Delta Airlines is once again slashing service at Memphis International Airport, eliminating flights from Memphis to Denver and Austin, Texas, in September.

The airline, which formerly operated a fortress hub at Memphis International, will also temporarily suspend service to Las Vegas this winter.

Delta did not disclose the reasons for the latest reductions to Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority executives, but lack of demand, competition from other carriers and seasonal adjustments could have played a role, said Scott Brockman, president and CEO of the Airport Authority.

“Air service is a recipe that takes a lot of ingredients,” said Brockman. “They don’t offer us a detailed explanation as to why.”

Delta will be adding two Memphis flights to the airline’s global hub in Atlanta.

“Clearly, they’re trying to push more people through Atlanta,” said Brockman.

While Delta is eliminating some flights, the number of available seats on Delta flights will actually increase, because the airline will be adding larger flights to its fleet.

Delta’s number of nonstop destinations will go from 20 to 17 in November, and the airport’s number of nonstop destinations will go from 26 to 24. Denver is still served by both United Airlines and Frontier Airlines.

The flight changes are a result of Memphis International transitioning from a hub airport dominated by connecting flights to one focused on generating more origin and destination traffic.

“As an origin-and-destination market that is reinventing its air service, these are the challenges we now embrace,” said Brockman.

Frontier, which began service to Denver in March, is adding service to Washington Dulles in September. Southwest Airlines and United Airlines are each adding a flight to Houston in November. The overall

General News of Monday, 4 August 2014

Source: Moses Ayambi

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…Offered option of refuelling of planes
Ghana’s security apparatus and an official of government have prevented America’s Delta Airlines from using the country’s airport for an evacuation exercise in Liberia deemed to be detrimental to the safety of Ghanaians in the wake of an Ebola scare.

America is evacuating its citizens from Liberia because of the outbreak of the Ebola virus.

As part of the evacuation plan, Delta Airlines was engaged to airlift the U.S. citizens and it was decided that they should be brought to Ghana before going to the U.S.

However, the Ghanaian security apparatus and a government official, who does not want to be named, scuttled the move.

“Delta Airlines was fully made aware that Ghana would not allow such an idea to be carried out.

“In fact, Delta Airline was told in plain language that the role Ghana will play will be to allow the airline to refuel in Accra, but not to disembark passengers”, the official said.

Even with that, there were strong deliberations as to whether the airline could do so at Senegal, which is closer to Liberia as compared to Ghana.

As at press time on Sunday, all attempts to reach officials of Delta Airlines and the American Embassy for a response proved futile.

There were speculations earlier that Ghana had banned all flights from Nigeria and other Ebola struck countries.

“Ghana has never banned any flight from Nigeria”, an official government response clarified, adding:

“The only restriction placed on an airline is the prevention of Delta Airline from bringing the American citizens in Liberia to Ghana.

“The decision was in the best interest of Ghana because of the high incidence of the Ebola virus in Liberia”.

Delta Airlines was to undertake the evacuation without any contingency plan, a situation the Ghanaian security apparatus found awkward.

GhanaWeb cannot independently confirm this story, but will publish responses from sides mentioned in the article for our cherished readers

Airline stocks have been stellar performers this year. Delta Airlines (DAL) has surged 35.6%. United Continental (UAL) is up 23.3%.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) is up a jaw-dropping 51% while the new American Airlines (AAL), the combination of US Airways and the not-far-removed from bankruptcy American, is up 52%.

Those returns have been pivotal in lifting the iShares Transportation Average ETF (IYT) and the SPDR SP Transportation ETF (XTN) . The performance of airline stocks this year has also made ETF investors long for the days when airline ETFs were available.

“ The Guggenheim ETF, which had FAA as its ticker — think Federal Aviation Administration — closed right in the middle of a 151 percent tear in airline stocks over two and half years. Such a rally inevitably got more investors interested in the notoriously cyclical industry,” writes Eric Balchunas for Bloomberg.

