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Air Berlin Airbus A320-214 D-ALTL

Take off at MUC-EDDM "Franz Joseph Strauss"

Air Jamaica Airbus A340-313X 6Y-JMM

Short finals at LHR-EGLL "London Heathrow"

American Airlines Boeing B777-223ER N755AN

Short finals at LHR-EGLL "London Heathrow"

Aegean Airlines Boeing 737-3YO SX-BGK

Short finals at SKG-LGTS "Makedonia Airport"

United Airlines Boeing 777-222 N778UA

Take off at MUC-EDDM "Franz Josef Strauss"

Emirates Airbus A340-541 A6-ERG

Take off at ZRH-LSZH "Zürich-Kloten"

Reliance Industries Bombardier BD-700-1A10 GE VT-DHA

Taxiing at ZRH-LSZH "Zürich-Kloten"

Lufthansa Airbus A330-343 D-AIKJ

Take off at MUC-EDDM "Franz Josef Strauss"

Dornier Do31-E3 D-9531 (Prototype)

Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Oberschleißheim

Varig McDonnell Douglas MD-11 PP-VTJ

Touch down in MUC-EDDM "Franz Josef Strauss"

Olympic Airlines Boeing B737-484 SX-BKF

Taxiing at SKG-LGTS "Makedonia Airport"

Lufthansa Junkers Ju52/3m D-ANOY (fake reg)

Displayed at visitor's park MUC-EDDM "Franzt Josef Strauss"

Germanwings Airbus A329-112 D-AKNO

Take off at MUC-EDDM "Franz Josef Strauss"

Thunder Aviation Ltd Canadair CL-600-2B16 VP-CAP

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Blue Air chooses Larnaka International Airport as a hub

It is with particular pleasure that Hermes Airports welcomes the decision by the Romanian airline Blue Air to choose Larnaka International Airport as its base. This move demonstrates Blue Air’s continuing development and its intention to offer even greater choice to the travelling public. Specifically, from 28 March 2010, Blue Air will be inaugurating its new flights to Austria, Italy and Poland.
In a statement, Antonis Orthodoxou, Managing Director of Orthodoxou Aviation Ltd, noted that, “It is generally accepted that last year was quite a difficult one as the global economy went through an extremely crucial phase. Early indications suggest that this year will be even more difficult but we are here to help not only the Cypriot tourism sector but the broader economy of the country, by reinforcing the major efforts that are being made by all sides. We know that it is not enough to utter fine words – we are taking action. This year, which will be a significant one for the economy, we want to see a level of tourism that corresponds to our country’s worth and needs. But to achieve our goal, we shall need every possible support and assistance from all parties involved.”
For his part, Hermes Airports CEO Alfred Van der Meer welcomed Blue Air’s decision to make Cyprus its base. He stressed that, “the new, modern installations at Larnaka Airport and the leading role that it can play in south-east Europe and the Middle East is something that is gradually being recognized and exploited, both by airlines and by the rest of the Cyprus tourism industry. Hermes Airports remains committed to its aim of providing high-level services to the travelling public and to its associates. It is precisely for this reason that we feel particularly proud and honoured by Blue Air’s decision.”
Blue Air will operate the following flights:
7 flights from Larnaka to Bucharest (Monday to Sunday)
3 flights from Larnaca to Milan (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday)
3 flights from Larnaca to Warsaw (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)
3 flights from Larnaka to Vienna (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)
It should be noted that Blue Air already operates routes linking Pafos with Bucharest and Thessaloniki with flights every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

source: Larnaka International Airport

EUROPE, EUROPEAN AIRLINES |

Virgin Atlantic Global Website unavailable

Please be advised the Virgin Atlantic Global Website (virginatlantic.com) will be unavailable tomorrow, Saturday 27th March between the hours of 0100 - 0800 GMT due to scheduled essential maintenance. The whole website will be affected including Online Check-in.

Lufthansa pilots to stage new 4-day strike

A union representing pilots at Deutsche Lufthansa AG says it is calling a four-day strike for mid-April after failing to resolve a dispute over pay and job security.

The Cockpit union said Monday the strike is set to run from April 13 through 16.

Cockpit said talks with Germany's biggest airline have "remained without a result."

It said it was delaying the start of the planned strike until mid-April to avoid disruption during the Easter vacation and give Lufthansa's management "time to realign its course."

The pilots already staged one strike last month. A planned four-day-walkout was cut short then with an agreement to resume negotiations.

source: Associated Press

EUROPE, EUROPEAN AIRLINES, Lufthansa |

600 Boeing 737’s need Emergency inspection worldwide

Emergency inspections of 600 Boeing 737 planes are being conducted worldwide following concerns a faulty mechanism could render the aircraft uncontrollable. Worldwide airlines have been affected by an “emergency airworthiness directive” issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding the issue, but insist passengers won’t be affected by the checks.

