Travelport has announced details of an expanded multi-year content agreement with Southwest Airlines which will utilize the Travelport Universal Application Programming Interface (uAPI). Southwest Airlines is among the first group of airlines to connect via the company’s Travelport Universal API.
The U.S. hotel industry reported increases in all three key performance metrics for third-quarter 2010 in year-over-year measurements, according to data from STR. The industry’s occupancy was up 6.7 percent to 63.9 percent, average daily rate rose 1.6 percent to $99.07, and revenue per available room increased 8.4 percent to $63.34. For year-to-date 2010, occupancy increased 5.2 percent to 58.9 percent, ADR fell 0.7 percent to $97.89, and RevPAR was up 4.5 percent to $57.70.
The Port of Seattle achieved its best ever cruise season in 2010, with a record number of cruise ship calls and passengers. Twelve home-ported vessels and six ports of call made up the 223 dockings at the port. A total of 931,698 revenue passengers moved through the port’s two cruise terminals.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said international passenger traffic strengthened in September, showing a 10.5 percent year-on-year increase. That is significantly stronger than the 6.5 percent rise recorded for August. International freight traffic recorded a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase, which is significantly weaker than the 19.0 percent rise recorded in August.
As it continues its South American expansion, Chilean national carrier, LAN Airlines, agreed to buy Colombia's second largest airline, Aires. In a statement LAN said that low-cost Aires has a 22% market share with 22 domestic routes and 3 international destinations. Aires's fleet is comprised of 24 aircraft. The Chilean carrier is expected to pay $32.5 million for Aires.
Lan Airlines SA is Latin America’s biggest carrier by market value and acquisition of Aires will help it build up its flight operations in Colombia. According to LAN's statement, he acquisition of Aires to be completed in 30 days to 60 days.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) on Oct. 26 announced net income for the third quarter of $356.8 million, or $1.64 per share, compared to net income of $230.4 million, or $1.07 per share, in the third quarter last year. This represents a 55 percent increase in third-quarter earnings year-over-year.