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Passenger Transportation Services

Documents show that To Lam will sign an agreement with US firms while he is in New York.

According to two documents and officials, a number of agreements are expected to be announced by U.S. and Vietnamese corporations next week, involving energy, technology, aviation, and financial firms, as?Vietnam leader To Lam visits New York. Vietnam has been negotiating commercial agreements for months, most of which will be non-binding. This is part of its strategy to appease Washington, as the Trump administration threatens new tariffs against the Southeast Asian nation that relies heavily on exports. A note of internal planning lists 29 agreements which could be announced in New York on 23 September at a conference attended by To...

Passenger Ground & Sea Transportation

US agency asks Tesla to provide answers on Cybercab certification

The?U.S. The?U.S. NHTSA stated that Tesla was required to answer questions such as whether Tesla used temporary human driver controls, or any other equipment in its certification of compliance. The auto safety regulator announced this month that it would be examining the data and process the EV maker used to demonstrate compliance with federal motor vehicles safety standards prior to deploying the robotaxi. Tesla and other robotaxi firms, including Google's Waymo, have supported plans by the Trump administration to change regulation so that these vehicles don't need to have steering wheels, break pedals, back-view mirrors, or other equipment needed by...

Transportation

US FAA: billions of dollars more required to modernize air traffic management

The Federal Aviation Administration's head said that the first phase of a plan to "modernize air traffic control" will cost "billions of dollar more than Congress approved." The Congress approved $12.5 billion in funding for air traffic control, which included $9 billion to modernize air traffic and $3.5 billion to build new facilities. Bedford told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that phase one would cost $16 billion. He said that the FAA was funding the 'gap' out of their facilities and equipment budget. Bedford, FAA's director of project management, urged lawmakers for approval. The FAA is asking for at...

Transport Infrastructure

Carney: Canada will seek private investment for major airports

Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, said that the country is looking for?private investments through long-term concessions to 'operate' the four largest airports in the nation as part a campaign to stimulate the economy. Toronto, Montreal Calgary and Vancouver are the airports. Last year, the Liberal government announced that it was exploring ways to boost airport investment but did not provide specific details. Carney will welcome dozens of international investors to Toronto in the coming 'week. He hopes to attract investments for more than 160 projects, which he believes are crucial to Canada's economic survival during a trade conflict...

Passenger Transportation Services

FAA chief to discuss air traffic management reforms as airlines are urged to better manage delays

A 'pilots' union and an aviation consultant have said that airlines affected by air traffic control staff shortages need to do more to prevent delays from snowballing to larger disruptions. This comes as lawmakers prepare to discuss reforms in the U.S. aviation sector on Tuesday. Bryan Bedford, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is scheduled to testify in front of a U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on a planned overhaul for air traffic control that will cost $12.5 billion. This comes a day after an official watchdog raised concerns about budget shortfalls. Staffing shortages and technological issues have led...

Passenger Transportation Services

Report finds that the US lacks funds to complete the first phase of air-traffic control reforms.

According to a government report released on Sunday, the Federal 'Aviation Administration' needs additional funding from Congress in order to complete phase one of a $10.6-billion air traffic control plan. They also underestimated the total cost of operating the new system. The Government Accountability Office stated that the FAA did not have a full assessment of the costs associated with operating the new system, nor had it set out a schedule to complete the reforms. The GAO report stated that "the FAA buys delivery speed by risking cost uncertainty and disruptions." It added, "these risks increase FAA's likelihood of repeating...

Transportation

The US lacks funds to complete the first phase of air-traffic control reforms

A government report said Monday that the Federal 'Aviation Administration' needs more funding from Congress to complete the first phase of its $10.6 billion air traffic control reform plan. They also underestimated the costs associated with operating the system. The Government Accountability Office (GAO)?said that the FAA hadn't fully assessed the?costs of operating the system? or?set up a detailed timeline for completing reforms? The GAO report stated that "these risks increase FAA's likelihood of repeating the history of cost overruns and delays." Congress approved $9 billion in the first phase of ATC reforms, which is expected to cost $10 billion....

