AirlinesAir Baltic takes second CS300Latvian carrier Air Baltic has taken delivery of a second Bombardier CS300. The aircraft (YL-CSB) departed Montreal on 31 December 2016 and arrived in Riga on 1 January 2017, the airline states.
LinkAir France-KLM sells Servair and Amadeus stakes Air France-KLM has finalized the sale of 49.99% of catering firm Servair to Chinese conglomerate HNA Group and raised a further €201 million ($211.4 million) by selling a 1.13% stake in Amadeus. HNA Group is buying the Servair shares to support its recent acquisition of major airline catering firm Gategroup, which was transferred to HNA Dec. 22.
LinkAlaska Airlines sets groundwork for bright future in 2017Alaska Airlines "is one of the most efficient carriers out there with routes to and from the great Northwest, and boasts some of the highest customer service ratings in the industry," writes Robert Lang, touting the potential for continued growth for the airline in 2017.
LinkAmerican Airlines enhances its rewards programAmerican Airlines is adding a Platinum Pro status to its AAdvantage loyalty program, making a total of four tiers. The new tier is just below Executive Platinum.
LinkCitilink CEO resigns after 'drunk' pilot incidentTwo top executives at Indonesian carrier Citilink have tendered their resignations, after a video of one of its pilots allegedly showing up for work drunk went viral. The airline’s chief executive Albert Burhan and its operations director Hadinoto Soedigno resigned on 30 December, taking responsibility for the incident.
LinkIAG plans long-haul, low-cost flights from BarcelonaInternational Airlines Group (IAG) plans to set up what it describes as a new “next-generation, long-haul operation” based at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport from June. The new organization will be a low-cost operation. Details of the new operation remain sparse. In a brief statement, IAG—parent company of Ireland’s Aer Lingus, UK-based British Airways, Spain flag carrier Iberia and Spanish low-cost carrier (LCC) Vueling—said it had not yet been decided whether it would set up a new airline or use existing resources from its carriers.
LinkLufthansa Group to take 10 A320neos in 2017 Lufthansa Group—which took delivery of its fifth Airbus A320neo on Dec. 29, 2016—expects to receive 10 more of the type in 2017. The Star Alliance member said the five A320neos were delivered in 2016 as planned. The Lufthansa Group has 116 of the type on order—45 are the larger A321neo version. Some of those will go to subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines.
LinkSalamAir delays launch to Jan. 30Omani startup SalamAir has delayed the launch of revenue flights to Jan. 30. The Muscat-based low-cost carrier (LCC) had been aiming for mid- to late-December 2016 to begin services. The airline’s first route will be between Muscat and the Arabian nation’s second city, Salalah, some 550 nm to the southwest, near the border with Yemen. Multiple daily flights are planned and will be followed by the company’s first international route, to Dubai, on Feb. 15.
LinkA321 struck tail after pilot falsely perceived bounceSwiss investigators believe an Airbus A321 sustained a tail-strike at Geneva after a pilot mistakenly believed the aircraft had bounced on landing. The Swiss International Air Lines jet (HB-IOC) had touched down on runway 05 following a service from Zurich on 9 March 2014.
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