HEADLINE NEWS.

Air Berlin will add a eur6-eur9 ($7-$11) surcharge on airfares sold through tour operators this winter season owing to the high cost of fuel. Aug 11, 2004

AirAsia will launch one daily flight between Hat Yai and Kuala Lumpur. Aug 5, 2004

AirTran Airways will begin daily nonstop flights between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Ft. Lauderdale Dec. 7 2004. Aug 4, 2004

AirTran Airways announced plans to increase its Florida service this fall, going from its 72 current daily departures to 88 by January 2005. There will also be an additional nonstop route from Atlanta to Grand Bahama Island, effective Nov. 4. Florida routes to begin on Nov. 4 include Pittsburgh, Bloomington/Normal and Milwaukee to Orlando; Atlanta to Miami; Fort Myers to Baltimore/Washington; Fort Lauderdale to Rochester; and Tampa to Rochester. A route from Flint, Mich., to Fort Lauderdale will commence on Nov. 6, with other routes scheduled to open later that month and in December 2004. Aug 4, 2004

AirTran Airways on Nov. 4 2004 will launch new daily nonstop service between Atlanta and Grand Bahama Island, between Ft. Lauderdale and Rochester, between Orlando and Milwaukee, between Orlando and Pittsburgh and between Rochester and Tampa as well as two daily nonstop flights between Atlanta and Miami, between Bloomington/Normal and Orlando and between Baltimore/Washington and Ft. Myers. On Nov. 20 the airline will begin one daily nonstop flight between Ft. Myers and Milwaukee and on Dec. 7 it will launch one daily nonstop between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Ft. Lauderdale, between West Palm Beach and Philadelphia and between Philadelphia and Ft. Myers. Effective Dec. 17, AirTran will commence one daily nonstop flight between Dayton and Tampa and between Flint and Tampa, and beginning Jan. 10 it will launch one daily nonstop between Dayton and Ft. Lauderdale. Aug 5, 2004

All Nippon Airways plans to launch a new low-cost carrier on Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu next year. Plans call for two 130-seat 737-500s replace some of the routes currently served by Air Nippon. According to insiders at ANA, the new airline will be launched later this month and will operate more than 100 flights a day by 2007. It is expected to have a lower cost base than Air Nippon. Aug 6, 2004

Aloha Airlines will add a second daily flight between Reno and Maui via Burbank Dec. 15 2004. The airline said to accommodate the new service, it will reallocate its fleet and discontinue its twice-weekly service to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. The last Rarotonga flight will operate out of Honolulu on Dec. 10 2004. Aug 13, 2004

Aloha Airlines www.alohaairlines.com is adding a second daily flight between Reno and Hawaii and restoring its direct service between Burbank, Calif. and Kahului, Maui. The first flight leaves Maui on Dec. 15 2004, makes a same-plane stop in Burbank and continues to Reno-Tahoe International Airport. The Maui-bound flight originates in Reno, makes a same-plane stop in Burbank and continues to Kahului. Travelers also can book the Reno-Burbank route. To free up aircraft for the new service, Aloha is ending its twice-weekly Honolulu-Rarotonga service. The last Honolulu-Rarotonga flight leaves Honolulu on Dec. 10 and the final Rarotonga-Honolulu flight leaves Rarotonga on Dec. 11 2004. Aug 17, 2004

America West is offering fares as low as $99 each way, based on a roundtrip purchase, on nonstop flights from Las Vegas and San Diego to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos; as well as between Los Angeles and Acapulco; and Oakland, California and Los Cabos. The airline's existing nonstop service between Los Angeles and Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta is also included in this sale. Aug 2, 2004

America West Airlines will launch four weekly flights between San Diego and Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 respectively. The service will be provided by America West Express operated by subsidiary airlines of Mesa Air Group using CRJs. AWA also will begin Saturday-only service between Los Angeles and Acapulco and between Oakland and Los Cabos. These flights begin Dec. 18 2004. Aug 10, 2004

