Following a brief respite from severe smoke and haze pollution over the Indonesian island province of Riau caused by forest fires, the problem resurfaced on Friday, resulting in more airport closures. Officials canceled all flights to and from Sultan Syarif Kasim airport in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru, only days after it had reopened following a previous “Dangerous-Red” visibility closure.
Hybrid carrier flynas is considering partnerships and joint ventures as a way to develop its short- and mid-haul operations outside its Saudi Arabian home market. Flynas, which operates 24 Airbus A320s and is about to take three A330s, has its main operations from Jeddah and Riyadh. It opened a new short-haul base in Madinah last December, positioning two A320s at the airport, and is poised to open another two-aircraft base in Dammam next month.
Prompted by Ryanair’s move to launch a base at Brussels Airport, Brussels Airlines is expanding its capacity with two more Airbus A319s and reviewing its commercial offerings. The two A319s are in addition to an A320, which was budgeted last year and forms part of the carrier’s fleet harmonization toward an all-Airbus operation, as part of an continuing cost-reduction program.
Responding to a congressional mandate, FAA wants industry input on how a drug and alcohol (DA) testing program for certain employees at agency-certified repair stations outside the U.S should be crafted. The advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), set for publication March 17, seeks industry input on a DA testing program requirement for so-called FAA foreign repair station employees that work on FAA Part 121 operator aircraft.
Virgin America is set to begin using a relatively obscure but emerging form of satellite-based approach on five Airbus A320s by early April, with the equipage for its 48 other Airbus A320s and A319s starting by the end of the year.
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Malaysian Airlines said Thursday reports that the missing MH370’s Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) sent transmissions for several hours after the 777-200 flight vanished from radar are false. “Engine data transmission reports are inaccurate,” Malaysian Minister of Defense & (Acting) Minister of Transport Hishammuddin Hussein said at a press conference. “Both Boeing and Rolls-Royce have told us they did not get any ACARS transmissions after 1:07 a.m. last Saturday.”
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Despite frequent technical issues, Air India has no plans to ground its Boeing 787 fleet, but may seek compensation from the airframer for the financial loss suffered by the national carrier due to these glitches. On a day when Boeing delivered its thirteenth 787 aircraft, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan said, “We have no such plans as of today to ground the 787s. It is for the regulators to take a view on the matter but we are quite satisfied with the quality of service we have received from this airplane and its economics.”
FRANKFURT—Lufthansa has close to €2 billion ($2.8 billion) in additional restructuring projects in its pipeline over the next two years, and therefore expects to drastically increase its profitability . Even with an estimated €740 million in headwinds ( factors raising cost levels ), the difference is substantial enough for the airline to resume dividend payments this year, subject to approval by the annual general assembly .
U.S. airlines, coming off a year of little traffic growth and big profits, will boost capacity and traffic slightly in fiscal 2014 before a short-term jump-start followed by a steady period of growth through 2034, the latest FAA forecast projects. For U.S. carriers, system capacity—international and domestic combined—is expected to increase 1.5% this year after a 0.8% bump in 2013, FAA says. It will then increase by an average of 2.7% per year for the remainder of the agency’s 20-year forecast.
The owners of London’s Gatwick Airport are preparing to firm up their plans for a potential second runway. In December, the airport was selected—along with London Heathrow—by the U.K. government’s Airports Commission as the potential site for the addition of a new runway in the southeast of England to boost airport capacity in the region. Both airports have now been requested by the commission to submit more detailed plans for the added runway options. The plans must be filed with the commission in May.
Farnair bought a 45% stake in the Thai cargo airline K-Mile from Malaysia’s Transmile group. Finance for the deal was sourced entirely from within the Switzerland-based express cargo operator. Suan Plu Thani Limited of Thailand remains the majority shareholder with 55%. The deal will see K-Mile upgrade its aging fuel-hungry fleet of three tri-engine 727-200Fs to newly converted 737-400Fs in the third quarter of this year.
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Qantas’ new code-share arrangement with Bangkok Airways will allow the Australian carrier to improve its connections to important leisure and secondary markets in Thailand. Under the deal, Qantas will put its code on Bangkok Airways flights from Bangkok and Singapore to six Thai destinations. One of these—Phuket—is already on the Qantas group’s network, but it will give the carrier an additional connection option.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has firmed up its reach into the Russian market with a new code-share deal with Russia’s S7 Airlines. JAL will add its code (JL) to S7 flights on 12 new destinations in Russia from March 19. These include routes between Moscow Domodedovo Airport and domestic destinations including St. Petersburg and Olympic host city Sochi.
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Lufthansa named new CEOs for its passenger airline and cargo divisions and expanded the role of its most senior human resources executive, defining the group’s top leadership team for the next three years.
Budget carrier Norwegian has cautioned that its latest 787s could be delayed by up to a few weeks after hairline cracks were discovered in the wing ribs of some in-production Dreamliners. Norwegian, which already has three 787s in service, is due to take delivery of a further four 787s in the first half of 2014. The aircraft are deployed on its fledgling long-haul network.
