Air Transport World

Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region are seeing a definite financial improvement this year over 2014, but it’s still tough going despite the region’s continued traffic growth.

Latin American airlines continue to plan for what they believe will be a lucrative future even as the carriers endure struggles in the present.

For 109 commercial airlines worldwide, year-to-date passenger traffic, RPKs, load factors, and FTKs

Sabre Corp. has completed the acquisition of Abacus International, the leading global distribution system (GDS) in the Asia-Pacific region.

Even in his most optimistic moments, American Airlines Group chairman and CEO Doug Parker likely didn’t expect the merged American/US Airways would be by far the most profitable airline in the world in its first full year of operation.

Reaction to Wednesday’s long-awaited announcement of the preferred option for a new runway at London Heathrow Airport in South East England was swift, with predictably mixed views.

Virgin Atlantic is to cut 500 jobs as it works to improve its financial position.

The global alliances slowed their growth in terms of new members the past year, focusing instead on delivering value to their member airlines and, to some extent, finding common purpose despite increasingly different views on the Gulf carriers.

London’s Heathrow airport should be the site for the much-needed extra runway capacity in London and South East England, according to an official report.

Whichever way you look at it, consolidation has paid off for the US majors.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) made headlines in June when a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general’s report revealed weaknesses at US airports’ passenger screening checkpoints.

There was a distinctly mellow feel to the Paris Air Show as Airbus and Boeing’s record backlogs inevitably started to pinch the sales.

A failure to reach an accord on an international standard for aircraft emissions by the February 2016 deadline is now even more likely to lead to the regulatory mess airlines have long feared—governments around the world imposing a patchwork quilt of unilateral rules.

News Briefs from the July 1, 2015 issue of MRO Digest

SR Technics has been selected to provide Integrated Component Services for Etihad Airways’ new Boeing 787s and is in advanced discussions on further MRO contracts.

From the July 2015 issue of ATW

Russia’s Ministry of Transport has announced proposed changes to the Air Code that would allow local airlines to overbook flights.

Aircraft procurement firm China Aviation Supplies Holding Co. (CAS) has signed a “general terms agreement” (GTA) for 45 Airbus A330 family aircraft and an MOU covering 30 A330 options.

Aircraft & Engines News-June 30, 2015

Air Canada leisure affiliate rouge has “proven its case” by lowering costs for the Canadian flag carrier, CEO Calin Rovinescu told ATW last week on the sidelines of the Star Alliance meeting in Warsaw.

United Airlines has invested $30 million for a stake in renewable fuels producer Fulcrum BioEnergy in a deal that could see the carrier buy 90 million gallons a year of jet fuel made from municipal waste.

Lufthansa’s flight attendant union UFO has agreed to postpone any further strike action until mid-July after receiving concessions on pay and pensions from the German carrier.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has approved an air operator’s certificate for Ningxia Cargo Airlines, which is to become the first local carrier in Ningxia Autonomous Region.

Embraer is to seek steep-approach certification for its E190-E2, although the other two E2 family members are not currently slated for the approval.

Emirates Airline has issued a 192-page report rebutting subsidy allegations lodged against it by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, calling the US carriers’ argument “a mess of legal distortions and factual errors.”