Economy passenger travel surged 8% year-over-year in April—the biggest leap in economy traffic since March 2012, when economy traffic grew 8.9%, according to IATA’s April Premium Traffic Monitor.
A passenger on board a Pakistan International Airlines’ Airbus A310 was killed and others were wounded when the aircraft was hit by gunfire as it landed at Peshawar Airport in the early hours of Wednesday.
Asiana Airlines Flight 214’s pilots didn’t have a full understanding of the aircraft’s automated systems and “mismanaged” the approach to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.
Finnair will outsource its cabin crew on approximately 20 long- and short-haul routes over the next two years, leading to job cuts, after union talks failed to hit its €18 million ($24 million) cost-cutting target.
"In the next five-to-10 years, China will embrace an explosive growth period for low-cost carriers,” Hainan Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary Hong Kong Express president Ma Zhimin noted earlier this year.
While the alliance game used to be all about scooping up new members and destinations, SkyTeam MD Michael Wisbrun is shifting his focus from the network to the end user. “It has all changed from scale to scope and adding value,” Wisbrun told ATW. The one exception is Garuda Indonesia, which joined SkyTeam in March, adding 40 destinations to the alliance’s network.
On average, nearly 1,000 passengers are boarding flights operated by oneworld member airlines every minute of every day. And where they are boarding is quite important.
You win some, you lose some. For the Star Alliance, this has been a year of losing TAM Airlines and US Airways—the result of industry consolidation—but also seeing London Heathrow’s new Terminal 2 open its doors and become a Star hub.
19 Alliance Ambitions Global alliances adapt to meet member and passenger needs. 20 Star turn Star lost two key partners this year, but gained LHR’s T2. By Karen Walker 22 Oneworld’s Growth Spurt Half-dozen new members join in 18-month period. By Aaron Karp 26 Sky Priorities SkyTeam focuses on adding value. By Victoria Moores
UK carrier Virgin Atlantic has firmed up one of its five Boeing 787-9 options and will decide this year whether to cancel or further defer its Airbus A380 order.
Icelandair has downgraded its EBITDA forecast from $140-$145 million to $138-$143 million for the year following May’s industrial action by its pilots.
Air Mauritius has posted a net profit of €7.3 million ($9.9 million) for the year ended March 31, reversing a loss of €3.6 million in the previous 12 months.
Irish low-cost carrier (LCC) Ryanair is considering participating in an initial public offering (IPO) by Spanish national airport and air navigation services provider AENA.
