American Airlines and American Express Launched Corporate Platinum Card for Executive Business Travelers

American Express and American Airlines today announced the launch of a new American Express/Business ExtrAA Corporate Platinum Card.

The new card is designed for mid-sized organisations looking to balance the comfort of their executive business travelers and reduce their corporate expenses.

The new Business ExtrAA Corporate Platinum Card includes benefits for companies and executive business travelers who will receive one American Airlines domestic companion ticket per year along with access to the Admirals Club and concierge services.

Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines Change Schedule Flights at Nashville International Airport

Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines have made changes to their schedules at Nashville International Airport, cutting a total of nine flights while adding two.

“These are primarily seasonal changes, and air service to each of these markets continues to be available from BNA,” Raul Regalado, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, said in a news release.

Starting in April, American Airlines will cut two daily flights to St. Louis and add one daily flight to Miami. And Delta will cut one daily flight each to Cincinnati and New York-Kennedy, and add a daily flight to Minneapolis.

Effective Aug. 14 through Oct. 30, Southwest will reduce one daily flight each to Chicago-Midway, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix and San Diego.

Nashville International Airport (BNA) is served by 12 carriers, with more than 375 average daily arriving and departing flights. The airport provides direct air service to 74 markets.

Cathay Pacific Airways Cuts Growth Next Year

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong’s biggest carrier, slashed growth plans for next year and offered staff unpaid leave as travel demand plunges on a global recession.

Passenger capacity will rise less than 1 percent in 2009, compared with a previous plan for an increase of as much as 7 percent, the airline said in an e-mailed statement today. Cabin crew will be given as much as a year of unpaid leave, it added.

Cathay Pacific has forecast “disappointing” earnings this year as the global economic slowdown spreads to China and the rest of Asia, damping demand for cargo and passenger flights. Asia-Pacific airlines’ passenger traffic tumbled 6.1 percent last month, the second-biggest decline worldwide, according to the International Air Transport Association.

“The measures may not be enough,” said Kelvin Lau, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong. “They should have done this earlier, when they started to see a slowdown.”

Offering staff unpaid leave will likely only reduce operating costs by about 1 percent, he added. The airline, which posted a first-half loss, has already trimmed routes, frozen hiring and put five Boeing Co. 777s up for sale to cut costs.

Delivery Delays

The carrier doesn’t plan to axe any routes through the cuts announced today, it said. Most of the planned reductions in growth will come through the sale of the 777s and because of delivery delays caused by a strike at Boeing.

“We have got in quickly to try to plan a revised delivery schedule which Boeing can live with and which suits our desire to defer deliveries given current market conditions,” Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler said in an e-mailed response to Bloomberg questions. The deferrals will likely only be for a few months, he added. The carrier was previously due to receive 10 planes next year.

The carrier has also applied to delay construction of an air-cargo terminal in Hong Kong by as much as two years to cut capital expenditure and because of waning freight demand. Work has already begun on the HK$4.8 billion ($619 million) facility, previously due to open in the second-half of 2011, according to the statement. The airline will also park two Boeing 747-400BCF freighters in California for a year.

Cathay Pacific has tumbled 63 percent this year in Hong Kong trading, compared with a 50 percent slump for the benchmark Hang Seng Index. The carrier fell 1.3 percent to HK$7.52 in today before the announcement.

Travel Slowdown

Taiwan’s China Airlines and Malaysian Airlines System Bhd. have also asked staff to take unpaid leave to cut costs amid the travel slowdown. Global international air traffic, or the total distance flown by paying passengers, fell 1.3 percent last month, the second decline in a row, IATA said yesterday.

Travel demand has also slowed in China because of the cooling economy. The World Bank this week cut its forecast for China’s growth next year to 7.5 percent, the slowest pace since 1990, after the global financial crisis deepened. It forecast 9.2 percent in its previous quarterly report.

Cathay Pacific may also have to revise its plans depending on the economy, according to Tyler.

“Nothing can be set in stone at the moment,” he said in the statement. “Visibility is low and it’s hard to predict developments with any real certainty. Flexibility will be the key word in the months ahead.”

British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines Sign Agreement

The long-awaited alliance between British Airways, Iberia and America Airlines is finally nearing. The carriers have signed the final agreement to start the venture, according to the British party on Wednesday, and they could start sharing revenue as soon as next week, though a specific date hasn’t been announced.

Under the terms of the deal, a share of the revenue for a booked transatlantic flight will rebound to each of the airlines, despite the fact that only one of them will ultimately operate the service. This co-operation will include all transatlantic services operated by the group of carriers on routes between the US, Mexico and Canada. It will also apply to counties in the European Union, as well as Switzerland and Norway. With their transatlantic businesses combined, the carriers estimate yearly revenues to be worth £4.4 billion.

This deal will help put the Oneworld Alliance, for which the 3 airlines are all part of, on an equal footing with the SkyTeam and Star Alliance groups. Both of these have already been given approval to operate a transatlantic consortium by the US Department of Transport, and they have been doing so for years. These partnerships, however, have been operating without European regulatory approval, as the deals are still be examined.

Oneworld, on the other hand, was given clearance from the Department of Transport in February this year. They have since gained clearance from other European regulators, with Brussels being the final one in July. At the same time, British Airways and Iberia were given approval to created a merged company.

Airline Company, Cita-Triax Aviation, Into Nigeria ’s Aviation Industry.

A new vista in the bilateral relations between the United States and Nigeria was opened in Abuja , with the introduction of a new Airline, Cita-Triax Aviation, into Nigeria ’s aviation industry.

Speaking on the occasion, the US Ambassador to Nigeria , Robin Renee Sander commended the initiative, which is collaboration between a consortium of American Aviation experts and a group of Nigerian businessmen led by Chief Cliff Ogbede, the Chairman of Cita Travel Agency Limited.

Sanders said that the introduction of the airline, with its renowned expertise and advanced technology, would complement the efforts of the Nigerian government to upgrade and modernise its aviation infrastructure. She said that the participation of the American private sector in Nigeria ’s aviation industry was an indication of the growing confidence of the United States in the economic potentials of Nigeria and its investment climate.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Anyim Ude, who jointly unveiled the plaque of the new airline with the Ambassador, commended the promoters of the airline for finding Nigeria a suitable investment destination in Africa.

He expressed delight at the intention of the airline to help build the capacity of the aviation sector in Nigeria through collaboration with the Western Michigan University in the United States . The leader of the Cita-Triax team from the United States , Tom Davis, said that they were coming into Nigeria and the rest of West Africa to contribute their quota to the development of the aviation industry in the sub-region.

He said that the company was in Nigeria to bring new aviation ideas so as to improve existing technology, while providing education with the delivery of timely implementation of skills to Nigeria and West Africa . He disclosed that Cita – Triax Aviation was working with National Air Cargo Group and Western Michigan University College of Aviation in the United States.

Another director of the company, Mr. Howard Hackney, commended Nigerians for the reception accorded the group since they arrived in the country. He pledged that Cita – Triax Aviation Limited would deepen the new relationship to the mutual benefit of both countries.

Ogbede, who is the head of the Nigerian group and a director of Cita – Triax Aviation Limited, said that the group, with its expertise and modern technology, was going to turn around the aviation sector in Nigeria and West Africa . Ogbede is the Vice President of Cita-Triax Aviation, worldwide.