NewsAMR Flight Attendants To Vote On Contract
Leaders of American Airlines' flight attendants' union will let its members vote on the company's latest contract offer, possibly heading off a threat by the carrier to abandon current agreements and impose stricter terms unilaterally.
LinkAerostar Wins Puerto Rico Airport DealPuerto Rico's government selected Aerostar Airport Holdings in a deal worth USD$2.57 billion to run its Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, the largest in the Caribbean.
LinkAirport Bus Bomber Was Not BulgarianThe man who blew up a bus carrying Israeli tourists at a Bulgarian airport, killing himself and six others, was a foreign national and Sofia is trying to pin down details with the help of foreign spy services, the interior minister said on Friday.
LinkLondon Gatwick Eyes Second RunwayLondon's Gatwick Airport may need to build a second runway to cope with an expected 30 percent rise in passenger numbers by 2045, it said in a master plan published on Thursday.
LinkHigher-weight A330 not intended as A350-800 substitute 
Airbus insists that the higher-weight A330 will not evolve into a substitute for the A350-800, reiterating that it still intends to develop the shrink variant of its new twinjet family. Chief operating officer for customers John Leahy stresses that there is "not even an internal review" over the -800's future, although he says slot constraints on the A350 program are directing the airframer to prioritise sales of the higher-value -900.Airbus will tweak the A330 family to raise the maximum take-off weight to 240t, giving a consequent increase in range, and is pitching entry into service for 2015, a year earlier than the A350-800.
LinkANA 787s affected by defect in Trent 1000 gearbox
All Nippon Airways (ANA) grounded five of its 11 Boeing 787 aircraft on 21 July, after being notified by Boeing that there may be a defect in the gearbox of the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engine. "We received a message from Boeing to the effect that there may be an issue with the gearbox on the engines of the 787s in ANA's fleet. No related problems have arisen on our 787s, however we have ascertained that the part at issue is fitted to five of our aircraft," says an ANA spokesman.
LinkSyrian protest derails US Mi-17 deal with Russia 
A $171 million option contract between the USA and Russia to supply 10 Mil Mi-17 utility helicopters for Afghanistan by 2016 seems likely to stall, after the US Congress voted on 19 July to suspend all contact with Russia’s state arms export company Rosoboronexport over deliveries to Syria.
LinkBA scraps bond issue after lack of interest 
British Airways has dropped plans for a bond issue which was to be linked with its newly-created subsidiary, British Airways Limited, as well as slots at London Heathrow. The airline had said on 9 July that the terms and timing of the bonds would depend on investor feedback and market conditions.
LinkKorean Air sinks to 2Q loss despite 11% revenue rise
Korean Air (KE) incurred a KRW159 billion ($140 million) net loss in the second quarter, reversed from a KRW21 billion net profit in the year-ago period. Steep foreign exchanges losses and interest expenses helped push KE into the red for the three months ended June 30.
LinkWest Atlantic mulls different fleet replacement route West Atlantic, Europe’s largest regional cargo airline, is looking at taking more Boeing 737s as it seeks to renew its fleet. The company, formed in 2008 from Sweden’s West Air Europe and the UK’s Atlantic Airlines, was launch customer for the planned Airbus A320P2F freighter conversion. However, the project was cancelled by Airbus in summer 2011, leaving the carrier searching for a new solution for its equipment requirements.
LinkNordic Unified Air Traffic Control takes over Danish/Swedish airspace Sweden and Denmark combined their air navigation services earlier this month through the jointly owned company Nordic Unified Air Traffic Control (NUAC). NUAC has been certified as a provider of air traffic services and has taken over the en route operations previously provided by Naviair (Denmark) and LFV (Sweden) in the Danish/Swedish functional airspace block (FAB). It is the first integrated air navigation services provider (ANS) in Europe to provide services to an FAB. Advantages touted include a range of synergies that will benefit airlines, passengers and the environment.
LinkLuxair faces uncertain future
Luxair’s (LG) future remains unclear after the state of Luxemburg bought a 12.09% stake from Swiss forwarding and logistics specialist Panalpina for an undisclosed sum last week. “Currently we can’t say what will happen with our shares in LG. The future will tell,” Dany Frank, spokesperson of Ministère du Développement durable et des Infrastructures, said.
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