America West Airlines received authorization from US DOT to begin a codeshare partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Under the agreement, passengers will be offered connections between Virgin Atlantic services to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Washington Dulles and America West services from Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego. Also, AWA will begin four weekly flights between Las Vegas and Puerto Vallarta Nov. 1 and four weekly flights between Las Vegas and Los Cabos Oct. 31 2004. The services will be provided by America West Express, operated by Mesa Air Group, using CRJs. Aug 4, 2004

America West Airlines formalized a previously announced commitment for 10 A320s and seven A319s (, May 28). It also will lease an additional four A320s from various lessors and either purchase or lease one more A320, bringing the total transaction to 22 aircraft. Deliveries of the purchased aircraft begin in late 2005 and will run through 2006. All A320s will be powered by IAE V2500s. Aug 13, 2004

American Airlines will begin offering daily nonstop flights to San Jose, Costa Rica, from Los Angeles on Dec. 16. It will use 757s configured with 22 seats in First Class and 166 in economy. This adds to the new international service it has started from Los Angeles this year, which includes daily service to Tokyo and to San Salvador, El Salvador. San Jose is American?s second Costa Rican destination; it began flights to Guanacaste Liberia from Miami earlier this year. Those flights will increase from three per week to five on Nov. 1 2004. Aug 16, 2004

ATA Airlines will launch seasonal nonstop Saturday-only service between Indianapolis and St. Thomas and seasonal one-stop Saturday-only service between Indianapolis and San Juan. Both flights will begin Dec. 18. In addition, effective Nov. 20 2004, service from Indianapolis to Ft. Lauderdale will increase from one to two daily flights, to Orlando from two to three daily flights, to St. Petersburg/Tampa from two to three daily flights and to Ft. Myers from seven to 14 weekly flights. Aug 3, 2004

ATA Airlines said its system-wide Business Class service, beginning late November, will be available for sale as early as late August. Each row of Business Class will feature two- across, 21-inch wide leather seats offering 38-40 inches of seat pitch. Passengers in Business Class will also enjoy priority check-in and boarding, complimentary beverage service and digital in-flight entertainment. Aug 4, 2004

ATA Airlines said customers scheduled to fly into or out of Florida on Aug. 12, 13 and 14 may change travel dates with no change fees or fare penalties, as long as rescheduled travel is completed by Sept. 15 2004. All travel changes must be made through ATA ticketing locations, or by contacting ATA's Reservations Department at 800-I-FLY-ATA. In similar news, United Airlines revised its ticketing policies for travel to and from destinations likely to be impacted by Hurricane Charley. The new policies apply to all customers ticketed on or before Aug. 11 for travel through Aug. 14 to or from Florida on any United, United Express and Ted or United code-share flight. For customers currently en route who would like to return to their point of origin, all rules and restrictions regarding standard change fees, day or time applications, and/or minimum stay or Saturday night-stay requirements have been waived. Customers may make a change to their flight reservation for any available flight to or from Florida on or before Aug. 14. To make these changes, passengers must call United's reservations line at 800-241-6522 by midnight on their original travel date. Aug 12, 2004

Austrian Airlines Group could face some flight delays Friday owing to a meeting that was called by union leaders to inform flight personnel about the status of a new common working contract between Lauda Air and Austrian Airlines. The length of the meeting is not known, but Works Council leaders did not rule out flight delays during the morning. Aug 11, 2004

Austrian Airlines Group is preparing for the possibility of significant flight delays today as union leaders meet with flight crews to inform them of the status of a new common working contract between Lauda Air and Austrian Airlines. "We have already delayed some of our long-haul flights and [combined] some flights together where we can," a spokesperson told . This weekend is one of the busiest for the airline, which has 100 flights planned for today of which 11 are long-hauls. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. local time and will take at least 2 hr. Some union leaders have refused to rule out strikes. Nearly a year ago, AAG flight personnel started the first of several strikes. Aug 13, 2004

