AirlinesAlitalia targets profitability by 2017; launches new routesAlitalia has confirmed its three-year business plan is on track for profitability by 2017 and revealed details on new initiatives it will introduce in the next few weeks. The Italian flag carrier will also launch new flights from Rome Fiumicino to Santiago, Chile, from May 2016, and to Mexico City from June 2016. This brings its number of Latin American routes to five and 10 in the Americas.
LinkAmerican Airlines, US Airways become one reservation system on Oct. 17American Airlines will fully absorb
US Airways' reservation system on Saturday, two years after the companies announced their merger. Passengers who hold
US Airways tickets for later dates will check-in through American's website.
LinkIrish regional CityJet to lease 15 Sukhoi SSJ100s Dublin-based CityJet has signed a preliminary agreement to lease 15 Sukhoi SuperJet (SSJs), with options on a further 10 aircraft. CityJet chairman Patrick Byrne recently told
ATW that an announcement on the Avro replacement was “very imminent.” The long-awaited tentative deal, which CityJet will use to replace its legacy fleet of 18 Avro RJ85s, was announced on the sidelines of the European Regions Airline Association (
ERA) general assembly in Berlin.
LinkCroatia Airlines converts four Airbus A319 orders to A320neosCroatia Airlines converted an existing order of four Airbus A319 order into A320neo, a source close to the contract confirmed to
ATW in Zagreb. The A319 order had been placed in 2008.
LinkDelta's "Pink Plane" creation is a labor of loveDerek Snider, an aircraft maintenance paint technician for Delta Air Lines, said painting a Boeing 767-400ER as a "Pink Plane" held special meaning for him. His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. "This plane and Delta’s work to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and fight to find a cure means so much to me," Snider said.
LinkEtihad Signs USD$700 Million IT Deal With IBMEtihad Airways has signed a 10-year
USD$700 million deal with
IBM for a range of information technology services and infrastructure. The state-owned airline with equity stakes in Alitalia and Air Berlin among others chose
IBM to move its
IT infrastructure to cloud-based platforms to serve its clients better, a statement said.
LinkFlybe posts revenue growth; joins ERA UK regional carrier Flybe has released some initial indicators for its second-quarter trading and has rejoined the European Regions Airline Association (
ERA). Flybe, which is not due to publish its full-first half results until Nov. 11, said its second-quarter revenues were up 13%.
LinkMH17 Shot Down By Russian-Built MissileMalaysia Airlines MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report on the July 2014 crash that killed all 298 people on board. The long-awaited findings of the board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not specify who launched the missile.
LinkRussia restricts Saratov Airlines’ AOC after safety inspectionRussia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsia, has restricted Saratov Airlines’ air operator’s certificate (
AOC), prohibiting it from operating international flights due to a safety violation. The carrier, which performs charter flights from Saratov to Antalya and Sharm el Sheikh, will be banned from operating international flights from Oct. 26.
LinkSingapore Air To Resume Non-Stop US FlightsSingapore Airlines will resume non-stop flights to the United States in 2018 after becoming the launch customer for the ultra-long range Airbus A350-900ULR.
SIA converted seven of the 63 A350-900s it has on order to the A350-900ULR variant for the services. It has also converted four purchase options for the A350 into firm orders, giving it a backlog of 67 of the latest wide-body jet on the market.
LinkSIA launches longer-range A350-900ULRSingapore Airlines has become the launch customer for a longer-range version of the Airbus A350-900. Airbus is to modify the type’s fuel system to produce the -900ULR, which will have a higher maximum take-off weight, 280t, as well as aerodynamic tweaks to stretch its range. The fuel capacity will be raised by 17% to 165,000 litres compared with the -900.
LinkUnited adding additional European flightsUnited Airlines will add seasonal daily service to three more European cities next summer. The airline is adding service to Athens, Greece; Barcelona, Spain; and Lisbon, Portugal. The carrier will also begin service three times a week between San Francisco and Auckland, New Zealand.
LinkXiamen Airlines introduces first all-economy 737-800 China Southern Airlines’ subsidiary Xiamen Airlines has taken delivery of its first of 44 all-economy 184-seat Boeing 737-800s, which will be used on fast-growing domestic leisure routes. The Xiamen-based carrier is scheduled to introduce 43 more of the type between 2015 and 2017. “China’s air transport market used to be high-end business passenger-oriented, which now has started to change as the number of Chinese leisure travelers increase rapidly,” the airline said in a statement.
Link 
