Wreckage of missing Turkish plane found

BREAKING NEWS The wreckage of a missing Turkish plane was found on Friday near the town of  Isparta in a mountainous part of southern Turkey, Turkish television channels said.

The plane, which had 56 people on board, disappeared from radar screens shortly before it had been due to land at Isparta’s airport in the early hours of Friday.

UPDATE 1 : The plane was operated by the private AtlasJetair. The aircraft, the make of which was not immediately known, was flying from Istanbul.

More updates on its way as it happens

Mumbai Airport shuts down for a second time in 1 week

The Mumbai airport suspended all operations for a second time this week following power outages. Each outage lasted for approximately 45 minutes. The authorities have blamed the service provider for the failure. Backup power supplies failed to kick in both times. The authorities need to get their act together to ensure a 24×7x365 availability of power to facilitate smooth operations.

Korean Air to Launch Budget Carrier

Korean air is to establish a budget carrier in May next year, launching “Air Korea” to compete with the likes of Singapore’s Tiger Airways in the low-cost Asian travel market. Air Korea, which will use Incheon airport near Seoul as its base, will start flying to Thailand, Malaysia, the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Hainan and Japanese cities other than Tokyo. It will gradually widen its network to other short-or-mid-distance destinations, Korean Air said Monday.

American to open service to Moscow

American Airlines is to add Moscow to its network with the launch of non-stops from its Chicago O’Hare from 2 June 2008, with an initial six two-class Boeing 767-300s a week. It will serve the Russian capital’s Domodedovo airport, which is already used by oneworld partners British Airways, Iberia and Royal Jordanian, with Japan Air Lines moving its Moscow operations there in December. Finnair and Malev Hungarian Airlines continue to use the city’s other airport, Sheremetyevo.

Swiss launches new flights to Delhi

Swiss launched a new internation al service to Delhi,India on a  Airbus A330-200 aircraft. This marks the first time the company has added a further long-haul destination to its route network. With the new flights, together with the existing Zurich-Mumbai service, SWISS customers now have a choice of two daily non-stop connections between Switzerland and India. Delhi becomes SWISS’s 28th intercontinental destination.

BA launches new summer 2008 shorthaul routes

BA announced the launch of new short haul flights in its 2008 schedule. New destinations include Heathrow to Malaga and from Gatwick to Alicante, Faro, Gibraltar, Ibiza, Malaga, Palma and Tunis.  BA Cityflyer, the airline’s wholly owned subsidiary which operates from London City airport, is to launch four new routes next summer to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Nice and Warsaw.

Malaysia Airlines and China Southern Airlines sign code-share agreement

Malaysia Airlines and China Southern Airlines signed a code-share agreement today.  Starting 27 November, customers of Malaysia Airlines and China Southern Airlines will enjoy 35 weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. The two airlines will also be able to tap feeder traffic from the domestic routes of the respective countries.

UK and Brunei sign air services agreement

The UK and Brunei signed a new bilateral aviation agreement which modernises many of the existing arrangements and opens up further areas of commercial aviation for development. The agreement, which cames into effect on Friday 23 November 2007, replaces the previous agreement of 1990.

Air India is slowly dying

Air India (Air India + erstwhile Indian Airlines) has to be one of the worst if not the worst on-time airlines in the world. Inspite of having large pool of aircraft and resources, they have on-time performances of less than 50% on any given day. (On-time performance is defined as departure and arrival within 15 minutes of scheduled time). In the Indian domestic sector, they have clearly become the worst performing airline. Even Simplifly Deccan (erstwhile Air Deccan) has dramatically improved service quality and on-time performances over the past few months while Air India is sliding down thick and fast. Air India’s domestic share has come down to 17%.  Passengers can maybe understand the fact that flights maybe delayed in the evenings because of rush hour in the skies but how can flights be delayed at 7am in the morning because of various stupid reasons. Air India recently posted a USD 120 Million loss in the past year. Air India also has the highest ratio of manpower to aircraft in the Indian aviation industry. Air India needs to shed excess staff, become more efficient in turning around the planes on ground and eventually improve on-air services. Air India needs to get its act together fast before it becomes an irrelevant airline not ony in India but also abroad.

The airline is going down slowly but surely. But I hope it doesn’t and would like to see the airline flying high once again.

KLM Splits Order With Boeing, Airbus

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, part of the AIR FRANCE/KLM Group, has placed an order for additional 737 and 777 aircraft. The airline will add three Next-Generation 737-700s and two 777-300ERs  to its fleet.  Air France-KLM unit KLM has salso igned a contract to buy two additional A330 jets, bringing its total fleet of A330s to 12.

Etihad proposes to add eight new destinations

Ethihad Airlines proposes to operate to eight new destinations in India, including Chennai, Hyderabad and Kozhikode, by next year.
The airlines has sought permission to fly to destinations including Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Amritsar and all the planned operations were subject to bilateral regulations. Currently, Ethihad operates daily flights to UAE from Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
Ethihad’s south India service has been performing exceptionally well within six months of its launch in May this year. More than 25,000 passengers have flown on the Kochi-Abu Dhabi and Thiruvananthapuram-Abu Dhabi route with an 86 per cent seats from Kochi and 77 per cent from Thiruvananthapuram, she said.

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US Airways launches first ever service to London’s Heathrow Airport

US Airways announced it will begin service at London’s Heathrow Airport early next year. Service between Philadelphia and London Heathrow is scheduled to start on March 29, 2008 with tickets available for purchase on Dec. 1. The airline plans to operate the flights with US Airways flagship international aircraft, the Airbus A330 offering 29 Envoy and 259 economy seats. The new Philadelphia-Heathrow route will be US Airways’ seventh new transatlantic route since 2006. With the new service, US Airways’ European destinations served from Philadelphia increase to 20.

