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US airline Continental has denied responsibility for a deadly Concorde crash that spelt the end of supersonic travel as its mechanics went on trial in France with French engineers.

Judge Dominique Andreassier read out the charges against the US airline Continental and two of its technical staff who are accused of the manslaughter of 109 people on the plane — most of them German tourists — and four hotel workers on the ground.

The court will decide whether to side with investigators and technical experts who say the crash was caused by a strip of metal that fell off a Continental DC-10 that took off shortly before the Concorde on July 25, 2000.

source: themovechannel.com

Air France has introduced a new economy class seat which it claims will save 1,700 tonnes of fuel a year — the equivalent of 650 flights from Paris to Marseilles.

The new design, being introduced into the airline’s short-haul cabins from January 30, offers passengers 5 to 7.5 cm more leg room and is 40 percent lighter than previous seats used on the airline’s fleet of Airbus A319s, A320s and A321s. The reduction in weight is expected to reduce emissions by 5,200 tonnes of CO2 per year, as each aircraft will weigh approximately 750kg less.

source: The Independent

Air France-KLM, Europe’s biggest airline, which has already been forced to cut operations in the economic crisis, saw passenger traffic fall 6.4 percent in June, the company said.

The biggest drop came in Asia, where passenger numbers fell 10.8 percent, while traffic in Africa and the Middle East dropped just 0.2 percent. The European network saw a 6.8-percent decline in traffic.

Air France-KLM said it carried a total of 6.4 million passengers in June.

source: AFP

Signals from the flight data recorders, or “black boxes”, of the Air France airliner that crashed into the Atlantic killing all 228 people on board have been located.

French naval vessels detected a weak signal from the flight data recorders. A mini submarine has been dispatched on Monday to try and find the “black boxes” on the bottom of the ocean floor.

The “black boxes” may contain vital information that could help explain what happened when the Airbus A330 aircraft crashed into the sea en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1.

source: telegraph.co.uk 

The Air France crash that killed 228 people may be the most costly airline disaster since 2001 as insurers led by Axa SA compensate victims’ families and pay for the loss of the plane.

The families are entitled to the equivalent of at least $150,000 for each of the passengers.

The cost to Air France-KLM’s pool of insurers, which includes Allianz SE and American International Group Inc., will depend on estimates of the travelers’ nullified lifetime earnings and any negligence demonstrated by the airline.

source: Bloomberg

The Airbus A330 ploughed into ­thunderstorms and heavy turbulence four hours into an overnight flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris earlytoday . ­Fifteen minutes later, the aircraft reported ­electrical faults through an ­automated message. Then nothing.

In total 61 French people and 58 ­Brazilians were among the passengers on board AF flight 447, as well as 18 Germans and at least a dozen other nationalities. Seven children and a baby were aboard, as well as 12 French crew. There were slim hopes of survivors.

“It’s a tragic accident. The chances of finding survivors are tiny,” said a sombre French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport.

source: Guardian.co.uk

Air France-KLM and Alitalia have reached an agreement to strengthen their partnership cemented by Air France-KLM taking a minority stake in Alitalia. This agreement will give Air France-KLM greater access to the Italian market thanks to Alitalia which, following its acquisition of Air One, has reinforced its position on the domestic market.

source: Easier

Air France-KLM filed a complaint to the European Union on Thursday over Austria’s plans to sell its national airline to German carrier Lufthansa, saying the deal depended on unfair state aid.

Air France-KLM said a decision by the Vienna government to cancel a 500 million euros ($659.5 million) loan to Austrian Airlines as part of the sale to Lufthansa had not been on the table when Air France-KLM was itself considering bidding for the airline.

source: Reuters

France faces more transport disruption this week as the Air France strike continues. Workers are protesting against government reforms to raise the retirement age of flight crew members up from 60 to 65 years of age.

So far the strike has affected over 35% of overseas flights and is estimated to cost Air France more than 100m euros.

source: lost-in-france.com

The airline has announced its intention to challenge Eurostar, whose monopoly comes to an end at the start of 2010, when new EU rail laws come into force.

Air France said: “It would seem logical to replace some air transport services with a rail transport solution so that we can continue to provide our customers with a global offer, meeting both their short-distance and intercontinental travel needs.”

The carrier said its plans were in their early stages and that it had not yet worked out which routes it might run.

source: Sky News