Airport Check-in: Lufthansa has e-boarding plan; L.A.,
flowers
By Roger Yu, USA TODAY
WHAT'S NEW
•Electronic boarding passes,
which let travelers use a barcode sent to their smartphones
to clear security and board, have previously been limited to
domestic and regional fliers. Lufthansa says it became the first
airline to introduce the service on intercontinental flights,
when it used the technology this month for its Frankfurt-Vancouver,
British Columbia, route. The German carrier plans to extend
its use to more long-haul routes over the next few weeks.
Since Lufthansa introduced the service last summer,
the number of passengers opting to have their mobile boarding
pass sent to them by text messaging or e-mail has grown to about
75,000 passengers a month, it says.
•Air traffic continues
to decrease in Europe, with 13.6% fewer passengers traveling
through European airports in February than a year earlier, according
to Airports Council International-Europe. "The double whammy
of falling aviation and commercial revenues is hitting Europe's
airports more and more severely with each passing month,"
says Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI-Europe.
Among the airports hardest hit: Milan Malpensa
(-33%), Moscow Domodedovo (-26%), Barcelona (-22%), Madrid Barajas
(-17%), Copenhagen (-19%) and Brussels (-19%).
Photo By Glenn Marzano, Mercury Air
Group
Flower Power: Fresh flowers from Colombia
and Ecuador sit in Mercury Air Cargo's new 12,700-square-foot
refrigeration unit at Los Angeles International.
•To boost the region's
flower business, Los Angeles International has opened
a 12,700-square-foot refrigeration facility, the largest of
its kind at any West Coast airport. The $1.1 million facility,
built by Mercury Air Cargo, will accommodate up to 8,500 tons
of flowers flown in from Latin America by LAN Cargo, a subsidiary
of Chile's LAN Airlines.
Previously, flowers were flown
from Bogota, Colombia, to Miami International and trucked
to the West Coast. The whole trip could take as long as 60
hours. Flying them directly to LAX takes about 15 hours.
The airport says retail flower prices will drop
in the region as a result.
The new facility will "establish LAX as
a new West Coast hub for the flower trade," the airport
says in a statement.
• Jackson Hole (Wyo.) Airport will close
for several days next month to repair its sole runway. Work
will start at 5 p.m. on May 25, and airport officials believe
the work will be completed in about four days, allowing them
to reopen for flights between May 30 and June 2.
About 450 passengers who will be affected by
the closure will have to rebook to nearby airports, such as
Idaho Falls, Idaho, or Salt Lake City. Airlines have agreed
to waive change fees for the affected customers.
Every Monday, we report on the latest news in
airports across the USA. See something noteworthy in your
travels? E-mail your suggestions to ryu@usatoday.com.
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