Lufthansa Systems reached an agreement with TAP Portugal to supply its myIDTravel solution to manage the carrier's interline staff travel. ARINC announced it has renewed “multiple” contracts with Virgin Atlantic Airways, a customer since 1993. The carrier has renewed its contracts for comprehensive data link, voice and satellite services, as well as for the ARINC OpCenter message management service.
Airbus said the first A380 for Malaysia Airlines entered the final assembly line in Toulouse for the final production phase. MAS has six A380s on order and originally was supposed to receive its first in May 2008 ( ATW Daily News, June 22, 2010). Deliveries are now scheduled to begin in 2012.
US Dept. of Transportation said there were only 20 tarmac delays of more than 3 hr. reported from May 2010 through April 2011 by the airlines that file on-time performance data with DOT, “dramatically diminished” from 693 in May 2009 through April 2010, according to its Air Travel Consumer Report. April was the 12th full month of data since the new, 3 hr.-rule went into effect ( ATW Daily News, April 29, 2010).
In a move to both enhance flight safety and reduce its impact on the environment, Alaska Airlines has begun distributing iPads to its pilots to replace up to 25 pounds of required paper flight manuals. The carrier said it has "been exploring the idea of an electronic flight bag for several years."
Emirates Airline launched a major nationwide advertising campaign in the UK highlighting its ongoing aircraft investment and insisting it creates thousands of jobs in Europe, part of an effort by the Dubai-based carrier to counter negative perceptions that it is stealing European carriers' market share, allegedly with unfair support from the Dubai government.
S7 Airlines, which once planned to operate 15 Boeing 787s before canceling its Dreamliner order, is now firmly focused on building a narrowbody-centric fleet, according to CEO Vladislav Filev.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granted interim approval for the proposed joint business agreement between Qantas and American Airlines "on their services between Australia/New Zealand and the US, within these regions and beyond to third countries."
AirBaltic will operate weekly Riga-Tenerife South Boeing 757 service starting June 9. Aeromexico will launch daily Chicago O'Hare-Monterrey-Guanajuato Embraer 190 service July 4. Southwest Airlines launched daily Jacksonville-Denver service. Scandinavian Airlines will relaunch five-times-weekly Airbus A340-300 Copenhagen-Shanghai Pudong service March 1, 2012.
The search and recovery operation for the Air France A330-200 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean two years ago while en route to Paris Charles de Gaulle from Rio de Janeiro officially ended late last week, the French BEA said Tuesday.
International Airline Group CEO Willie Walsh told ATW that the group, formed by the merger of British Airways and Iberia in January, has no plans to acquire additional airlines in the near future.
Bombardier Aerospace announced Tuesday that an unidentified airline has placed a firm order for three CSeries100 aircraft with options for three more. Deliveries of the aircraft will start in 2014.
US Dept. of Transportation said it assessed a civil penalty of $55,000 against TACA International Airlines for violating rules prohibiting deceptive advertising of airfares. DOT said that for a period of time in 2010 and this year, TACA “used a program on its website that allowed consumers to search for flights on exact or flexible dates. Searches by both methods produced airfare quotes noting that the fares did not include taxes and fees, but TACA failed to disclose the type and amount of the taxes and fees as required by DOT rules.”
Flights were expected to gradually resume late Tuesday into Wednesday at Buenos Aires's Ezeiza and Aeroparque airports, which were shut down much of Tuesday owing to ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano that drifted over Argentina. The Argentine government said "improved meteorological conditions" and "the dispersion of the cloud of volcanic ash" would allow for a gradual resumption of flights.
IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani used his final State of Industry address to urge the airline industry to build the structure for a sustainable future based on renewed leadership, continuous innovation, and a united stand in addressing challenges and finding solutions.
IATA unveiled a mock-up of an airport checkpoint of the future—designed to enhance security while reducing queues and intrusive searches—that relies on intelligence-driven, risk-based measures.
The far-reaching alliance between Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines announced Tuesday in Singapore could significantly alter Australian airline market dynamics, according to analysts.
