International construction group Hochtief has completed the sale of its airports business to Canadian pension fund manager PSP Investments, raising €1.1 billion ($1.5 billion) in cash from the transaction.
Despite its financial problems, LOT Polish Airlines has continued with its fleet renewal program, taking its fifth Boeing 787 in July and operating the aircraft on transatlantic flights from August.
The Level D full flight simulator (FFS) retains its position as the indispensible device for flight crew training and qualification. What’s changing is airlines’ sharpened focus on lowering operating costs and a market in which new players to the commercial business are vying with long-established airline training and simulator providers.
The Aleman family founded Interjet in 2005 and the fast-growing carrier is now the country’s second-largest airline behind Aeromexico with a 28% market share and a fleet of 41 aircraft, including two Sukhoi Superjet 100s placed into domestic service in September. It is the only Western airline operating the SSJ100.
Since the 2009 resolution of its long-standing internal conflict, Sri Lanka has doggedly pursued a path to economic recovery, with particular focus on tourism on an island that is known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean because of its natural beauty.
SITA, an IT business solutions and communications services provider to the air transport industry, exclusively briefed ATW on the results of its eighth annual Passenger IT Trends Survey.
US airline industry observers were trying to figure out what motivated the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) to file a lawsuit to block the US Airways-American Airlines merger when the government’s lawyers gave a possible clue: maybe they weren’t really planning to go to trial after all.
As ATW went to press, ICAO was preparing for its 38 th Assembly, where the most important issue will be whether a global market-based measures (MBM) scheme for aviation emissions can be achieved. For some critics, the outcome will be judged a failure unless a complete and firm resolution is reached. But that would be the wrong conclusion based on a flawed definition of success.
On the Cover 25 Getting Smart ATW/SITA annual passenger IT trends survey. By Aaron KarpFeatures Features 34 Seeking Pearls SriLankan Airlines is on course for a oneworld membership and a new fleet. By Anne Paylor 39 Mexican Revolution Interjet, the West’s only Superjet 100 operator, seeks to redefine Mexico’s airline industry. By Aaron Karp
JetBlue Airways has unveiled its new premium US transcontinental product, which will feature lie-flat seats and personal “suites” on New York Kennedy (JFK)-Los Angeles (LAX) Airbus A321 flights starting in June 2014.
The European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Select Committee has voted against new pilot and cabin crew flight time limitations (FTL) proposed by the European Commission, citing a lack of “scientific evidence” underlying the proposed rules.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines has completed the previously announced sale of 80% of regional carrier Widerøe to a Norwegian investor group, netting about SEK2 billion ($311 million), which includes aircraft-related transactions.
Air France—which recently took delivery of its ninth of 12 516-seat Airbus A380—will focus more on aircraft sizes such as the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787s in the future.
International passenger traffic on Asia-Pacific carriers surged 8.7% year-over-year in August to 20.1 million passengers, according to this month’s traffic results report by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA).
