A strike by flight attendants of the Finnish national airline Finnair continues on Friday, after a compromise offered by Finnair in the labour dispute was rejected.
Meanwhile, security measures at Helsinki-Vantaa airport are tighter than usual because of the Lahti EU summit.
source: Helsingin Sanomat
Deutsche Lufthansa AG intends to restructure its core commercial flight operations by the beginning of 2007, which it expects will yield savings in the mid- to long-term.
The paper said the operations, which are centrally-controlled at the moment, will be split into three divisions; Frankfurt, Munich and its 11 other German airports.
source: Forbes
Mexicana de Aviacion, Mexico’s first airline and leader in the international market announced today a new seasonal service between Denver and Zacatecas beginning December 1, 2006 through January 31, 2007. The Denver-Zacatecas route has been created to accommodate the high demand of passengers traveling to and from the regions during the holiday season. It is an addition to the continued uninterrupted service provided by Mexicana for the past 35 years into Denver.
source: Yahoo! Finance
In the first six months of this year, low-cost carriers had over 2.8m passengers. Six no-frills airlines are among ten biggest airline operators in Poland. Hungarian WizzAir, Irish Ryanair and Polish Centralwings (LOTâ??s subsidiary) are the most active ones. Tomasz Dziedzic from the Institute of Tourism, expects that the market will continue the rapid growth for at least a year.
source: Pulsbiznesu
Singapore Airlines Ltd said it will reduce its fuel surcharge for tickets issued on or after Oct 14 following the sustained decline in jet fuel prices.
In a statement, the flag carrier said it will cut its fuel surcharge to $18 from $20 per sector, for flights between Singapore and Southeast Asian countries.
It will also slash fuel surcharge to $82 from $90 per sector, for flights between Singapore and the US and Canada.
Fuel surcharge will be reduced to $54 from $60 per sector on all other flights.
The airline said it will continue to monitor the price of jet fuel and regularly review the level of surcharge.
source: Forbes
Delta Airlines, attempting to increase its share of lucrative international corporate travel, announced a new round of expansion to emerging markets, including flights to Dubai and to Bucharest, Romania, while laying the groundwork for future expansion to Asia.
source: The Wall Street Journal
Most U.S. airlines are expected to post handsome profits when they report third-quarter earnings this month, marking a long-awaited pullout from five years of painful restructuring and $40 billion in losses since 2000. The turnaround is the result of widespread layoffs and ruthless cost-cutting, not to mention half a dozen major bankruptcies. But U.S. carriers have also been the surprise beneficiaries of soaring overseas demand for modern jets, which has allowed troubled carriers to shed unneeded airplanes and tackle one of the industry’s chronic problems: too many seats.
source: US News
Alitalia SpA chief executive Giancarlo Cimoli said the troubled state-controlled airline cannot survive with its current cost structure and existing industry rules, the daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported citing a company document sent to parliament.
According to the document, Alitalia cannot generate a return on invested capital and the more it operates flights the more money it loses.
The document criticised airport and regulatory inefficiencies, as well as ‘unfair competitive advantages’ enjoyed by low-cost airlines.
source: Forbes
Low-cost airline Ryanair has unveiled an offer worth £1 billion to buy the Irish carrier Aer Lingus.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said the move represented a “unique opportunity” to form a strong airline for Ireland with more than 50 million passengers annually.
Ryanair has already acquired a 16% stake in Aer Lingus – which was listed on the stock market last month – and will make an offer for the rest in a move valuing the carrier at £1 billion.
source: SouthLondon.co.uk
Malaysia Airlines said Wednesday it was disappointed with further delays in the delivery of Airbus A380 superjumbos and would assess all available alternatives.The airline has ordered six jets. Airbus said Tuesday it would push back the delivery date for the first A380 jet for the third time until the second half of 2007 due to wiring complications. The plane is now two years behind its original schedule.
source: chron.com