Short lines, smooth sailing greet most passengers on busy pre-Thanksgiving travel day

Some trains were sold out and light snow slowed traffic in Denver, but short airport lines and a few major delays surprised people on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday. Triphenya Bailey, a spokeswoman at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, said she was not aware of any problems. Lines through security stayed short and moved steadily. Airports took steps to move people quickly. Arizona’s Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport had about 400 volunteers on hand to answer passenger questions and help direct traffic, spokeswoman Deborah Ostreicher said. Another reason for the smoother-than-expected sailing on Wednesday seemed to be that more people are turning Thanksgiving into an extended vacation rather than a long weekend, said Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride.

Courtesy AP

Tiger launches debut flights

Tiger Airways is all set to make its mark on Australia’s domestic network as it launches its debut flights on Friday. The budget offshoot of Singapore Airlines will operate nine flights on Friday between its Melbourne base and Queensland destinations Rockhampton, Mackay and the Gold Coast.  The new airline’s launch comes as the battle of the low-cost carriers heats up with Jetstar offering Australia’s lowest domestic air fares yet on its website on Wednesday night, selling 5,000 seats for just five cents.

China Southern officially joins SkyTeam

China Southern Airlines officially joined SkyTeam, making it the first mainland Chinese carrier to join the airline grouping. The official welcoming ceremony was held at China’s Great Hall of the People and the VIPs in attendance included China State Council vice premier Zeng Peiyan, China Southern chairman Liu Shaoyong, Civil Aviation Administration of China minister Yang Yuanyuan, and SkyTeam governing board chairman Leo van Wijk. Having China Southern in SkyTeam means the airline grouping adds Beijing and Guangzhou to its hub network and allows the grouping greater access to China, says SkyTeam. Oneworld alliance, the rivalry of sky team, has no mainland Chinese carriers per se but it has Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways and next month Air China and Shanghai Airlines will officially join Star Alliance. Other SkyTeam alliance carriers include: Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air.

Lion Air plans for expansion

Indonesia’s largest private airline, Lion Air, plans to raise up to USD$600 million to acquire stakes or set up new airlines in a number of Asian countries, a company official said on Wednesday. Lion Air was looking at possible expansion in six countries — Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines, Hasyim Alhabsi, the head of public relations, told reporters. The airline recently ordered an additional 22 Boeing 737-900 planes as part of its expansion plans, lifting its total orders at the US firm to 122 jets, with a total list price of USD$7 billion. The carrier currently has a fleet of 40 jets on 32 routes and it has opn order 22 Boeing B737-900s planes as part of its expansion plans. The carrier is also expected sign a 10 year USD$1 billion contract next year with Delta Air Lines, under which the US airline will provide maintenance and services for Lion’s fleet.

SIA outlines plans for A380 at London Heathrow

SIA general manager UK and Ireland Marvin Tan says the A380 will initially be used on SQ322 and SQ317. SQ322 is a late night departure out of Singapore, arriving Heathrow early the next morning while SQ317 is a late morning departure from Heathrow, arriving Singapore early the next morning. SIA has not yet set a launch date for A380 services between Singapore and London because this hinges on the delivery of its second and third aircraft, which Tan says are expected to be delivered at or about the same time. SIA needs two aircraft in order to support a daily Singapore-London rotation. SIA A380 flights to London are excpected in the first quarter of 2008 but did not announce which flight would be the first to upgrade from the Boeing 747-400. SIA plans to eventually upgrade all three of its London flights to the A380 but this will take at least one year. It will deploy A380s on other routes, including Singapore-Tokyo and Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco, before the second London flight is upgraded. SIA’s lone A380 is now operating between Sydney and Singapore on SQ220 and SQ221. SQ221 departs Singapore in the evening, arriving in Sydney early the next morning. After a quick turnaround SQ220 departs Sydney the same morning and arrives back in Singapore at lunchtime.

Air India to convert 747s to freighters

Air India is planning to convert its Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft to freighters because it will no longer have a need for these if it adds other large widebodies such as A380s & B747-8. Air India wants to withdraw the 747-400s from passenger services because it plans to get other passenger aircraft. The carrier has established a committee to evaluate the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380 and the carrier aims to place an order within the next six months. It needs to place an order soon so that it can secure slots that ensure it starts receiving the aircraft in 2011 or 2012. Air India last year ordered 68 Boeing aircraft – a mix of 777s, 787s and 737-800s – but the spokesman says the last of these are to be delivered in 2011 so it has no aircraft on order beyond that.

Qantas To Buy Up To 188 New Aircraft

Qantas Airways, Australia’s largest airline, on Wednesday agreed to buy up to 188 new narrow-body planes worth more than USD$12 billion at list prices to defend its domestic routes and expand into Asia.  They included 68 A320/A321 planes with options and purchase rights for a further 40, as well as 31 Boeing 737-800 aircraft and 49 options and purchase rights.

The planes on firm order will be delivered over the next six years, while the options would have delivery slots through to 2017.

Boeing To Supply Vietnam With 12 787s

Boeing signed an order of 12 787 planes to Vietnam Airlines as the flag carrier moves toward ending its aircraft shortage.

The government has said it wants Vietnam Airlines to finalize the agreement with Airbus to buy 10 Airbus A350-900XWB passenger jets and 20 single-aisle A321 jets before December 21.