares are still higher than those planned by Southwest.
A last-minute ticket for nonstop service from DFW to St. Louis or Kansas City on American's Web site Thursday was $253 each way. Some 14-day advance round trips were as low as $227.
American has no timetable for launching Love Field service, but spokesman Tim Wagner said, "We want to start as quickly as possible."
American is considering flying from there to states other than just Missouri, Wagner said. First, American must add computers, a ticketing area, jetbridges and other improvements.
American leases three gates at Love Field but has never used them. Its American Eagle division, however, operated flights at Love Field in 2000 and 2001 at a gate it shared with Continental Airlines Inc. Eagle launched that service to compete with start-up Legend Airlines, but it pulled out of Love Field shortly after Legend went out of business.
Restrictions on Love Field date to 1979, when Congress passed a law known as the Wright Amendment, which limited flights at the Dallas airport to Texas and four neighboring states to protect then-new DFW Airport. In 1997, Congress allowed flights to three more states.
American, a unit of Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., has staunchly fought any effort to weaken the Wright Amendment to protect its DFW hub. Dallas-based Southwest was long silent on the issue but began lobbying Congress for its repeal late last year. Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., pushed this fall to allow service from his state to Love Field.
The Wright Amendment only applies to planes with 56 or more seats. Legend Airlines and American Eagle both used smaller jets to fly to New York, Los Angeles and other cities, but Southwest can't do the same with its fleet, which consists entirely of Boeing 737s.
Spanair has announced it is to compete with Iberia to offer a service between Alicante and Barcelona airports. The new service will start on Feb 1st with 48 flights a week. As an opening offer, Spanair will give a free return ticket to those who fly with them in February.
New Delhi, Dec 2 (UNI) Air Deccan has announced the launch of direct daily flights from Hyderabad to Nagpur, Pune and Goa from December 10.
The bookings open today for travel starting December 10 till January 31.
''While it is imperative to connect bigger hubs like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad with each other, it is equally important to connect smaller cities with these hubs,'' said airline's managing director G.R. Gopinath.
''Low cost air connectivity across the country is a vital ingredient for a successful and steady economy,'' he said.
Air Deccan already flies to Nagpur, Pune and Goa but it will be the first time that it connects these cities with Hyderabad.
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