Qantas receives green light for American Airlines tie-up

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has issued a draft decision proposing to grant authorisation for a Joint Business Agreement (JBA) between Qantas and American Airlines.

IndiGo announces Muscat, Dubai operations

Low cost air-carrier IndiGo has flagged off its maiden foray into the international market with the launch of flights to Muscat and Singapore and plans to further expand its operations to touch down in Dubai and Bangkok from early next month.

United Continental launches $550 Million fleet-wide onboard improvement plan

United Continental Holdings has announced it will invest more than a half-billion dollars in its onboard product.

Qantas receives green light for American Airlines tie-up

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has issued a draft decision proposing to grant authorisation for a Joint Business Agreement (JBA) between Qantas and American Airlines.

Under the JBA, the airlines will coordinate operations on services between Australia/New Zealand and the United States (the trans-Pacific routes), and on their respective services which support the trans-Pacific routes.

“The ACCC considers that the JBA is likely to result in new and improved products and services, including improved schedules and connectivity,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.

“The ACCC does not consider that the JBA will have any anti-competitive effects, as Qantas and American Airlines do not currently provide any overlapping direct services between Australia and the United States.”

The ACCC has previously authorised an alliance between Virgin Australia and Delta Airlines on routes between Australia and the United States.

http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/qantas-receives-green-light-for-american-airlines-tie-up/

United to become North American Dreamliner launch customer

United Continental has confirmed the first of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft has entered the assembly phase at Boeing’s facility in Everett, Washington.

In early 2012, United will be the first North American carrier to take delivery of the aircraft, marking the first of 50 Dreamliners for the airline.

All Nippon Airways is expecting to receive its first Dreamliner in the next few weeks, as it prepares to become the launch customer.

During assembly of the United plane, Boeing will join the forward, centre and aft fuselage sections, the wings, the horizontal stabiliser and the vertical fin.

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United up following deal

The first United 787 will be configured with 36 flat-bed seats in BusinessFirst, 63 extra-legroom seats in Economy Plus and 120 seats in Economy.

Customers will experience improved lighting, bigger windows, larger overhead bins, increased cabin humidity, reduced cabin pressure and enhanced ventilation systems, among other passenger-friendly features.

http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/united-to-become-north-american-dreamliner-launch-customer/

Southwest Airlines planning ‘radical changes’ at AirTran

Southwest Airlines plans “radical changes” at AirTran Airways, the low-cost airline it acquired in May.

Gary Kelly, chief executive at the Dallas-based carrier, said: “I think we can improve the profitability and so absolutely you are going to see a different offering there.”

In remarks following an address at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Kelly added: “I think we are going to make some radical changes to the AirTran flight schedule.

“We can improve the schedule. I think we can improve the fares.”

Southwest Airlines is the largest airline in the low-cost sector in the world. The carrier paid $1.4 billion for AirTran earlier this year.

Following the purchase, Southwest hops to expand in United States east coast markets, building a presence in New York, Washington and Atlanta.

Southwest celebrated its 40th anniversary in June.

http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/southwest-airlines-planning-radical-changes-at-airtran/

Boeing 747-8 Freighter cleared for takeoff

Boeing has received United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for the new 747-8 Freighter.

The news sees the new aircraft pass two of the final landmarks on its journey into service.

The FAA granted Boeing an Amended Type Certificate (ATC) and an Amended Production Certificate for the 747-8 Freighter, while the EASA also granted the company an ATC for the airplane.

With these certificates, the program is in the final stages of preparing to deliver the first 747-8 Freighter to launch customer Cargolux in early September.

http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/boeing-747-8-freighter-cleared-for-takeoff/

British Airways axes Australia flights

BA is halving its direct flights to Australia from two a day, to one a day, after cancelling its service from London to Sydney via Bangkok.

This means that from March 2012, BA will only operate one flight to Sydney via Singapore.

BA will continue to fly directly to Bangkok, where it will end its journey. Passengers wishing to continue flying on to Sydney will be invited to do so with Qantas.

The once daily London – Singapore – Sydney flight will be the only direct BA flight to Australia. According to reports, BA will use a larger Boeing 747 plane, rather than its 777 - in order to accommodate more passengers.

