just ridiculous

I find this hard to believe.... They could jsut sell really cheap tickets and get a few more people. Do American carriers have to pay for landing slots at major airports?

Airline flies empty to keep Heathrow slot
Posted on : 2007-03-12 | Author : World News Editor
News Category : World

LONDON, March 12 (UPI) An airline is flying an empty plane from England to Wales six days a week to preserve a landing slot at London's Heathrow airport.

British Mediterranean Airways has been operating the ghost flight since October because of a rule that an airline must use 80 percent of its Heathrow landing slots or face reallocation, The Times of London reported.

British Mediterranean resorted to flying an empty 124-seat Airbus after civil unrest in Uzbekistan forced the airline to scrap its flights to Tashkent.

British Mediterranean Chief Executive Officer David Richardson said the airlines looked at alternatives before deciding to fly the Cardiff route empty.

Our route network makes it difficult to put on additional flights to many destinations, due to bilateral agreements with the countries, Richardson told The Times. In other cases there isn't a big enough market, we would end up carrying the same number of people on more flights.Slots at Heathrow have been sold for as much as $20 million.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Source

weekend boredom

My roommate went cross country, to Key West no less, I have already cleaned the house and I'm putting off going for a run, so here's how I'm procrastinating...

Airlines are warning their investors to hold back despite lower fuel prices. I am glad to see American should be back in the black, as they employ my father. Source.

Heimlich cautions that fuel prices are probably not in a long-term downward spiral. Oil for February delivery has dropped to $51.88 a barrel -- the lowest level since May 2005 -- and a dip into the 40s is predicted by many analysts. But Heimlich notes that most experts predict higher prices in the second half of this year. Overall, ATA projects a $60/barrel oil price for 2007, with the average jet fuel price down slightly from last year to about $1.80 per gallon.

I have been very interested in how the new U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has not been entirely loyal to the standard U.N. talking points. John Bolton has an interesting article in today's Washington Post Online. There are definatly some encouraging developments. Secretary Ban defended member states right to have the death penalty, created a public financial disclosure report, called for the resignation of 60 senoir secretariat officials, but he parroted U.N. policy concerning Isreal and Palestine. Still, I am encouraged by what I am hearing, and apparently so is Mr. Bolton.

No one of these four incidents, nor all of them together, tell the complete story of Ban Ki-moon. Where he has followed his instincts -- deferring to member governments, supporting U.N. reform and demonstrating personal integrity -- he has done well. When he has followed the conventional wisdom inside the U.N. bubble on First Avenue in New York -- on matters of U.N. theology such as the death penalty and the Middle East -- he has not. In Washington this week, the president and others will again have the chance to take his measure.

Based on what we have seen so far, I hope they encourage him to let Ban be Ban.

And soon you could be through airport security in a flash. A program is already in existance in Orlando, soon to expand to Indianapolis, Cincinnati, San Jose, and New York's JFK. The shoe scanner gets those that pay $100 per year through security in an average of 4 seconds. Hattip Dennis Collins at the Daliy Aviator.