The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation team probing the cause of the Oct. 31 crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo spaceplane said two seconds before beginning to break-up in midair the vehicle’s two moveable tail booms unexpectedly began to deploy into a “feathering” position.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) has crashed into the Mojave Desert after experiencing an inflight “anomaly” during the first test of a new hybrid rocket motor at Mojave, California on Oct. 31.
Japan Airlines [JAL] saw its profits slip slightly in the six months through September, but falling fuel prices have prompted the carrier to raise its profitability guidance for its full fiscal year.
Lufthansa low-cost subsidiary Germanwings will take over Lufthansa’s last remaining European point-to-point service, Düsseldorf-Zurich, on Jan. 8, Germanwings spokesperson Heinz Joachim Schoettes confirmed to ATW.
Hainan Airlines (HNA) Group subsidiary Fuzhou Airlines has launched formal operations by opening eight routes from Fuzhou to Shanghai (Pudong), Tianjin, Kunming, Chongqing, Xi’an, Taiyuan, Hefei and Haikou as it aims to enhance its position in Southeast China.
Korean flag carrier Korean Air has extended its codeshare agreement with LAN Peru. The new contract will bring an extension of its existing Seoul-Santiago via Los Angeles route, with an additional schedule from Los Angeles to Peru’s capital, Lima.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) regional affiliate SilkAir will start daily flights to Bali’s Denpasar International from early December, in time for the European winter holiday season.
Qatar Airways is experiencing remarkable changes and rapid growth under the leadership of CEO Akbar Al Baker. In the last 12 months alone, Qatar has joined the oneworld global alliance, hosted the IATA AGM at its Doha hub city and taken delivery of its first Airbus A380, which began revenue flights to London Heathrow in October.
Although Panama’s Copa Airlines has been around since 1947 when Pan American World Airways provided capital and technical assistance to help launch the carrier, for most of its history it was a small, niche player in the global airline marketplace. As recently as 1998, it operated just 13 aircraft. As recently as 2001, it generated just $300 million in annual revenue.
US airlines’ impressive financial turnaround has not yet been coupled with significant growth as the country’s carriers cautiously keep capacity in check, eager to maintain profitability after years of heavy losses and restructuring. But north of the border, Canada’s evolving airlines are not shying away from aggressive growth.
US airlines’ impressive financial turnaround has not yet been coupled with significant growth as the country’s carriers cautiously keep capacity in check, eager to maintain profitability after years of heavy losses and restructuring. But north of the border, Canada’s evolving airlines are not shying away from aggressive growth.
Etihad Airways’ first A380 emerged from behind a slowly raised hangar door on a blustery autumn evening at Airbus’ Hamburg facility. Lights and music accompanied the first public glimpse of the Abu Dhabi-based carrier’s new livery, which features gold, sand and brown geometric patterns that Etihad calls “facets of Abu Dhabi.”
All Nippon Airways (ANA) achieved a healthy improvement in profits for the six months through September, as the airline’s rapid expansion in international markets provided a significant boost in revenue.
Etihad Airways’ plan to take a 49% shareholding in Alitalia will dilute Air France’s stake in the Italian carrier to less than 1%, according to Air France-KLM CFO Pierre-François Riolacci.
American Airlines is laying out a case for how it thinks the US Department of Transportation (DOT) should seize Delta Air Lines’ Seattle-Haneda flights and reallocate it to the Dallas-based carrier for flights from Los Angeles without re-starting the full reallocation process.
