LYON, France—India’s SpiceJet selected ultralight seats designed by French startup company Expliseat for 10 of its Boeing 737NGs and 25 Bombardier Q400s the carrier ordered last year.
British Airways put in place a new pension scheme for its employees that should save the company £80 million ($112 million) a year, its parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) said.
The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) is moving quickly to replace Essential Air Service (EAS) flights to two Arizona cities that abruptly lost it when Great Lakes Airlines shut down last month, even as DOT orders the carrier to resume flights because it did not provide the required advance notice of its changes.
The number of controlled flights in Europe increased by 4.3% to 10.6 million in 2017 compared to 2016, the fourth year of growth, according to Eurocontrol.
The Latin American & Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) opposes Bogota, Colombia Mayor Enrique Peñalosa’s recently-proposed new national air passenger travel tax, which would impose a COP8,000 ($2.86) fee for Colombian passengers and COP13,935 fee for international passengers.
United Airlines’ top competitors are prioritizing domestic growth over seemingly more enticing international opportunities, but the moves do not appear to be direct responses to United’s aggressive hub-fortifying strategy, analysts at Morgan Stanley said.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines rolled out new fingerprint biometric check-in devices at all 50 of its U.S. Delta Sky Club locations last week; it is free for Delta Sky Club members who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and who have registered with Delta’s biometrics program.
Kazakhstan-based SCAT Airlines took delivery of the first of six 737-8s it has on order, becoming the first airline in Central Asia to receive a MAX family aircraft.
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New carrier Air Belgium is 49.995% owned by a company called Aviation Investment Holding NV., which is likely held by Chinese and Russian interests previously known to be involved in the project.
The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) issued tentative allocations for re-assigned U.S.-Havana frequencies to five carriers, providing a major boost for United Airlines’ service from Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH), with frequencies jumping from once weekly to daily.
Strong international growth supported by steady domestic returns has U.S. airline RASM trending upward 2.5-3% year-over-year (YOY) for the first half of 2018, a UBS analysis of ticket sales suggested.
Airbus’ prototype A321neo long-range (LR) landed at 6:00 a.m. local time March 30 at Toulouse Airport after having flown 4,109 nm from Seychelles International Airport on Mahe island.
The bubbling trade dispute between China and the U.S. is not expected to significantly spill over into commercial aviation, but any escalation would threaten the U.S. side more than China’s, an informal Canaccord Genuity survey of industry executives with ties to the Chinese market concluded.
