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Vueling CEO: Barcelona to become Europe’s prime short-haul hub
Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling (VY) CEO Alex Cruz has vowed that Barcelona El Prat (BCN) will overtake Frankfurt Airport(FRA) as Europe’s leading airport for short-haul flights in 2014. Over the past two summers, VY has added 45 new routes from BCN, which it claims has positioned the airport as No. 2 in Europe by number of short-haul flights. Building on this growth, VY has announced plans to add another 28 new routes in 2013, taking it to more than 100 destinations from BCN.
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Lufthansa expands into Latin America
Lufthansa (LH) is increasing services in Latin America as the carrier looks to expand its market share in the region. On Oct. 28, LH will increase its 6X-weekly Airbus A340-600 Rio de Janeiro-Frankfurt (FRA) service and its 5X-weekly Bogota (BOG)-FRA service to daily. Speaking at a press conference last week in São Paulo (GRU), LH executive board member Carsten Spohr said that Latin America passenger revenues represent 5% of global passenger revenues for LH, while cargo revenues represent 10%-11% of network cargo revenues. The company expects these numbers to grow to 7% and 15%, respectively, in the next three to four years.
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UPS reports 56% 3Q profit decrease amid ‘slowing’ global trade
United Parcel Service (UPS) posted third-quarter net income of $469 million, down 56.3% from a $1.07 billion net profit in the 2011 September quarter. It said much of the earnings decrease can be attributed to an after-tax, non-cash charge of $559 million associated with restructuring pension liabilities. But third-quarter revenue was down 0.7% year-over-year to $13.07 billion as the delivery giant contended with what chairman and CEO Scott Davis characterized as “an environment of slowing global trade.” CFO Kurt Kuehn told analysts that UPS customers continue to “migrate to less premium products” and “US exports continue to disappoint.”
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HNA Group buys 48% of France’s Aigle Azur
Chinese conglomerate HNA Group—parent of Hainan Airlines (HU), China Xinhua Airlines, Chang'an Airlines and Shanxi Airlines—has acquired a 48% stake in French airline Aigle Azur Transports Aeriens (ZI). The deal makes HNA Group the second largest shareholder of ZI, after Go Fast Transport, and the first Chinese aviation enterprise to invest in a European airline, according to an HNA statement. It is reported the deal is worth about $40 million.
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Airbus flies first sharklet-equipped A321

Airbus has performed the first flight of a sharklet-equipped A321 as it begins a test campaign of the wing-tip modification on the largest member of its narrowbody family. The aircraft performed a ferry flight from Airbus's Hamburg facility to its Toulouse plant on 23 October. Flight testing on the modified A320 has been completed, with EASA certification of the CFM International CFM56-powered variant due in November. Approval of the modification on the International Aero Engines V2500-powered A320 will follow in December.
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UK details cruise missile use in Libya campaign
The UK Ministry of Defence has disclosed new details about its use of precision-guided weapons during 2011's Libya campaign, including air- and submarine-launched cruise missiles. "During Operation Ellamy, UK forces employed a combined total of around 80 [MBDA] Storm Shadow and [Raytheon] Tomahawk land-attack missiles," armed forces minister Andrew Robathan said in response to a parliamentary question in the House of Commons on 22 October. He declined to provide a more detailed split between use of the types, as this could "prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces".
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F-35A launches AMRAAM
The US Air Force version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has released an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile at Edwards AFB, California, for the first time.
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EU Court Confirms Flight Delays Compensation
Europe's highest court rejected attempts by airlines including Lufthansa and British Airways to avoid paying compensation for delayed flights, making it harder for carriers to side-step payments in future.
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France Backs Airbus Over Row With Germany
France backed Airbus on Tuesday in a row with Germany over funding for its next airliner, in a sign of lingering tension following the collapse of a European aerospace industry merger.
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Germany Pushes Ahead On EADS Stake Buy
The German government is pressing ahead with its plan to buy a stake in Airbus parent EADS from Daimler, after this month's collapse of a merger plan with BAE, and has asked parliament to free up funds for the purchase.
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Did French PM Leak New Airbus Order?
Airbus parent EADS, whose merger talks with BAE Systems leaked to the press in the summer, may find more of its business subject to accidental early disclosure - this time by the French prime minister.
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American Airlines, pilots make progress with labor talks
American Airlines and the union representing its pilots, the Allied Pilots Association, have reported progress in their labor-contract negotiations. A message from the union told members Sunday that there have been "encouraging changes" in negotiations and that "each of the past several days has proven productive at the table."
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Boeing boosts plant production to meet demand
Boeing is in a tight race with European competitor Airbus for new jet productivity, and the result is a boost in manufacturing capacity. The production of 787 Dreamliner jets is increasing by 20%. The greater manufacturing capacity is expected to overcome some of the early production delays as well as increase the company's stock value.
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Assembly of Airbus A350 is ready to begin
Competition with Boeing will heat up as European plane-maker Airbus was scheduled to open the assembly factory manufacturing its new A350. Sources say Airbus plans to speed up its manufacturing process of the A350-1000 to generate even more competition between the companies.
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Unused cargo building at JFK airport may house animal complex
Officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have signed an agreement with a group of private investors who hope to convert an unused cargo building at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York city into a 108,000-square-foot complex equipped to handle animal cargo. The new facility is expected to have kennels for dogs and cats under quarantine, animal exercise space, a groomer and an animal hospital equipped to deal with exotic animals that need specialized procedures.
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Other News

