Air France (AF) has reiterated its Transform 2015 plans to increase productivity by 20% and expects to sign new agreements with ground personnel, flight deck and cabin crew unions at the end of June.

Timisoara-based Carpatair on May 25 introduced its first Boeing 737 aircraft, configured in 148 seats, on the Timisoara-Milan route.

Russia’s UTair (UT) will lease eight Boeing 767-200ERs, the company said in a statement.

An Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200 has performed the first Required Navigation Performance – Authorization Required (RNP-AR) approach to Abu Dhabi Airport (AUH), marking the beginning of full RNP-AR implementation throughout AUH’s airspace.

The Airbus A350-1000 will beat the Boeing 777-300ER on range and fuel burn per passenger, but demand for the A350 is outstripping availability, Airbus COO-customers John Leahy said Wednesday during a media briefing in Toulouse, France.

Two US carriers are interested in a new Airbus A320 cabin configuration that would provide wider aisle seats.

Modifications to repair wing rib cracks on in-service Airbus A380s will begin in the first quarter of 2013 and the composite material at the root of the problem will no longer be used on new-production aircraft delivered from 2014.