Passenger Transportation Services

Etihad Airways sees strong demand, higher passenger capacity despite Iran war, CEO says

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airlines said Monday that its passenger capacity was above the year-earlier levels as Gulf carriers rebounded from disruption caused by Iran war. Its chief executive also predicted strong demand heading into winter travel season. In an interview, CEO Antonoaldo Neves stated that "we are back on track". He noted that the Available Seat 'Kilometres' - industry standard for measuring passenger carrying capacity - were 15 % to 17% higher today than they were a year ago. He said that the flights were "full, full and full". The load factor (which measures how well an air carrier fills...

Passenger Transportation Services

SPACs are a popular investment vehicle for defense and space companies.

The appeal of "flexible capital" and a quicker route to market in a time when investor interest is surging for the space and defense industry has led to an increase of early-stage companies seeking backdoor listings. These listings are different from traditional initial public offering because they involve mergers between special?purpose acquisitions companies (SPACs) -- shell firms who raise money 'through an IPO, and then merge with a privately held company to make it 'public. SPAC mergers allow companies to negotiate private valuations and secure funding before going public. This gives them more certainty about fundraising and reduces their reliance...

Passenger Transportation Services

Amazon suspends its operations with 21 Air following the Miami cargo plane crash

Amazon announced on Sunday that it was suspending operations with Miami's 21 Air, the cargo airline that operated the Amazon branded plane that crashed in Miami and killed?five people. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel stated in a statement to customers that "after the tragic 'incident' last weekend, we have spent time supporting and reviewing the investigation, and we've made the decision to pause operations with 21 Air as the operator of Flight. We'll continue to work with everyone involved in the investigation. Last week, an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane crashed after it overran the runway at Miami International Airport. Prime...

Passenger Transportation Services

New York Times Business News - September 11,

These are the top stories from the New York Times' business pages. ? These stories have not been?verified? and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. Anthropic has blocked several attempts to use their artificial intelligence models in research that could help?the development?of biological weapons. The Trump administration has announced that it will issue $500 rebates to nearly one million Americans in 30 states who are higher-income earners and have enrolled in Obamacare plans. Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive Officer of Ryanair, denied reports that a passenger was partially sucked from a shattered glass during a Malta Air flight...

Transportation

US FAA chief meets with airline CEOs on plan to reduce flight delays

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met with the CEOs of U.S. passenger airline companies on Thursday to discuss the FAA's plans to use advanced software for a re-organization of flight schedules to improve 'flight management. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford has met with top executives of American Airlines, United Airlines Delta Air Lines Southwest Airlines and other airlines to discuss the plan for the agency to start rolling out the SMART system this month. Bedford told reporters at the end of August that "it's going be transformational." We'll be able to make better decisions if we have more...

Europe

Passenger Transportation Services

EasyJet Portugal cabin staff votes for pre-Christmas strikes in October

EasyJet’s?cabin staff in Portugal voted Thursday to go on strike between 'October - 2-6 and then again from December 19-23 to protest poor working standards. This move is likely to cause hundreds of flights to be grounded at Portuguese airports, according to a spokesperson for SNPVAC. According to union estimates, the 'first strike alone' is expected to cause EasyJet to cancel a total of?500 flights scheduled to depart and arrive at Lisbon, Porto, and Faro airports. This excludes?any flights with minimum service that have yet to be determined by authorities. According to the spokesperson of the Portuguese leading cabin crew...

Passenger Transportation Services

After the bankruptcy of AirBaltic, Ryanair wants to double its traffic in the Baltic region

Ryanair announced on Thursday that it "plans" to double the number of passengers in the Baltic Region over the next five-year period, hoping to capitalize on airBaltic’s bankruptcy filing and retrenchment. The plans of Europe's biggest airline in terms of passenger numbers comes days after the Latvian airline became the first European carrier to declare bankruptcy as a result the fallout from Iran conflict. Ryanair has announced that it will provide 11 million seats per year in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania by the end of 2031, and base 16 aircraft there, up from 7. Jason McGuinness, Chief Commercial Officer at...