Investors craving airline exposure via ETFs have been forced to turn to IYT and XTN, which feature airline weights of 14% and 24.3%, respectively. There is another option that also investors leverage to a potential rebound in the moribund consumer discretionary sector: The PowerShares DWA Consumer Cyclicals Momentum Portfolio (PEZ) .

PEZ differs from standard discretionary ETFs in that it is not home to some of the sector’s most familiar names such as Home Depot, Walt Disney (DIS), Ford (NYSE: F) McDonald’s (MCD) or cable providers. [Momentum Bounce for a Discretionary ETF]

Rather, PEZ is true to its momentum roots as it features Netflix (NFLX) and Tesla (TSLA) among its top-10 holdings. PEZ is one of just 11 ETFs that features Tesla among its top-10 holdings and one of just eight that extend the same courtesy to Netflix, according to SP Capital IQ data.

American Airlines is the ETF’s ninth-largest holding at 3.4%. Overall, devotes 12.1% of its weight to airlines, making the group the ETF’s second-largest industry exposure behind specialty retail. PEZ is also one of just 11 ETFs that show American Airlines as a top-10 holding.

American as a top-10 holding is good news for PEZ as the company just announced a $1 billion buyback and its first dividend in over three decades, according to Bloomberg. In addition to American, PEZ holds four other airline stocks, including a 1.3% weight to Hawaiian Holdings (HA), a stock that is up 46.4% this year.

PowerShares DWA Consumer Cyclicals Momentum Portfolio

ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post.

The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Mr. Lydon serves as an independent trustee of certain mutual funds and ETFs that are managed by Guggenheim Investments; however, any opinions or forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Lydon and not those of Guggenheim Funds, Guggenheim Investments, Guggenheim Specialized Products, LLC or any of their affiliates. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.

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Delta Airlines updates iPhone and iPad apps, now offering access to free in-flight entertainment

Delta Airlines today release an update for both of its Fly Delta iOS app, now allowing access to free in-flight entertainment content. Available through its new Delta Studio initiative, the service will be available on all domestic and two-cabin aircrafts, and feature a variety of TV shows and movies through the on-board Wi-Fi. The updated Fly Delta app also includes access to past and current issues of Delta’s Sky Magazine, as well as a Glass Bottom Jet feature which provides flight tracking information. Users of the Gogo Video Player app are permitted to stream and access content through in flight entertainment services. Fly Delta for iPhone and iPad are both free to download through iTunes.

AKVIS releases newest version of Chameleon, offers new Share feature

AKVIS has announced the release of the newest version of its photo collage creation software, Chameleon. Available as a standalone program and as a Photoshop plug-in, Chameleon creates collages and montages with four different modes to produce varying results. Chameleon v8.5.0 includes a new Share option that lets users post picture from the program to social network services. Photoshop CC 2014 plugin compatibility has been added, as well as minor bug fixes. The software is priced at $75, and is available as a 10-day trial period.

by MacNN Staff

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The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 becomes fully operational today with US air carrier Delta Airlines officially moving its operations to the 12 year-old terminal.

All Delta Airlines flights will arrive and depart from the NAIA 3 utilizing the southern portion of the 1.2 kilometer long terminal.

The NAIA Terminal 3 project began in 1997 with Japanese construction firm Takenaka Corporation building the multi-million dollar terminal.  The then state-of-the-art terminal was built to decongest the NAIA terminal 1 which had exceeded its design capacity of servicing 4.5 million passengers annually.

The NAIA 3 was supposed to be fully operational by 2002 but a legal battle between its owner, the Philippine International Airport Terminals Co. Inc., and the Philippine government ensued.  After an international arbitration court ruled in favor of the Philippine government, the airport terminal opened for operations in 2008 but only on a partial basis.

In August 2013, the government reached an agreement with Takenaka Corp., to complete all the unfinished works in the terminal and integrate the essential airport systems to make the terminal 100 percent operational.

With the $40 million works completed by Takenaka, all 18 boarding gates are now operational, the automated baggage handling system is up and running, all seven baggage carousels are now in service and all air conditioners are functioning.