Continental Airlines said it will extend its four weekly flights between St. John's and Newark to year-round beginning Oct. 31 2004. Aug 10, 2004

Continental has issued a challenge to customers to find a fare lower than those on www.continental.com for travel Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 2004. From now until Sept. 6, if someone finds a lower published retail fare for the same itinerary, Continental will send the customer an eCertificate for up to 10 percent off of a future ticket. The ticket must be purchased from www.continental.com. Customers must register online under the "Fall is in the Air" program. Some fares, however, are ineligible for comparison-shopping. Aug 17, 2004

Film Movement and IKA Media launched a new inflight channel dedicated exclusively to independent films. Continental Airlines signed on to be the first airline to carry the channel, which will debut in Aug. 2004. Aug 6, 2004

Continental Micronesia, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines [www.continental.com], plans to add a daily nonstop between Honolulu and Nagoya, Japan on Dec. 20, pending government approval. "Nagoya-Honolulu is currently an under-served market," says Mark Erwin, president of Continental Airlines-Asia Pacific Division. "We look forward to capitalizing on the continued strong demand for Hawaii as well as the growing interest in Nagoya, Japan." Nagoya is located between Tokyo and Kyoto, and in addition to being a business center is home to a number of cultural and historic sites - as well as serving as the site of the 2005 Aichi Festival. Continental Micronesia will use Boeing 767-400 aircraft on the route, providing 35 BusinessFirst and 200 coach seats. Each passenger seat has an interactive entertainment system featuring free music, video games and feature films. Each BusinessFirst sleeper seat has an adjustable winged headrest and a laptop power port. There also are laptop power ports in select rows in coach. Aug 4, 2004

Continental Micronesia will begin new daily nonstop service between Honolulu and Nagoya Dec. 20 2004 using a 767-400 in a two-class configuration. Aug 9, 2004

easyJet launched daily flights from Dortmund to Alicante and Nice. Aug 2, 2004

easyJet will begin daily service between London Luton and Turin Oct. 13, between Bristol and Madrid Oct. 31 2004, between London Stansted and Valencia Nov. 3, between Stansted and Almeria Nov. 11 and between Luton and Bratislava Dec. 8. In addition, it will launch two daily flights between Berlin Schoenefeld and Bratislava Nov. 25. With the new flights, the carrier will operate 179 routes among 48 cities this winter. Aug 6, 2004

Germanwings, the low-cost subsidiary of Eurowings, will add seven new destinations from its hub in Stuttgart by Oct. 30 2004. As a result, the carrier will double its Stuttgart-based fleet to four A319s. The new destinations are Hamburg, Dresden, London Stansted, Madrid, Warsaw, Krakow and Zagreb. Germanwings also will add a third frequency to Berlin. With the additions, it will offer flights to 15 cities from Stuttgart. Aug 5, 2004

Hainan Airlines received approval to fly to the US beginning in 2005. However, the airline has not announced a schedule yet. Currently Air China, China Southern and China Eastern operate to the US. It is expected that Hainan will place an order for 777-200s to operate US flights. Next month the airline launches its first international service to Osaka. Aug 13, 2004

Hawaiian Airlines has begun taking reservations for selected interisland flights aboard Island Air beginning Aug. 16 2004. The carrier currently provides one roundtrip a day between Honolulu and Lanai and another between Honolulu and Hoolehua, Molokai; the last day these are in operation is Aug. 15. The new codeshare agreement makes seven roundtrips a day available between Honolulu and Lanai, eight between Honolulu and Molokai (seven on Sundays), and adds six flights a day between Honolulu and Kapalua, West Maui. Under the arrangement, travelers retain their HawaiianMiles frequent-flyer benefits and can check in online for multi- leg flights involving Island Air service as long as the originating departure is on a Hawaiian Airlines aircraft. Aug 9, 2004

Iberia will launch daily A340 service between Madrid and San Jose, Costa Rica, Oct. 1 2004. The carrier previously served San Jose from Miami. However, it announced its intention to close its minihub at MIA earlier this year and said it would either serve the city directly or through flights by associated companies. Aug 6, 2004

