Air India chairman and MD Rohit Nandan announced Thursday that when the carrier is formally integrated into the Star Alliance network, “our entire European operations, Asian Operations, [and] Pacific operations shall be through the Dreamliner.”
Newly minted central Asian airline Air Kazakhstan will begin flying the first of 10 Bombardier Q400 NGs in March 2015, with a $230 million price tag on the aircraft/operations deal.
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic are eyeing technology-sharing opportunities as part of their joint venture, while Virgin’s SkyTeam plans continue to take a back seat.
Air Astana CEO Peter Foster believes his carrier could be ready for flotation within two to three years, generating extra capital for aircraft investment.
Boeing predicts a demand for 36,770 new aircraft over the next 20 years, valued at $5.2 trillion, up 4.2% from last year’s forecast of 35,000 aircraft, according to its Current Market Outlook.
Hainan Airlines’ subsidiary Hong Kong Airlines has restarted its plan to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to raise approximately $500 million for fleet expansion, an industry insider confirmed to ATW.
Etihad Airways has announced a series of new routes for 2015. It intends to start daily flights to Madrid and Edinburgh together with Kolkata and Entebbe.
United Airlines said its application for seasonal service to Mexico still will leave one available designation for another US carrier to serve the routes, thereby dismissing Southwest Airlines’ letter of support for United’s application.
The European Commission has approved restructuring plans for airBaltic, Adria Airways and SAS Scandinavian Airlines, ruling that none of the three airlines breached European Union state aid rules.
United Airlines will outsource 637 customer-service and baggage-handling jobs at 12 airports, while bringing those jobs in-house at three other airports as it seeks ways to cut costs.
Lufthansa is considering establishing new low-cost carriers (LCCs) for intercontinental and European air services as it looks for ways to increase profitability.
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines will reduce its 2014 ASK growth by more than 50% and will remove five aircraft from its European network and three from intercontinental routes in the 2014/15 winter timetable period.
Etihad Airways (EY) and Philippine Airlines (PR) have announced a strategic partnership agreement, building on the foundation of an earlier codeshare agreement.
