Archive

Keith Nuthall
ALTHOUGH air traveller numbers fell last year, with the civil aviation industry still reeling from September 11, the global travel retail market grew by 5.3 per cent to US$20 billion in 2002. This took it back to the 2000 level, from which it had fallen the previous year.…

Keith Nuthall
MEMBERS of the European Parliament have held talks with officials from the USA’s Department of Homeland Security, over their concerns about the trans-Atlantic transfer of air passenger data under an interim agreement with the European Commission. The parliament’s citizens rights committee wanted assurances covering the length of time the data will be stored and who is granted access to it, amongst others.…

Keith Nuthall
SRI Lanka was to increase its international airport departure tax from July 1 from SLRupees 1,000 (US$10.29) to 1,500 (US$15.44), outstripping rival destinations in the region. Although Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority officials stressed the extra money would be spent on Columbo’s Bandaranaike airport, the island’s press has noted Indian airports charge INDRupees 150 (US$3.22) departure tax on south Asian nationals and INDRupees 500 (US$10.73) on other travellers and Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport charges between NEPRupee 900 (US$11.89) and 1,100 (US$14.54).…

Keith Nuthall
THE INDIAN government is considering scrapping its contract with international consultants KPMG over the leasing of its airports in Delhi, Chennai (Madras), Mumbai (Bombay) and Kolkata (Calcutta). Newspaper reports say India is concerned about the costs of the often-delayed project, having already paid INDRupees 30 million to KPMG, which has nonetheless been hitting its own deadlines for offering advice.…

Keith Nuthall
A CONSORTIUM led by Italian-Thai Development plc (ITD) and two Japanese contractors has been awarded the contract to build runways at Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Construction is due to be completed by April 2005. In a statement to the stock exchange of Thailand, ITD said that the consortium, IOT Joint Venture, would be signing the contract with the New Bangkok International Airport Co (NBIA).…

Keith Nuthall
JAPAN’S Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has announced the first increase in daily landing slots at Tokyo International Airport, Haneda, since 2000, up by 14 to 391, from July. A Nihon Keizai Shimbun report says air traffic control improvements have broadened capacity, with slots being preferentially distributed amongst new market entrants, such as Hokkaido International Airlines (Air Do) and Sky-Net Asia Airways, the remainder being provisionally earmarked for Japan Airlines System Corp and All Nippon Airways.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
Mr Willem de Ruiter (51), a Dutchman with a degree in civil engineering, has been appointed the first executive director of the European Maritime Safety Agency, which was created by EU governments last year and is in the process of being set up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MEMBERS of the European Parliament are rushing to push the European Union deeper into the jurisdiction hitherto ruled unchallenged by the International Maritime Organisation, by trying to speed agreement over legislation that would make EU institutions an arbiter over sea safety issues.…

Keith Nuthall
THE FINAL shape of a European Union (EU) directive on design standards for recreational craft has been agreed by the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. The legislation includes essential design and construction requirements for all personal watercraft, regulating noise and exhaust emissions produced by their engines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
RUSSIA has unambiguously staked its claim to territorial rights to wide swathes of the Arctic Ocean between its northern coast and the North Pole, waters that are currently frozen for most of the year, but which may become more navigable thanks to global warming.…