The hot subject at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Propulsion & Energy conference was electrification—of aircraft, spacecraft and even the surface of the Moon.
In its latest air traffic management (ATM) cost-effectiveness report, Eurocontrol’s performance review commission (PRC) estimates that service provision has become more efficient, but once the cost of delays factored in, the improvement is marginal.
Indian airline Vistara advanced its goal of launching international service in 2018 with commitments to order up to 13 Airbus A320neos and six Boeing 787-9s, in deals valued at a combined $3.1 billion at list prices, the company announced July 11.
JetBlue’s choice of the just-rebranded Airbus A220 gives the airline significant operational flexibility starting next decade, but the airline insists it intends to keep its focus-city strategy and leverage the new aircraft’s economics to help drive bottom-line improvements without changing its growth plan.
Air France-KLM is nearing two months without a CEO as a replacement for Jean-Marc Janaillac, who left on May 15 following a bitter dispute with unions over pay, still has yet to be found.
Ryanair expects to cancel around 30 flights between Ireland and the UK on July 12, with pilots in Ireland expected to maintain a planned strike over concerns about base transfers and pilot seniority agreements, despite plans for the airline to meet the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) union.
Virgin Galactic has signed a framework agreement to bring commercial space flight to Italy, following two years of business discussions, regulatory analysis, studies on potential operations and market assessment.
Malaysian long-haul LCC AirAsia X announced July 10 it will move its twice-daily operations to Melbourne, Australia, from Tullamarine International Airport to Avalon Airport.
Turkish Airlines said its first-half 2018 load factor reached the highest level in its history, with a 4.3-point year-over-year (YOY) increase to 80.4%, helped by a 17.8% YOY increase in passenger traffic during the January-June period to 35.6 million passengers.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has revealed that its second nonstop route to the U.S. using Airbus A350-900ULRs will launch on Nov. 2, with the flight from Singapore to Los Angeles replacing one of its two one-stop services between the cities.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for September showing that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs) rose 5.5% compared to the same month in 2017.
JetBlue Airways, providing a major boost to the newly rebranded Airbus A220 line and delivering a notable blow to Embraer, placed an order for 60 A220-300s and earmarked them as E190 replacements.
One crew member was killed and about 19 people injured when a twin-engine Convair CV-340 airliner crashed July 10 outside of Wonderboom Airport, near Pretoria, South Africa, according to media reports.
ATR is developing a new version of the ATR 42-600’s and ATR 72-600’s multifunction computer (MFC) and is promising it will make maintenance more straightforward.
Southwest Airlines grew ASMs 3.3% year-over-year (YOY) in the second quarter, with a weak June cementing results that came in below its early June projection of 3.5%—the latest sign that the carrier’s 2018 growth will be on the lower end of its guidance.
