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Airbus reports 16% rise in Q3 profit
With a rise in deliveries of the A380 compared with a year earlier, Airbus saw profits in the third quarter climb 16% to $1.02 billion, the company has reported. Airbus maintained its current outlook for the full-year results, expecting sales growth and deliveries to remain stable.
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Airbus relaxed over firming A330neo commitments
Airbus has yet to firm the commitments to its A330neo but insists that it is not facing uncertainty from initial customers. Six customers have tentatively signed for a total of 121 A330neo jets but the orders, all of which were unveiled in July, have still to be formally admitted to Airbus’s backlog. Speaking during a third-quarter results briefing, Airbus Group chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm said: “[We] don’t see a big risk on these.” He says the A330neo had a “very sound launch preparation” and that the airframer is confident about the aircraft’s specifications and its own ability to re-engine the type.
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Emergency Services Start Collecting MH17 Wreckage
Local emergency services in eastern Ukraine have begun collecting parts of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from its crash site in the middle of the conflict zone, Dutch air accident investigators said. Dutch inspectors had hoped to collect the parts themselves, but they remain concerned about the safety of their staff in the rebel-held conflict zone, and have decided to work with local services following an initial focus on finding human remains and belongings. The crash of flight MH17 stirred angry mutual accusations between Moscow and the West over who was responsible.
LinkAirlines
Alaska Airlines begins Seattle-Washington Dulles flights in March
Alaska Airlines is returning to Washington Dulles International Airport, saying it will add nonstop service to its biggest hub in Seattle. The carrier will begin flying one daily round-trip flight on the route starting March 11. "We're thrilled to give our customers more options for visiting the D.C. area, including the Dulles Technology Corridor," Joe Sprague, Alaska's SVP of communications and external relations, says in a statement.
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EU Clears Etihad's Alitalia Stake Purchase
Etihad has secured European Union approval to acquire 49 percent of Alitalia, the latest in a series of acquisitions made by the Abu Dhabi-based airline to expand its network around the world. The deal is part of a EUR€1.76 billion rescue plan for Alitalia, which doubled its net loss to EUR€569 million last year, providing it with funds to invest in more profitable long-haul routes and reduce its dependence on domestic and regional services where it faces fierce competition from low-cost airlines and high-speed trains.
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Avianca now expects first 787 in December
Latin American airline group Avianca now expects delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 in the first week of December, and hopes to put it in commercial service by year-end. The Star Alliance carrier said earlier this year it would take delivery of the aircraft in September, but certain procedures have held up the delivery, Avianca chief executive Fabio Villegas told Flightglobal at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Nassau today.
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JetBlue's "Fly It Forward" campaign aims to inspire
JetBlue has launched "Fly It Forward," a campaign the airline says is part of its mission to "inspire humanity." Built on the "play it forward" idea, the program will involve passengers passing a ticket along the JetBlue network, one person at a time. "At JetBlue, we have the means to facilitate those human connections. With Fly It Forward, we're pulling the humanity and goodness that already exists to the forefront by making the sharing of these stories possible," says Marty St. George, JetBlue's senior vice president.
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Southwest Airlines expects both profit and capacity growth in 2015
Executives at Southwest Airlines expect earnings growth the continue in 2015 after reporting record profits this year. The carrier expects to grow its capacity by 6% in 2015 and have fewer out-of-service planes after retiring all its Boeing 717s at the end of this year and adding extra rows of seats to refurbished 737s.
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SpiceJet Cuts Second Quarter Losses
Indian budget carrier SpiceJet lost INR3.1 billion rupees (USD$50.2 million) in the three months to September 30, down from the INR5.6 billion it lost last year after it lowered fares to fill more seats. SpiceJet, which has now lost money for five consecutive quarters, has been discounting ticket prices, trimming costs and reducing the size of its fleet in the last few months, as it battles fierce competition in a country where all but one of India's main carriers are losing money.
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United plans to "balance" network with ExpressJet plane shift
As part of its continuing effort to strengthen ExpressJet's financial outlook, parent firm SkyWest Airlines has worked with United Airlines to shift 36 Embraer E-145 aircraft from ExpressJet to Trans States Airlines. United, which says the move will help it "balance" the network, will move the planes between February 2015 and early the following year.
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United announced updated requirements for elite status
Beginning in 2016, United Airlines will implement updated loyalty program standards to members to earn elite status. The Premier Qualification Dollar requirement -- fliers' annual United Airlines spending -- will climb in each of the categories of membership to qualify for elite status.
