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Spanish airline Iberia‘s new low-cost carrier Iberia Express, whose creation has been stiffly opposed by unions, will operate its first flight on March 25, company president Antonio Vasquez said Monday.

Iberia argues the move is needed to help it compete with other low-cost carriers but employees of the airline fear it will lead to job losses and lower salaries.

Iberia says the pilots’ strikes later this month would cause 289 flight cancellations over the three days, mostly within Spain and Europe.

source: Expatica.com

You’ll have more company on some full Southwest Airlines flights beginning this summer.

That’s when the Dallas-based low-cost airline begins a $60 million overhaul of the interiors of its Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The upgrade process will mean installing new carpet and new seats. In the process, Southwest’s 737-700s will gain six seats each, raising capacity from the present 137 to 143.

But Southwest claims you’ll hardly notice if you’re a passenger. The new seats are both lighter — by about 6 pounds each — and thinner, said the airline.

source: seattletimes.nwsource.com

In the wake of a record year for new aircraft sales, Airbus predicts that demand for its jets would fall by about half in 2012 as the waiting list for its popular single-aisle planes grew and airlines looked to its U.S. rival, Boeing, to fill their steadily increasing capacity needs.

Despite signs of a deepening slowdown in Europe and North America and waning airline industry profits, however, executives at the European plane maker and its parent, European Aeronautic Defense and Space, said they were confident the group’s performance would continue to buck the broader economic downtrend.

Airbus recorded net orders for 1,419 commercial jets in 2011, up from 574 in 2010, giving it a market share of 64 percent by volume, or around 54 percent by list-price value. Deliveries of new jets reached 534, up 5 percent from the previous year.

source: nytimes.com

Sir Richard Branson’s airline has unveiled new salt and pepper shakers for its Upper Class cabins after its former seasoning shakers became “highly collectable”.

Often finding its salt & pepper shakers appear on eBay and selling for up to ￡20 each, the carrier decided to replace the old ones and replace them with new ones that will be collected after each meal service to prevent theft.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said thousands of older coveted condiments were taken over the past 12 years but the new ones would be closely guarded.

source: etravelblackboardasia.com

A company claims it has developed a scanning machine that could mean an end to liquid restrictions on planes.

Oxfordshire-based Cobalt Light Systems said its INSIGHT100 device could analyse bottles up to three litres for explosives in less than five seconds.

A ban on liquids over 100ml in hand luggage was introduced after a foiled 2006 plot to blow up planes using explosives hidden in drink bottles.

The UK government said it was working towards plans to ease the ban in 2013.

source: BBC.co.uk

International airline partnership Star Alliance will likely tender for a broker this year to help its members buy CO2 permits, while Air France, a member of rival group SkyTeam, said its alliance partners would give first refusal to each other when selling allowances.

From January 1, around 4,000 airlines that fly to and from EU airports were included in the bloc’s Emissions Trading Scheme ETS and must next year surrender carbon credits against their 2012 emissions.

The carrier expects fleet emissions of 16-17 million tonnes in 2012, meaning it would need to buy around 4 million permits on top of its free allocation of 12.6 million EUAAs, the aviation CO2 units distributed under the ETS.

Rival coalition Star Alliance, which boasts members Lufthansa, United Airlines and U.S. Airways, does not have a similar arrangement, its director responsible for emissions trading told Point Carbon.

source: Reuters

The government is to hold a formal consultation on UK aviation – including controversial plans for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

The study, to begin in March, will look at options for “maintaining the UK’s aviation hub status“.

David Cameron has ruled out expanding Heathrow but his deputy Nick Clegg is said to be opposed to the estuary idea.

The airport would be built partly on reclaimed land and could be on either an island or a peninsula. But concerns have been raised about damage to the environment.

source: BBC.co.uk

Australia’s consumer watchdog has taken budget airline AirAsia to court for allegedly failing to disclose the full price of fares for international flights from Australia.

The regulator began legal proceedings in Melbourne seeking penalties and orders for the Malaysian airline to issue corrective notices on its website.

In documents filed in the Federal Court, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claims that fares sold on the airline’s website disclosed only part of the total price for flights from Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Perth to destinations in Asia, Europe and India because they excluded taxes, fees and other charges.

source: Heraldsun.com.au

Ryanair has said it plans to hire 1,000 people this year, an increase in its workforce of more than 10%, as it boosts its fleet to 305 aircraft from 270. Europe’s biggest budget airline is opening new bases in Billund, in Denmark, Wroclaw, in Poland, Palma, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Paphos, in Cyprus, and Manchester. A spokeswoman for Ryanair said some of the new jobs would be created in the UK, including Manchester, though details are still being finalised.

source: Guardian.co.uk

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has predicted that the airline will continue to seize business from rivals in Spain as the Irish low-cost carrier became the biggest passenger carrier in the country last year.

Figures from Spanish government-owned airport operator AENA show Ryanair shifted 32.2 million passengers through the country’s airports last year — 21.1pc more than in 2010.

source: Independent.ie