Alitalia is looking to acquire a substantial stake in Air Malta, and the two airlines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will allow the Italian flag carrier to carry out comprehensive due diligence on the Valetta-based airline. Once due diligence has been completed, the two airline boards will convene to decide whether or
Bombardier’s CS100 program has been given a major boost with confirmation of a firm order for 75 aircraft from Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. Though likely to be heavily discounted, the order at list price is valued at US$5.6bn. In addition, Delta also placed options on a further 50 CS100s, though it may choose to convert
The German public services union, Verdi, which represents 2.14 million workers, has voted for a strike this Wednesday in support of a 6% wage rise. Areas in the above airports which will be affected will include ground services, check-in, shops, aviation security inspectors and the fire service. It is expected that at Munich alone over
The FAA has issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) for the PIP2 GE Aviation GEnx engine, ordering a modification after a “recent engine fan blade rub event … caused an inflight non-restartable power loss” on a GEnx-1B Performance Improvement Package (PIP) 2 engine. In addition, it has ordered revised guidance for pilots operating 787s to mitigate
In a departure from their current model, Ryanair has announced that it is going to trial airside transfers at both London Stansted and Barcelona El Prat airports. This departure from point-to-point in favor of the hub-and-spoke operating of traditional network carriers means that Ryanair flights will no longer operate solely on an A to B
The Finnish transport safety agency TRAFI is to become the first body to start using the new IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) after signing a memorandum of understanding at the IATA Ops conference in Copenhagen this week. According to Tony Tyler, DG and CEO of IATA, this may help “reduce redundant audits while maintaining adherence
Plans are on schedule for the opening of what will ultimately become the world’s largest airport, in Istanbul, Turkey. Though located 22 miles from the city center, the location will be well served with a rail, metro and bus links. Currently, Istanbul Ataturk Airport, the hub for Turkish Airlines, is limited in passenger capacity owing
Saudia’s DG, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, has announced that the national carrier of Saudi Arabia will be launching a new low-cost carrier by the middle of 2017. The new carrier’s name is understood to be Flyadeal and based on the rendering of a sharklet-equipped Airbus A320 in a video used in conjunction with the announcement,
The American Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced that tentative approval has been awarded to Norwegian Air International (NAI), the subsidiary airline of Norwegian Group (Norwegian). A more permanent decision will be made based on the results of opening up the decision to public comment. Should the DOT decision stand, NAI will be able to
Mystery still surrounds the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, believed to be somewhere over the southern Indian Ocean, with the presumed loss of all 239 passengers and crew on board in March 2014. The incident created considerable debate both over how an airplane could disappear without trace in this day and age, and also