Independence Air began six daily nonstop flights between Washington Dulles and Savannah/Hilton Head, nine daily nonstops between Dulles and Cleveland, 13 daily nonstops between Dulles and New York JFK and nine daily nonstops between Dulles and Winston-Salem. Independence said that on Oct. 1 2004 it will launch six daily nonstop flights between Dulles and Huntsville and eight daily nonstops between Dulles and Charlotte. Aug 3, 2004

Island Air www.islandair.com says that it has wrapped up negotiations on five additional planes to be added to its inter-island fleet. The carrier has received the first plane and will be putting it and another soon-to-arrive aircraft in service on its existing routes shortly. It expects two additional planes by month's end and the last by the end of September. This increase will bring the carrier's fleet to a total of 10 de Havilland Dash-8s and will complete the first phase of Island Air's expansion, which was begun in May when it became an independent carrier. Aug 5, 2004

JAL Group plans to introduce new domestic passenger services using IC card technology, including a ticketless check-in service developed by JAL for domestic airports in Japan. The JAL IC Check-in service will allow cardholders to board domestic flights without a ticket or boarding pass; they simply "touch and go" with their cards at the boarding gate. The service will begin at Tokyo Haneda this winter and later will be installed at other domestic airports. Aug 6, 2004

JetBlue Airways requested authority from the US Dept. of Transportation to launch daily service between New York JFK and Nassau Nov. 1 2004. The service would continue the airline's expansion in the Caribbean following the start of service to San Juan in 2002. Aug 4, 2004

KLM said it will launch KLM Europe Select and Europe Economy on all flights longer than 65 min. Passengers on flights operated by KLM cityhopper using F70s and F100s also will be offered a choice of two classes. Aug 10, 2004

Northwest Airlines will begin operating a 273-seat DC-10 instead of a 757-300 on its daily Seattle-Honolulu service Dec. 15 2004. Aug 13, 2004

Qantas plans to step up its penetration of the European market by substantially expanding its codeshare deal with its "kangaroo route" partner British Airways between the UK and Switzerland. Qantas applied to the International Air Services Commission for approval for an extra 14 weekly third-party codeshare services with BA between London and Geneva. BA currently operates daily flights in conjunction with Qantas on the route. If clearance is granted, Qantas will add seven of the services during the current scheduling period and a further seven from the end of Oct. 2004. Aug 12, 2004

Qatar Airways increased its service between Doha and Moscow from three to four weekly flights. In addition, it upgraded the aircraft operating on the route from A319s to A320s. Aug 6, 2004

Ryanair will launch new service from London Stansted to Santander Sept. 20 2004, Riga Oct. 31 and Zaragoza Dec. 1. The carrier also will begin new service Sept. 20 from Rome Ciampino to Santander and Eindhoven. On Oct. 31, Ryanair will commence new service from Frankfurt Hahn to Riga and Santander and from Tampere to Riga. Aug 2, 2004

SAS Braathens, the Norwegian unit of SAS, announced that it will raise prices by up to 35% on some flights while leaving its cheapest domestic fares unchanged. According to Reuters, low-fare rival Norwegian soon will announce price adjustments as well. SAS Braathens said domestic fares will rise about Nok100 ($14.31) on average. Increases will represent less than a 10% boost over current fares except for a couple of destinations in Europe, which will see a 35% price hike. SAS Braathens said the new prices will be in effect on tickets bought as of last Tuesday for flights from Aug. 17 2004. Aug 5, 2004

Singapore Airlines introduced text message check-in for its passengers. According to Senior VP-Products and Services Yap Kim Wah, passengers can text-in remotely and then collect their boarding passes and check their bags at special counters, thus avoiding the regular check-in lines. The SMS check-in will be available at 12 airports including Singapore, Auckland, Bangkok, Christchurch, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur. Aug 4, 2004