Simple ceremonies signaling Delta’s official commencement of operations in Terminal 3 will be headed by Transportation Secretary Emilio Abaya early this morning, Friday.

NAIA 3 terminal manager Octavio Lina said the move of the five international air carriers will considerably reduce the congestion currently being experienced at the NAIA 1.  He explained that the five air carriers service at least 3.5 million passengers every year.  With the move, NAIA 1 will revert back to its normal design capacity.

When the NAIA 3 was built, it had a design capacity of 13 million international passengers annually.  However, when it was opened in 2008, the terminal was spit into two, to service both domestic and international operations. Fifteen boarding bridges are now available for the exclusive use of international flights with three bridges assigned for domestic flights.  Aside from the three boarding bridges, the NAIA 3 makes use of 12 remote parking areas for domestic operations.

Prior to the move of the five international air carriers, the NAIA 3 recorded two million international passenger serviced by Cebu Pacific, All Nippon Airways and Air Asia.

When all five air carriers get to move to the newer terminal, international passenger traffic is expected to increase to 5.5 million annually– 1 million below its maximum design capacity.

Lina disclosed that the next air carrier to move to NAIA 3 will be KLM which is scheduled to move its operations on August 4.  Emirates Airlines will begin operating at the NAIA 3 on August 15, with Singapore Airlines moving its operations on September 1.  Cathay Pacific, which has four daily flights between Manila and the former Crown Colony, is scheduled to move to NAIA 3 also in September although the airline management has yet to announce the exact date.

NAIA terminal 3. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–With the official transfer to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 of the flight operations of US-based Delta Airlines on Thursday night, Terminal 1 is expected to be decongested by some 1,500 passengers a day.

Four other foreign carriers are scheduled to also make the move from Terminal 1 as Terminal 3 began running at full capacity Thursday night, according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which manages the only international gateway to Metro Manila.

MIAA general manager Jose Angel Honrado said Delta Air, being the first of an initial batch of foreign air carriers to make Terminal 3 their new base, was set to have its first two flights come in Thursday night.

Passengers of Delta Airlines flights arriving from the United States (DL629 and DL473) were expected to deplane at Terminal 3 at 9:05 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Thursday night.

“We are excited to welcome these passengers as they take their first step in this new terminal,” Honrado said in a statement.

After Delta Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is set to move to Terminal 3 on Aug. 4, followed by Emirates Airlines on Aug. 15.

On Sept. 1, Singapore Airlines will also begin operating its flights in and out of Terminal 3. Cathay Pacific is expected to move in by the second week of September.

“We thank these airlines for heeding our call to use Terminal 3 for their operations. Their cooperation plays a vital role for us to achieve our desire to decongest Terminal 1 by some three million passengers annually,” Honrado said.

He urged relatives, friends and well-wishers of passengers arriving and departing on these airlines to take note of the transfer dates to avoid confusion.

Dante Basanta, the Naia Terminal 1 manager, said the effect of the transfer of Delta Airlines will be immediately felt in Terminal 1 in the next few days.

“The transfer of Delta to T3 will surely ease the congestion at Terminal 1 since two arrivals and two departures will be diverted to T3. That translates to around 1,500 passengers daily,” Basanta said in a text message.

He noted that the ease in passenger flow and vehicular traffic at Terminal 1 will be felt considering that Delta’s flight schedules fall within the peak hours of the terminal’s operations.

MANILA, Philippines – Two Delta Airlines flights are scheduled to arrive tonight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

Delta Airlines is the first of five foreign airlines transferring their operations to NAIA 3, starting August.

“Passengers of Delta Airlines flights DL 629 and DL473 with an estimated arrival time of 21:05 and 21:45, respectively, will be deplaning from Terminal 3. We are excited to welcome these passengers as they take their first step on this new Terminal,” Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Jose Angel Honrado said.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is set to move to NAIA 3 on August 4, followed by Emirates Airlines on August 15.

On September 1, Singapore Airlines will also begin operating flights in and out of NAIA 3.

