Aviation

It looks like the average flyer believes that the smaller airlines are safer than the big named companies. September’s passenger load factor figures were down for Greece’s largest airline, state-owned Olympic Airways, as well as major international carriers out of Athens, but Greece’s private airline companies have taken up the slack.

If forecasts for the Athens’s new Eleftherios Venizelos airport come to pass, the new airport could be dealt a serious blow. For the moment it expects to see a 20- to 25-percent drop in passenger traffic in the last quarter of the year. This is all a result of the current crises in the global aviation and tourism industries brought on by the attacks in the USA, said the airport’s operator, Athens International Airport.

In the wake of the many repercussions after the September 11 disaster, some companies were quick to cut costs in hopes of staving off financial disaster. The German carrier Lufthansa, for example, announced the closure of its Thessaloniki office.

Don’t weaken our competitive position, the Association of European Airlines tells EU policy-makers. The events of September 11th have taken the global airline industry into uncharted territory, and according to AEA estimates its member airlines will, in the remainder of the year, suffer losses arising from the tragedy of 2.5 billion Euro. More than 100 aircraft will be grounded. At least 20,000 jobs may be lost, and many more if any airlines are forced into bankruptcy.

The construction of four new helipads, three in the Aegean and one on an Ionian island, were announced last month by the government – Ithaca, Dodecanese, Patmos, Tinos, Lesvos. All …

Recent events have created new conditions under which the privatization of Olympic Airways must be carried out. Although the Greek government gave the green light to privatization advisers Credit Suisse First Boston to continue negotiations with Axon Airlines until October 17 -a 35-day extension- world events after the attack on New York may place everything on hold.

Lufthansa German Airlines has reported that for the first time more than 300,000 passengers in the month of July have traveled between Athens and Germany. Due to high demand, the carrier in April placed an Airbus A300-600 instead of and A 320/321 on the route, which increased capacity by 26% and allows a daily increase of about 600 seats daily on the route.

Plans for new installations at Thessaloniki’s Macedonia airport, budgeted at 100 billion drachmas, are expected to be ready for tender by next year, the Public Works Ministry announced last month. Also planned is the installation of the ILS-II landing system that has been subjected to long delays.

One of the last big independent names in air travel, Alitalia, signed an agreement recently with the global alliance SkyTeam. Members include Air France, Delta Airlines, Korean Airlines, Aeromexico and CSA Czech Airlines. CSA’s international hub in Prague strengthens Skyteam’s position in Europe, offering passengers increased access to Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Latest European Commission proposals to amend the 1993 Regulation on airport slots have come under fire from the Association of European Airlines and its members, who believe that the commission has reneged on a promise made last year to limit this stage of the legislative process to technical matters.