The order was issued following an incident on March 2 when a Ryanair 737-800 en route from the Netherlands to Madrid experienced severe vibrations and had to make an unscheduled landing in Belgium.

Extensive damage to the left elevator, a movable flap on the horizontal tail that controls the pitch of the airplane, was found.

The FAA is now concerned the “unsafe condition” is “likely to exist or develop on other planes of the same type design”, the airworthiness directive stated.

“Severe vibration in this attach point is suspected of allowing rapid wear of the joint, and resulted in failure of the attach lugs,” Ali Bahrami, Manager of Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, said in the order.

“This condition, if not corrected, could result in a loss of aircraft control and structural integrity.”

Boeing spokeswoman Sandy Angers said the company supports the FAA’s order and remains committed to the safety of its aircraft.

“The interim measures serve to ensure that safety continues at the highest levels while we work diligently to determine a permanent resolution for this issue,” Ms Angers said.

The directive affects approximately 600 Next-Generation 737s, Ms Angers said.

The order applies to Boeing 737-600, 700, 700C, 800, 900 and 900ER series planes.

The planes must be inspected within 12 to 30 days.

source: news.com.au

British Airways crew to strike

A three-day strike by many of British Airways' cabin crew will go ahead after union talks with management collapsed, leaving the ruling Labour government with a major headache weeks before a general election.

The strike begins on Saturday and is likely to disrupt travel plans for thousands. It risks embarrassing Prime Minister Gordon Brown because the Unite union organising the action is Labour's biggest single financial backer.

Brown, who had earlier called the strike "unjustified and deplorable", demanded that it be called off at once.

Meanwhile railway signal workers added to the government's problems by voting to strike over job cuts and changes to working practices, raising the threat of a first national rail strike in 16 years. They did not name a date.

Labour, which is trailing in opinion surveys ahead of an election widely expected to be called for May 6, has strong union ties that go back to its foundation in 1900. Unite's political director is Charlie Whelan, Brown's former spokesman.

Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron has accused Brown of failing to stand up to Unite and compared the situation to the 1970s, which saw periods of severe industrial unrest under Labour.

His party have launched a billboard campaign entitled "Cash Gordon", featuring a picture of Brown clutching a fistful of union-supplied bank notes behind his back.

"When the crunch comes, he can only act in the union interest, not in the national interest," Cameron said this week.

"HAWKS" GROUND PLANES

Tony Woodley, Unite's joint general secretary, told reporters that BA cabin crew who are in dispute would go on strike at midnight for three days, and then again from March 27 to March 30, just as the Easter holiday season begins.

Woodley said "hawks" within BA who wanted confrontation had won the day, including chief executive Willie Walsh.

"I think it is a classic case of Mr Walsh unfortunately being one of the hawks who is looking for a war with our members as opposed to a negotiated settlement," he said.

The airline wants to save an annual GBP£62.5 million pounds (USD$95 million) to help cope with a fall in demand, volatile fuel prices and increased competition from low-cost carriers.

In full-page newspaper advertisements on Friday, Walsh said a "significant number" of cabin crew would work during the strike and the majority of BA staff did not support the action.

Brown's spokesman said the prime minister believed the strike "is in no-one's interest and will cause unacceptable inconvenience to passengers".

"He urges the strike be called off immediately. He also urges BA's management and workforce to get together without delay to resolve what is a dispute about jobs and wages."

Many crews, including those working on long haul flights from London Gatwick airport and all flights from the smaller London City airport, will be unaffected by the action as they have already agreed to the airline's proposed changes.

BA hopes to fly at least 60 percent of customers booked for the March 20-22 period, having retrained staff to provide cover.

The union had said cabin crew would call off the strike if the airline reinstated an offer that was withdrawn last week.

Walsh said he had put forward a new offer on Friday, which would remain open until the strikes begin, but admitted it was lower as a result of the costs the airline has incurred due to the planned industrial action.

"I have made it clear to the trade union that that is an expense that must be recovered, so the financial value of the proposal that we have tabled is definitely not as attractive as the previous one," he told reporters.

"Our business must make changes, and I am disappointed that the union has not been able to see the sense of the proposal that we tabled today."

source: REUTERS

EXLCLUSIVE: Will Olympic Air become one more time the carrier of the 5 contintents?

According to inofficial, unconfirmed informations, Olympic Air has began to plan the next steps of reorganizing and extension of the business plan and route structure for the time after the merge with Aegean Airlines. According to these informations, Olympic Air plans to start intercontinental flights on own direction.

AVNews

Air Berlin reduces 787 orders

Air Berlin, Germany’s second biggest airline, is to reduce its 787 orders. It has “mutually agreed” with Boeing to lower the number of firm 787 orders from 25 to 15 and to reduce the number of options on 787s from 10 to 5. The 10 aircraft order reduction has a current list price of about $1.7bn. Air Berlin said it has also delayed delivery of nine 737 aircraft to 2015. These aircraft were originally scheduled for delivery in 2010 or 2011.