A spokesman for BA revealed that Singapore is a better market for BA.

http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/british-airways-axes-australia-flights/

HC reserves order on Air India plea

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reserved the order on an appeal filed by Air India challenging the Single Bench verdict directing the airline company to provide `75 lakh compensation to the victims in Mangalore plane crash. A Division Bench comprising Justice C N Ramachandran Nair and Justice P S Gopinathan reserved the order after hearing the counsel for National Aviation Company (NAC) and Abdul Salam and Ramla, parents of B Muhammed Rafi, who died in the crash. The Single Bench verdict was on the basis of a petition filed by Rafi’s parents.? 158 passengers and crew members were killed in the accident on May 22, 2010.NAC counsel argued that the liability of an air carrier for the death of a passenger consequent to an air accident is governed by the amended Carriage by Air Act to the exclusion of all other laws in force in India. So the Single Judge’s conclusion that the NAC has to pay `1 lakh SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) to each of the victims’ relatives was “totally inconsistent and contrary to relevant statutory

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Jet Airways Plans Low-Fare Flights Overseas

Jet Airways (India) Ltd. plans to introduce low-fare flights to short-haul overseas destinations, a move that will likely help India's biggest carrier by market share take on increasing competition from the low-fare carriers such as SpiceJet Ltd. and Indigo that have recently started flights on international routes.

"Low-cost aviation is a reality globally and we have to be ready to face any such demand," Sudheer Raghavan, Jet Airways' chief commercial officer, told reporters Wednesday after the carrier's annual general meeting. He didn't give a timeframe for starting the low-fare flights.

Mr. Raghavan also didn't disclose the possible overseas destinations, but said the flights will cater to destinations that are less than five hours' flying time from India.

Operating short-haul international flights will help Jet Airways increase yields as such routes are more profitable. A large number of Indians are travelling to neighboring countries thanks to higher disposable incomes and cheaper tickets offered by low-fare carriers SpiceJet and Indigo.

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Rs 151.28 crore spent on VIPs' flights

A sum of Rs 151.28 crore was spent on 10 flights by national carrier Air India ferrying VIPs and VVIPs during 2010-11, parliament was told Thursday.

"For VVIP flights operated during 2010-11 by Air India, the government is expected to pay an amount of Rs.151.28 crore for which invoices have been raised," Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.


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NAL seeks pvt partners to sell micro-aerial vehicle

The public sector defence lab, National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), is looking for more private sector partners to commerialise its research. The lab is presently in advanced stages of commercialising its domestically-designed single-engine five-seater general aviation aircraft jointly with Mahindra Aerospace Pvt Ltd (MAPL).

“We want to engage the private sector for many more projects under the public private partnership model. In fact, we have not succeeded in getting any private sector company to partner us for commercialising Hansa, a light passenger aircraft. But, we have Mahindra Group participating with us for NM5-100, a five-seater aircraft. We are now looking for private sector to partner us to commercialise Micro Air Vehicles (MAV),” A R Upadhya, director, NAL said.

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AI refusal right hits private carriers’ overseas expansion

The government’s unstated policy of shielding Air India from competition has held back overseas expansion programmes of domestic private carriers. This stance has led foreign carriers capture larger market share on various profitable routes that could otherwise have been shared between Indian carriers.

The civil aviation ministry has put in abeyance the applications of private carriers like Jet Airways and SpiceJet seeking permission to operate flights on sectors like Delhi-Paris, Kochi-Dubai, Mumbai-Riyadh and Delhi-Teheran.

Low-cost airlines IndiGo and SpiceJet are miffed over this stance as it indirectly gives government-owned Air India the right of first refusal whenever a case of granting traffic rights to private carriers for starting flights on international sectors come up.

Following the completion of five years of operation in the domestic market to become eligible to launch international flights budget carriers are planning to expand their networks beyond India

Air India allowed to take fuel on credit for 2-3 months

In a major relief for Air India, Petroleum Ministry today decided to grant two to three months credit to the troubled airline for jet fuel instead of making

daily payments. The national carrier had been put on cash-and-carry mode

by public sector oil companies since last December as it owes

more than Rs 2,000 crore to them.

Air India has been paying Rs 16.5 crore a day for lifting aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for its day-to-day operations. The decision on providing fuel credit was taken by a Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which also reviewed the latest financial and operational performance of the ailing carrier, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said.

"Instead of cash and carry, Air India will from now on make payments on the basis of this credit limit of two to three months," Ravi said, adding, "So, the tension of making daily payments is now over". The meeting was also attended by Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Civil Aviation Secretary S Nasim Zaidi.

