Airbus said it attached a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic panel, standard in design to a future A350 fuselage panel, to an A340 test aircraft and will measure the structure's performance in flight. The 15 sq.m. structure was fitted in place of an existing A340 aluminium fuselage section on the flight test aircraft. Ensuing flight tests "are part of a three-week campaign to evaluate pressurised CFRP acoustic properties and to help fine-tune sound insulation for the A350 XWB cabin," Airbus said.
Continental Airlines and United Airlines reached an agreement with the Ohio attorney general that stipulates a post-merger CO/UA will "maintain specified levels of air service" at Cleveland International, the airlines said in a joint statement.
Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller confirmed that EI has shelved its low-cost model and will not revert to offering uneconomically low fares to stimulate demand.
China Airlines on Tuesday signed an "adherence agreement" with SkyTeam in Taipei, signaling the start of a joining process that will likely lead to it gaining full membership in the alliance by mid-2011 (ATW Daily News, Sept. 13).
News from Travel Technology Update: Open AXIS, the new organization that is seeking to establish technical standards for the sale of airline ancillary services, signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the OpenTravel Alliance.
Lufthansa launched weekly Frankfurt-Beijing service aboard an A380. It will launch twice-weekly A380 FRA-Johannesburg flights Sept. 12. Separately, it will launch twice-daily Luxembourg-Munich service Oct. 31 aboard a CRJ-700. Alaska Airlines will launch thrice-weekly San Jose-Los Cabos service Dec. 4, two weeks later than initially planned ( ATW Daily News, July 30).
LCC Viva Macau declared bankruptcy following a meeting with over 160 of the airline's creditors, the Macau Daily Times reported Monday. The carrier already had grounded its operations earlier this year after its aircraft were reposed by lessors and its AOC was revoked, and the bankruptcy filing likely marks its final death knell. The Times reported that the airline's debt is estimated at MOP304 million ($38 million) with no assets. It is uncertain whether creditors will be able to collect.
US airlines reported only three flights in July with tarmac delays of more than 3 hr., compared to 161 flights in the year-ago period, the US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Monday.
Hong Kong Airlines has postponed opening new routes to Istanbul and Paris Charles de Gaulle from Hong Kong this year and instead will focus on launching services to Tokyo Haneda on Oct. 31 and Taipei in November. HKA Chairman Yang Jianhong said the decision was owing to fleet expansion and he reiterated the carrier’s commitment to long-haul market expansion remained unchanged ( ATW Daily News, June 16).
Japan Airlines said Monday it reached a stock transfer agreement with Hamakyorex, which owns and manages cargo distribution centers, to sell the company its 72% stake in JAL Logistics. The move is part of JAL's continuing effort "to achieve a swift and fundamental reform" via its ongoing bankruptcy reorganization process. Selling off subsidiaries is a key plank of its aggressive restructuring plan ( ATW Daily News, Sept. 1).
[UPDATED] A Conviasa Airlines ATR 42 en route from Porlamar o Puerto Ordaz near Ciudad Guayana in eastern Venezuela was destroyed Monday when it crashed in an industrial area about 8-10 km. from the PZO runway to which it was headed.
Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson hinted on Australian radio Sunday that Virgin Blue might terminate all flights to New Zealand following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s draft ruling rejecting the planned Virgin Blue-Air New Zealand alliance.
Boeing forecasts that airlines in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands will take delivery of 920 new aircraft valued at $120 billion over the next 20 years.
Cargolux launched weekly Luxembourg-Singapore-Hong Kong-Los Angeles freighter service. Air Arabia will launch thrice-weekly Casablanca-Alexandria service Oct. 4, increasing to four-times-weekly Oct. 31. Copa Airlines will launch twice-weekly Panama City-St. Martin service Dec. 18.
Continental Airlines announced it reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with IBT, which represents 3,700 aircraft maintenance technicians and related employees. In a statement Friday, CO said the agreement will be voted on for ratification in the coming weeks. "This is a good agreement that recognizes the hard work of our technicians," said Senior VP-Human Resources and Labor Relations Mike Bonds.
Air India plans to shut down its European hub in Frankfurt by Oct. 31. COO Gustav Baldauf told ATW AI's hub at FRA, which was established last year, is inefficient. Five of its 777-300ERs land at the airport around the same time and there are not enough available gate positions. "For the quality we get, FRA is too expensive," he said.
Cyprus Minister of Finance Charilaos Stavrakis confirmed Thursday the government will conduct a feasibility study to merge Cyprus Airways, which is 69% owned by the state, with charter subsidiary Eurocypria Airlines. The study follows CY reporting a half-year loss of €25.5 million ($32.4 million).
Virgin America reported a second-quarter net loss of $15.5 million, improved 1.6% from a $15.8 million deficit in the year-ago period, on a 35.7% rise in revenue to $184.4 million. Pointing to the carrier's $430,000 operating loss for the period, significantly narrowed from a $5.3 million operating loss last year, President and CEO David Cush said that "top line progress continues to exceed our expectations as a young and growing airline." He added that the San Francisco-based company is "on track" to achieve "a full year operating profit in 2010."