Passenger Transportation Services

European shares increase as oil prices decline, BoE decision is in focus

The risk sentiment was boosted on Thursday by a drop in?oil and a pause?in the global debt selloff following the?U.S. The Federal Reserve announced a much-anticipated interest rate increase. Most regional stock exchanges followed suit. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.5% by 830 GMT to 640.21. Germany's DAX rose 0.5%. Travel stocks led the way, rising 0.8% on the back of a decline in oil prices. Airlines like Ryanair and Lufthansa also saw gains, increasing by 1.1% and 1,2% respectively. Shares of BMW, Renault, and Volkswagen each rose around 1%. Brent crude futures remain above $100, but crude prices...

Western Europe

South-East Asia

Passenger Transportation

Four days after the capsize of a ship in Indonesia's Java Sea, 129 people are still missing and families desperate for information

Families of 129 missing people are becoming more frustrated and desperate as the search and rescue operations continue to be hampered by persistent bad weather, heavy seas, and heavy seas. The Virgo 'Transport?8' was carrying 243 passengers on a voyage of 20 hours from Surabaya, East Java, to Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. It capsized early Sunday morning in bad weather. The official death toll on Wednesday was six, with 108 people rescued, and 129 still unaccounted for. This number has not changed since Sunday. "I hope that we will use our advanced military equipment. We buy them to help the people,...

Passenger Transportation

The Indonesian survivor of a shipwreck saw the vessel capsize within minutes and waited for 10 hours to be rescued

Rizky Apriliansyah, who was sleeping on the top deck of the Virgo transport 8, the ferry which capsized in 'Indonesia Java Sea on a saturday morning, was woken up by friends at 1 a.m. to urge him to get a life jacket. Rizky said that the ship was already pointing roughly 30 degrees left at the time. He and his friends fled their room in panic. Rizky was a waiter aboard the vessel and recalled waves of up to 3-4 metres hitting it multiple times. This caused the ship to list even more. He said that no alarm had been...

Transportation

The weather is bad on the third day of searching for 129 people missing in Indonesia after a ferry capsizes.

Officials said that rough seas hindered Indonesian rescuers as they searched for 129 missing people after a passenger vessel capsized in the Java Sea three day ago. Officials said that if weather conditions improved, rescuers, who are currently only conducting air and sea surface searches for survivors, would 'launch underwater operations to search for them in the sunken vessel. The Virgo transport 8 ship, which was carrying 243 passengers, went missing early Sunday morning due to bad weather. Six people are confirmed dead and 108 have been rescued from the ship, which was traveling from Surabaya (East Java) to Banjarmasin...

Passenger Transportation Services

Authorities say it could take several months to identify the victims of the Philippine ferry fire.

On Sunday, authorities in the Philippines warned that it may take several weeks or months to identify victims of a ferry fire in which 76 people died. As forensic experts collect and compare DNA samples taken from the charred remains, investigators are determining what caused the worst maritime disaster in recent history in the Philippines. Richard Allan Mangalip, a forensic expert with the Philippine National Police said that some remains were clustered in certain areas of the vessel. Others were spread out across the ship. The vessel was carrying over 130 people, and it was nearing its destination at the...

Passenger Marine Transportation

The death toll from the fire on a Philippine ferry has risen to 76, as rescuers continue to recover more remains

Rescuers in the Philippines recovered another 41 charred remains following a ferry fire. The death toll now stands at 76, and 13 people are still unaccounted for. Forensic teams face the difficult task of identifying victims. The painstaking task had already started after 30 bodies were recovered on Friday and brought to Coron Town, where tents were set-up for forensic teams who would process and identify the deceased. As anxious relatives waited for the news, responders wearing protective suits carried black body bags into tents. Anelyn, 37, was one of those victims. Her husband, who was visiting their children in...

Passenger Ground & Sea Transportation

Philippines starts identifying the victims of ferry fire, but there are still dozens missing

The Philippine authorities started the painful process of identifying the victims of a ferry fire on Saturday. A day earlier, responders had recovered bodies from the burnt-out vessel. This brought the death toll up to 35, and more than 50 others are still missing. The bodies were taken to a port near Coron, where tents were erected for the forensic teams who would process and identify victims. Some family members gathered near the port to watch as responders wearing protective suits moved black body bags from an Coast Guard vessel into temporary tents. Anelyn magbanua was one of them. Her...

