Airlines India, Indian Airlines

The increase in Gulf Air flights to and from Oman and Bahrain following the airline’s introduction of a two-hub strategy earlier this year has produced record passenger numbers at both the airline’s hubs.

Releasing passenger figures for the year till June 2006, Gulf Air announced a 30.1 per cent increase to 1,137,482 travellers through Muscat, and a 32.3 per cent increase to 2,181,227 travellers through Bahrain compared to last year.

‘In our original estimates, we thought Gulf Air’s passenger traffic through Oman would grow by around 25 per cent,’ said airline President and Chief Executive James Hogan. ‘But in fact the numbers have jumped by a third for the first six months of the year.

‘In the first quarter we recorded growth of 20.6 and 24.1 per cent respectively. However, when the full impact of the two hub model came into effect with the summer schedule in the second quarter, the growth increased to 39.0 per cent in Oman and 41.3 per cent in Bahrain.

‘Few airports in the world could handle year-on-year growth of even half that level. It is testament to the hard work and efficiency of airport management, staff and catering companies Oman Airport Services and Bahrain Airport Services that Seeb and Bahrain airports have stepped up to the challenge so smoothly.”

‘We have started to see significant trends coming from our two-hub operation, in terms of crewing, aircraft utilisation and network connections with the full impact becoming apparent in April, following the introduction of the summer schedule. Overall we expect a positive impact on our services this year as a result.

‘While some challenges and uncertainties remain in 2006, notably fuel costs, I believe we have a sound basis for continued positive development in the future.’

Since the introduction of the two hub strategy, the number of direct non-stop Gulf Air flights to and from Seeb International Airport has increased by 45.5 per cent over last year and the airline now accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the passengers at the airport.

Meanwhile flights to and from Bahrain International Airport have increased by 41.9 per cent over last year and the airline now accounts for 70 per cent of the activity at Bahrain International Airport.

‘Summer is our peak period. Our normal operations increase significantly to accommodate all the holiday traffic,’ said Hogan.

‘This year, we have also had to cope with the knock-on effects of the crisis in Lebanon, which has placed additional pressure on our routine operations.

Performance indicators for the period January to June 2006

• Seat factor up by 1.7 percentage points to 71.3 per cent

• Premium cabin revenues up by 17.1 per cent

• Gross unit revenue up 6.5 per cent

• 32.3 per cent increase in passengers through Bahrain; 30.1 per cent increase in passengers through Muscat

Federal Express Services (M) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, says it will gain from the implementation of the US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Its new managing director for Malaysia and Brunei, K. Don Premaseri, said the FTA was expected to boost the company’s air cargo-handling business.

“Definitely there will be a lot of room to expand in Malaysia.

“In fact, Malaysia is poised to record higher growth with the implementation of the FTA,” he told a media briefing here.

Premaseri said the US$44 billion (US$1=RM3.65) bilateral trade between the two countries in 2005, as well as the US Trade Department’s forecast that exports to Malaysia would double within five years (with the conclusion of the FTA) would bring significantly positive growth to the company.

“Also, based on the fact that 40 percent of the world trade by value are actually moved by aircargo, you can expect what kind of growth that will come about.

“The company expects a positive trend in the coming years.

“We have already ordered 10 A380 super Airbus aircraft for our global network operations. The aircraft, which will be delivered between 2009 and 2001, will mostly be based in Asia,” he said.

On the company’s operational outlook for Malaysia this year, Premaseri said FedEx would aggressively tap the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment.

“We want to support them, introduce and assist them with our unparalleled information technologies that will enable them to meet Customs needs (Customs-cleared service) worldwide on our planes effectively,” he said.

He said FedEx would be opening new stations to cater to the increase in demand.

A Federal Express cargo plane made an emergency landing at the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) here on Friday noon due to a problem with the plane’s landing gear.

Ejuliet Villaran, SBIA operations officer, said the pilot of Air FedEx 8 MD-11 advised them that the plane would return for an emergency landing 30 minutes after leaving the airport at 11 a.m.

Villaran said the plane, which was bound for Hong Kong, landed safely.

She said FedEx officials informed them that the plane’s landing gear had been fixed and it would leave the SBIA for Hong Kong at 4 p.m. Friday.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. and the U.S. Postal Service announced a new agreement for domestic air transportation of mail through 2013.

As part of the deal, the Postal Service and FedEx Express signed a seven-year contract in 2001 for airport-to-airport delivery of mail within the United States. The contract will replace the final two years of that contract and a new seven-year agreement will commence in October of 2006.

The agreement is expected to generate about $8 billion in revenue over the life of the seven-year contract. FedEx Express will continue to fly over 4 million pounds of U.S. mail every business day. That is the equivalent of 40 wide-body DC10 aircraft using existing aircraft and facilities.

“The new contract allows the Postal Service and FedEx to continue our successful business relationship,” said Postmaster General John E. Potter. “This relationship benefits postal customers by allowing us to maintain our high service standards while keeping costs affordable.”

X” marks the runway where planes cannot land at Memphis International after the landing gear collapsed upon touchdown on a FedEx MD-10, inbound from Seattle.

“It was breathtaking and I’m just glad everybody got out alive,” said Lois Edwards, who witnessed the fiery landing.

The accident caused a traffic jam when emergency crews stopped cars around Airways Boulevard and Shelby Drive late Friday morning

No one was injured, but now it’s up to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to figure out why this happened. They have determined what sent a plume of black smoke into the air.

“It was actually a grass fire started by sparks from the airplane, rather than a fire on board the airplane itself,” said Les Door of the FAA.

The NTSB and FAA sent in several agents from D.C. and Atlanta to investigate. FAA reps will listen to the data and flight recorders to get a clearer picture of what happened. They’ll also pull air traffic control tapes.

“Our investigators also want to see if there are any kind of safety issues that we might need to address with some type of safety action,” Door added.

NTSB investigators will document what went wrong, take photos, draw diagrams and look at specific equipment on the plane. Meanwhile, one of Memphis International’s four runways is shut down and passengers are urged to check for delays.

The MD-10 is a freight plane and all FedEx mail on board will be held until the NTSB releases the cargo. A FedEx spokesperson says that none of the freight on board is damaged. Call (800) GO-FEDEX or log on to fedex.com to find out if your package is delayed.