NewsANA to join JAL in resuming 787 operations on 1 June All Nippon Airways (ANA) will join Japan Airlines (JAL) in resuming Boeing 787 operations on 1 June. The aircraft type will be used on routes from Tokyo Narita to San Jose, and from Tokyo Haneda to Frankfurt and Beijing. On 1 June, ANA will deploy the 787 on the Tokyo Haneda-Taipei Songshan and Tokyo Nartia-Beijing routes. The 787 will also replace the 767-300ER on the Tokyo Narita-Shanghai Pudong service starting 1 August. The airline intends to use the 787s on services from Tokyo Haneda to Akita and Toyama, starting 1 and 15 June respectively. It also intends deploy the aircraft type on additional domestic flights from July, primarily on services to Okinawa.
LinkEmirates' 2012 Profit Surges Amid Expansion PushDubai airline Emirates defied aviation gloom by lifting 2012 net profit by over half as it added more planes and attracted extra passengers through its home hub in the Gulf. The world's fourth largest carrier in terms of international passengers boosted profit to AED2.3 billion dirhams (USD$622 million), up 52 percent compared with 2011. The profit rise was in sharp contrast to the first-quarter operating loss at Air France-KLM and a bigger than expected loss at Lufthansa.
LinkTurkish Airlines Backs Down On Lipstick BanTurkish Airlines is quashing a ban on female flight attendants wearing red lipstick and nail polish, its chief executive said on Thursday, after an outcry by secular Turks worried the country is becoming too Islamic. The national carrier had said in a statement this month the use of red and dark pink lipstick and nail polish would impair the "visual integrity" of its staff. But chief executive Temel Kotil said the order was made by over-zealous junior managers who did not consult senior bosses about the initiative.
LinkFCC Considers Faster In-flight InternetUS federal telecommunications regulators are pushing ahead with efforts to bring faster Internet service to commercial and private airline flights. The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday started deliberations on a proposal that would offer a new type of in-flight broadband service promising US fliers higher Wi-Fi speeds and better connections. The proposal, which has been pushed for years by wireless equipment maker Qualcomm, seeks to open up more radio airwaves for airborne Internet access.
LinkJet Airways Readying 100 Plane Order - ReportIndia's Jet Airways is expected to order more than 100 planes from Boeing and Airbus at the Paris Airshow next month, a leading aviation consultancy said. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in a report it understood Jet has already confirmed an order for 50 737-MAX planes together with up to 10 777-300ERs from Boeing.
LinkSlovenia To Sell National Carrier To Avert BailoutSlovenia on Thursday pledged to sell its national airline and 14 other state firms under a crisis package to avert an international bailout. Finance minister Uros Cufer said the sale would include flag carrier Adria Airways and Ljubljana Airport. The state would not retain any blocking stake in the companies.
LinkSouthwest Airlines announces new service options, operations changesSouthwest Airlines is moving to a "point-to-point style operation" for Atlanta, which formerly served as a hub for AirTran. The carrier also announced it is adding service to three airports. The carrier will begin flights to Richmond, Va., Pensacola, Fla., and Memphis, Tenn.
LinkJetBlue to begin Fla.-Haiti service in Dec.JetBlue Airways plans to launch two flights per day from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The nonstop service is scheduled to begin Dec. 5. "JetBlue continues to grow in the Caribbean thanks to the great reception our low fares and award-winning service have had in the region," Scott Laurence, vice president of network planning, said in a statement.
LinkUnited installs live TV service on 200th aircraftUnited Airlines has completed the installation of live television service on its 200th aircraft, the carrier announced. The television service offers more than 100 channels of live programming, as well as a selection of movies. The TV service starts at $5.99 in United Economy and is offered free of charge in United First.
LinkAirbus A350 pictures emergeThe Airbus A350 XWB jetliner is preparing for its first flight this summer. The aircraft was captured in photographs with its engines attached for the first time. The A350 is scheduled for delivery to airlines in the second half of 2014.
LinkQualcomm backs in-flight Wi-Fi using satellite airwavesQualcomm is asking the Federal Communications Commission to allow airlines to use satellite airwaves for in-flight Wi-Fi. "Mobile broadband demand on board aircraft is exploding -- just as much, if not more so, than it is on the ground," Qualcomm said in a regulatory filing.
LinkUPS installs winglets on 767 fleet to save fuelUPS has added winglets to its Boeing 767 fleet to reduce fuel consumption by 4% on each 767 flight, the company said. UPS also estimates the winglets will save more than 6 million gallons of fuel per year.
LinkLetter: Delta opposes Ex-Im Bank financing for foreign airlinesRichard B. Hirst, executive vice president and chief legal officer of Delta Air Lines, wrote a letter to the editor of Forbes magazine. Hirst clarified that Delta does not oppose the Export-Import Bank's existence, but does oppose its practice of financing aircraft for foreign airlines. "Our opposition is limited to the Bank's financing of widebody aircraft sales to foreign airlines which are owned or subsidized by their governments, or which otherwise could finance these aircraft in the private market," Hirst wrote.
LinkFAA reverses decision on airport tower night shiftsSome 72 airport control towers still will have employees working overnight, the Federal Aviation Administration says, reversing a decision to close the facilities to save money. It's not yet clear whether the FAA also will keep open smaller-airport towers where the work is performed by contractors. The FAA is trying to cut $637 million from its budget due to sequestration.
LinkBusinesses earn more when they invest in travel, study showsA new study commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association and carried out by Oxford Economics showed that businesses that invested in travel were more profitable than those that cut back on professional trips. American companies yielded $9.50 in revenue and $2.90 in profit for every dollar invested in business travel. "When we analyzed data from the Great Recession and recovery, we learned that companies that invested the most in business travel tended to grow the fastest," said Adam Sacks, managing director of Oxford Economics.
LinkChinooks to get ‘fly-by-wire’ makeover In a bid to expand the performance envelope of its CH-47F and MH-47G Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, Boeing has called on BAE Systems electronics engineers to develop a retrofittable active-feedback control stick system. A so-called active parallel actuator subsystem (APAS) should give Chinooks many of the benefits of fly-by-wire control without the expense, and re-certification complications, that would come with developing a FBW system for these in-production aircraft.
LinkTurkey switches maritime patrol deal to ATR 72-600 Alenia Aermacchi will deliver its first of two ATR 72-600 maritime utility aircraft to the Turkish navy during June, with the service to receive six maritime patrol examples by late 2018. "The new programme schedule, aircraft number and configuration is based on an amendment signed last year to a previous contract awarded to Alenia Aermacchi, as prime contractor by the Turkish undersecretary for defence industries [SSM]," says Maurizio De Mitri, senior vice-president of the company's military aircraft sector. Under its original Meltem 3 programme deal with the SSM, Alenia Aermacchi and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) were to deliver 10 ATR 72-500s in an anti-submarine/anti-surface warfare configuration, including the Thales Amascos mission system.
LinkTurkish TFX fighter concept revealed at IDEF Three potential designs for a planned TFX Turkish fighter concept have been shown for the first time at the International Defence Industry Fair in Istanbul, with the programme's current initial design phase due to conclude later this year. Images depict a single-engined aircraft with and without canards and a twin-engined design, with these having been influenced by discussions between the Turkish air force and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
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