A union representing Lufthansa pilots has called a one-day strike at the German airline's long-distance and cargo operations on Tuesday - the latest in a string of walkouts. The Vereinigung Cockpit union has hit various Lufthansa units with more than a dozen short-term walkouts over recent months. The dispute centers on the airline's plans to cut transition payments for pilots want...
The head of the company behind British Airways has stepped up his campaign to cut aviation taxes and reform visas for Chinese visitors, urging George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to implement the measures to boost tourism to Britain. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines Group, has written a letter to Mr Osborne calling on him to cut Air Passenger Du...
A fast-growing Chinese travel aggregation site has teamed up with Amadeus as it bids to expand internationally. Shijie99, which targets inbound tourism to China and Chinese travellers in overseas markets, has penned a new multi-year agreement that will give it access to Amadeus' global air, hotel, car rental and rail content. It will also deploy Amadeus' Master Pricer search technology...
A bomb hoax made by a male passenger at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) delayed Flight EU2206 of Chengdu Airlines (EU) from Hangzhou to Chengdu for nearly three hours last Thursday night. According to the airline, the Chengdu-bound flight is estimated to take off from Hangzhou at 8:10 p.m. During the boarding procedure, a middle-aged male passenger claimed that...
British leisure airline Jet2 has banned 14 passengers for life after they allegedly threatened cabin crew and forced a plane to divert to Portugal. The plane was flying from Glasgow to Tenerife when the crew decided to make an unscheduled landing in Faro, Portugal so the disruptive holidaymakers could be kicked off the plane. Jet2 claimed the unruly men were "aggressive and ve...
By acquiring its struggling rival Transaero, Russia's largest airline Aeroflot is likely to find itself in a tight spot with an additional debt burden and a fleet of ageing aircraft, analysts said. State-controlled Aeroflot announced this week its purchase of 75 percent plus one of Transaero's shares for the symbolic price of one ruble, citing the privately-held airline's...
Emirates airline has denied any connection with a new social media competition offering free airline tickets, calling it a "hoax". "The recent competition on Facebook offering free flights is a hoax and has nothing to do with Emirates," the airline said in a statement sent to Emirates 24|7. "Our competitions are always run from our officially verified socia...
Two incidents of aircraft declaring fuel emergencies on Thursday night and the diversion of 10 flights to Bengaluru have brought the fuel uplift policies of airlines into question. On Thursday, a Jet Airways ATR (Madurai-Chennai flight) and an IndiGo Airbus A320 aircraft (Kolkata-Chennai) declared fuel emergencies, after being diverted to Bengaluru from Chennai due to runway closure....
A year ago the Herald's view of Qantas tallied with a commonly held belief among business analysts, economists and, indeed, the flying public. Australia's flag carrier was on the nose, its leadership struggling and its finances shaky to the point where it wanted taxpayers to help out. Some observers even wanted to change the Qantas Sale Act to allow greater foreign investment in the nation...
The state consumer commission has slapped Emirates Airlines with a fine of 55,000 rupees for losing the baggage of a passenger about seven years ago, and said, payment of damages could not be restricted to the terms of any act, as "there is no bar to grant justifiable compensation for causing mental agony." Ashok Balasubramanian said he was doing a commercial pilot license c...
Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington's Fly Leasing recently supplied a Boeing aircraft to Norwegian Air, the Scandinavian operator that is attempting to set up a budget long-haul airline in the Republic. Mr Barrington is chief executive of Dún Laoghaire-based Fly Leasing, one of a number of Irish companies that finance and supply aircraft to airlines around the wor...
London's mayor, a potential successor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, said a proposal to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport was doomed to fail, complicating an already fraught issue for the government. In July, after a three-year study, the Airports Commission recommended Heathrow as the best option for an additional runway over two other shortlisted airports, argui...
A Shanghai Airlines (FM) flight from Shanghai to Bangkok was diverted to Nanchang Changbei International Airport (KHN) on Sunday evening after a foreign passenger became ill and passed away upon landing, local media reported. Flight FM855 took off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) at 3:00 p.m., and the crew of flight FM855 declared an emergency en route to Nanchang airp...
Airline Investments Limited (AIL) has announced plans to rationalize operations at its recently acquired Loganair (LM, Glasgow Int'l) and bmi regional (BM, Aberdeen Dyce) subsidiaries. Under the plan, bmi regional is to relocate its engineering facilities to one of its primary hubs, Bristol Int'l, where AIL is proposing to acquire hangar space to accom...
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) government's nascent national carrier, Congo Airways (Kinshasa N'Djili), has suffered yet another set back in its quest to free its second aircraft, A320-200 EI-DSN (cn 3412), currently impounded at Dublin Int'l. Prior to the aircraft's intended departure for Kinshasa N'Djili late last month, a US firm...
The NTSB released details of an accident in which a Learjet 35A corporate jet collided with a deed on takeoff from Grosse Ile Municipal Airport, Michigan, USA. On June 22, 2015, a Learjet 35A, registered N640BA, planned to perform a corporate flight from Grosse Ile Municipal Airport, Michigan to Chicago-Midway Airport, Illinois. There were two passengers and t...
Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) handled record 5.7 million inbound and outbound passengers in the summer peak season in July and August, representing a growth of 13.03% year on year, according to statistics from Shanghai Airport Frontier Inspection Station. The Shanghai Port welcomed up to 7 million inbound and outbound passengers in the past two months, up 12.74% year on...
Shandong Airlines (SC) said on Sunday it registered a double-digit growth in both passengers carried and flights operated in the summer travel season which began on July 1 and ended on August 31. The Jinan-based carrier transported more than 3 million passengers and operated nearly 19,000 flights in the past two months. The airline attributed the traffic growth to strong travel dem...
Zhejiang Loong Airlines (GJ) took delivery of a brand new Airbus A320 aircraft at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH) on September 6, which is the airline's eighth A320s in service. The new A320, Registration B-1676, brings Loong Air's fleet to 11 aircraft. According to the fleet introduction plan, the Hangzhou-based carrier will expand its fleet to 16 by t...
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has approved a resolution of the National Security and Defense Council 'On measures to protect the national interests of Ukraine in the field of aviation' with a corresponding decree on September 4, according to the President's website.
As of next Tuesday, Manchester and Madrid will be closer than ever. The Iberia Group, through its low cost carrier Iberia Express, will launch its flights between both cities. Until the end of October the airline will operate flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, and throughout the winter season will fly twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Airbus A320s with 180 seats in Economy and...