The Aviation Corp. of China (AVIC) and GE Aviation have formally launched a Shanghai-based integrated avionics joint venture (JV) “to develop and market the new generation of avionics systems with an immediate priority on supporting development of China’s first home-grown big passenger jet” the C919.

The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) has granted Brazil’s GOL route rights for 2X-daily flights between Brazil and the US with a stopover in Santo Domingo (SDQ). One flight will depart São Paulo and the second one will depart Rio de Janeiro to SDQ, where it will continue to Orlando and Miami, Fla. The flights will be operated by Boeing 737s. The airline expects to start operations by year end and will announce further details as soon as authorization is granted. GOL has so far operated non-scheduled flights only into Miami and Orlando, mainly seasonal special services offered to its “Smiles” frequent flyer program passengers.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines will launch 6X-weekly Birmingham-Stockholm Boeing 737-600 service Oct. 29.

Czech Airlines will increase 21X-weekly Prague-Budapest service to 31X-weekly Oct. 28. The flights will be operated by ATR 42-500s and ATR 72-500s.

KLM will increase 3X-daily Amsterdam (AMS)-Norwich service to 4X-daily March 31. It will launch 3X-weekly AMS-Fukuoka Boeing 777-200ER service April 3.

AirBaltic will launch 2X-weekly Riga-Chisinau service Oct. 29.

Aviation Quote

There are only two types of aircraft — fighters and targets.

— Doyle 'Wahoo' Nicholson, USMC.

On This Date

---In 1912... Harry Hawker wins the British Empire Michelin Cup for endurance. He flies for over 8 hours in a Burgess-Wright airplane.

---In 1953…First flight of the Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger.

---In 2003… Concorde makes its last scheduled commercial flight with British Airways.

Daily Video

Editor’s Choice

Humor

Newleyweds

A man met a drop-dead gorgeous woman and decided he should marry her immediately.

She said, “But we don’t know anything about each other!”
He responded, “ No problem, we’ll get to know each other with time.”
They were married and they went to spend their honeymoon in a luxurious hotel.

One morning they were laying out next to the large Olympic-sized pool, when he got up, climbed to the 10 meter springboard and demonstrated every dive from the standards to the highest degree of difficulty; a perfect demonstration. He climbed out of the pool and rejoined his wife.
“Wow, that was incredible!” she exclaimed.

“I was a gold medalist in 2000 and 2004 in the high dive. I told you, we’ll get to know each other as time goes by,” he said.

She then jumps to feet, runs and dives into the pool with an impressive speed. After thirty laps at a world-record pace, she comes out of the pool and joins her husband.

“I am surprised. Where you an Olympic swimmer,” he asks?

“No,” she answered, I was a whore in Venice and did Out calls only…

Trivia

1. What is or was the Lufberry circle?

2. Elvis Presley was one of the first entertainers to own a “business jet.” What type of aircraft did he own?

3. True or False. The magnetic north pole is in constant motion and currently is moving toward the southeast at 20 kilometers per year.

4. True or False. The Boeing 314 Clipper, a 1936 flying boat used by Pan American Airlines, had a 14-seat dining room, a promenade deck on which passengers could stroll during flight and a honeymoon suite in the aft fuselage.

5. A pilot is flying a typical light airplane with a normally aspirated engine at a given gross weight. Which – if any – of the following indicated airspeeds vary (varies) with density altitude?
a. Best-glide speed
b. Best-angle-of-climb speed
c. Best-rate-of-climb speed
d. Wings level, 1-G stall speed.