Cathay Pacific is also expected to transfer to NAIA 3 by second week of September.

“We thank these airlines for heeding our call to use Terminal 3 for their operations. Their cooperation plays a vital role for us to achieve our desire to decongest Terminal 1 by some 3 million passengers annually,” Honrado said.

Honrado reminded relatives, friends and well-wishers of passengers arriving and departing on these airlines to take note of the transfer dates to avoid confusion.

Flight information offices of Terminals 1 and 3 may be reached at 877.1109 local 2852 or 765 and 877.7888 local 8144, respectively.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 Utah) Delta Airlines is adding more non-stop international flights from Salt Lake City and that’s good news for the Salt Lake City International Airport and Utah’s economy.

Starting this December 20, you’ll be able to board a plane in Salt Lake and go directly to Mexico City.

Then in May of next year direct flights to Amsterdam will begin and those will feature full flat-bed seats for the longer flight.

Earlier this month Delta re-affirmed their commitment to its Salt Lake hub by taking part in the groundbreaking for the airport’s new $1.8 billion terminal redevelopment project.

Delta Airlines flights now operate at NAIA 3

Finally, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 becomes fully operational tomorrow, August 1, with US air carrier Delta Airlines officially moving its operations to the 12 year-old terminal.

All Delta Airlines flights will arrive and depart from the NAIA 3 utilizing the southern portion of the 1.2 kilometer long terminal.

The facade of NAIA 3. The 12-year-old terminal is finally completely operational with Delta Airlines moving its flight operations there. (Photo from Wikipedia)

The NAIA Terminal 3 project began in 1997 with Japanese construction firm Takenaka Corporation building the multi-million dollar terminal.  The then state-of-the-art terminal was built to decongest the NAIA terminal 1 which had exceeded its design capacity of servicing 4.5 million passengers annually.

The NAIA 3 was supposed to be fully operational by 2002 but a legal battle between its owner, the Philippine International Airport Terminals Co. Inc., and the Philippine government ensued. After an international arbitration court ruled in favor of the Philippine government, the airport terminal finally opened for operations in 2008 but only on a partial basis.

In August 2013, the government reached an agreement with Takenaka Corp., to complete all the unfinished works in the terminal and integrate the essential airport systems to make the terminal 100 percent operational.

With the $40 million works completed by Takenaka, all 18 boarding gates are now operational, the automated baggage handling system is up and running, all seven baggage carousels are now in service and all air conditioners are functioning.

Simple ceremonies signaling Delta’s official commencement of operations in Terminal 3 will be headed by Transportation Secretary Emilio Abaya early this morning, Friday.

According to NAIA 3 terminal manager Octavio Lina, the move of the five international air carriers will considerably reduce the congestion currently being experienced at the NAIA 1.  He explained that the five air carriers service at least 3 to 3.5 million passengers every year.  With the move, NAIA 1 will revert back to its normal design capacity.

When the NAIA 3 was built, it had a design capacity of 13 million international passengers annually.  However, when it was opened in 2008, the terminal was spit into two, to service both domestic and international operations. 15 boarding bridges are now available for the exclusive use of international flights with three bridges assigned for domestic flights.  Aside from the three boarding bridges, the NAIA 3 makes use of 12 remote parking areas for domestic operations.

Prior to the move of the five international air carriers, the NAIA 3 recorded 2 million international passenger serviced by Cebu Pacific, All Nippon Airways and Air Asia.  When all five air carriers get to move to the newer terminal, international passenger traffic is expected to increase to 5.5 million annually– 1 million below its maximum design capacity.

Lina disclosed that the next air carrier to move to NAIA 3 will be KLM which is scheduled to move its operations on August 4.  Emirates Airlines will begin operating at the NAIA 3 on August 15, with Singapore Airlines moving its operations on September 1.  Cathay Pacific, which has four daily flights between Manila and the former Crown Colony, is scheduled to move to NAIA 3 also in September although the airline management has yet to announce exactly when.