FlyFirstClass, the U.S. corporation planning to operate Transatlantic services from the UK later this year ,has announced the establishment of a new Private Jet Service with aircraft positioned in Bermuda and on the eastern seaboard of the USA. Operating a mixed fleet of 14 corporate jet aircraft, the new service will allow executives to enjoy ‘on demand´ private jet services between the major financial centers of Bermuda, New York City, Connecticut, Washington D.C., the Cayman Islands and any other destination.

Chile´s dominant carrier LAN Airlines said on Thursday its passenger traffic increased 4.7 percent in July over a year ago, as international traffic rose, but domestic traffic declined. The company said capacity on its passenger flights rose 6.9 percent in the same period, meaning its load factor decreased by 1.6 percentage points to 77.5 percent.

Air France will be running a trial with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to label and track passenger baggage on flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Airport. KLM started the trial on July 10 at two baggage drop-off points in Departure Hall 2 at the local international airport. The RFID tags will be used for all baggage dropped off at these points, regardless of the destination. Later this year, all drop-off points in Departure Hall 2 will be equipped to handle RFID tags.

Chile´s Aerolineas del Sur (AS) is opening nine new routes, including Buenos Aires, despite high oil prices and company internal rifts. General Manager of Aerolineas del Sur Miguel Angel Magi recently told investors that the company will begin to lease two other airplanes, giving the AS fleet a total of six jetliners. The new additions will enable the small airline to expand its routes to nine.

On the heels of U.S. Department of Transportation approval last week, Alaska Airlines said it will offer new nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport and La Paz, Mexico, starting October 30. Initially, the airline will offer the nonstop service three times a week. Flights from Los Angeles to La Paz will depart at 11:20 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Return flights will depart La Paz at 3:35 p.m. Mountain time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

AeroRepublica Airlines has announced it will begin nonstop daily service from Bogota to Panama on August 3, 2006. “With this flight and two additional code-share flights with Copa Airlines, we will jointly offer the best schedules and most frequencies between both cities,” commented Roberto Junguito, President of AeroRepublica.