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Airbus To Sue Skymark Over A380 Contract
Airbus is suing Skymark Airlines in Britain, escalating a half-year spat over a cancelled jet order and complicating the efforts of Japan's third-biggest carrier to rebuild its finances. Airbus "has filed a claim in the English court," said Tokyo-based Airbus spokeswoman Utako Fujiso. She declined to comment further on the case. Skymark understands that "Airbus is beginning preparations for litigation regarding a penalty for breach of contract," said Skymark spokesman Hiroyuki Sakata. "Discussions with Airbus towards the resolution of this problem are proceeding and will continue to do so." Airbus cancelled a USD$2 billion contract with Skymark for six A380s in July after the carrier struggled to raise cash to pay the installments.
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Airbus Delivers First A350, A380 Won't Be Cancelled
Airbus delivered the first A350 to Qatar Airways on Monday and moved to end speculation about the future of the A380. Delivery of the A350 came 10 days later than originally planned after Qatar Airways had last-minute problems with one of the suppliers of "buyer furnished equipment" - items such as seats and galleys that the airline buys directly from third parties. The arrival of the A350 brings Airbus face to face in the world's airports with Boeing's 787, as a new generation of carbon-composite passenger aircraft offers big fuel savings. But its development has coincided with a decline in the sales of large four-engine aircraft - the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380. Airbus Group Finance Director Harald Wilhelm triggered speculation over the future of the A380 earlier this month when he said it would break even up to 2018, whether Airbus decided to upgrade or "discontinue" it.
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Airlines

Air China signs with Boeing for 60 737s
Air China has entered into a purchase agreement with Boeing for 60 737 aircraft. The order, worth $5.9 billion at list prices, comprises both the current 737 and the re-engined Max variant. The aircraft will be delivered between 2016 and 2020. Air China says the aircraft purchase will be funded through cash from its operations, commercial bank loans and other financing instruments.
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American looking at overhaul of business-class seats on 757s
American Airlines is evaluating two types of business-class seats for its long-range Boeing 757s, one similar to what American has installed on its Airbus A321 transcontinental aircraft and the other akin to what JetBlue Airways has put on its Mint subfleet.
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7.8M to fly with Delta over holiday season, company says
Delta Air Lines says its busiest flight day over the holiday season will be Jan. 2, when it will fly more than 500,000 customers. Between Dec. 19 and Jan. 4, the airline anticipates transporting almost 7.8 million passengers.
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JetBlue adds flights to connect Washington, D.C., Florida
JetBlue is offering twice daily flights from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to the Florida destinations of Fort Myers, Jacksonville, and West Palm Beach until Jan. 4. Flights will go back to once daily after Jan. 4.
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Qatar Airways officially receives first A350
Qatar Airways has formally received its first Airbus A350-900, the first example of the new jet to be handed to a customer. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft was delivered during a 22 December ceremony in Toulouse. Handover comes eight years after the A350 programme, in its current guise, was launched by Airbus to take on the Boeing 777 and 787.
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SpiceJet Co-Founder Seeks Time To Complete Rescue Plan
The entrepreneur behind a high-profile effort to rescue Indian carrier SpiceJet has asked for more time to complete funding plans, according to a government official. Ajay Singh, who helped set up the low-cost airline in 2005, had been expected to submit a plan on Monday, but the official said Singh had instead sought two to three more weeks to finalize the plan. Singh is in talks with US-based private equity investors to lead a turnaround of SpiceJet. The government official said funding discussions were taking longer than expected due to the Christmas holidays. SpiceJet, India's second-biggest budget carrier and fourth overall, has been struggling for months. Last week it was briefly forced to ground its fleet after suppliers refused to refuel planes.
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Airports

Denver International sees record Christmas traffic
Denver International Airport marked its busiest travel day before Christmas on Friday, expecting 166,000 travelers to go through screening checkpoints, "one of the busiest days on record," according to spokeswomen Laura Cole.
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Aviation Quote

Airline P.A.: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Glasgow, we hope you enjoyed your flight and thank you for flying Easyjet. If you didn't enjoy your flight, thank you for flying Ryanair.

— heard by a Great Aviation Quotes reader, 2005.

On This Date

---In 1907... The chief signals officer of the U.S. Army, Brig. Gen. James Allen, issues specification no. 486, the first military aircraft specification for which commercial tenders were invited. The specification is written around the capabilities of the Wright Flyer and, though published for bids to conform to army requirements, only the Wrights are expected to respond by the closing date of February 1, 1908.

---In 1939…Anthony Fokker dies in New York at the age of 49.

---In 1940... The first U.S. all-cargo air service is inaugurated by United Air Lines when at 11:30 P.M. a flight leaves New York for Chicago, where it arrives at 3:40 A.M. local time the following morning after stopping in Cleveland.

---In 1966…First flight of the Dassault Mirage F1.

---In 1972…Andrei Tupolev dies at the age of 86.

---In 1972…Braathens Flight 239, a Fokker F-28 Fellowship registered LN-SUY, crashes in Asker, Norway. the aircraft was on approach to Fornedu Airport at night and in low visibility when they hit the ground, killing 40 of the 45 on-board.

---In 1974…The Rockwell B-1 Lancer strategic bomber makes its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base. Still in service, the long-range bomber is now the only swept-wing aircraft still in active duty for the United States.

---In 1978…Alitalia Flight 4128, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered I-DIKQ, crashes while on approach to Palermo International Airport. the pilots had descended prematurely, thinking they were closer to the airport than they were. They leveled off at 150- feet above the Tyrrhenian Sea when a change in wind speed caused the right wing to clip the water. Fishing boats retrieved the 21 survivors out of the water, whereas 108 people died.

---Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 162, a tire on an L-1011 exploded, penetrating the passenger cabin. The L-1011 lost cabin pressure and two passengers fell out of the aircraft.

---In 1982…First flight of the Short C-23 Sherpa G-BKMW.

---In 1986…First non-stop flight around the planet without refueling - the Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, on a distance of 26,366 statute miles (the FAI accredited distance is 40,212 km).

---In 2002…The first engagement of a conventional aircraft on an unmanned drone occurs when an Iraqi MiG-25 shoots down an MQ-1 Predator that was performing recon over the No-Fly Zone. The Predator fired a Stinger air-to-air missile at the MiG, which missed and was responded to with a missile from the Iraqi jet, destroying the drone.

---In 2005…Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 crashes five minutes after a night-time departure out of Baku in poor weather. The Antonov An-140-100 registered 4K-AZ48 had experienced some sort of systems failure, and the flight crew became disoriented, striking the ground on the shore of the Caspian Sea.

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Trivia

General Trivia

1. What was probably the most unconventional means by which a fighter pilot attacked and downed an enemy aircraft?

2. What Japanese automobile manufacturer produced, had certified and marketed a post-WW2, single-engine, four-place, piston-powered airplane?

3. A fire truck pulls alongside and in front of a taxiing airplane that had just made an emergency landing. A firefighter steps off of the truck and makes a beckoning movement with his left hand and arm. What should a pilot do?

4. What famous American corporation is named after the aircraft carrier from which this company’s founder flew F6F Hellcats during WW2?

5. True or False, a minute of latitude in central Alabama is larger than a minute of longitude in central Mississippi?