BA Willi Walsh apologizes for chaotic first day at terminal 5

BA released following statement from CEO Willi Walsh: “Yesterday (March 27th) was definitely not British Airways’ finest hour. We disappointed many people and I apologize sincerely. I take responsibility for what happened. The buck stops with me. A number of issues led to the events we saw yesterday. There were problems in the car parks, airport areas, computer glitches and the baggage system. In isolation, they would not have had the impact they did, but in combination they led to a level of disruption we never took control of during the day. I am not pointing the finger at BAA. Read more

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Delta Air Lines ready to fly to China

Delta Air Lines on Sunday will fulfill a decade-long goal of conveniently connecting customers to and from China with the inaugural of the first-ever nonstop flight between Atlanta and Shanghai. With the new route, customers flying to or from 47 of the more than 240 destinations served by Delta nonstop from Atlanta will gain their first online one-stop connections to Shanghai. Atlanta customers will enjoy time savings of at least three hours over existing one-stop itineraries via other U.S. or Asian gateways.

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Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company selects Pacelab Cabin

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC) has purchased Pacelab Cabin to promote the sales of its Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet family. The cabin configuration tool by software provider PACE enables cabin engineers to rapidly create validated and optimized layout alternatives for what-if scenarios or competitive analysis. Pacelab Cabin will be used by SCAC’s Customer Engineering department to develop customer-specific cabin layouts that take full advantage of the SSJ100’s extended cabin space and 5 abreast seat configuration.

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EU-U.S. Open Skies starts on Sunday

The new EU-U.S. Air Transport Agreement will take effect on Sunday, March 30. For the first time, European airlines can fly without restrictions from any point in the EU to any point in the United States.The two biggest aviation markets, encompassing 60 percent of world traffic, will cooperate closer in all fields of aviation policy. In May 2008, the European Commission will engage in second-stage negotiations with the U.S. “This marks the start of a new era in transatlantic aviation,” said Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Transports. “This Agreement will bring more competition and cheaper Read more

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Boeing agrees to acquire Vought share of Global Aeronautica

Boeing has agreed to acquire Vought Aircraft Industries’ interest in Global Aeronautica, LLC, a South Carolina fuselage sub-assembly facility for Boeing’s newest airplane, the 787 Dreamliner. After the transaction is complete, Global Aeronautica will become a 50-50 joint venture between The Boeing Company and Alenia North America, a subsidiary of Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica — a Finmeccanica company. Vought will continue to produce the aft fuselage for the 787 at its facility adjacent to Global Aeronautica in North Charleston. Closing will occur following receipt of regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction will not affect Boeing’s current Read more

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Israel Aerospace Industries

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced that 2007 sales totaled $3.3 billion compared to $2.8 billion in 2006, an 18 percent increase. $2.7 billion (82 percent) of these sales are for export. Net profit for 2007 was reported at $126 million compared to $130 million in 2006. IAI

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Airbus continues site divestment strategy

Airbus has terminated negotiations with the OHB / MT Aerospace consortium regarding the sale of the Airbus sites in Nordenham, Varel and the EADS site in Augsburg since a viable industrial and financial solution was not achievable. Airbus will continue searching for other solutions and, in parallel, will proceed with the carve-out of the three sites. The negotiations concerning the partial sale of Filton, the partnering for Meaulte/Saint Nazaire-Ville and the sale of Laupheim continue. However, the volatility of the financial markets and a Dollar close to 1.60 – as opposed to 1.35 when the divestment process was started – Read more

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AirAsia X orders 10 additional Airbus A330 aircraft

AirAsia X, the new long-haul low cost-carrier within the AirAsia Group, has signed a firm contract for an additional 10 A330-300s, which brings the airline’s total order to 25 A330 aircraft. In June 2007, AirAsia X placed a first order for 15 A330s. AirAsia X is currently operating its long-haul, low-cost service with leased A330s and these will be joined by the first of the newly ordered aircraft later this year. All the aircraft will be configured to seat 392 passengers in a single class layout.

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JetBlue founder announces plans for new domestic airline in Brazil

JetBlue founder and Chairman David Neeleman has announced plans to start up his fourth airline, a domestic carrier in Brazil, pending local Government approvals. Mr. Neeleman, who was born in Brazil, has raised $150 million to finance the as-yet-unnamed carrier. The airline, to be based in Sao Paulo, plans to commence operations in early 2009 and, ultimately, will serve most major markets throughout Brazil with as many as 76 brand-new Embraer aircraft by 2013. Mr. Neeleman, together with Frederico Curado, CEO of the Brazilian planemaker Embraer, announced that the company has placed an aircraft order comprising firm orders for 36 Read more

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