NewsAirlines
Azul unveils new A330 cabin interior
Brazil's Azul will offer a new cabin interior on its Airbus A330-200s from the second quarter of 2015. The airline began service to the USA with the A330s from 1 December, but has said previously it will reconfigure the aircraft with new interiors next year as the carrier's desired seats were not available in time before the launch of the US service. When reconfigured, Azul's A330 business class cabin will feature seats that convert into almost 2m (79in) long lie-flat beds in a 1-2-1 configuration for direct aisle access for every passenger.
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Darwin Airline Lodges Complaint Against Swiss
Switzerland's Darwin Airline has lodged a formal complaint with the country's competition commission over alleged anti-competitive actions by Lufthansa-owned Swiss International Air Lines. Etihad Airways is in the process of buying a 33.3 percent stake in Darwin which has already rebranded itself Etihad Regional. Darwin alleges Swiss has responded to the deal by engaging in a series of actions aimed at forcing the airline out of the Swiss market.
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Meteorologists help FedEx, UPS meet holiday demand
Both UPS and FedEx rely on a team of meteorologists to keep deliveries running smoothly during the busy holiday season. Forecasters at both UPS and FedEx keep their eye on the big weather picture to ensure both companies have contingency plans to deliver packages as efficiently as possible to their destinations in the event severe weather hits.
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FedEx delivered strong quarterly performance
FedEx delivered strong results for its fiscal second quarter. "We had a spectacular second quarter as our earnings per share grew 36% to $2.14," said Alan Graf, FedEx CFO. "Corporate margin rose 120 basis points year-over-year to 8.5%."
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Prosecutors Seek Detention Of Korean Air Executive
South Korean prosecutors have requested a detention warrant for a former Korean Air executive who delayed a flight because she was unhappy about how she was served nuts in first class. The prosecutors have been investigating the former executive, Heather Cho Hyun-ah, who is the daughter of the airline's chairman, on charges of violating aviation law and another airline official for abetting perjury.
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LAN Argentina Workers Ordered Back To Work
LAN Argentina airline workers walked off the job Tuesday only to be quickly ordered back by the government, which ordered wage negotiations to take place. LAN Argentina workers went on strike mid-morning over demands for a 40 percent pay increase driven by high inflation in Latin America's No. 3 economy. LAN Argentina, a unit of Chile-based LATAM Airlines, operates out of Aeroparque Jorge Newbery.
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Qatar Airways reveals A350 cabin
Qatar Airways has configured its new Airbus A350-900 with a 283-seat, two-class interior featuring a business cabin similar to that on its Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 fleets. The cabin layout was unveiled during a press flight during the Qatar’s A350 delivery ceremony in Toulouse on 22 December.
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TransAsia to take four A330-800neo jets
TransAsia Airways is to acquire four Airbus A330-800neo jets, the Taiwanese carrier has disclosed. It has given the value of the transaction as “not more” than $480 million. TransAsia disclosed its intention in a statement to the Taiwanese stock exchange. It has not given a delivery date. Airbus had revealed, earlier this year, that an Asian carrier had committed to four A330-800neo aircraft – although it has not confirmed whether TransAsia is the unidentified customer.
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Turkish To Place Orders For 12 Airbus A321neos
Turkish Airlines said in a stock exchange filing it will exercise options for eight Airbus A321-200neos for delivery in 2019. It will also convert four firm orders of Airbus A320-200neo aircraft to be delivered in 2016 to four A321-200neos to be delivered in 2021, it said in a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange.
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United Airlines enhances the travel experience in 2014
United Airlines overcame a series of severe first quarter winter storms to finish strong in 2014. CEO Jeff Smisek weathered the storm by focusing on cutting costs and improving customer services that make the travel experience more pleasing for passengers. Smisek pledged to trim $2 billion annually in operating costs by 2017.
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United Airlines to debut seasonal Chicago-Rome nonstop route
United Airlines will fly nonstop between Chicago O'Hare and Rome next year, serving the route on a seasonal basis from May 16 through Sept. 23. United's Chicago-Rome schedule will begin with five weekly flights before ramping up to daily service June 4. The schedule will then shift to six flights a week on Aug. 18 and continue though the route's Sept. 23 end date.
