Ceremony marks opening of Aria
After five years of construction, The Aria, CityCenter’s centerpeice is finally open.
During an hourlong ceremony in the porte cochere of the 61-story glass and steel Aria, MGM Mirage officials and others associated with CityCenter said the 18 million-square-foot development would transform Las Vegas.
“This isn’t just another opening,” MGM Mirage Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren said. “This is a game-changer.”
Boeing pilots: 787 performs ‘exactly as we expected’
Despite inclement weather, the 787′s first flight was considered a success by Boeing and its pilots said the airplane performed as expected.
“We figured out more things about this aircraft after 10 minutes of flying than we had in the last 100 days” of ground testing, Chief Pilot Michael Carriker said at a news conference after landing aircraft ZA001 at a rainy Boeing Field in Seattle a little more than 3 hr. after it took off from Paine Field in Everett. The manufacturer had hoped to keep the aircraft in the air for more than 5 hr. “There was a lot of climbing, turning, descending to avoid weather,” Copilot Randall Neville said.
IATA cuts 2010 forecast, now expects $5.6 billion in industry losses
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that, while the industry has reached bottom, it is less positive about 2010, deepening “its forecast for global industry losses to $5.6 billion from $3.8 billion.”
Latin American carriers will be the only profitable regional grouping in both 2009 and 2010, with net earnings of about $100 million each year. Airlines in more mature markets will post the highest losses as travel is reduced by high levels of consumer debt and unemployment. European carriers will generate some $2.5 billion in losses, down from $3.5 billion in 2010, and North American airlines will lose $2 billion next year compared to $2.9 billion this year. Asia/Pacific carriers will show the most dramatic improvement and scale down losses to $700 million from $3.4 billion in 2009. The Middle East will see losses shrink from $1.2 billion this year to $300 million in 2010.
(Photo: Trey_Campbell/Flickr Creative Commons)
