Air Transport World

The search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 is expected to move south, Australian officials have said.

Virgin Atlantic has revealed plans for a wider roll out of Google Glass following its London Heathrow Airport trial, but its partner SITA remains unconvinced after a further road test with Copenhagen Airport.

African low-cost carrier (LCC) Zimbabwe flyafrica.com is set to launch July 16 with flights from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg.

Virgin America incurred a first-quarter net loss of $22.4 million, narrowed from a net deficit of $46.4 million in the 2013 March quarter, on a 4% rise in revenue to $313.4 million.

Airlines are heavily investing in IT solutions to manage flight disruptions, according to the results of SITA’s 2014 Airline IT Trends Survey.

FedEx earned net income of $2.08 billion for its fiscal year ended May 31, up 34% over a net profit of $1.56 billion for the previous fiscal year, on a 3% rise in revenue to $45.57 billion.

Finnair has reached a partial agreement with the Finnish Air Line Pilots Association (SLL) which will shave €2 million ($2.7 million) from its cost base.

Chinese carriers have reported a collective net loss of CNY500 million ($81.2 million) in May, narrowed from a net loss of CNY641 million in the same period last year.

Korean low-cost carrier (LCC) Air Busan is planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in March 2015 to fund more growth.

Cyprus Airways will move out of London Heathrow Airport after selling its remaining slot pair to American Airlines.

Malaysia Airlines and Etihad Airways have both denied they are in talks about an equity sharing deal, despite recent rumors that one was imminent.

FAA has announced Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test site—the fourth of six—is now operational.

Airline Routes

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has made a series of recommendations to test lithium metal batteries more strenuously during certification following a fire onboard a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 at London Heathrow Airport.

Airbus continues to study the feasibility of launching a re-engined version of the A330, but is in no hurry to make a decision.

Following concerns raised by a group of airlines at the IATA AGM in Doha, air transport communications and IT specialist SITA has launched a governance review and named a new chairman.

The ASTM International Committee on Petroleum Products and Lubricants, which develops standards related to oil products, has approved a third pathway to produce alternative jet fuel for use by commercial airlines.

Four domestic Indian carriers have objected to the Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) full-service airline venture, slated to launch end of this year.

Indonesian low-cost carrier (LCC) Tigerair Mandala has given its customers two weeks’ notice to shut down operations, despite negotiations with AirAsia for a last minute rescue deal.

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA)—which faces massive challenges due to political crises and instability in the region—is “working hard to cope and survive,” president and CEO Yuri Miroshnikov told ATW.

Central and Eastern Europe-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Wizz Air has opened its 17th base in Riga and is initially deploying one Airbus A320.

Air Canada moved to London Heathrow Airport’s new Terminal 2, which opened June 4 following a £2.5 billion ($3.8 billion) upgrade.

Russia’s Transaero Airlines is set to launch electronic flight bag (EFB) Class 2, enabling the use of electronic documents on portable devices during all phases of flight.

UK air navigation services provider NATS has launched a 12-week consultation on proposals to change the use of the existing routes for departures to the east and south of Stansted Airport.

Airline News