Governments around the world must work alongside airlines and manufacturers that are trying to make a difference in the environment, according to Air New Zealand's Rob Fyfe, CEO of one of the industry's greenest carriers.

British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies is scheduled to operate its first daily flight today between Paris Orly and New York JFK aboard a three-class, 82-seat 757. "While the economic climate has worsened in recent months, we believe that OpenSkies can compete effectively," BA CEO Willie Walsh said. "It has a low cost base and support from British Airways in key areas such as sales and marketing. This differentiates it from some new airlines that have failed recently which were operating in isolation without the backing of an established carrier."

Naverus won a deal with Copa Airlines to develop an RNP program aimed at advancing satellite integration with its 737NG systems.

China is gearing up efforts to consolidate the manufacture of large commercial trunk aircraft with the merger of AVIC I and AVIC II, now scheduled to occur in July (ATWOnline, May 28). The companies held a mobilization conference last weekend and established a group led by AVIC I President Lin Zuoming to formulate the specific merger plan, which is awaiting approval from Beijing. China Aviation Industry Corp. was split in July 1999. AVIC I comprises Xi'an Aircraft Industry Co., Shenyang Aircraft Corp., Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Co.

US Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May told a US Senate subcommittee yesterday that fuel price increases are "unprecedented" and "devastating" and could lead US airlines to lose nearly $10 billion collectively for full-year 2008, "on par with the worst financial year in aviation history." He added that US carriers will spend more than $61 billion on fuel in 2008, "slightly more than the total fuel bill combined for the first four years of this decade."

Arguing that the case for its merger with Delta Air Lines is "stronger than ever," Northwest Airlines yesterday unveiled a further round of capacity cuts that will contribute to the removal of 43 aircraft from its fleet this year retroactive to Jan. 1. "In response to these extraordinary fuel costs, we are taking prudent actions to reduce our capacity and right-size the airline. This will allow us to better match our capacity to customer demand as airfares, by necessity, must increase," President and CEO Doug Steenland said.

Qantas's interest in the 777-300ER as a partial replacement for its 747-400 fleet is growing, Australian media are reporting. QF has 20 A380s on order for key routes such as Los Angeles and London Heathrow, but flights to destinations such as Tokyo Narita, San Francisco, Johannesburg and Frankfurt will not justify the A380, at least initially.

Lufthansa will begin phasing out its 60-strong 737-300/-500 fleet by next year, with the -500s leaving by the end of 2009 and the remaining aircraft being retired by 2012, depending on market developments.