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American Airlines has been named Best International Airline for 2007 by readers of Travel Weekly in its annual Readers Choice Awards competition.

Travel Weekly announced the award at a recent ceremony and will publish the results in its Jan. 21 issue. American was chosen from a list of five finalists that also included British Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. About 5,000 Travel Weekly readers, which include travel agents and marketing executives, voted to select the finalists in this year’s polling and those readers were then asked to vote for the nominees in 51 categories.

source: CNN.com

British Airways, in a move that could heat up competition for transatlantic passengers, said Wednesday it would launch a new airline in June that would offer nonstop flights between New York and cities in the European mainland.

The London-based carrier said the new airline, which would cater to business and affluent leisure travelers, would be named OpenSkies and begin with service to either Brussels or Paris.

If British Air picks Paris, the route would come on the heels of a new nonstop service that its European archrival, Air France, is to begin in March between Los Angeles International Airport and London’s Heathrow Airport, British Airways’ main hub.

source: LA Times

British Airways passengers are likely to see fuel surcharges on longhaul flights top £100 for the first time as the airline grapples with soaring oil costs.

A rise this month will come on top of November’s increase, which saw the fuel surcharge on a return longhaul ticket rise from £76 to £96.

source: thisismoney.co.uk

American airliner US Airways was awarded a license to inaugurate its first US-China air service last week, becoming the sixth US carrier to be granted the permit.

The US Department of Transportation announced last Friday that it had granted the Arizona-headquartered US Airways a permit for US-China passenger flights.

Six American airlines already operate China-bound air services – the other five are American, Continental, Northwest, United and Delta Airlines.

The US Department of Transportation time also awarded additional US-China passenger flights to three other US carriers serving the China routes: American Airlines, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines.

US Airways will fly between Philadelphia and Beijing, while American, Continental and Northwest each will use their new rights to add a daily flight to their existing US-China services.

American Airlines will begin a Chicago-Beijing service, while Continental will operate a new flight between Newark/New York and Shanghai, and Northwest will fly between Detroit and Shanghai.

All services must begin on or around March 25, 2009, according to the agreement.

source: People’s Daily Online

Emirates Airline has ordered a jaw-dropping 245 new widebody planes, but the company’s president shuns suggestions that he wants to create the world’s biggest airline.

“‘I’m not bothered personally if that makes us the biggest or not,'” Emirates President Tim Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Aviation analysts say that the airline’s unprecedented rate of growth would make it the world’s largest within the next decade. At last month’s Dubai Air Show, Emirates ordered 120 Airbus A350XWB jets, 11 additional A380 super-jumbos ” increasing its total order to 58 ” and a dozen Boeing 777-300ERs ” which more than double its current fleet of 112 planes.

source: USA Today

Lufthansa is continuing to extend its route network to growth markets in Africa. On 1 April 2008, following the introduction of the summer timetable, a new service will be launched between Frankfurt and the Angolan capital, Luanda. The non-stop route will be operated once a week by an Airbus 340-300 with 221 seats.

source: Boarding.no

The board of Alitalia chose Air France-KLM as its preferred buyer on Friday, saying the French-Dutch carrier was a better match than a small Italian airline favored by the unions.

Its unanimous decision on Air France-KLM’s non-binding offer must still be approved by the government, which holds a 49.9 percent stake in the money-losing flagship airline and might face pressure against letting it pass into foreign hands.

source: Reuters

Scandinavian airline SAS will put off a decision about the future of three of its business units until late January because of the threat of a strike by unions, daily Dagens Industri wrote on Sunday.

SAS said earlier this year it would review the future of its Ground Services, Technical Services and part of its cargo unit as it looks to focus on core activities to boost profit.

source: Reuters

Air India is set to join the Star Alliance ” the global alliance of 19 airlines including Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada and Air China ” allow it to offer easy connectivity at competitive fares to passengers. The board of Star Alliance, at its meeting in China on Thursday, voted the inclusion of Air India as member along with EgyptAir and Turkish Airlines.

source: Hindustan Times

JetBlue, the struggling discount carrier, sold a 19 percent stake in its business to Lufthansa of Germany for $300 million Thursday, the first major investment by a foreign airline in an American rival since British Airways took a stake in American Airlines in the early 1990s.

While Lufthansa’s investment is strictly financial and does not include any strategic partnership for now, industry watchers speculated that the deal could lead to further cooperation and give Lufthansa an important foothold in the United States.

source: The New York Times