Three international airlines have stopped or changed their flights to Sri Lanka following air raids by Tamil Tigers near the capital’s international airport, officials said yesterday.
Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific and Dubai-based Emirates said they had suspended all flights to the island in the wake of Sunday’s pre-dawn air strike by the rebels.
fuente: gulf-times.com
The Latvian airline airBaltic carried 129,689 passengers in March 2007, or 34% more than in the same month in 2006, when airBaltic transported 96,851 passengers.
During the first quarter of 2007, airBaltic transported a total of 338,217 passengers, or 28% more than during the same period in 2006, when the total number of passengers was 264,803.
source: Boarding.no
Delta Airlines is set to emerge from 19 months of bankruptcy protection in another sign that one of the bleakest chapters for the US airline industry may be coming to an end.
The third-largest US carrier could exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy as early as Monday after a judge approved the final details of reorganization, leaving Delta with some 2.5 billion dollars in financing.
Delta and Northwest Airlines filed for creditor protection on the same day in September 2005, which at the time left four of the top six carriers in bankruptcy.
source: France24
TAM and TAP Portugal, a Star Alliance member, are executing yesterday a Memorandum of Agreement establishing a comprehensive alliance that comprises several areas, taking advantage of the synergies arising from their respective networks, products and services in the routes connecting Brazil and Portugal.
By next July, the companies will implement a code share, which will translate into a significant increase of flight options for passengers, as well as into the linkage of the companies` mileage programs, TAM`s Fidelidade and TAP`s Victoria.
source: Mercopress
Emirates is “‘thinking a bit'” about starting a budget airline in the coming few years, its vice chairman said today as the state-owned firm announced a 20.2% increase in second-half profits.
“‘We are thinking a bit about [a low-cost carrier],'” Maurice Flanagan told the Reuters news agency. “‘It’s something for the next few years. The [Airbus] A380 could be a very good aircraft for that,'” he said without elaboration.
source: arabianbusiness.com
Low-cost airline easyJet has called on European governments to remove around 700 of the oldest aircraft from Europe’s skies by banning any aircraft built before 1990 from operating within the European Union after 1st January 2012.
The no-frills carrier argues that older aircraft are far less fuel efficient and, therefore, more environmentally damaging than newer planes. As such, easyJet has called for a strict age-limiting policy to be implemented on aircraft used by European airlines.
source: Forbes
The European Commission is concerned over Dutch airline KLM-Air France’s intention to buy out co-owner Moeller-Maersk’s shares in Martinair — a move which Martinair says would see KLM become ”too dominant” on the Dutch market, according to financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.
KLM-Air France wants to buy the remaining 50 pct from Danish transport group AP Moeller Marsk, which wants to sell its stake.
The paper says other companies have expressed an interest in the Moeller-Maersk stake and said they are also keen on buying a part of the KLM-Air France share to obtain a majority of the shares.
A spokesperson for KLM responded that it is not interested in selling part of its share.
source: abcmoney.co.uk
Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes had net revenues of 1.041 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 499.2 million) in the first quarter of this year. The value represents an increase of 21% over the same period last year, 863 million reais (US$ 424 million at current exchange rates for comparison purposes). The company registered net profit of 117 million reais (US$ 57.6 million) in the first three months of the year.
source: ANBA
European Union regulators delayed by a year a size limit on airline passengers’ carry-on bags, bowing to industry demands for more time to enact the anti- terrorism measure and for a reexamination of its necessity.
The European Commission said it was convinced by airlines and airports that they would be unable to meet the original deadline of May 6, 2007, for enforcing the limit, which will be 56 centimeters by 45 centimeters by 25 centimeters (22 X 18 X 10 inches). The commission said travelers would be inconvenienced by any uneven application of the rules.
source: Bloomberg.com
Southwest Airlines Co., the low- fare carrier famed for no-frills service, may add wireless Internet connections to its planes to attract more business fliers.
Southwest will seek proposals within a few weeks to outfit several jets to serve as prototypes, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said today in an interview. With such a system, passengers would have Internet access in flight, e-mail and “‘potentially delivery of entertainment services,'” Kelly said.
“‘We are very seriously exploring that,'” Kelly said. “‘We’d be acutely interested in the cost of doing that. It would be a very exciting development if we could make that work.'” Southwest is studying the idea as part of a broader review of ways to generate revenue apart from ticket sales. The Dallas- based airline offers only peanuts and other snacks and drinks on its flights so it can stay profitable at lower fares.
source: Denver Post
