Northwest Airlines´ daily Amsterdam-to-Bombay run fetches $1,400 a ticket, the airplane flies nearly full, and JetBlue doesn´t go there. Which is why international flying is a moneymaker for most U.S. carriers –and why Northwest and Delta Air Lines Inc. are both making international flying a big part of their bankruptcy makeovers. Delta says it will increase international flying by 25 percent while cutting domestic flying as much as 20 percent, and this week it announced new nonstop service from Atlanta to Tel Aviv beginning in March. Northwest increased international capacity 5.1 percent last month while domestic capacity stayed flat, and it says it will cut domestic capacity at least 10 percent. It´s adding nonstop service from Amsterdam to Bangalore, India.

The aviation agreement signed this week by the European Union and Chile is the first of its kind and allows all European airlines to fly between Chile and any EU Member State. The accord signed is an important step in the broader aviation relations between the EU and Chile. Vice President Jacques Barrot in charge of transport policy, said the agreement recognizes that airlines in the EU are no longer national airlines but European airlines. “This is an important step in our external aviation policy,” he noted about the agreement signed by Vice President Jacques Barrot, UK Transport Secretary Alistair Darling as President of the Council, and Chilean Transport Minister Jaime Estevez in the margins of the Council of Transport Ministers in Luxembourg.

LAN Airlines S.A. and its related companies, (“LAN” or “the Company”) one of the leading airline groups in Latin America, reported its preliminary monthly and accumulated traffic statistics and punctuality indicators for September 2005. System passenger traffic for September increased 15.4 percent as capacity rose of 10.5 percent. As a result, the Company´s load factor increased 3.2 points to 74.4 percent.

Caribbean Sun Airlines will launch eight weekly flights between San Juan and St. Eustatius (Statia) on Nov. 15. Flights will be daily except on Wednesdays and twice a day on Saturdays and Sundays. Statia will be the 10th Caribbean Sun destination to be served from the San Juan gateway. Flights will be aboard 37-seat Dash8 Q100 aircraft.

Punctuality of both scheduled and charter airlines deteriorated in the three months ending June. Average delays were higher in the April to June period than the same months in 2004, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. The average charter flight delay increased to 26 minutes from 20 minutes in 2004. Glasgow was the only airport where the average charter delay was lower than in 2004.

Whether hitting the famous beaches at Copacabana or Ipanema, ascending the rocky spire of Corcovado, or soaking in the Dionysian spirit of Carnival, customers now have access to more of Brazil´s charms with Delta Air Lines´ new daily service from Atlanta to Rio de Janeiro that began last Saturday. “Customers now have more choices to fly directly to either of Brazil´s two largest cities -Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo- from Delta´s convenient Latin American gateway in Atlanta,” said James Sarvis, director-Latin America and Caribbean. “International markets are growing in customer demand, and Brazil represents a very attractive and strategic tourist and business destination for travelers. Delta is pleased to be adding service to this rapidly growing market as we expand our international destinations.”