Boeing completed deals to supply 12 787 planes to Vietnam Airlines and a new Vietnamese aircraft leasing company as the flag carrier moves toward ending its aircraft shortage. Vietnam Airlines, under pressure to keep up with demand as the southeast Asian country's economy grows at more than 8 percent a year and tourism and trade with it, has 46 aircraft but wants to almost double that to 86 by 2015. Four of the Boeing 787-8 planes would go to the state-run unlisted carrier and eight to Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Joint Stock Company, of which Vietnam Airlines is one of five founding shareholders, officials said. The deals amount to USD$1.9 billion based on list prices.

New Website to Provide Travelers with News, Travel Tips and a Chance to Win a $3,000 Holiday Shopping Spree
The Food & Shops at LaGuardia Airport's Central Terminal Building announced today the launch of their new consumer website www.ShopLaGuardia.com. To help celebrate the launch of this new site, the Food & Shops will be holding a special holiday shopping promotion, where one lucky winner will receive a $3,000 shopping spree. "Our goal in developing ShopLaGuardia.com is to create a valuable travel planning resource, by offering an easy-to-navigate website wherein travelers will be able to find important travel news and tips to plan their visit to LaGuardia." says Lillian Tan, Vice President and General Manager of MarketPlace Development, the retail development company

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers helped federal and local authorities capture a woman who was attempting to flee the country to avoid felony burglary charges. CBP responded to requests for assistance from agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from the Port Authority Police Department that were working to locate a woman who was attempting to flee the U.S. to avoid prosecution in connection with two felony warrants for burglary. ICE agents notified CBP that suspect Wesnia Pihik would possibly be traveling under one of four aliases. CBP officers used advance passenger information in finding the subject attempting to board and traveling under the alias Sable Stojka. She was scheduled to depart Newark via KLM flight 658 at 4:40 p.m. bound for Amsterdam. CBP officers at Newark Airport conducted an outbound enforcement exam of the flight and encountered the subject, who was traveling with an alias date of birth, her daughter’s passport and a wig. “Stojka” also was traveling with a friend. New York ICE agents placed the woman under arrest and turned her over to the Bergen County prosecutor’s office for prosecution. “This apprehension demonstrates CBP’s great working relationship with ICE and local law enforcement to protect the public at large,” said Susan Mitchell, CBP director of field operations in New York.

Revenue from Big Apple flights about to eclipse that of Houston Continental Airlines may have Headquarters in Houston, but its primary source of revenues is in the New York Metro area. The carrier's international revenue, mostly from flights to or from the New York area, has grown some 20 percent in the past year and now provides about half its passenger revenue, which totaled $13.1 billion last year. Other airlines have taken notice, a big reason why a Big Apple battle has broken out and promises to get more intense, even as federal regulators move toward limiting flights in the region. After a decade in which Continental and the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey spent some $2 billion to build up a hub at Newark Liberty International Airport, Continental is the dominant carrier in the financial capital of the United States with 469 daily departures. The next closest competitor is Delta Air Lines with 333 daily flights, and the list drops off sharply after that. Atlanta-based Delta in particular has pushed for a larger market share, spending more than $50 million to upgrade facilities at John F. Kennedy Airport. Delta executives say the airline will have spent more than $100 million by next summer. JetBlue also has expanded of late in its hometown of New York City, where it too flies out of JFK, and has said it wants to expand more.

North Texas pitched as a gateway between Latin America, Asia Officials at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport are trying to attract more international flights by wooing the passengers who would use them. The airport and officials from the Dallas and Fort Worth convention and visitor bureaus plan to announce today a nearly $5 million marketing campaign to tout the North Texas airport as a convenient gateway to key markets in Latin America and Asia. The campaign includes hiring sales representatives in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and Mexico City. In January, the campaign will be extended to Seoul, South Korea, and a salesperson hired there. Themes of the campaign include D/FW's designation as having the best customer service in North America, its twoyear- old international Terminal D and Skylink train, and its speedy immigration processing.

Travelers passing through the Southwest Airlines terminal at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport have a new place to grab a bite to eat before hopping on their plane with the opening of the new Silver Diner last week. "This is a major step in airport food service," said Bob Giaimo, founder, president and chief executive officer of the Rockville-based restaurant. "We are reinventing how it is done." The Silver

Diner in BWI's Concourse A/B is the company's debut in a U.S. airport. The company is expected to open another location at the Philadelphia International Airport in summer 2008. When BWI authorities decided to add another eatery to the airport, they wanted to bring back the nostalgia of a popular retro dinner in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood of 50 years ago. At the same time, they wanted to give travelers an alternative to the fast-food options available elsewhere in the terminal, he said.

A US Airways flight was evacuated at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport after a smoking suitcase was spotted on its way to the plane's cargo area, airport officials said. Officials said the 108 passengers and five crew members were in the process of boarding Flight 200 to San Antonio at about 10 a.m. local time when a baggage handler noticed a hot bag that began emitting smoke on the tarmac. No explosives were found in the luggage and the owner of the suitcase was questioned by authorities, an airport spokeswoman said. Terrorism was not suspected. There were no reports of any other flight delays at the airport, the eighth busiest in the US.

The Panama City – Bay County International Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority) held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Thursday, November 1, initiating the construction phase its new state-of-the-art international airport. Officiating the ceremony were (LR) Randy Curtis, Airport Executive Director; Gerry Clemons, Airport Board Member; Stephanie Kopelousos, Secretary of the Department of Transportation; Joe Tannehill, Airport Board Chairman; Bill Cramer, Airport Board Vice Chairman; Andy McKenzie, Airport Board Member; and Rick Koehnemann, Airport Board Member. The airport is being built in the 75,000-acre West Bay Area Sector on 1,300 acres of a 4,000-acre site being donated to the Airport Authority by The St. Joe Company. The Airport is being built in the 78,000-acre West Bay Sector on a 4,000- acre site being donated to the Airport Authority by The St. Joe Company. The new Panama City - Bay County International Airport will be the first airport built in the U.S. since 9-11. and is being built on a "greenfield" site with ample room for current operations and room to grow to meet requirements for the next 50 years. Relocation of the airport also triggers the creation of the West Bay Preservation Area, a 41,000-acre conservation area designed to permanently protect West Bay, one of the most environmentally diverse ecosystems in the world. The preservation area will ultimately protect 44 miles of undeveloped shoreline and an additional 33 miles of creeks and tributaries.