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Virgin America Shares Rise On Market Debut
Virgin America shares rose more than 30 percent in their market debut, underscoring the buoyant mood in an industry that is emerging from a long spell of turbulence. Shares closed USD$7 above their IPO price of USD$23 on the Nasdaq on Friday. They touched a high of USD$31.18 earlier in the session, valuing the company at about USD$1.35 billion. "Shares are probably trading a little higher than we expected, but we did expect an opening day pop," Virgin America chief executive David Cush told Reuters news agency. At the high, the stock was trading 8.08 times 2013 earnings, compared with Southwest Airlines' multiple of 37.43 and JetBlue Airways' 24.43.
LinkAirports
Early holiday gift: Baltimore-Washington offers free parking
Officials at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport announced a holiday bonus for travelers and those headed to BWI to pick up said travelers — 30 minutes of free parking in the airport’s hourly garage. The promotion will begin Nov. 15 and run through Jan. 15. “With the start of the peak holiday travel season, we want to ensure the highest level of service and convenience for our customers,” BWI chief executive Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a press release.
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Control over Charlotte Douglas International Airport still up in the air
Charlotte, N.C., real estate developer Johnny Harris, a member of a legislative oversight panel studying a state takeover of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, says who controls the airport is not as important as its efficient operation. Audits had previously revealed accounting irregularities at the airport and the issue of who is in control remains unresolved and is now in the hands of the Federal Aviation Administration.
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Armed Clashes Force Tripoli Airport Closure
Armed clashes broke out in Libya's capital Tripoli closing the city's main working airport, local residents and an official said. Tripoli has been mostly calm since the Libya Dawn force, an armed faction allied to the city of Misrata, took over the capital in the summer and set up its own government in rivalry to Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni.
LinkMilitary
Airbus confident on A400M deliveries despite capability shortfall
Airbus Defence & Space is still aiming to deliver as many as 10 A400M Atlas tactical transports this year, but acknowledges that it recently missed a significant milestone to introduce military capabilities to the type, triggering a contract cancellation clause. Speaking on a third-quarter results call on 14 November, Airbus Group chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm said that although the company is confident of hitting its 2014 target, the “profile of deliveries is obviously not smooth”.
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Belgium receives final NH90 TTH helicopter
Belgium has taken delivery of the last of four examples of the TTH troop transport variant of the NH Industries NH90 helicopter. Handed over on 13 November at a ceremony at the Marignane production facility of NHI’s majority shareholder Airbus Helicopters in France, the rotorcraft will be based at Beauvechain air base near Brussels.
LinkSpace
Comet update: Philae running on last scraps of battery power
Philae, the washing-machine-sized lander that the European Space Agency has successfully delivered to the surface of a comet, looks destined to complete just a fraction of its scientific agenda as it counts down the final hours before its batteries run out after a landing system malfunction left its solar panels in the shadow of one of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko’s many irregular surface features. Although visibly disappointed, scientists, engineers and mission controllers at ESA’s ground stations in Germany remain optimistic for realisation of the bulk of the mission’s scientific objectives, which are rooted in the so-far hugely successful comet orbiter, Rosetta. The plan for Philae had been to maximise its activity under battery power during about 2.5 days after touchdown and then possibly enjoy an extended scientific mission on solar power.
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Aviation Quote
The more I fly, the more I'm convinced that the true wonder of modern aviation is the transformation of tasteless particles into something known as airplane food.
— Bob Blummer, The Surreal Gourmet.
On This Date
---In 1906... The Daily Mail of London offers a £10,000 prize for the 1st flight from London to Manchester.
---In 1956…First flight of the Dassault Mirage III
---In 1962... President John F. Kennedy dedicates the Dulles International Airport in Herndon, Virginia.
---In 1965…Venera Program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward venus, the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.
---In 1973…Skylab Program: NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral for an 84-day mission.
---In 1997…ValuJet Airlines terminated operations after merging to AirTran Airways.
---In 2013…Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363, a Boeing 737, crashes at Kazan International Airport, Russia during a go-around, killing all 50 people on board.
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ATC Question
Radar: AirFrance 1234, Confirm are you an airbus 320 or 340
Pilot: 340, of course
Radar: In this case, would you mind switching on the other two engines and giving me 1000 ft/min or more?
Heard in a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 cockpit:
Have you heard about the birdstrike of the airbus 340? It happened over the north-Atlantic. It was hit by the bird from behind!
1. Most pilots likely believe that it is safer to ditch a low-wing airplane with retractable landing gear than a high-wing airplane with retractable landing gear. What are three advantages, however, of ditching a high-wing airplane?
