The Singapore low-cost carrier, Tiger Airways, has announced it is planning to purchase 8 new Airbus A-320 aircraft, for a total expense of USD 500m.
The airline, which is controlled for 49% by Singapore Airlines, communicated in a note that the deliveries will begin in 2008 and completed in 2010. The A-320s are single-aisle airplanes, designed to cover short and mid range routes and can host up to 200 passengers.
source: Avionews
Low-cost airline Flybe is giving football fans the chance to win two return flights and meet their sporting heroes.
The airline is sponsoring three teams in the Coca Cola Championship â?? Southampton, Norwich and Birmingham â?? and is organising a mini “Flybe league” between them.
Fans correctly predicting the scores from three matches between the teams will be entered into a prize draw, with the winner being awarded tickets to a match of their choice, a chance to meet their team’s players and free Flybe flights.
source: cheapflights.co.uk
Lufthansa has reduced its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights from 62 to 52 â?¬ per sector. The airline says the move is â??’in response to the sustained drop in crude oil prices over the past several weeks’â?. The change takes effect from October 16. The surcharge for German domestic and intra-European flights will remain unchanged at twelve euros per sector.
Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines says it is dropping its surcharge from US$60 to US$54 per sector for flights booked after October 14.
The airline said: â??’In recent weeks, the price of jet fuel has dropped, although the price is still substantially higher than when the decision to impose surcharges was first made. Collections from the fuel surcharges have only ever given partial relief from the cost increase as a result of the high price of jet fuel.’â?
Air France has also reduced its surcharge. Because oil has stayed below $65 a barrel for 30 consecutive days, it is rolling back its most recent surcharge increase. The surcharges are now 16 â?¬ per flight on its domestic and European network, 46 â?¬ on long haul flights between France and US and 49 â?¬ per flight to other destinations.
fuente: Times Online
European Union air safety specialists this week gave the executive commission the authority to publish a Europe-wide blacklist of unsafe airlines, in a move aimed at replacing a country-by-country approach that is creating confusion.
‘ “There is consensus toward establishing a list of companies which are restricted or suspended from operating their aircraft to, from or over Europe,”‘ said Roberto Salvarani, head of the European Commission air safety unit. The group was pushed into action by uncoordinated country-by-country actions in the wake of a rash of crashes in the last month.
source: International Herald Tribune
A single-engine plane carrying Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle smashed into a high-rise building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan yesterday, killing Lidle and his flight instructor, authorities said.The afternoon crash beneath overcast skies sent debris clattering hundreds of feet to the sidewalk and started a fire that destroyed several apartments and left a charred smudge on the face of the building.
source: Berkshire Eagle
Startup airline Virgin America Inc. said Wednesday it signed deals with several major entertainment companies to show movies during flights.
Virgin America executives said they have agreements with Walt Disney Co., Fox, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers. The airline, based in Burlingame, said it will offer pay-per-view movies, live TV programming, a broad music playlist and a selection of video games to each passenger.
source: SF Business Times
Delta Air Lines Inc. said Tuesday it planned to begin introducing lie-flat seats in business class in 2008 as the bankrupt carrier works to lure high-end international travelers.
“We think (the new seats along with improved food, wine, and in-flight entertainment features) will attract more premium customers,” said Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton.
In-flight amenities have become a hot battleground, especially for Delta and other traditional U.S. airlines, which are expanding international routes in the face of intense competition domestically from low-cost carriers. But this in turn has created an arms race for cabin comforts.
source: CNN
AirTran Airways, whose aggressive expansion in 2005 and early 2006 bucked an industry trend toward capacity cuts, is scaling back its growth strategy because of uncertain market conditions.Although the low-cost carrier, a unit of AirTran Holdings, remains one of the fastest growing U.S. airlines, factors such as volatility in jet fuel prices have caused it to trim its 2007 growth outlook, according to a senior company executive.
source: Reuters
Italian Premier Romano Prodi said Tuesday that the situation at state-controlled Alitalia SpA was “out of control” and promised a new plan by January to save the cash-strapped airline from bankruptcy.
Prodi and key ministers were meeting with union leaders to discuss the airline’s future amid widening financial losses and a series of wildcat strikes that have forced Alitalia to cancel scores of flights in recent weeks.
source: Herald Tribune
A charter plane caught fire and skidded off the runway while landing at a Norwegian airport, killing three people on board, police and rescuers said.
Rescue officials said the 13 other people aboard were rescued without serious injury.
The jet, with a capacity of 83 passengers and six crew, caught fire upon landing at Stord Airport, said Anders Bang-Andersen, of the Norwegian Rescue Center.
The cause of the accident had not been determined.
source: WRAL.com
