Asia, Pacific Nations Vow To Fight Threats To Civil Aviation

Asia and Pacific nations vowed Saturday to fight emerging terror threats to commercial aircraft by boosting international security standards and measures, including screening technology.

The declaration was made in Tokyo at a one-day meeting attended by ministers and senior officials from 17 countries, plus Hong Kong and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Aviation Security was held in response to an aborted terror attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 approaching Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano noted that the 289 people aboard the plane were from 18 countries including Australia, Japan, Canada, India, Pakistan and China.

“The international dimensions of this incident and the international threat posed by violent extremism require an international response,” she told a news conference after the meeting.

She added that the meeting had come up with a “strong consensus about the need to act and to do so with urgency.”

European countries held a similar meeting, which Napolitano attended, in Spain in January. As did North, Central and South American countries in Mexico last month. They have also resulted in what she called “historic declarations.”

The ICAO is scheduled to hold a general meeting from the end of September to improve its international aviation security.

In their joint declaration, the Asia-Pacific officials agreed to broaden cooperation in exchanging information and detecting security threats to passenger security.

They also agreed to share expertise and “best practices” in such areas as screening and inspection techniques, detection of weapons, explosives and hazardous materials, and development of human resources such as sky marshals.

The declaration also stated the intent to use modern technologies to detect prohibited materials before they get onboard an aircraft “while respecting the privacy and safety of individuals.”

They also called for changes to ICAO and other rules on the sharing of passenger information.

Japan’s transport minister, Seiji Maehara, said the Northwest Airlines incident revealed weaknesses in current security measures.

A young Nigerian man was charged with attempting to blow up the plane with plastic explosives strapped to his body. He was restrained by passengers and crew as the plane descended into Detroit.

“While we strengthen (security) measures, new forms of terrorism may possibly be planned to outdo them,” Maehara told the news conference. “We have to keep on improving them.”

Alaska Airlines Flight 450 Canceled Due to Snowstorm

The unusual snowstorms that hit Seattle and Portland beginning December 19 forced the cancellation of 450 Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights. Airline spokesman Paul McElroy says thousands of people have been stuck at west coast airports because of the heavy snow and strong winds in the Pacific northwest. Rebooking all those travelers is a major challenge. While airline travel is generally back to normal, not everyone will make it home or to their holiday destination by Christmas. McElroy says the airline is considering creating additional flights.

All Nippon Airways Net Income Target 5 Billion Yen Early Next Year

All Nippon Airways Co., Asia’s second-largest carrier by sales, predicted a return to profit next fiscal year as the company cuts jobs and adds flights.

The airline, also known as ANA, expects net income of 5 billion yen ($55 million) in the year beginning April 1, it said in a statement today. The Tokyo-based carrier widened its net loss forecast for the current fiscal year to 65 billion yen from 28 billion yen.

All Nippon will shed about 1,000 jobs, merge subsidiaries and slash spending on advertising as part of an 86 billion yen cost-cutting program. The carrier will also boost flights as it takes delivery of new planes, including Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners, and as Tokyo’s Haneda airport, the nation’s busiest, opens a new runway.

“Next year will be a big opportunity for us,” said Akira Okada, a senior vice president at All Nippon. “We want to increase flights to China and Southeast Asia.”

All Nippon aims to raise international passenger sales 68 percent to 357 billion yen in the year starting April 2011, from an estimated 212 billion yen this fiscal year. The carrier will boost overseas flights 15 percent next fiscal year, adding services to Taipei, Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai.

The carrier is working with Koito Industries Ltd. on new seats for a plane service it is starting this year, Okada said. All Nippon is discussing compensation with Koito, which falsified test results, causing delays in the delivery of the seats and the airline’s new service.

Japan Airlines Corp., ANA’s larger rival, is restructuring after seeking bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

All Nippon rose 1.1 percent to 284 yen, the highest level in two months, in Tokyo trading today. The forecast was announced after the end of trading.

Clouds of Volcanic Ash From Eruptions in Iceland Resulted Delays of Flights from United Kingdom

A volcanic ash cloud from an eruption in Iceland has somehow drifted towards Britain resulting in flights being delayed across the country. Air Traffic Control imposing restrictions after warnings that ash could damage the engines.

This includes the whole of Scotland’s airports which are shut down, with disruptions to Manchester, Liverpool, Stansted, Newcastle, Birmingham, all flights at Belfast International Airport and George Best Belfast City Airport and some at Dublin airport as well.

Passengers were advised to contact their airlines before leaving for the airport.

The cloud is expected to move across Europe tonight.

Volcanic Eruption

The eruption under a glacier in the Eyjafjallajoekull area of Iceland is the second in Iceland in less than a month. Rognvaldur Olafsson, a chief inspector for the Icelandic Civil Protection Agency has confirmed that 800 people near the Eyjafjallajokull volcano were evacuated on Wednesday.

Officials believe that a second volcanic eruption has followed the one which occured on March 20th, 2010.

This after almost 200 years of silence.

Olafsson says heavy cloud cover is preventing scientists from flying over the glacier to determine what precisely is happening and whether the volcano has actually erupted.

As a precaution against flash floods from melting ice near the volcano authorities initiated the evacuation.

British Airways Plans Long-Haul Flights During Cabin Crew Strike On May 18

British Airways Plc plans to operate more than 60 percent of long-haul flights from London’s Heathrow airport during a five-day cabin crew strike starting on May 18.

About 50 percent of short-haul services from Europe’s busiest airport will also operate, British Airways said today on its website, taking the total number of customers carried to 60,000 a day, or 70 percent of those who have booked tickets.

London-based British Airways aims to maintain services using a combination of its own planes and as many as eight leased aircraft. Europe’s third-biggest carrier is facing four walkouts totaling 20 days by its 12,000 cabin crew after Unite union members rejected the latest offer on pay and staffing.

“We will fly tens of thousands of customers around the world on business trips and family holidays every day that a strike takes place,” Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said in today’s statement. “We are confident that many crew will ignore Unite’s pointless strike call.”

British Airways rose 1.7 percent at 208.4 pence in London. The stock has gained 12 percent this year, valuing the company at 2.4 billion pounds ($3.5 billion).

London’s Gatwick and City airports will operate as normal during the five-day strikes, which will also run from May 24, May 30 and June 5, British Airways said.

The carrier will seek to rebook some of the 30 percent of passengers holding tickets for canceled flights with 53 other airlines, among them alliance partners American Airlines, Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA and Qantas Airways Ltd. and competitors Emirates and Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Long-Haul Check In

Customers due to travel on long-haul flights from Heathrow during the first walkout can check in starting today through the company’s website. The revised schedule for short-haul flights will be published tomorrow, British Airways said.

“We remain absolutely determined to resolve the dispute and our door remains open to Unite, day or night,” the CEO said. “It’s not too late for Unite to call off this action.”

The executive, who cut staffing levels in November without union approval after the recession hurt demand for air travel, said his offer to cabin crew is “very fair” and addresses all union concerns. The airline is available for talks, he said.

Walsh’s proposals were spurned by 81 percent of flight attendants who took part in a ballot. Unite had asked workers to reject the proposal because British Airways is refusing to fully restore travel perks to workers who walked out in March and reinstate people sacked or suspended during the dispute.

“We urge BA to work with us to settle this dispute,” Unite spokeswoman Pauline Doyle said in an e-mail. “They could avert this strike, at no cost to the company at all, by agreeing to end this war against their workforce.”