Business Jet Briefs

Lufthansa Initiates Private Jet Offering
Lufthansa this spring began offering its own private jet service—Lufthansa Private Jet—through a partnership with BusinessJet Class, a global distribution system for charters. The agreement enables Lufthansa customers "to book Lufthansa scheduled flights in conjunction with Lufthansa Private Jet flights, seamlessly and exclusively on the BusinessJet Class reservation system," the carrier said. Citing JD Power and Associates, Lufthansa said that 45 percent of private jet flights are booked in conjunction with long-haul commercial flights. "BusinessJet Class envisions the future of air transportation as a network that seamlessly combines scheduled airline flights and on-demand private air charter service. Lufthansa Private Jet is the first application of this concept," said BusinessJet president George Khairallah in a statement. Lufthansa said agents and travel managers could use the service to book charters and commercial flights originating from more than 3,500 general aviation airports in the United States to more than 1,000 destinations in Europe. Lufthansa premium niche product manager Lori Schultz said offerings include "individual choice of catering, transit service, as well as separate passport and security checks."

Congress Kills Jet Clauses From Tax Bill
Congress last month ditched two clauses in the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005 that would have put limitations on entertainment use of company-owned aircraft, days prior to President George W. Bush's signing of the act. "One proposal would have expanded limitations on entertainment use of business aircraft to all employees, rather than just senior executives," said the National Business Aviation Association, an opponent of the act's provisions. NBAA represents more than 7,000 companies that operate general aviation aircraft. "The second provision would have substantially increased taxes for any personal use of a company plane," the association said.

Reagan Airport Permitted More Traffic
The Transportation Security Administration last month added to the list of origin airports from which general aviation aircraft can serve Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. TSA is allowing certain "pre-cleared general aviation operations, including corporate aircraft, charter flights, and on-demand operations" from Dallas/Love Field Airport, Memphis International Airport and Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport to fly directly into Reagan. TSA said it allows up to 48 general aviation flights per day to use the airport. The three new departure airports join others that can use Reagan: Seattle-Tacoma, Wash.; Boston Logan; Houston Hobby; White Plains, N.Y.; LaGuardia, N.Y.; Chicago Midway; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; San Francisco, Calif.; Teterboro Airport, N.J.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Lexington, Ky. "TSA is pleased to be adding three more gateway airports to the DCA Access Standard Security Program," said Robert Rottman, TSA general manager for general aviation."The partnership with the industry ensures TSA's stringent security requirements are maintained while increasing general aviation access."

DHS Warns Of Attacks On Private Jets
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is warning aircraft operators to take precaution against private jet attacks, following threats posted in Arabic that explained "how to identify private American jets and urged Muslims to destroy all such aircraft," the Transportation Security Administration said. The U.S. government cited an online message posted in April that instructed terrorists to destroy private civilian American aircraft. TSA urged owners and operators of such aircraft to review TSA security information, secure unattended aircraft, verify passenger and crew identification, report unidentified aircraft "with unusual or unauthorized modifications" and report persons whose identification appears inconsistent.