World Airline News
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Lufthansa makes offer for Austrian stock
February 28, 2009
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Lufthansa (Frankfurt) has made a public offer to the shareholders of Austrian Airlines (Vienna) to acquire the shares of the airline via the OLH holding company. LH is offering EUR 4.49 for each share of Austrian stock. This bid price is based on the average price of the stock over the past six months. The offer expires on May 11, 2009. The goal is to bring Austrian into the Lufthansa Group (like Swiss).
Korean Air orders six Airbus A330-200s
February 27, 2009
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Korean Air (Seoul) has placed an order for six Airbus A330-200s according to the carrier. Airbus has not confirmed the order. Previously KAL increased its Airbus A380 order by two to 10.
SAS Group to invest $9.24 million in Estonian
February 27, 2009
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The SAS Group (Stockholm) is planning to pump in $9.24 million for Estonian Air (Tallinn) to improve the liquidity of the flag carrier. This comes as SAS has previously stated it would like to divest its 49 percent share of the company.
USA 3000 to restore Cleveland-St. Petersburg
February 27, 2009
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USA 3000 Airlines (Brendan Air dba) (Philadelphia) intends to restore the Cleveland-St. Petersburg/Clearwater route on May 1.
AirTran Airways starts Atlanta-Cancun flights
February 27, 2009
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AirTran Airways (Orlando and Atlanta) on February 25 started nonstop Atlanta-Cancun service.
SpiceJet to set up a regional feeder
February 26, 2009
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SpiceJet (Delhi) intends to set up a domestic feeder subsidiary.
Mesaba to start SAAB Atlanta operations March 2
February 26, 2009
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Mesaba Airlines (NWA Airlink) (Minneapolis/St. Paul) will start Delta Connection operations from Delta’s Atlanta hub on March 2. The first two aircraft will fly to Hilton Head Island and the Tri Cities, TN.
Virgin America is operating N623VA in TAM colors
February 26, 2009
N623VA rests overnight at the San Francisco base. Copyright Photo: Mark Durbin.
Virgin America (San Francisco) leased its Airbus A320-214 N623VA (msn 2740) to TAM Brasil (TAM Linhas Aereas) on June 6, 2007. The leased aircraft returned to Virgin America on December 18, 2008 and is being operated still in TAM’s old 1999 colors with small “Operated by Virgin America” stickers.
Bombardier confirms GoJet for six more CRJ700s
February 26, 2009
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GoJet Airlines (United Express) (St. Louis) has finally been confirmed as the “undisclosed customer” that placed an order for six more Bombardier CRJ700 (CL-600-2C10) regional jets. The order was placed on March 20, 2008 and has not identified until now.
bmi to drop two UK short haul Heathrow routes
February 25, 2009
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Bmi (British Midland Airways) (East Midlands and London Heathrow) will drop two London Heathrow UK domestic routes due to escalating costs which has made operating the routes unprofitable. The airline blames BAA’s “inflation-busting increases” in airport charges. The LHR-Durham Tees Valley, which has been operated for 40 years, will be eliminated on March 28. In addition the LHR-Leeds/Bradford route will also be dropped on the same day after 30 years of service.
airBaltic to start Riga-Dushanbe route on June 1
February 25, 2009
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airBaltic (airBaltic.com) (Riga) will start the Riga-Dushanbe (Tajikstan) route on June 1.
Ryanair to eliminate use of check-in counters
February 25, 2009
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Ryanair (Dublin) announced this week it will eliminate the use of check-in ticket counters in order to reduce costs. The airline will use on-line check-in procedures to replace the old physical counters.
AeroMexico to start Mexico City-Montreal flights
February 25, 2009
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AeroMexico (Mexico City) will launch twice-weekly nonstop flights between the MEX hub and Montreal (Trudeau) on April 9. This represents the second Canadian city. Toronto comes on line on March 3 with daily service to MEX. Both routes will be served with Boeing 737s.
Turkish Boeing 737-8F2 crashes at Amsterdam
February 25, 2009
TC-JGE prepares for takeoff at Lisbon prior to today's accident. Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth.
Turkish Airlines’ (Istanbul) flight TK 1951 from Istanbul to Amsterdam crashed today in light fog short of runway 18R in an open field several hundred meters north of the security fence at AMS near the A9 Motorway. Boeing 737-8F2 TC-JGE (msn 29789) split up into three pieces but there was no fire. 127 passengers (including a baby) and seven crew were on board. There are now nine reported deaths (mainly in the rear section) and at least 20 injured passengers and crew.
Virgin Blue institutes new cost-cutting measures
February 24, 2009
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Virgin Blue Airlines (virginblue.com.au) (Brisbane) is taking new measures to cut costs including moving four Boeing 737s to international routes, assigning two other aircraft to “spare” status and imposing a hiring freeze. The company lost A$101 million in the six months ending on December 31, 2008.
Gulf Air finalizes lease for 4 Boeing 777-300 ERs
February 24, 2009
Gulf Air (Bahrain) has finalized a lease deal with Jet Airways for the 42-month lease of four Boeing 777-300 ERs. The first three aircraft will arrive in March 2009 and the fourth in May. The airliners will be wet leased for the first six months as the new type is phased in with Jet Airways crews. The remaining three years of the lease will be on a dry lease basis. Jet Airways is leasing out what it considers to be surplus equipment during the economic downturn.
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Cyprus Airways to lease two Airbus A320s
February 24, 2009
Cyprus Airways (Nicosia) will lease two newer Airbus A320s for the summer 2009 season. The company will also sell off two older A320s. The newer A320s will arrive by April in time for the summer season.
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Baltia Air Lines to start New York-St. Petersburg, Russia in June
February 24, 2009
Baltia Air Lines (New York-JFK), formed by Latvia-born Igors Dmitrovsks, now plans to finally launch Boeing 747-400 service between JFK and St. Petersburg, Russia in June 2009. It is also considering service to Kiev, Minsk, Moscow and Riga although the current economic situation may contain the company’s plans.
Lion Air MD-90-30 lands without its nose gear
February 24, 2009
Lion Air’s (Jakarta) McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 PK-LIO (msn 53490) made an emergency landing at Batam on February 23, 2009. The airliner was on a flight from Medan to Batam when it was forced to make the landing without its nose gear locked in place. No one was injured in the accident.
PK-LIO is pictured before the incident. Copyright Photo: Roy Lock.
