Inside Track: EU Sets 2013 Deadline To Lift Airline Liquid Ban

The European Union at the end of April 2013 will lift its ban on liquids passing through security checkpoints. Current restrictions, implemented in the wake of a 2006 mid-air bomb plot that involved liquid explosives, forbid passengers from carrying on liquids that exceed 100 milliliters in volume. However, new screening equipment that will roll out gradually in the next three years will nullify those restrictions. "The transition period until 2013 is necessary to allow for a rollout of liquids screening equipment at all EU airports," EU representatives said. The United States also has explored enhanced screening equipment as a way to overturn a similar liquid ban.

Delta, US Airways Challenge DOT Slot Decision
The slot-swap saga continues. Delta Air Lines and US Airways this month said they would fight in the U.S. Court of Appeals the U.S. Transportation Department's slot divestiture requirements in the final approval of their slot swap transaction at New York's LaGuardia and Washington, D.C.'s National airports. The carriers last August announced their original plan for Delta to swap with US Airways 42 slot pairs at National in exchange for 125 slot pairs at LaGuardia. The carriers in March revised that deal in an attempt to appease an unfavorable determination by DOT through which Delta agreed to gain only 110 slot pairs at LaGuardia and give up five slot pairs apiece to AirTran, Spirit and WestJet. US Airways, meanwhile, agreed to take only 37 slot pairs at National, deferring the remaining five slot pairs to JetBlue. Those concessions, however, did not adhere to DOT requirements outlined in February's tentative approval and reasserted in this month's final ruling. To pursue the slot swap, DOT ordered, the carriers to divest the 20 LaGuardia and 14 National slot pairs "in bundles large enough to ensure that a purchaser would have a sufficient number of slots to provide meaningful new competition."

STR Global: Central, South American Hotels To Recover
Occupancy is beginning to rebound in key Central and South America cities, though rate largely has yet to follow suit, according to recent data from Smith Travel Research Global. Seven reviewed cities—Buenos Aires; Mexico City; Panama City; Rio de Janeiro; San Jose, Costa Rica; Santiago, Chile; and Sao Paulo, Brazil—all saw year-over-year demand growth in the first two months of this year. While Rio de Janeiro saw demand grow throughout 2009, the other cities have seen a pickup only in the past two to four months. "We are predicting a year of recovery rather than growth," said STR Global managing director Elizabeth Randall. The data showed most cities, in terms of U.S. dollars, continued to see year-over-year rate decreases during January and February. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo were the exceptions, with rates increasing 17 percent and 28 percent, respectively. The strengthening of the Brazilian real against the dollar played a large role in that, STR Global said.

CWT Buys Pittsburgh's Gateway Travel Management
Mega travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel this month acquired Pittsburgh-based privately held regional TMC Gateway Travel Management, established in 1984, which CWT officials said annually books $160 million in air volume. The move allows CWT to broaden its reach into the corporate meetings and small and midsize business travel markets, officials said.