Air Berlin, EUROPE, EUROPEAN AIRLINES |

Delta may cut 840 jobs in cost-cutting move

Delta Air Lines may slash 840 jobs at a subsidiary that provides ground-handling operations as part of a cost-cutting plan to consolidate operations in Cincinnati. The airline plans to operate mainline and regional flights out of one concourse instead of two at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, effective May 1, and reduce the number of gates used at that airport to 28 from 50, according to Kristin Baur, Delta spokeswoman. She explained that Delta expects to save about $20m annually as a result of the changes.

BA adds more flights during strike

British Airways is to fly thousands more passengers during a three-day strike by its cabin crew after more staff volunteered to work.

The company said more employees had offered to stand in for members of the Unite union who will walk out for three days from Saturday in a bitter row over cost cutting.

The union accused BA of "bluffing" and claimed only 350 volunteers were prepared to stand in for strikers this weekend as opposed to the 1,000 announced by the airline.

BA said earlier this week that it aimed to fly 60% of its customers during the strikes. But today the airline announced that since then the number of cabin crew offering to work as normal had increased "significantly" - and was expected to grow further.

The airline said: "British Airways is also pleased that the number of other airlines offering their help for the strike period through charters or provision of spare seats has increased from 50 on Monday to more than 60. These developments have enabled the airline to reinstate some previously cancelled flights and provide extra capacity for both long haul and short haul destinations. For example, this will allow the airline to fly home more competitors and supporters from the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver."

Chief executive Willie Walsh said: "The determination of our colleagues across the whole business to keep the flag flying this weekend is increasing. I am delighted by the numbers of cabin crew who have been getting in touch with us to express their disillusion with Unite's position. Our crews just want to work as normal, do their usual terrific job and look after our customers.

"We will now have the potential to fly more than 4,000 additional customers per day and serve more destinations. We believe this is a helpful move at a time when customers are facing rising fares with alternative carriers. Morale among our operations teams is high. Yesterday was our most punctual day at Heathrow for months, thanks to the efforts of all parts of the airline."

BA said passengers who will benefit from the extra flights will include those who had rebooked to a later date as well as people who had cancelled but not decided whether to rebook.

The extra staff coming forward were mainly members of BA's cabin crew, said the company, which has warned strikers they will lose their travel perks.

The announcement appears to have dashed any hopes of a last-minute deal to avert the strike and another four-day stoppage from March 27. BA said it remained available for "meaningful" discussions, but even though behind the scenes contacts have been maintained, there were no signs tonight of any fresh talks.

source: Hampshire Chronicle

AirTran starts fare war

Discount carrier AirTran Airways fired the first shot of the summer airfare wars this week, causing bigger rivals to match prices at a time when they would rather be raising them.

The sale that AirTran started — set to end at midnight heading into Friday morning — included some seats on a few short trips as cheap as $44 each way, not including taxes and fees. What really made the sale stand out was its duration, covering travel from March 19 until Nov. 16.

AirTran operates non-stop flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to its hubs in Atlanta and Orlando.

Other carriers were forced to match on routes where they compete with AirTran or risk losing many passengers to their low-cost rival. Those sales too were set to expire at midnight.

"It's very rare that we see a 200-day sale — that we get to buy that far out into the future," said Tom Parsons, CEO of travel Web site BestFares.com. "This is the first big summer airfare sale."

The length of the AirTran promotion is important for other airlines because it means they were forced to sell some seats for the peak summer travel period cheaply.

Airlines have seasonal clocks when it comes to revenue: They try to make enough money in the summer to last through the winter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect five of the six largest U.S. airlines to lose money in the first quarter of 2010, with only Southwest forecast to make a profit. But in the second and third quarters, each of which includes part of the summer travel season, analysts think all six will make money.

By next winter, even with an improving economy, analysts believe at least two of the six will be losing money again.

It's impossible to know how much money airlines will leave behind by selling some of their summer seats at such cheap prices this week.

For one thing, the AirTran sale didn't include flights on Fridays and Sundays, which tend to be busy days that are popular with business travelers. AirTran offered only a few routes at the cheapest prices, such as $44 each way between Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., and $54 each way for Boston-Baltimore and St. Louis-Milwaukee.

Airlines strictly limit the number of seats that they sell at the advertised cheapest rates.

Still, with fewer flights this summer than a couple of years ago, planes probably will be full and airlines could be getting top dollar for last-minute tickets by May or June — if they didn't sell the seat cheaply in March.

Among those matching AirTran's sale were Delta, American, United, Continental and US Airways.

Airlines have recently reported better traffic, a sign that the deep slump in travel demand is finally lifting.

"The past few weeks we have seen the first discounting for early summer as airlines want to keep up the momentum in the revenue side," says Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com.

But it's not all cheap thrills for travelers.

Seaney said there have been recent attempts to raise prices to Florida by $20 per round trip, and also to boost fares on some routes favored by low-cost carriers in the Midwest.

source: AP

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