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Thai Airways orders raft of new planes

Thai Airways has signed a contract with Airbus covering the firm order of four A350-900s and five A320 aircraft, becoming a new customer for both aircraft types.

Air China inks deal with Siemens

Air China has become the first provider to be considered by Siemens when it comes to global travel solutions.

Boeing completes Dreamliner testing

Boeing has completed all flight tests required for type certification of the 787-8 Dreamliner with Rolls-Royce engines.

Fly.com records record visitor numbers

Flight comparison engine Fly.com saw a record five million flight searches in July, an increase of 46 per cent from the same period last year.

Air India unions want govt to pay for mistakes

Having tasted success, Air India (AI) unions now want the government to review and undo all the decisions that they claim caused the current mess at the airline.

After Air India, Kingfisher delays salary payment

After government-owned Air India, Kingfisher Airlines has delayed salaries of its employees. The UB Group-controlled airline has not paid salary for July.

No pilot, AI passengers stranded

It was a harrowing Independence Day for the passengers of the Air India Express on Monday.

Jagson Airlines widens Q1 net loss to Rs30m

India's Jagson Airlines has reported a net loss of Indian rupees (Rs) 30 million ($661,000) in its fiscal first quarter, against a net loss of Rs7.3 million a year ago.

A comprehensive aviation policy

Twenty years after India opened its skies to private airlines, a comprehensive policy for the civil aviation sector is on cards. Though the government routinely bails out state-owned Air India, which is in dire straits, it can’t do the same for troubled private airlines that are bruised in a price war amid soaring fuel costs.

SpiceJet to launch three services using new Q400s

Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet is poised to take delivery of its first four Bombardier Q400 turboprops, part of a 15 aircraft order placed last December.

T3 to remain India's largest for 8 yrs

The Terminal 3 (T3) of the Delhi airport, the largest in the country, which completed one year of operation last month, will continue to carry the largest tag for about eight years, as the operator does not see the need for expansion of the airport.

Cathay Pacific announce order for Boeing 12 777s

Boeing and Cathay Pacific Airways today announced the Hong Kong-based carrier has ordered eight Boeing 777 Freighters and four 777-300ER (extended range) airplanes. The order is valued at $3.3 billion at list prices. With this announcement, Cathay Pacific becomes the 15th customer to order the 777 Freighter and increases its Boeing 777-300ER fleet to 50.

Air India gets Rohit Nandan as new chief; turnaround strategy soon

Air India has a new chief. Arvind Jadhav was sacked as the flag carrier's chairman and managing director on Friday and Rohit Nandan, a joint secretary in the civil aviation ministry, given charge.

Air China, Eva Air and Uni Air launch frequent flyer program cooperation

Air China, Eva Air and Uni Air launch frequent flyer program cooperation from Aug 1st, 2011.

Kerala govt, DGCA discuss Calicut airport report

The Kerala government has taken up the CNN-IBN report on Calicut International Airport which exposed that the runway was not safe. A high level committee from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Air India met Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to assess the safety issues at the Calicut International Airport.

IndiGo loses Muscat rights

India’s low-fare airline IndiGo has lost its rights to fly to Muscat, Indian newspapers have reported.

Jet to raise Rs 500cr for land deal with Godrej Properties

The market may have cheered Jet Airways ' deal with Godrej Properties to jointly develop its (Jet’s) land at Bandra Kurla Complex, but it could be a while before profits from the venture start rolling in.

Flydubai doubles fleet with 18th aircraft

Flydubai, Dubai’s pioneering low-cost airline, has doubled the size of its fleet in just one year following the arrival of its 18th aircraft last week. Marking yet another milestone for Dubai’s first low-cost carrier, the new Boeing 737-800 NG represents an investment of $80m and is the latest delivery of the order of 50 placed by Flydubai at the 2008 Farnborough Airshow.

Mehoke steps into role with Etihad Airways

Ms Mehoke will be based in the airline’s New York office.

Etihad marks two more Manchester milestones

Etihad Airways – recognised as the World’s Leading Airline by the World Travel Awards - has marked two significant milestones in Manchester, officially launching a new line maintenance facility and double-daily services to the city.

Dreamliner inches closer to service

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have began an important validation of their readiness for the 787 Dreamliner's entry into service.

JetBlue and Qatar Airways announce partnership

JetBlue Airways and Qatar Airways, winner of Middle East's Leading Airline Business Class at this years World Travel Awards today announced the signing of a new interline agreement to connect travellers seamlessly between the two carriers' networks via New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.