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IAG said on Friday that Scottish independence could be good for their business, providing a boost to the campaign that wants Scotland to split from the United Kingdom.

After a flurry of companies this week raised potential risks from independence, IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said he was not worried about British Airway’s prospects if Scotland voted on September 18 to end a 307-year tie with England.

“‘If anything, it will be slightly positive, since we believe (an independent Scotland) will abolish air passenger duty because they recognise the huge impact that tax has on their economy,'” Walsh told BBC television.

A man bought a first-class ticket and used it to have free meals and drinks at the airport’s VIP lounge almost every day for nearly a year.

The itinerary for the ticket was found to have been changed more than 300 times within a year, and the owner of the ticket used it to enjoy the facilities at the airport’s VIP lounge in Xi’an in Shaanxi, China.

The rare case was discovered by a China Eastern Airlines staff member, who then decided to investigate.

When the ticket’s validity was almost up, the passenger cancelled it for a refund.

Evelop Airlines has taken delivery of its first sharkletted A320-200. According to the new airline, the A320 will be based out of Tenerife Sur. Additionally, soon another A320 will be based out of Las Palmas during Winter.

The U.S. Justice Department has given its approval to the merger of American Airlines and US Airways, the last major hurdle for a deal that will create the largest airline in the world.

The two companies communicated that customers with existing tickets are unlikely to see any noticeable changes, but longer term, the effects could be significant. Owners of frequent-flyer miles for both airlines will remain valid until both programs are consolidated on an equal value basis.

The two carriers are the last to link up in the latest wave of U.S. consolidation, which includes:

• Delta and Northwest
• United and Continental
• Southwest and AirTran

The airline will initially offer the fares on flights from Gatwick to Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, Jersey, Tunis and Turin – will give its passengers “‘more choice’”, but they are likely to be viewed as an attempt to compete with low-cost airlines.

The announcement by BA – which axed free meals on some flights in 2009 in a bid to cut costs – follows KLM’s decision to begin charging customers who check in luggage on short-haul flights. KLM’s policy will be effective from April 22.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

International Consolidated Airlines Group (known as IAG) may ask its Spanish airline Iberia to stay firm on a tough cost-cutting programme.

It is speculated that the group may be concerned by a new ”Plan B” presented by Iberia to its labour trade unions. The plan consists of reducing lay-offs from the initial 4,500 to 3,800.

When the initial restructuring plan was announced on November 9th, there was an initial deadline of January 31st. Although Iberia has stated that the deadline is not strict, an upcoming board meeting is expected to be the last before an official restructuring announcement.

Loss-making Iberia on Friday announced plans to axe 4,500 jobs to save Spain’s biggest airline from collapse and warned more cuts could follow against the backdrop of economic crisis in the Eurozone country.

To stem Iberia’s cash losses by mid-2013, the Spanish airline plans to slash its network capacity by 15 percent and downsize its fleet by 25 aircraft, including five long-haul jets.

Separately on Friday, IAG announced that the parent group’s net profits dropped 24 percent in the third quarter compared with the equivalent period last year, hit by losses at Iberia.

International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) is making a cash tender offer to buy 100 per cent of the share Vueling, the Spanish low-cost airline based in Barcelona.

IAG’s subsidiary Iberia owns 45.85% of Vueling’s shares currently and the Iberia board has agreed not to tender them in the offer. This means that Iberia would retain its shareholding in Vueling with IAG seeking to acquire the remaining 54.15%.

The offer will be €7.00 per ordinary share of Vueling with the total cost of acquiring 54.15% anticipated to be €113m. It will be funded using internal IAG resources.

In a trip that was years in the making, United Airlines passengers Sunday got their first chance to experience the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which made its inaugural voyage for the airline on a scheduled flight from Houston to Chicago.

The twin-aisle plane, which made its debut three years late because of production problems at Boeing, is said to be far more fuel-efficient and less costly to maintain for airlines, while offering a new level of in-cabin comfort for passengers. Instead of being made mostly of metal, half of the plane, including the fuselage and wings, is made of strong, light composite materials.

Lufthansa passengers face widespread flight disruption from Friday after cabin crew representatives said they would start a series of strikes over pay and cost-cutting measures at Germany’s largest airline.

The UFO union, which represents around two-thirds of Lufthansa’s 19,000 cabin crew, late on Thursday called on its members to strike from 0300 GMT to 1100 GMT on Friday in Frankfurt.

Lufthansa plans to cancel 64 flights, or 25 percent of the flights during the duration of the strike, a spokesman said.

source: Reuters