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Greece’s two largest carriers Aegean Airlines and recently privatized Olympic Air have agreed to merge to form a stronger airline better able to compete with European peers.

“‘The company that will be formed as a result of the merger will carry the name and logos of Olympic Air, following the necessary transition and adjustment period during which the name and logos of Aegean will be used in parallel’,” they said in a joint statement.

fuente: calgaryherald.com

A Ryanair flight to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, was forced to land on the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura during a thunderstorm.

When arriving at the airport, around 120 passengers claim they were left ‘’stranded” to organise their own accommodation and travel plans with no word from the airline.

European guidelines state if the flight disruption is outside the control of the airline, no monetary compensation is due.

source: News.com.au

Lufthansa pilots in Germany agreed to suspend for two weeks a strike that grounded about 900 flights on Monday.

Some 4,000 Lufthansa pilots took part in a stoppage that was meant to last for four days, leaving thousands of passengers around the world stranded, on concerns the company could try to cut staff costs by shifting jobs to foreign units.

Lufthansa aims to cut 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) of costs by 2011, to become more lean while expanding abroad.

source: Reuters

Lufthansa, Europe’s largest airline by revenues, is considering legal action to head off a four-day strike by its pilots starting at midnight on Sunday. The dispute threatens to escalate into one of the severest industrial conflicts in recent German history.

Stefan Lauer, board member responsible for personnel, said that Lufthansa’s lawyers would report to him by Monday on options for halting the strike, called this week by Vereinigung Cockpit, the pilots’ trade union.

Cockpit has said its main goal is to secure jobs in Germany and has called on more than 4,000 pilots to take part in the strike , which will also affect Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings, its low-cost carrier.

source: FT.com

German carrier Air Berlin on Tuesday confirmed that it is planning to raise its stake in its Austrian partner Niki, the airline of Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda. The German budget airline said it is “‘in advanced negotiations'” on increasing its share and indicated that its board of directors would discuss the matter on Tuesday.

So far, Lauda’s budget carrier has profited from the Austrian Airlines  takeover last year because the European Commission gave the go-ahead on  the condition that the enlarged Lufthansa group hand over landing rights  to Niki.

source: earthtimes.org

American Airlines says it will resume regular flights to Haiti on Friday, the first commercial flights since the island nation was hit by an earthquake Jan. 12.

American said Tuesday that its first flight into Port-au-Prince will leave Friday morning from Miami International Airport.

The airline will operate three daily nonstop flights from Florida to Haiti, two from Miami and one from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The airline said it will also offer a single flight four days a week from New York’s Kennedy Airport.

source: Associated Press

Ryanair has been officially branded the worst budget airline for hitting customers with hidden charges.

Holiday watchdogs investigated the cost of passengers checking in one piece of luggage each and paying by credit card. Stansted-based Ryanair charges spiralled by 61 per cent – ahead of Bmibaby, Jet2 and easyJet.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said: “Everybody knows that Ryanair has the lowest fares guaranteed which is why Ryanair will carry 73 million passengers this year.

source: Mirror.co.uk

America last night gave the green light to British Airways’ tie-up with American Airlines, bringing to an end a 12-year quest by the UK airline to win approval for the deal.

The US Department of Justice said that the pact would be good for consumers, bringing lower fares, new routes and improved schedules. It agreed to give the airlines’ immunity from US anti-trust laws if they surrendered four pairs of runway slots at Heathrow ” a much lower number than expected.

The two carriers are now set to combine their transatlantic divisions, creating a giant operation that will account for just under half of all UK-US traffic, and one quarter of all EU-US passengers.

source: Times Online

German carrier Lufthansa is to give one million Miles and More miles to the person who comes up with the best nickname for its Airbus A380 aircraft, due to go into service later this year.

The airline has now painted its first two A380 superjumbos in Lufthansa liveries, officially naming them Frankfurt Am Main and Munchen. But the carrier is looking for a “‘catchy nickname’” for its A380 aircraft in general, and is giving away one million frequent flyer miles to the winning suggestion.

Click on this link to propose a name.

source: businesstraveller.com

Air Asia will begin operating from a fourth national base this year after agreeing to buy into and rebrand a Vietnamese airline, even as the local affiliate of rival Jetstar struggles with a barrage of difficulties with the government in Hanoi.

The move strengthens Air Asia’s lead in Southeast Asia over Jetstar and Tiger Airways as the three Asia-Pacific, no-frills groups race to set up multinational franchise chains. For the first time, two of them will have franchised affiliates in the same country.

source: aviationweek.com