Sky Talk

Speculation growing on D/FW announcement

The jetheads at airliners.net (the premier online spot for folks obsessed with aviation of all types) have been buzzing about the mystery announcement at D/FW scheduled for this afternoon. Some of their predictions include new Aer Lingus flights, Asian cargo service, new routes for Virgin America and KLM among others.

We'll post here as soon as we get word on what's happening. The news conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. CST today.

Here's the link to the S-T's story from this morning, which adds KLM Royal Dutch as a contender to launch a D/FW-Amsterdam route: http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/248695.html

And here's the link to what actually happened: It's KLM, D/FW - Amsterdam. http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_talk/2007/09/its-klm-royal-d.html

- Trebor

AA, others get China flights as well

The DOT has announced some additional China flights on top of the Atlanta-Shanghai route we blogged about earlier, including American's request for a nonstop from Chicago to Beijing. These flights will begin in 2009.

Like the Delta decision, the 2008 flights weren't competitive. The DOT had four slots to award, and four applicants. In addition to American, other airlines getting flights included:

* Continental, with a Newark-to-Shanghai route

* Northwest, which will fly to Shanghai from Detroit

* US Airways, with a Philadelphia to Beijing flight

The DOT also said it awarded a route to United Airlines to Guangzhou from San Francisco. That flight, which begins in 2008, was only open to airlines that wanted to fly to Guangzhou.

- Trebor

(AP photos: Mao at Tiananmen Square, AA's first flight to Shanghai arrives May 2006, panda at the Beijing Zoo)

Boeing bets big on Asia

Boeing projects airlines will see Asia-Pacific traffic grow 6.3 percent a year over the next 20 years, leading Boeing to invest heavily in new airplanes.

-- Scott