Other news

New York JFK Terminal 4 expansion plans were unveiled last month, with $1.2 billion set to be spent by Delta Air Lines, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and terminal operator JFK International Air Terminal, a unit of Schiphol USA. Construction is set to begin in September with the anticipated completion of phase one and relocation of Delta's Terminal 3 operations to Terminal 4 in May 2013. Currently, DL operates predominantly out of T2 for domestic flights and T3 for international service. It will occupy nine newly constructed gates and up to seven of the existing gates, the Port Authority said. Following the move, T3 will be demolished, creating room for 16 additional aircraft parking spaces. Expansion of T4 is expected to take 36 months and the demolition of T3 a further 24 months.

Ryanair said it will close its Belfast City base at the end of the current summer schedule Oct. 31, citing the airport's confirmation that a public inquiry into a planned runway extension will be delayed further. The runway extension originally was scheduled to be delivered in 2008. Runway 04/22 is just 1,829 m. long.

"It makes no sense for Ryanair to continue to invest in Belfast City, operating restricted routes with less than full payloads between Belfast and other UK airports (which suffer a double APD penalty) unless there is clear and immediate prospect of Ryanair being enabled to safely operate longer European routes from Belfast City Airport, and for this we need the runway extension," CEO Michael O'Leary said.

The LCC launched a base at BHD in October 2007 with one 737-800. It operates five routes to the UK: London Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands, Bristol and Glasgow. It said the closure of its base will result in the loss of 1 million passengers annually at the airport.

Hanjin Group, parent of Korean Air, announced the opening of a new cargo terminal at Navoi International in Uzbekistan, enabling KE to expand its cargo network by adding routes from Navoi this year. The 1.46-million-sq.-ft. terminal is designed to handle 100,000 tons of cargo a year and features refrigerated warehouses and quarantine stations. Capacity will be upgraded to process up to 500,000 tons of cargo a year as demand increases. 

Aviapartner last month gained  ISAGO certification for its stations at Nice, Milan Malpensa and Lyon.The independent Brussels-based ground handling company has been implementing the ISAGO certification program in each country where it provides handling services and successfully completed the operational risk and safety management audits for its activities in Amsterdam in January. Its Frankfurt station appeared on the ISAGO Registryin March, followed by Brussels, Dusseldorf and Munich in June.