All air transport news – Page 2529
-
News
Financial results
Air Macau's operating loss during its first full year was about half of the original forecast. The airline carried 665,000 passengers at an average load factor of 68%. Air Pacific increased its profits during its first full year of flying to Los Angeles and Osaka, although the French ...
-
News
Gulf Air split put on hold
Gulf Air's future remains in doubt as Abu Dhabi still looks set to succeed in its bid to take control of the carrier. The bid by the oil-rich Emirate was put on hold following new objections from Qatar and Oman. Concerned about their ability to grow their own ...
-
News
BA-AA: a hell of a furore
The European Commission's latest drive to secure external competence in aviation matters is little short of a public relations disaster. But then the way most parties have acted during the response period to the UK's Office of Fair Trading report on the proposed British Airways-American Airlines alliance reeks of bad ...
-
News
BA tightens Euro screws
British Airways will intensify its efforts to turn around its unprofitable operations in France and Germany after the acquisition of Air Liberté and the relaunch of Deutsche BA. Air Liberté's fate rests in BA's hands after the commercial tribunal in Creteil finally approved BA's recovery plan, filed in ...
-
News
Atlantic trio boost links
Swissair, Austrian Airlines and Sabena have enhanced their integration with a joint order for up to 29 Airbus A330s and the launch in February of a joint North Atlantic operation with Delta Air Lines. Officially, the A330 order follows a joint evaluation, but in practice Sabena has closed ...
-
News
Sea change
A change of government has resulted in a new chief executive for Air Malta, as well as a narrower focus. The airline's investment in Italian startup carrier Azzurra Air is now being questioned. Ian Verchere reports from Malta. Malta's unexpected shift to the Left at the national elections in November ...
-
News
No unity over Rio Grande
Mexicana and Aéromexico have each entered or expanded separate alliances with US airlines, signalling that they plan to continue competing against each other across the US-Mexico border. These pacts revive questions about the carriers' commitment to their joint Alas de America alliance with AeroPeru. Aéromexico has expanded its ...
-
News
Mastering Micronesia
As island governments slash support for their airlines, the carriers are discovering the need to size themselves to fit their markets and to pay more heed to commercial realities. When your nearest neighbour is 10 days away by boat, aviation is fairly important. But the central Pacific Micronesians are ...
-
News
Mutual interests
Mutual funds own substantial shares in most major US airlines. James S Altschul examines how they look at the airline business, and asks how much influence they wield. They are the behemoths of the equity investment world. Fuelled by a surging stock market, growing retail interest in equities, and a ...
-
News
Tan tough on PAL unions
Philippine Airlines chairman Lucio Tan has displayed characteristic toughness in dealing with the carrier's three unions and has secured a four-year accord after three months of brinkmanship talks. Tan has given the unions a rude awakening after years of capitulation by the carrier's former government owners. Tan set ...
-
News
US pilots are out for profit
Record profits and the use of regional jets are at the root of troubled pilot union negotiations at both American Airlines and United Airlines, and American could suffer a strike. The relationship between American's management and the Allied Pilots Association has changed dramatically since early January, when APA ...
-
News
SIA still keen on Sempati
The main reasons behind Sempati Air's delayed initial public offering have now emerged as its deteriorating financial situation and the resulting top management shakeup. These events do not appear to have dampened Singapore Airlines' interest in taking a stake in the Indonesian private carrier. 'Discussions are continuing' about ...
-
News
Europe set to act on Boeing linkup?
The proposed Boeing/McDonnell Douglas merger should pass US scrutiny though Brussels may yet act, say Lois Jones and Karen Walker. The proposed merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas could yet cause a major rift between the US and Europe. While US government officials and carriers alike appear to accept the ...
-
News
Flightwest and MBA prepare to begin new Australia-PNG services
Flightwest Airlines of Brisbane is preparing to fly between Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), using capacity to be released by Australia's International Air Services Commission (IASC) following agreement late in 1996 on a new Australia/PNG bilateral (Flight International, 6-12 November, 1996). The IASC says that the Flightwest ...
-
News
Sabretech closes another plant in wake of Valujet crash
SabreTech, faced with losing its repair-station licence from the US Federal Aviation Administration, closed its Orlando aircraft repair station on 17 January. The company previously shut down its Miami centre which is alleged to have played a significant role in the crash of the ValuJet McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 on 11 ...
-
News
Trent fixes introduced
The problem discovered in October 1996 with the Rolls-Royce Trent 800's leaking fuel nozzles has been attributed to cracking, possibly because of poor welding. As a precautionary measure, airlines have been sent additional nozzles as replacements. R-R Trent 700 operators are also in the process of modifying the engine's thrust ...
-
News
Boeing regains popularity in China
Boeing is beginning to enjoy a revival in the number of its passenger aircraft being ordered and leased by Chinese carriers, as political relations between Beijing and Washington continue to show signs of improvement. After a year in which Boeing recorded total sales of only three aircraft in ...
-
News
Stage 3 727 without hushkits is certificated
Raisbeck Engineering has won US Federal Aviation Administration certification for a Boeing 727-200 modification which reduces noise below Stage 3 levels without hushkits or re-engineing. The package involves flat-rating the engines to 25íC, rather than the standard 29íC, "over-speeding" the take-off flap settings and restricting maximum take-off weight ...
-
News
Monarch leases A321
Monarch Airlines has signed a lease deal with International Lease Finance for a new Airbus A321-200 for delivery in April. The aircraft, which will be International Aero Engines V2500-powered, joins a fleet of CFM-powered A320s, on a three-year lease. Source: Flight International
-
News
Air Littoral orders more Regional Jets, evaluates CRJ-X
Air Littoral has signed a $133 million deal with Bombardier Aircraft for seven Regional Jets, with options on a further five. The Montpellier, France-based regional airline is also seriously evaluating the stretched 70-seat Bombardier CRJ-X regional jet. All seven aircraft, which are in addition to the nine Regional ...