SkyEurope, the low-cost carrier from Slovakia, will start flights from Krakow to London, Amsterdam, Milan, Paris and Rome by the end of Sept. 2004. Aug 12, 2004

Song also will begin daily nonstop service between New York JFK and Nassau Dec. 1 2004. This will be the LCC's first international service. Aug 4, 2004

South African Airways, which is eliminating its first-class seat in many markets and putting lie-flat beds in business class, had that seat rated as "World's Best Business Class Seat" by Skytrax. Skytrax, a research group, said the 73 inches of pitch is in many cases better than some airlines' first-class seats. It also said SAA's cabin layout and overall ambiance beat out competitors Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. SAA received high marks for the comfort in the bed position and for its seat pod. SAA has completed upgrading its A340-600s and A340-300s that fly to New York and Atlanta. Aug 17, 2004

Tiger Airways signed a contract with InteliSys Aviation Systems to deploy its Amelia Reservation System. Under the contract, the system is expected to be deployed by the fourth quarter. Aug 13, 2004

United Airlines said it would launch a new three-cabin Boeing 757, premium domestic service officially known as p.s. The airline says this new product will deliver more space and comfort, with a superior level of service for United fliers traveling between New York and Los Angeles, as well as New York and San Francisco. The new p.s. flights between New York-JFK and Los Angeles will roll-out from Oct. 18 to late December 2004, while p.s. service between New York-JFK and San Francisco will roll-out from late December 2004 to late February 2005. Flights are open for sale starting Aug. 3. First-class cabins feature lay-down, flat beds and five feet of space between rows, while business class will feature wide leather seats with four feet of space between rows. Economy Plus service will be extended to the entire coach cabin and will feature seats with 34-inch pitch versus the standard 31 inches for more space. Every seat will have access to laptop power with no adaptor needed and Verizon Airfone service. There will also be a renewed emphasis on food, from appetizers to salads, from entrees to dessert. United says it will apply elegant dining options to cross-country domestic flights. United first and business class will feature signature Bellini champagne cocktails, specialty chocolates and new menu choices. Economy Plus will offer refreshed menu choices, the line said. Aug 2, 2004

United Airlines beginning in Oct. 2004 will raise the service ante in the hotly competitive nonstop transcon markets while slicing capacity by more than a third. The carrier intends to introduce a new three-class product using 757s on flights between New York JFK and San Francisco and Los Angeles. The aircraft will feature lie-flat seats in first class, an upgraded business class and an all-Economy Plus main cabin, with laptop power connections installed throughout. United currently operates a mix of 767-200s and 767-300s in the markets, with the dash 200s seating 167 in a 10/32/125 layout. It does not offer the Economy Plus product on these aircraft. The 757s will be configured for 110 passengers: 12 in first-class, 26 in business class and 72 in Economy Plus. The carrier operates seven JFK-LAX and six JFK-SFO daily services; this will fall to six in each market with the introduction of the 757s. According to JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker, the result of these actions is that United's transcon capacity will fall 40% relative to earlier planned schedules. For the industry, "this represents an approximate 10% NY transcon decline, which although significant, is not nearly enough to declare the crisis over." United's new offering is being branded "p.s" for "premium service." The p.s. flights between JFK and LAX will roll out between Oct. 18 and Dec. 2004, while service between JFK and San Francisco will roll out between late Dec. and late Feb. 2005. First class will be reconfigured with a lie-flat seat offering 68 in. pitch, up from 60 in. today with a standard first-class seat. Pitch in business class rises to 54 in. from 40 in., with new seats as well. The all-Economy Plus cabin product offers 34 in. pitch versus 31 in. in standard economy. "The level of comfort and distinguished service usually reserved for international flights will soon be available to our customers traveling between New York and Los Angeles and New York and San Francisco," said Senior VP-Marketing Martin White. "Our new premium service is central in United's business strategy to effectively serve high-yield customers by offering them an unmatched flying experience with more comfort and a superior level of service in all three cabins." Aug 3, 2004

