Air Transport

The arrival of more Boeing 787-9s and the pushback of some 767 retirements will give Air New Zealand additional options to strengthen its international network in the near term.

Zodiac Aerospace will not meet its 2015-16 target of a close to 10% operating profit margin, and its planned recovery from a crisis in its aircraft seats and interiors business will take longer than the 18 months initially predicted, the company’s chief executive said.

Chinese provincial carrier Sichuan Airlines proposes linking Hangzhou with Los Angeles International Airport starting in June, extending its push into intercontinental business.

Qatar is willing to negotiate with the European Commission for an open skies agreement covering all member-states of the European Union (EU), Qatar Airways’ CEO says.

The first of Embraer’s new generation “E2” series of airliners, the E190-E2, was unveiled on Feb 25 at the company’s facility in Brazil.

With its definition of small drones covering weights up to a fairly hefty 55 lb., and under pressure to treat lighter or “micro” drones differently, the FAA has chartered an aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) to recommend how such vehicles should be regulated.

New Spirit Airlines President and CEO Bob Fornaro has promised to make “small, but meaningful changes” to the ultra low-cost carrier’s (ULCC) operation, which he conceded has scored too low on key customer-service metrics.

An investigative team using social media and open-source intelligence has identified Russian military personnel potentially connected with the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in July 2014.

Why a merger of relative equals—with Honeywell on top in the end, according to numerous reports—and why now?

Airbus has decided to ramp up production of the A330ceo family again, now that the transition to the A330neo appears to be secured.

Prompted by its airline advisory group, Embraer is boosting the range and hot-and-high performance of the new E195-E2 by increasing wingspan and maximum takeoff weight.

TAP Portugal is diversifying its transatlantic network to reduce its dependence on flights to Brazil under the impetus of new shareholder Atlantic Gateway, a consortium led by David Neeleman, but Portugal’s civil aviation authority has concerns that the non-European investor has too much control and European Union (EU) law will be violated.

Low fuel prices and booming international demand have prompted Qantas Airways to defer the sale of some of its Boeing 747-400s, which may also give the carrier more flexibility in how it uses its first Boeing 787-9s.

AerCap’s decision to reduce its AeroTurbine subsidiary was driven by the desire to free up capital for more potentially lucrative opportunities beyond being a major player in the used-parts business, AerCap executives said.

A lawsuit filed by American Airlines against Gogo earlier this month has been dismissed.

With the deadline for hobbyists to register their small UAVs now past, the FAA will find out which of its approaches—education or enforcement—will have the most beneficial impact on airspace safety.

Airlines For America is suing the City of Portland, Oregon, and several city officers, accusing them of violating federal law by charging Portland International Airport fees to fund two major off-site environmental projects that have “. . . absolutely no connection with the airport.”

Air France-KLM will not branch into the long-haul, low-cost market for the moment, despite Norwegian Air Shuttle’s plans to start flying to three points in the U.S. from Air France’s main hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport this summer with Boeing 787-8s (Aviation Daily, Feb. 22).

MRO-related accidents are more common than many think, but MROs are working to change this.

The International Air Transport Association said it “respects” the Feb. 22 decision by the International Civil Aviation Organization Council to ban the bulk shipment of lithium-ion batteries and cells in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft starting April 1, but stressed the effectiveness of the measure will be limited by enforcement.

Delta Air Lines would have a strong interest in a new midsize aircraft being studied by Boeing that could fly transatlantic services, the airline’s senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India, Nathaniel Pieper, told Aviation Daily.

Air China has joined the rush to connect Australian destinations with Chinese secondary cities, applying for a service between Melbourne and Shenzhen.

As Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. struggles with the protracted development of its MRJ regional jet, the company’s next aircraft has already entered its calculations.

Qantas plans to introduce high-speed inflight Wi-fF across its domestic network, as the carrier’s surging profits allow it to step up its fleet investment plans.

Airbus plans to introduce another weight variant of the Airbus A350-900 as part of a recent agreement with Philippine Airlines (PAL) covering six of the aircraft.