Virgin Atlantic is expecting to turn a profit this year, after completing its two-year recovery plan, and is now working to deliver on its strategy for the period to 2018.
The Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) set up in the wake of the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 in March has issued a report with recommendations to improve continuous tracking of airliners.
Panama City-registered Avianca Holdings—created by the 2009 combination of Colombia’s Avianca and El Salvador-based Grupo TACA—will consolidate the business next year, after recently completing investing in the small Mexican cargo carrier AeroUnion.
The Qantas Group said it expects to report an underlying profit before tax (PBT) in the range of AUD300 million ($248.5 million) to AUD350 million for the first six months of FY2015, reversing a loss of AUD252 million reported for the year-ago period.
Flydubai is continuing its expansion into Central and Eastern Europe with the launch of 2X-weekly Dubai- Bratislava (Slovakia) flights, as well as new service to Prague (Czech Republic) and Sofia (Bulgaria) in December.
Airlines for America (A4A) forecasted that passengers traveling on US airlines on the average day during the upcoming holiday season will increase approximately 10% year-over-year to 2.37 million, a sign of the industry’s strength that is expected to continue into 2015.
US Airlines ranked by complaints per 100,000 passengers, lowest to highest; contrasted with complaint rankings from the previous month, and the year-ago month.
South African Airways (SAA)—which has undergone five CEO/acting CEO changes in just two years—is seeking a strategic equity partner and has warned that full implementation of its long-term strategy (LTTS) is “critical to its continued ongoing operations.”
American Airlines has reached a second tentative agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) that will allow pilots at Envoy Air to fly Embraer E-175 aircraft.
Kazakhstan-based Air Astana is expecting to be profitable this year, despite the 19% devaluation of the Kazakhstani tenge in the first quarter that created a local market weakness.
Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional Bhd sovereign wealth fund and majority shareholder in Malaysia Airline System (MAS) will suspend trading in the national airline’s shares from Dec. 15.
Transaero Airlines and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have signed a partnership agreement to attract funding for the Russian carrier. ICBC will provide a range of legal and marketing services aimed at attracting investments into Transaero, the carrier said in a statement.
Air passenger traffic demand worldwide increased 5.7% year-over-year in October, building on September’s 5.2% rise “as improvements in economies in Asia-Pacific and the US offset signs of weakness in the eurozone and China,” IATA DG and CEO Tony Tyler said in IATA’s October Air Passenger Market Analysis Report.
US Airline Fuel Cost and Consumption figures, organized by domestic, international and system totals, contrasted with figures from the previous month, three months prior, six months prior, a year ago, two years ago and five years ago.
Air Seychelles launched 2X-weekly Airbus A320 service to Antananarivo and 3X-weekly service to Mumbai. It also began 2X-weekly Airbus A320 service to Dar es Salaam. Ethiopian Airlines has begun 3X-weekly Doha service.
Air Canada will start 4X-weekly flights between Toronto and Delhi in November 2015, marking the Montreal-based carrier’s entrance into the Indian subcontinent.
Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines considers the merger with its subsidiary, Innsbruck-based Tyrolean Airways, a “sign of conciliation and as a starting point for a new Austrian Airlines,” CEO Jaan Albrecht said in a statement.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has struck a deal to acquire 100% of Danish regional airline Cimber, which was set to close in April 2015 after losing its long-standing SAS wet-lease agreement.
