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Despite most airlines banning voice calls, and polls showing passengers against the idea, customers onboard 20 Ryanair planes can now call somebody at 35,000ft.

The planes are mainly based in Dublin. But Ryanair says it will fit out all 170 of its aircraft over the next 18 months to allow all passengers to make and receive mobile calls and texts

A maximum of six people will be allowed to make calls at a time, however this may increase to 14.

The Dubai-based airline Emirates became the first airline to introduce an in-flight mobile phone service on a flight from Dubai to Casablanca, in March last year

source: Times Online

The second largest airline operator at Heathrow has announced it is cutting dozens of services from its weekly schedule of flights.

BMI British Midland is scrapping part of its domestic network and slashing capacity to Europe in an attempt to stem losses.

The airline is expected to announce today that it is axing two of its services between Heathrow and Leeds and Bradford and Durham Tees Valley.

A total of seven daily departures will be cut, on top of the previously announced closure of the twice-daily service between Heathrow and Jersey.

source: thisislondon.co.uk

A Continental Express flight from Newark to Buffalo crashed into a house about five miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Thursday night, killing 49 people.

The plane carried 44 passengers and a crew of 4, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Erie County executive, Chris Collins, later said at a news conference that 49 people, including one on the ground, were killed.

source: iht.com

Four leading airlines called on Thursday for aviation emissions to be included in a broader climate pact, after growing criticism from green groups that the sector was not doing enough to fight global warming.The move is the first step by the world’s airlines, which account for around two percent of global pollution, to steer the debate on an emissions pact toward a deal they are happy with, rather than having one imposed on them.

Air France/KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic and airport operator BAA issued the call in Hong Kong and outlined a series of principles a new global deal for aviation must adhere to.

source: Reuters

Ryanair has become the latest airline to reduce its services to Poland, after it confirmed today that it is cutting 11 of its routes from March.

The cancelled services include those from Bristol, Birmingham, Bournemouth, East Midlands, Luton and Liverpool.

The airline, which has defied the downturn by announcing 23 new routes from the UK this year, blames the “‘unacceptable increase in navigation charges'” in Poland for the decision.

source: telegraph.co.uk

U.S. airlines’ on-time performance declined dramatically in December compared to the previous month, but improved slightly over a year earlier, the Transportation Department said Monday. The carriers blamed heavy snowstorms around the Christmas holiday and aviation system issues for contributing to some delays.Airlines had a significantly higher domestic flight cancellation rate and a higher mishandled baggage rate in the final month of 2008 compared to November. Even complaints about airline service were up in December compared to November.

source: iht.com

Global airline passenger traffic growth slowed in 2008 with North American demand falling in December by 4.3 per cent, the International Air Transport Association says.

Overall annual demand increased 1.6 per cent, down from 7.4 per cent recorded in 2007, IATA said Friday.

Capacity grew by 3.5 per cent, resulting in a full-year average load factor or percentage of filled seats of 75.9 per cent, down from 77.3 per cent a year earlier.

source: The Canadian Press

German flag carrier Deutsche Lufthansa still plans to invest in acquisitions to be ahead of the game when the global economic crisis ends, supervisory board Chairman Juergen Weber said.

Lufthansa is currently taking a breather after an acquisition spree last year, in which it set out plans to buy Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines, cutting the number of large independent airlines in Europe.

Scandinavian airline SAS is a potential target, while Spain’s Iberia could become available in the longer term if its merger talks with British Airways come to nothing.

source: Reuters

Japan Airlines will become the fourth airline in a year to use biofuel during a test flight tomorrow.

The hour-long Boeing 747-300 flight will be powered by 50 per cent traditional jet fuel while the other half came from a biofuel blend. Biofuel used in the latest flight at Tokyo airport was a mixture of camelina (a kind of flax), the flower jatropha and algae.

The world’s first test flight using biofuel was conducted by Britain’s Virgin Atlantic Airways last February.

source: dailymail.co.uk

Nordic Airways, a Stockholm-based airline that launched its first commercial flights between western Europe and Baghdad earlier this month, has had its operating license revoked due to financial troubles, a Swedish Transport Agency official said Saturday.

Agency spokesman Anders Lundblad said the license was pulled Friday after the Stockholm County Court rejected the company’s request for an extension to restructure itself.

Nordic Airways launched its Copenhagen-Baghdad route in the beginning of January with flights planned once a week between the Danish and Iraqi capitals.

source: Associated Press