News from ATW’s Eco-Aviation Today: Virgin Australia announced that it is partnering with Sydney-based Renewable Oil Corp., Vancouver-based Dynamotive Energy Systems Corp. and Australia’s Future Farm Industries Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel that benefits the Australian farming community and the environment.
Southwest Airlines, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. union representing SWA pilots and the Air Line Pilots Assn. representing AirTran Airways' cockpit crew said over the weekend that an "agreement in principle" was reached to integrate the two pilot groups' seniority lists.
Hainan Airlines Group is considering investing in financially troubled Malev Hungarian Airlines, according to an industry insider in China who said the Haikou-based carrier is in negotiations with the state-owned airline.
Southwest Airlines, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. union representing SWA pilots and the Air Line Pilots Assn. representing AirTran Airways' cockpit crew said over the weekend that an "agreement in principle" has been reached to integrate the two pilot groups' seniority lists.
Finnair will launch twice-daily Helsinki-Lyon Embraer 190 service April 2. AirAsia X will move its Kuala Lumpur-London Stansted route to London Gatwick Oct. 24. It has flown from STN since 2009. Etihad Airways will launch daily Abu Dhabi-Shanghai service March 1, subject to government approval. Qatar Airways increased four-times-daily Doha-Kuwait service to five-times-daily.
A Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 hit an Atlantic Southeast Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 Thursday night on a Boston Logan taxiway, causing damage in the smaller aircraft's tail area, according to US FAA and multiple news reports from the scene.
AerCap Holdings entered into a purchase-leaseback transaction with American Airlines to finance up to 35 Boeing 737-800s, including 29 firm deliveries—26 of which were previously ordered—plus three new orders. The deal also covers six optional 737-800s, which, if exercised by the carrier, would be delivered in 2013-2014.
Cebu Pacific Air, now the largest airline in the Philippines, said Friday it signed six-year operating lease agreements with Dublin-based RBS Aviation Capital for two new Airbus A320 aircraft, which will be delivered in March 2012.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise's DAE Capital aircraft leasing unit continues its dramatic climb down from its ambitious 2007 launch. It followed its recent Airbus order cancellations by axing orders for 35 Boeing 737NGs valued at $2.8 billion at list prices. Boeing confirmed the cancellation Friday.
Passengers booked on flights through August on grounded Tiger Airways Australia are now entitled to a full refund after a deal brokered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
US airlines generated $3.4 billion from baggage fees alone in 2010, but that's just one piece of a growing pie of ancillary revenue raised by the industry in recent years to ease economic pressures.
Air India, Star Alliance and senior officials from the Indian government and the Civil Aviation Authority are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the progress of the carrier’s induction into the alliance.
Lufthansa planned to start its scheduled biofuel flights on July 15, launching a six-month trial in which an IAE V2500-powered Airbus A321 will operate on the Frankfurt-Hamburg route. The A321, which will use a 50-50 mix of biofuel and traditional kerosene in one of its engines, is slated to operate eight daily legs between FRA and HAM. LH estimates it will save around 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the six months. LH initially announced the flights last year but had to wait for certification.
As debate and lobbying on the controversial Air Passenger Duty in the UK intensified in May, Glasgow Prestwick Airport urged the UK government to scrap the APD and devolve it to the Scottish government to permit a joined-up approach to economic development.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines told ATW’s Eco-Aviation Today that the first Amsterdam-Paris Charles de Gaulle return flight on June 29 th using a Boeing 737-800 partially powered by biofuel operated "exactly the same—as expected—as flights on traditional kerosene."
The Australian government’s carbon dioxide tax announced on Sunday July 10 th will cost Qantas up to A$115 million ($124 million) a year and passengers will foot the bill put at up to $A8 a sector. Australian domestic airlines will be exposed to the full starting CO2 price of A$23 per tonne through an increase in aviation fuel excise from July 2012 and will not have access to transitional assistance or compensation arrangements. International aviation fuel will be excluded from the CO2 price scheme.
The Chinese government has blocked an order from Hainan Airlines' subsidiary Hong Kong Airlines for 10 Airbus A380 aircraft, according to news reports. The order had been scheduled to be announced at last month's Paris Air Show. An industry insider confirmed to ATW’s Eco-Aviation Today that the Hong Kong-based carrier had to postpone the order because Beijing failed to give the airline a "green light," in part to express its disapproval of Chinese carriers' inclusion in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Lufthansa and the Jülich Research Centre (FZJ) have launched an innovative climate research project for the long-term observation of the Earth’s atmosphere using scheduled LH services. Specially developed measurement devices on board a Lufthansa A340-300 “Viersen” will routinely record atmospheric trace substances, and in the future, aerosols and cloud particles as well, while in flight. This shall occur all over the world and on a broad basis. The generated data will be digitally sampled, processed and analyzed after every landing.
Airbus, together with research partner German Aerospace Center (DLR), has trialed emission free ground operations using fuel cell technology. Airbus is examining the potential of this technology and its integration into the aircraft, and successfully performed the first flight test on a civil transport aircraft in 2008, where a fuel cell system provided power for the aircraft’s back-up systems.
