Cathay Pacific Airways unveiled its new cabin design that includes new business class seating on its long-haul aircraft from March 2011 to be better positioned with the rising demand spurred by the rapid economic growth in Asia. The Hong Kong-based carrier said it plans to spend more than HK$1 billion ($12.8 million) on the upgrades. The major change in the lie-flat seat/bed is the rearrangement of the alignment to face the windows on the sides and to face inwards in the center of the aircraft. This reverses the current herringbone layout.

The relationship between Qantas and Rolls-Royce hit more turbulence after the engine maker’s lawyers failed to show up at an Australian Federal Court hearing on Wednesday to discuss a compensation claim for the grounding of the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet for 23 days following last month’s uncontained engine failure incident.

The relationship between Qantas and Rolls-Royce hit more turbulence after the engine maker’s lawyers failed to show up at an Australian Federal Court hearing to discuss a compensation claim for the grounding of the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet for 23 days following last month’s uncontained engine failure incident.

Continental Airlines told ATW that “given the uncertainty surrounding the Boeing 787 delivery date,” it will delay the launch of its Houston-Auckland service by a year to November 2012. A CO spokesperson said the carrier remains committed to the route and is “excited about the long-term opportunities in the region,” as well as for the aircraft type, as the 787 “is the ideal aircraft for this route’s success because it is the right-size aircraft to meet demand in the market.”

New York-based Bernstein Research believes Airbus made the “wrong decision” on the A320neo and that “a lower risk evolution of the A320 would have been preferable” (ATW Daily News, Dec. 2).

Lufthansa Systems reached five-year contract with Windrose Aviation to supply its Flight Management Systems onboard the Ukrainian carrier's Airbus A320 fleet. The airline operates a fleet of two Embraer E-195s, two MD-82s, one An-24 and two Airbus A320s.

Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for their part in the crash of an Air France Concorde on July 25, 2000 in which 113 people died, a French court ruled Monday.

Emirates President Tim Clark told ATW he believes the Boeing 787 will be an outstanding aircraft but its current problems are slowing development of a 777-300ER upgrade sought by a number of airlines to meet the challenge of the Airbus A350-1000. Clark, who has been a driving force behind an upgraded 777-300ER, told ATW that Boeing was “rightly devoting all its resources to getting the 787 into service.”