EASA has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive for all Rolls-Royce Trent 900 series engines calling for “repetitive inspections of the Low Pressure Turbine stage 1 blades and case drain, HP/IP structure air buffer cavity and oil service tubes in order to detect any abnormal oil leakage” in the wake of the uncontained failure of a Trent 972 on a Qantas Airbus A380 on Nov. 4 (ATW Daily News, Nov. 11).
WestJet launched seasonal four-times-weekly Toronto-New Orleans service, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays through April 29. Olympic Air and Etihad Airways launched a codeshare agreement under which OA will place its code on EY Athens-Abu Dhabi service as well as selected long-haul flights between Abu Dhabi and Sydney/Melbourne.
Boeing said it has completed the power-on sequence for the first 747-8 Intercontinental. "This is a critical step in the assembly process for the new 747-8 Intercontinental," 747 Deputy Program Manager Elizabeth Lund said. Boeing last month completed the final body join of the first 747-8I ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 8).
Bombardier Aerospace announced Wednesday that its 100-seat CRJ1000 was awarded Aircraft Type Certificates from Transport Canada and EASA clearing the way for deliveries to begin to Air Nostrum and Air France subsidiary BritAir. Bombardier has booked firm orders for 49 CRJ1000s, comprising 35 from Air Nostrum and 14 from BritAir ( ATW Daily News, Sept. 30).
Malta's government and trade unions agreed Tuesday to set up a steering committee to oversee the restructuring of Air Malta as the national airline's future “hangs in the balance,” several Maltese media outlets reported. The government has notified the European Commission of its aim to grant KM urgent rescue aid tied to a massive restructuring program. No details about this plan are available at this time, but early retirement schemes are expected. KM CEO Joe Cappello declined to comment to ATW on the ongoing situation within the carrier.
SAS Group Wednesday reported a third-quarter net loss of SEK1.05 billion ($156.7 million), reversed from a SEK152 million profit in the year-ago period. The results were negatively affected by the European Commission’s SEK660 million air cargo price-fixing fine (ATW Daily News, Nov. 10) as well as the NOK160 million the group was ordered to pay to Norwegian Air Shuttle in a corporate espionage case (ATW Daily News, Oct. 1), SAS said in a statement.
Star Alliance took yet another step in its dynamic expansion Wednesday by announcing it has officially invited Avianca-TACA and Copa Airlines to join the grouping.
American Express agrees to acquire fraud-prevention solutions firm Viator buys tour guide network Open AXIS describes ‘new indirect distribution channel’ Online travel, technology firms unite to block ITA sale Norwegian Cruise Line to focus on direct channels Amadeus takes steps to broaden its presence in U.S. market World news briefing
The 787 flight test program will remain suspended as Boeing works to understand the causes of an onboard electrical fire to aircraft ZA002 on Tuesday that led to a loss of primary electrical power.
Open AXIS Group, a non-profit organization that promotes XML as “the optimal electronic messaging structure” for airline system connectivity, introduced the I-EMD, a “virtual” image of an electronic miscellaneous document. The I-EMD is designed to serve as an informational tool until industrywide implementation of EMDs, with settlement from ARC or IATA, is achieved. That, according to Open AXIS, could take years to fully evolve.
Singapore Airlines has been forced to perform engine changes on three of its Airbus A380s as a result of ongoing investigations into the uncontained failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 972 on a Qantas A380 last Thursday after take-off from Singapore (ATW Daily News Nov. 9).
Singapore Airlines has been forced to perform engine changes on three of its Airbus A380s as a result of ongoing investigations into the uncontained failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 972 on a Qantas A380 last Thursday after take-off from Singapore (ATW Daily News Nov. 9).
Avolon reached sale/leaseback agreements with flydubai covering four Boeing 737-800s worth $320 million at list prices. In addition to recently announced deals with GECAS and BBAM to finance nine aircraft, this latest deal secures flydubai’s needs through to December 2011. AJW Aviation reported its newly opened AS9120-certified Singapore warehouse facility currently holds in-service Airbus and Boeing inventory in excess of $20 million.
Juneyao Airlines raised its profit forecast to more than CNY400 million for this year owing to the Shanghai World Expo held from May to October, according to Juneyao Chairman Wang Junjin.
Rolls-Royce announced Tuesday it received an order for Trent 700 engines from China Eastern Airlines to power its 16 Airbus A330 aircraft. The deal is worth $1.2 billion, it said. The A330s are scheduled to go into service from 2011.
Virgin America achieved profitability for the first time in the third quarter, posting net income of $7.5 million, reversed from a $5.9 million net loss in the year-ago period.
Skymark Airlines, a Japanese LCC, announced to Tokyo media Monday it is ordering four Airbus A380s, with options for two more, according to multiple reports. Airbus said it had “no comment at this time.” Skymark did not disclose the purchase price; however, Airbus lists its catalog price for an A380 at $346.3 million each. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said Skymark plans to introduce the A380 in its fiscal year commencing April 2014 and will sign a purchase agreement next spring. Two aircraft will be delivered in 2015, followed by two in 2016.
Singapore Airlines parent SIA Group reported net income for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 of S$380.2 million ($295.6 million), turned around from a S$158.8 million net deficit in the prior-year period, as revenue jumped 17.9% to S$3.63 billion.
AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines announced they each received a request for additional information Monday from the US Dept. of Justice in connection with SWA’s proposed acquisition of AirTran (ATW Daily News, Sept. 28).
The European Commission on Tuesday fined 11 airlines a total of €799 million ($1.1 billion) for "operating a worldwide cartel which affected cargo services within the European Economic Area."
News from Travel Technology Update: Open AXIS Group, a non-profit organization that promotes XML as “the optimal electronic messaging structure” for airline system connectivity, introduced the I-EMD, a “virtual” image of an electronic miscellaneous document. The I-EMD is designed to serve as an informational tool until industrywide implementation of EMDs, with settlement from ARC or IATA, is achieved. That, according to Open AXIS, could take years to fully evolve.
