AirlinesLion Air ends search for CVR from 737 MAX crash Lion Air has ended the search for the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from flight JT610, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 that crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018, but Indonesian officials said the search could resume next week.
The search for the CVR was called off Dec. 29, airline spokesman Danang Mandala told Reuters Jan. 3. Lion Air had funded the IDR38 billion ($2.6 million) search using a civilian offshore supply ship, MPV Everest, since mid-December.
LinkFernandes: AirAsia to take three-year hiatus on JV launches AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes has confirmed the carrier is not looking to launch any more overseas joint ventures (JVs) in the immediate future, aside from its planned affiliate in Vietnam.
The carrier “will not be opening up any more new airlines for the next three years,” Fernandes said via social media. He added that after launching the Vietnamese JV, “we will focus on what we have.”
LinkAir Botswana receives first of two Embraer E170s Air Botswana has received the first of two Embraer E170s as the southern African carrier rebuilds its fleet.
The first regional jet arrived in December and the second is scheduled for delivery around March. Both aircraft, which are being purchased rather than leased, were previously operated by oil company Saudi Aramco and are about eight years old.
LinkRyanair receives UK AOC as airlines plan for post-Brexit Irish LCC Ryanair has been granted a UK air operator’s certificate (AOC) and has registered its first aircraft in the country as European carriers move to shore up their post-Brexit operations ahead of the UK’s planned departure from the European Union (EU) in March.
The AOC granted by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will allow Ryanair “to operate UK domestic and UK to non-EU routes in a post-Brexit environment, if necessary,” the airline said Jan. 3.
LinkNew US LCC ‘Moxy’ orders 60 A220s The new US low-cost carrier led by JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman, now known as “Moxy,” signed a firm order with Airbus for 60 A220-300 airliners, the manufacturer announced Jan. 3.
The order, valued at $5.4 billion at list prices, confirms a MOU the parties entered into during the Farnborough International Air Show in July. Deliveries are expected to start in 2021.
LinkVietnam Airlines Group maintains profitability in 2018 Vietnam Airlines Group kept profits stable in 2018 despite higher fuel costs, and the carrier plans to take delivery of more new-generation widebody and narrowbody aircraft in 2019.
The group reported a pre-tax profit of VND2.8 trillion ($121 million), about the same as in 2017. Revenue rose to VND102 trillion compared with VND88.4 trillion in the previous year. Operating profit margin was 4.38%.
LinkLufthansa Group to add 5,500 employees Lufthansa Group plans to add about 5,500 employees in 2019 to stabilize operations after what the company called “a turbulent summer” in 2018.
The group expects to hire more than 1,300 flight attendants, primarily at its Munich hub and at Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) in Zurich. For the core Lufthansa brand, around 1,200 new hires are planned at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs, in all business areas.
LinkJetBlue firms A220 order JetBlue Airways has firmed up an order for 60 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, which was announced in July 2018. The New York-based carrier said at the time the aircraft will be one-for-one replacements for its 100-seat Embraer E190s.
JetBlue plans to take five A220s in 2020, followed by four in 2021, eight in 2022, 19 in 2023, 22 in 2024 and two in 2025.
LinkEthiopian 737-800 undamaged in Ugandan overrun Ethiopian Airlines believes that a Boeing 737-800 escaped damage after overrunning at Entebbe airport, Uganda.
It had been conducting the ET338 service from Addis Ababa, arriving in darkness on 3 January.
LinkPICTURES AND VIDEO: LATAM unveils new cabin interior LATAM Airlines Group will soon roll out a new cabin interior on two-thirds of its fleet, following a plan unveiled last year to invest $400 million in new seats and interiors.
More than 200 aircraft will receive the new interiors in the coming two years, says the Oneworld carrier.
LinkDelta named world's most on-time mainline airline in 2018 Industry’s most comprehensive on-time analysis for 10th year running recognises Delta Air Lines as world’s most on-time mainline airline for second year running
Qatar Airways is named world’s best on-time airline network
For the first time, awards name Azul and Iberia Express as joint winners in Low-Cost Carrier category
FlightGlobal’s annual On-Time Performance Service (OPS) Awards rank airlines based on more than 120,000 flights per day and 600 global sources
LinkChina Southern plans bigger push into Italy China Southern is seeking to make a bigger push into Italy, with requests for rights to Milan and Rome.
The state-owned carrier is seeking to launch thrice-weekly services on the Guangzhou-Milan and Shenzhen-Rome routes from July.
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I literally knew three of those!
