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Commercial

Airbus Signs USD$25 Bln Iran Deal For 118 Planes
Airbus has signed a deal to sell Iran 118 planes worth at least USD$25 billion at list prices in an agreement much talked about in the industry since Western sanctions were lifted against Tehran this year. The plane maker said the deal, signed amid a raft of others during a visit by President Hassan Rouhani, was conditional on getting US export licenses because more than 10 percent of their parts were made in the United States.
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737 MAX’s first flight starts a year of transition for Boeing
The planned first flight of the Boeing 737 MAX tomorrow will be a major milestone for the company, but it also marks a transition year in which costs related to early-production aircraft are expected to impact 2016 revenue and deliveries. First flight is scheduled for Jan. 29, although rain is forecast for Renton, Washington, where the 737 MAX 8 flight test aircraft is scheduled to take off.
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Airlines

Air France, ground staff sign labor deal
Air France and its three ground staff labor unions—CFDT, CFE-CGC and UNSA—have signed a three-year agreement. “This agreement offers a number of important guarantees for ground staff, in terms of career evolution, measures in support of mobility, and changes in the different business areas,” Air France said.
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Alaska to relaunch nonstop Portland-Atlanta service
Alaska Airlines plans to restart service from Portland, Ore., to Atlanta in June. The carrier will deploy Boeing 737 aircraft for the nonstop route. "Alaska Airlines continues to provide more options to our loyal Portland customer base," said John Kirby, vice president of capacity planning for the carrier. "We are pleased to add seasonal Atlanta service to the growing list of nonstop destinations we offer from the Rose City."
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Alaska Air considers order for regional jets
Alaska Air Group CFO Brandon Pedersen said the company is considering buying regional jets to replace Bombardier Q400 turboprops flown by Horizon Air. "It is likely that we will place an order for 30 large regional jets in the first quarter of 2016, with deliveries starting in 2017 if we can reach acceptable commercial terms with the parties involved," Pedersen said.
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Allegiant posts $220 million 2015 net profit
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co., parent of Allegiant Air, posted 2015 net income of $220.4 million, more than doubling its 2014 net result of $87 million. Allegiant’s December quarter net profit was $56.7 million, an eleven-fold rise over the company’s $4.8 million profit in the year-ago quarter. It was the ULCC’s 52d consecutive profitable quarter; its “best quarter ever in our best year ever,” Allegiant chairman and CEO Maurice Gallagher said.
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American launches designer amenity kits
American Airlines plans to distribute amenity kits designed by Cole Haan to elite passengers beginning in March. Fernand Fernandez, vice president of global marketing for American, said, "We know our premium flyers are looking for a refined and modern experience when it comes to airline service, right down to the amenity kits for long flights."
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Dragonair to be rebranded Cathay Dragon
The Cathay Pacific Group has announced plans to rebrand regional carrier Dragonair as Cathay Dragon, aimed at helping the group capture more traffic growth from the mainland China market. The rebranding will see Cathay Dragon adopt a new livery, which while still retaining its distinctive red, features a Cathay-style brushwing logo. The livery will first appear on a Cathay Dragon Airbus A330-300 in April, and will be progressively rolled out across the rest of the fleet.
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Gulf Air acting CEO offers resignation
The acting CEO of Gulf Air, Maher Salman Al Musallam, has tendered his resignation, the airline has confirmed. Al Musallam became acting CEO of the Bahraini flag-carrier in December 2012 following the resignation of previous CEO Samer Majali. It was never fully explained why he remained in the role in an acting capacity for such an extended period.
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Hawaiian Airlines inks codeshare deal with Turkish Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines and Turkish Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement. "We look forward to introducing more Turkish Airlines customers to our authentic Hawaiian hospitality, award-winning on-time performance and quality of service on their journey from Istanbul to our island home," said Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines.
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JetBlue Airways to sponsor Boston Celtics
JetBlue Airways, based in New York, signed a sponsorship deal to become the official airline of the Boston Celtics. JetBlue also has sponsorships with the Boston Bruins, Red Sox and New England Patriots. The deal with the Celtics covers five years.
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Korea Express takes first ERJ-145
Korea Express Air’s first Embraer ERJ-145 has entered service with the domestic carrier, following its delivery in December. Embraer says in a statement that the aircraft has been leased from its ECC Leasing unit, and is being operated from the carrier’s base in Yangyang, Gangwon Province.
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SriLankan Airlines retires last A340
SriLankan Airlines has retired its Airbus A340-300 fleet after 21 years in service. The type operated its last flight on the Chennai-Colombo route on 7 January, says the Oneworld alliance carrier.
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SWISS’s Boeing 777-300ERs to offer Internet in all three classes
Lufthansa Group subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), which will take delivery of the first of nine Boeing 777-300ERs on Jan. 29, has unveiled details on its Internet connectivity in all three cabin classes. The new aircraft will offer a roaming inflight phoning option for a one-year trial period. Passengers can choose of three data packages for its inflight Internet option. A 20 MB SWISS Connect data package costs CHF 9 ($8.80), a 50 MB package costs CHF 19 and the 120 MB package is offered for CHF 39.
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Airports

In Houston, No Fuel Bonanza For Airlines
While airlines are in no rush to pass on fuel savings to passengers brought by the drop in oil prices, the Houston travel market has left them little choice. Airlines serving the US oil capital have resorted to steep discounts to lure newly budget-conscious energy executives back into the air, according to an analysis of ticket prices, Reuters reported.
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Singapore’s Changi Airport posts record passenger numbers for 2015
Singapore’s Changi Airport reported a new annual record for passenger traffic in 2015, with 55.4 million passengers (up 2.5% on 2014) and more than 346,300 aircraft movements for the 12-month period. Changi Airport Group (CAG) CEO Lee Seow Hiang said 2014’s dip in numbers was a result of several aircraft accidents and losses, coupled with depressed industry yields. This, he said, had led to a “relatively weak first six months” in 2015, but that the second half of the year saw a marked improvement in numbers.
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Military

Hungary-based C-17 crews to train in UK
Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) C-17 aircrews will soon begin training on Boeing-owned simulators in the UK under an $8 million contract negotiated by the US Air Force. Boeing says pilots and loadmasters of the Hungary-based Heavy Airlift Wing have until now trained on simulators in the USA, but they will now receive instruction closer to home at its international C-17 training site in Farnborough, Hampshire. The manufacturer says its UK-based training programme is designed to USAF standards and certifications, and has been certified by the Hungarian National Transport Authority.
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Medevac Surion conducts maiden flight
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has conducted the first flight of a KUH-1 Surion utility helicopter optimised for military medevac missions. The first flight took place at KAI’s Sachon production facility and lasted for 20 minutes, says the company in a statement.
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Aviation Quote

If you want to grow old as a pilot, you—ve got to know when to push it, and when to back off.

— Chuck Yeager.

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