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Virgin Atlantic claimed yesterday it was still boosting sales in the aftermath of the troubled Terminal 5 opening, with passenger numbers rising 6% last month.

The airline will announce today that it is hiring 100 extra cabin crew as it adds an extra flight to its daily London-to-Hong Kong service.

Virgin Atlantic said it was seeing strong sales on services to the Caribbean and the US despite a downturn in consumer confidence and rising fuel surcharges, driven by the high oil price.

source: Guardian.co.uk

JetBlue Airways announces plans to add flights to Puerto Rico this winter, bolstering its schedule with added service between San Juan and Boston, New York and Orlando.

source: Avionews

German airline Lufthansa on Monday said it had launched two routes from China and Singapore to Munich, despite soaring oil prices which have seen other airlines cutting routes and capacity.

Lufthansa said it would run five flights a week between Singapore’s Changi Airport and Munich Airport as well as thrice weekly flights from Shenyang in China to Munich via Seoul.

source: The Economic Times

Silverjet, the business class-only airline that was forced into administration last month, is on the verge of an unlikely return to the skies, with a rescue deal set to be announced as early as today.

The level of interest in Silverjet will surprise the airline industry, which had expected the company to disappear without trace. While the company has won plaudits for the quality and value-for-money of its daily services from London’s Luton airport to Dubai and New York, attracting around 90,000 passengers in its first year, a combination of soaring jet fuel prices and an economic slowdown left the airline in dire financial straits.

source: The Independent

Continental Airlines said it is cutting 3,000 jobs and reducing capacity by 11 percent, citing record fuel costs that have pushed the industry into its worst crisis since 2001.

Continental will begin pulling back on flights in September, when departures on its mainline operations will drop about 16 percent below September 2007 levels. Fourth-quarter capacity will fall 11 percent. The company said it plans to offer details on flight and destination reductions and eliminations by the end of next week.

source: washingtonpost.com

In recent months, three all-business class trans-Atlantic carriers have quit flying, leaving just one in the air.

But the head of L’Avion, the last of the high-end airlines still operating, said he doesn’t believe his small company is likely to go the way of similarly ambitious startups MAXjet Airways Inc. and Eos Airlines Inc. and Silverjet PLC.

L’Avion has been able to pass along much of its increased costs to passengers, and has managed to fill 70 to 80 percent of its seats. It also has benefited from a strong euro, which has taken some of the sting out of dollar-denominated fuel and made it easier to hedge some energy costs.

source: BW

The German low-cost airline Germanwings intends to open two new routes to the former Soviet republic Ukraine.

Oleksander Davydov, a Ukraine Transport Ministry spokesman, confirmed Germanwings had applied to operate aicraft along the routes Kiev-Berlin and Kiev-Cologne.

Currently only one low-cost airline, Hungarian WizzAir, is registered to operates flights into and out of Ukraine. The first WizzAir flight is expected this month.

source: monstersandcritics.com

Budget airline Ryanair today said it would ground up to 10 per cent of its fleet this winter to combat soaring airport charges.

The carrier – which unveiled a 17 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to 528 million euro (£419m) in the year to March 31 – said it would be more profitable to keep 20 aircraft on the ground at Stansted and Dublin than put them in the air.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary blamed the “‘unjustified'” doubling in landing and handling charges levied by Stansted operator BAA and higher charges at Dublin Airport.

source: Independent.co.uk

Soaring oil prices and a collapse in consumer confidence has left airlines in a worse state than after September 11, the industry’s chief economist said today.

Brian Pearce, of the International Air Transport Association, said that aviation was facing its biggest crisis in 30 years.

Airlines had been hit by the “‘double whammy'” of a collapse in consumer confidence and a dramatic rise in the cost of aviation fuel.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

Low-cost airline Ryanair has announced a further expansion of services between the UK and Europe.

The budget carrier will begin offering flights from Glasgow Airport to the Portuguese city Faro in October 2008.

This will coincide with the launch of flights between Glasgow and Malaga in Spain.

Meanwhile, Ryanair will also open up a number of new routes from Bournemouth Airport, including services to Milan and Paris.

source: ready2invest.co.uk