Air traffic

14 May 2007 -- A high-profile takeover bid for Australia's flag carrier failed and South Korea and the European Union launched free trade talks.

The private consortium that tried for months to buy Australia's national airline Qantas conceded that the nine billion dollar takeover bid had failed. Airline Partners Australia, a consortium led by Australia's Macquarie bank, missed a deadline for getting the 50 percent shareholder support it needed for the deal.    » read more »

2007 System Traffic Up 1.7 Percent From 2006

May 10, 2007 -- U.S. airlines carried 110.8 million scheduled domestic and international passengers on their systems in during the first two months of 2007, 1.7 percent more than they did during the same period in 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported in a release of preliminary data (Table 1).    » read more »

10 May 2007 -- Forensic experts are using genetic (DNA) testing to identify victims of Saturday's Kenya Airways crash in Cameroon.

Recovery teams Thursday are in the process of retrieving remains from the swamp where the jet crashed. Officials cautioned that the remains are in poor condition.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has declared Monday, May 14, a national day of mourning.

Authorities are probing the cause of the crash that killed all 114 people on board. Officials are also investigating the delay in finding the crash site.    » read more »

08 May 2007 -- Cameroon has opened an inquiry into the crash of a Kenya Airways plane that killed all 114 people on board Saturday.

Officials Tuesday say the investigation is focusing on why the plane went down and the delay in finding the wreckage.

The crash site was found in a mangrove swamp about 20 kilometers from Douala airport after nearly two days of searching.

Initially, the search focused on an area at least 140 kilometers from Douala based on information received from a satellite signal.    » read more »

May 7, 2007 -- The nation’s largest airlines recorded a rate of on-time flights this past March that was higher than in February but down from the rate posted in March 2006, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).    » read more »

06 May 2007 -- Reports from Cameroon, where a Kenya Airways plane crashed shortly after takeoff, say searchers have found wreckage but no sign of survivors.

The six-month-old Boeing 737 jet went down with 114 people aboard early Saturday, during a torrential rainstorm. The airport at Douala, Cameroon's largest city, briefly heard a distress signal, but rescuers were unable to locate the crash site for more than 40 hours.

The plane went down in a mangrove swamp 20 kilometers from the airport, along its flight path, and officials say a dense canopy of foliage concealed it from view.    » read more »

05 May 2007 -- Cameroon state radio says a Kenya Airlines jetliner that went missing shortly after taking off from a Cameroon airport Saturday has crashed.

The report says the Boeing 737-800 jetliner went down near the town of Niete, in southern Cameroon. The plane was carrying 106 passengers and nine crew members.

There is no immediate word on any survivors.    » read more »

May 3, 2007 -- Washington, DC — U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) today announced that the Senate Commerce Committee has included their Airline Passengers Bill of Rights language in the bipartisan draft Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill.    » read more »

May 3, 2007 -- TRENTON – Acting New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey today signed legislation allowing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to designate one airport in each state for expansion. The bill mirrors legislation passed in New York and will allow the Port Authority to purchase the lease of Stewart Airport, which will then be expanded in an effort to ease the burden of excessive air traffic on the region’s airports.    » read more »