United Airlines is now selling tickets for three additional roundtrips each week between Los Angeles and Sydney from mid-December until the end of March 2005. United currently provides daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Sydney with continuing service to Melbourne, and between San Francisco and Sydney with connecting service to Melbourne. The new seasonal service for Australia's peak summer season will increase United's weekly seating capacity between the United States and Australia by about 20 percent. Aug 3, 2004

United Airlines will operate three additional weekly flights between Los Angeles and Sydney from mid-Dec. 2004 until the end of March 2005. It currently operates daily nonstop service between the cities with continuing service to Melbourne. Aug 4, 2004

US Airways will begin Saturday-only service between Charlotte and Liberia, Costa Rica, and Barbados. Both new flights will begin Feb. 12 2004 and will be operated with A319s. Additionally, on Nov. 7 the airline will expand its Boston-Aruba service with three more weekly flights. Currently, US Airways operates Saturday-only service on that route. Also, beginning Dec. 11 the airline will add a second Saturday nonstop flight between Charlotte and St. Thomas using 193-seat 757s. Aug 3, 2004

US Airways announced that it would discontinue nonstop service from Pittsburgh on 20 routes operated either by US Airways or US Airways' wholly owned and affiliate Express carriers, beginning in November. The company will retain nonstop service to more than 50 markets, in particular 28 of its top 30 markets, and will remain the airport's largest carrier. Complete details of the fall schedule, which still are being developed, will be available in early September. Among the routes scheduled to be eliminated beginning Nov. 7 are an international route from Pittsburgh to Frankfurt, Germany, and domestic regional routes from Pittsburgh to Grand Rapids, Mich., Charlottesville, Va., and Akron- Canton, Ohio. In addition, US Airways says further cuts are possible on the US Airways Express network since the independently owned affiliate carriers still are finalizing their schedules. Aug 12, 2004

US Airways expanded its new fare structure, GoFares, to include flights from Philadelphia to Ft. Myers, Sarasota, Milwaukee, Myrtle Beach and Savannah. In addition, it expanded the fare structure to service from Washington to Burlington, Columbus, Dayton, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Louisville, Manchester (N.H.) and Providence. Aug 13, 2004

US Airways and Bahamasair will begin codesharing on Sept. 15 2004 from Grand Bahama Island and Nassau to Charlotte, New York-LaGuardia and Philadelphia, as well as from Nassau to Washington-Reagan and Boston. Tickets are available for sale now. US Airways customers can now access Governors Harbour, George Town and Treasure Cay on Bahamasair via Nassau. They also will have more flights to North Eleuthera, Marsh Harbour and Grand Bahama Island. The agreement allows Dividend Miles members to accrue and redeem miles on Bahamasair flights. Separately, the airline will be introducing GoFares in new markets in November, such as Boston to Orlando, and to Fort Lauderdale from Hartford, Conn., and Baltimore-Washington Airport. It also will begin new flights from BWI to Miami, and to Fort Myers from Columbus. Aug 16, 2004

US Airways Express carrier PSA Airlines will begin operating to George Town, Bahamas on Dec. 18 2004 from Charlotte. This will be US Airways' fifth destination in the Islands of the Bahamas. The airline also announced earlier this week a new codesharing relationship with Bahamasair. PSA will fly out on Saturdays from Charlotte with 70-seat regional jets. US Airways currently flies to 18 Caribbean and Latin American destinations from Charlotte. On Feb. 12 2005, it intends to begin flights form there to Liberia and Barbados. Aug 17, 2004

Hungarian-owned Wizz Air is expected to launch two daily flights between London Luton and Warsaw and daily service between Luton and Gdansk. In addition, beginning Sept. 15 the budget carrier will begin daily flights from Warsaw to Dortmund and Brussels and will serve the new Copenhagen- Malmo route from Warsaw, Katowice and Gdansk with 10 weekly flights in total. With the additional flights, the airline will operate 87 frequencies to Poland. Aug 10, 2004