Passenger Transportation Services

Vietnam Airlines orders five Airbus A350-900s on a provisional basis from Airbus

Vietnam Airlines has confirmed earlier reports that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for the purchase of five A350-900 aircraft. Vietnam Airlines said that the aircraft are due to be delivered in 2033 or 2034. The deal's value was not disclosed. Vietnam Airlines' fleet development plan identifies the strategic priority of acquiring 30 widebody aircraft after 2030. This agreement was one of several agreements signed between Vietnam, France and To Lam during To Lam's visit to Paris at the International Space Summit. In a statement, Airbus Executive Vice President of Sales for Commercial?Aircraft Benoit de Saint-Exupery said:...

Passenger Ground & Sea Transportation

Five dead and more than 80 missing in Philippine ferry fire

The 'Philippine Coast Guard' said that five people died and more than 80 were missing when a ferry caught on fire on Wednesday night off the west Philippine island of Palawan. The PCG reported that 43 people were rescued after a fire broke out aboard the MV June Aster off Coron in Palawan on Wednesday evening. The Coast Guard released footage that showed the flames engulfing the vessel, and the responders placing the bodies into body bags. Coast Guard spokesperson, Commodore Noemie Cayabyab, told DZXL Radio that the vessel's manifest showed 117 passengers as well as 17 crew members. Cayabyab...

Transport Infrastructure

Indonesia reopens airports after Anak Krakatau's ash has cleared

Indonesia has reopened the airports that were closed due to volcanic ash, including the main airport in Jakarta, but eight people are still missing, including five journalists who had reported on the volcano. Officials said that further?eruptions Tuesday could also cause additional disruption. Since its first eruption on Friday night, ash from Anak Krakatau has covered Jakarta and certain surrounding areas. Eight airports were closed for safety, which affected more than 340,000 passengers. In a press release, Dudy Purwagandhi, the Transport Minister, said that Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta resumed its operations on Tuesday, after the wind cleared away all of...

Passenger Transportation Services

Why the funding request for Air India has been scrutinized by Singapore politicians

Air India's request to its owners, Tata 'Sons' and Singapore Airlines, for $1.5 billion has sparked debate in Singapore about the exposure of state-owned Temasek to Indian carriers. A government minister claimed that the news about the funding request had led to anti-Indian abuse on the internet, and asked the police to investigate the comments. Here are?the?key facts: AIR INDIA REQUEST FOR FUNDING Air India approached India's Tata Group as well as Singapore Airlines to discuss equity funding. This comes after Air India and its budget airline posted a record-breaking annual loss of 2,33 billion dollars last month. Singapore Airlines,...

Passenger Transportation Services

Singapore minister defends Singapore Airlines' investment in Air India

Singapore's Transport Minister defended on Tuesday the 'Singapore Airlines investment in Air India', stating that 'the city-state's Flag carrier must grow abroad because there are limits to how many passengers will fly into or out of Singapore. In response to a parliament question, Minister Jeffrey Siow stated that the flag carrier is a publicly listed company which funds its investments out of its own balance sheet. It has not requested additional capital from shareholders. Temasek, a Singaporean state investor, owns the majority of the airline. Singapore Airlines' 25.1% share in Air India has affected its earnings, and the carrier's multi-billion...

Passenger Transportation Services

Singapore opposition legislator opposes Temasek funding to Air India

Singapore opposition legislator urges that Temasek, the state investor, not be used to bolster Air India after reports that 'the Indian carrier had asked owners Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines and Temasek, who is majority owner of Singapore Airlines for $1.5 billion. Kenneth Tiong of the Workers' Party, an opposition member of parliament, stated in a post on social media that since Singapore Airlines owned about 25% of Air India, and Temasek, in turn, owned most of Singapore Airlines, the request "was not only a private shareholder question." I will not support or expect any future use by Temasek of funds...