The move marks China Eastern’s first attempt at opening a new intercontinental route this year. While rivals Hainan Airlines, Air China and China Southern have each moved into several new long-haul markets, China Eastern has merely increased frequencies on current routes.
A downgrade from Category 1 to Category 2 in the agency’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program would have major ramifications for Thailand’s international airlines, as it would mean they would not be able to add any services to the U.S. or make changes to existing flights.
Spirit said the “domestic pricing environment softened further” in June, and it blamed “competitor pricing actions” for driving down yields during what should be a strong period for the ultra-LCC.
The elections could bring a new government to Spain. Relations between Gibraltar and its neighbor, Spain, haven’t always been easy, but tensions have flared under the current Spanish government led by Mariano Rajoy.
AirAsia X (AAX) is the long-haul affiliate of the AirAsia Group of LCC carriers. It has so far struggled to achieve profits with the long-haul low-cost model, and a reduction in international competition stemming from the MAS capacity cuts is seen as a major boost to its prospects.
The agreement is with biofuel-process developer LanzaTech and Primetals Technologies, which will be involved in the engineering and commissioning of the facility at ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Ghent, Belgium.
The facility, China Aircraft Disassembly Centre (CADC), will be ramped up over the next 10 years, with an initial goal of dismantling 20 aircraft annually by 2018, and 50 within five years.
The carrier recently took delivery of an A330-300, leaving two more yet to arrive. The next is due around the end of July or early August, and the other in September, an airline spokesman said.
Aerobatic pilot Hugues Duval beat the aerospace giant by flying his electrically powered Cri-Cri aircraft from Dover to Calais in 17 min. on the evening of July 9, the Aero-Club of France announced, just hours before Airbus’s own 38-min. flight from Lydd to Calais-Dunkerque airfield took place on July 10.
Delta, which spent $100 million in 2011 to gain a stake in GOL and a seat on the carrier’s board of directors, has also agreed to guarantee a $300 million term loan GOL plans to enter into with third-party lenders, GOL said.
The Shanghai-based airline has also made a preliminary plan to double its service frequency to New York and to beef up its daily San Francisco service by substituting Boeing 777-300ERs for Airbus A330-200s.
Long-haul LCC Thai AirAsia X (TAAX) is looking to launch routes in markets such as Europe, Australia and China later this year, CEO Nadda Buranasiri said. The airline previously focused on growth in Japan, but Japanese aviation authorities have been restricting new service by Thai carriers due to ICAO safety concerns. TAAX can continue to operate its Tokyo and Osaka flights, but recently suspended Sapporo flights.