LinkAirports
Las Vegas airport offers amenities from slot machines to aviation museum
Having some time to kill at the airport may soon be something to anticipate. Particularly if you like yoga, high-end restaurants, local breweries, gardens and a farmer’s market. And of course, slot machines. Airports are upping the ante when it comes to their retail offerings. Their goal? Getting travelers to spend more. But at McCarran International Airport, there’s a revene-generating amenity you won’t find at many airports — slot machines. Only Reno-Tahoe International Airport and McCarran have slots. There are 1,330 machines scattered throughout the local airport and in the last completed fiscal year that ended June 30, they generated $25.6 million. Because the Clark County Aviation Department is self-funded, that’s $25.6 million that won’t have to be generated through other means. That’s one way the airport keeps airfares down because among the other ways of generating revenue is to charge more to the airlines, which in turn recoup that from passengers through ticket sales.
LinkMilitary
V-22 demonstrates forward-firing missile capability
The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey has flown a collective 250,000 hours, much of it in combat. But only recently have engineers successfully tested forward-firing offensive and defensive weapons on the tiltrotor aircraft. The unprecedented speed and range of the V-22 has extended the reach of Marine expeditionary units and special operations forces. But the aircraft also routinely outrun their armed escorts, the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.
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Aviation Quote
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the very first Fokker airplane built in the world. The Dutch call it the mother Fokker.
— Custodian at the Aviodome aviation museum, Schiphol airport Amsterdam.
On This Date
---In 1908... The world’s first aeronautical exhibition opens in Paris when the French president inaugurated the second half of the Annual Automobile Salon at the Grand Palais.
---In 1944... The people of the Philippines receive a surprise when airplanes of 43rd Bombing Group flew over to drop a million Christmas cards; each one contains the words: “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 1944 – General Douglas MacArthur.”
---In 1952…First flight of the Handley Page Victor.
---In 1955…NORAD tracks Santa for the first time. This began when a Colorado-based Sears store had published a number for children to be able to call Santa Claus. A typo was made, and the number instead led to the hotline for the Director of Operations at Continental Air Defense Command. Realizing the mistake, the director told his team to give the position of Santa to whomever had called in.
---In 1957… First J-58 engine test run. (Q)
---In 1963... New York International Airport is rededicated as John F. Kennedy Airport in honor of the murdered president.
---In 1964…Flying Tiger Line Flight 282, which had departed out of San Francisco International Airport on its way to JFK, New York, crashes into Sweeney Ridge in San Bruno, Calif. killing all three crewmembers. The Lockheed Constellation, registered N6915C, deviated from its flight plan for an unknown reason where downdraft activity and turbulence prevented the aircraft from climbing.
---In 1966…A United States military chartered Canadair CL-44 crashes into a village in South Vietnam, killing 129 people.
---In 1968…Humans orbit the Moon for the first time aboard Apollo 8. Their Christmas Eve broadcast is one of the most-watched television programs in history.
---In 1971…LANSA Flight 508 is struck by lightning while flying over Peru, igniting the fuel tank and leading to structural failure. The Lockheed L-188A Electra (registered OB-R-941) disintegrated, and 91 of the 92 people on-board perished. A 17-year-old girl survived the 2-mile fall with only a gash in her leg and a broken collar bone. Yet she was able to walk through the Amazon for 10 days until being rescued by lumberjacks.
---In 1994…Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked by four Islamic terrorists while on the ground in Algiers. The Airbus A300 registered F-GBEC sits on the ground for two days before departing to Marsielle, where the French military would be allowed to participate. There, soldiers storm the aircraft, freeing all of the hostages and killing all four hijackers. The firefight and one explosive that went off left the aircraft damaged beyond repair. Three hostages had been killed by the hijackers over the previous days.
---In 1999…Indian Airlines Flight 814 is hijacked by five Pakistani nationals while enroute from Nepal to Delhi, India. The Airbus A300 (registered VT-EDW) makes stops in multiple countries before finally arriving in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where demands are made to release three militants from prison. Indian negotiators agree, and the hostages are later released. One of the militants released is Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. Sound familiar? He killed Daniel Pearl and is said to have participated in the planning of the September 11th attacks.
---In 2007…MAXjet ceases operations.
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