Germanwings Crash!

A Germanwings airliner carrying 142 passengers and six crew has crashed in the French Alps. France's transport minister says there are no survivors. DW is tracking live developments.

All times in local Central European Time (GMT&UTC +1).
13:31 - French accident investigators have described the crash site as in Meolans-Revel, a remote and sparsely inhabited commune in the foothills of the French Alps.

13:25 - More market reaction... Lufthansa's share price dropped 4.61 percent to 13.15 euros in Frankfurt following news of the crash, the worst performer on the German stock market. Airbus shares sank 2.08 percent to 58.75 euros, the heaviest drop in Paris.

13:17 - More information on the aircraft... it was a 24-year-old Airbus A320. The twin-engined jet aircraft had been in service with the Lufthansa parent group since 1991.

13:10 - Germanwings is due to hold a press conference at Cologne Bonn Airport at 15:00 local time.

13:05 - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier takes to Twitter, saying that "our thoughts are with those people who must fear that their loved ones might be among the victims."

The plane was bound for Düsseldorf from Barcelona. The crash site is remote and mountainous, French authorities report it is difficult to access.

12:57 - France's leading air traffic controller union SNCTA called off a strike planned to begin tomorrow following news of the deadly crash. "We are suspending our planned strike as a result of the emotions created in the control rooms by the crash, particularly in Aix-en-Provence," the union's spokesman Roger Rousseau told AFP.


12:52 - French transport minister says there are "no survivors" in the A320 crash. "The debris of a passenger plane has been found in the region of Barcelonette," said French interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet. He said "major rescue efforts" had been mobilized.

12:46 - French President Francois Hollande said there was likely to be a significant number of Germans on the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf.

12:40 - Lufthansa - Germanwings' parent company - has expressed its sympathy.

12:32 - German Air Traffic Control (DFS) spokesman Axel Raab told DW that the crash was logged at 10:37 local time. "It is believed that 154 people were on board, six of them crew," he said.

12:24 - Markets react as shares in Airbus, the European manufacturer, slid on news of the accident, down 1.77 percent to 58.94 euros at midday local time after briefly sliding two percent

12:20 - French President Francois Hollande said it was likely all passengers and crew on the Airbus A320 had perished in the crash. "There are not thought to be any survivors," the president said. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, said debris from the plane had already been found, and is en route to the scene.

12:13 - French civil aviation authories say a distess call was received at 1047 local time. The plane had been descending at 5,000 feet near the village of Bercelonnette about 100 km (65 miles) north of the French city Nice.

12:09 - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has briefed the press on the crash. "Of course, we do not know the reasons for this crash, we obviously fear that the 142 to 150 passengers and people on board might have died due to the conditions of this crash," Valls told reporters in Paris, as quoted by Reuters French.

12:05 - Germanwings Flight GWI18G was en route to Düsseldorf from Barcelona when it went down in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence close to the Italian border. The Airbus A320 reportedly lost contact with air traffic controllers in the mountainous region.

KRO: Mayday! Mayday! Ryanair (Full Documentary)

Ryanair New On Time Jingle

Vueling on the way to become the second airline in Europe to offer WIFI in-flight

 

Vueling on the way to become the second airline in Europe to offer WIFI in-flight following Norwegian Air

Protesters block first Ryanair departure from Copenhagen

Danish workers surrounded Ryanair's first flight from Copenhagen to Dublin on Wednesday and delayed its departure by three hours in a protest over employment terms.

The dispute has been rumbling since Ryanair announced new Copenhagen routes in October to Dublin, London, Warsaw and Milan, operated under Irish employment rules. Trade unions argue their workers should be treated under Danish employment rules, generous by most European standards.
Passengers were prevented from boarding the flight by protesters waving Danish flags, who defied police calls to allow the Boeing 737 to leave.

In a statement, Ryanair called on Danish authorities "to take all necessary action to prevent any repeat of this unlawful blockade," which it said was carried out by "non-Ryanair individuals".

 

 

 

It said it planned to open its new Copehagen base on schedule next week.

A lesson you will never forget!

American Airlines, US Airways to combine frequent flier programs

   The US Airways Dividend Miles Program will be combined under the American Airlines AAdvantage umbrella within 30 days, the Dallas Morning News reported on Friday.
The move will effectively end the US Airways Dividend Miles program since its members will all be moved into AAdvantage. US Airways, of which Charlotte is a hub, merged with American Airlines in 2013.

American Airlines told customers in an email that once the programs are combined, Dividend Miles balances, preferred-qualifying activity and million mile balances will be transferred into an AAdvantage account on a one-to-one ratio, and that “it may take a few days to transfer everything.”
Elite status, American wrote, will be determined “by looking at your combined elite‑qualifying activity for 2014, and separately, your combined 2015 year‑to‑date elite‑qualifying activity.”

Related

US Airways Dividend Miles award bookings and mileage upgrade requests will disabled a few days before the programs are combined, American said in the email, so customers are encouraged to book soon.
American assured customers that miles won’t be lost as a result of the programs combining.
“Once our programs are combined, Dividend Miles will be converted into AAdvantage miles, and you’ll be able to redeem AAdvantage miles with American,” Suzanne Rubin, president of AAdvantage, said in the email.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is American’s second-busiest hub, after Dallas/Fort Worth. The airline operates more than 90 percent of Charlotte’s 700 daily flights and has increased its domestic network since the 2013 merger.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article14554811.html#storylink=cpy

Ryanair plans to offer flights between Europe and the US

   Ryanair is launching transatlantic flights, which it claims could have fares as low £10, as part of an ambitious five-year growth strategy.

The Irish airline’s board has approved outline plans to fly between up to 14 European cities and the same number of US cities. Destinations will include New York, Boston, Chicago and Miami from London Stansted, Dublin and Berlin in Europe. The services could start in four or five years’ time if the company can secure a deal to buy long-haul aircraft.

Ryanair said it was already in talks with manufacturers about purchasing long-haul aircraft but declined to provide further details.

“European consumers want lower-cost travel to the USA and the same for Americans coming to Europe. We see it as a logical development in the European market,” the company said in a statement. A Ryanair spokesman said the airline’s proposals included one-way transatlantic fares beginning at £10.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, has long hoped to set up a low-cost transatlantic service. The company has, until now, held off as a series of predecessors have tried and failed to make such an idea pay. Zoom Airlines, a Canadian operation linking Gatwick and North America, had a brief existence in the last decade, while Sir Freddie Laker’s Skytrain famously went bust trying to pursue cheap flights to the US in the 1980s.


More recently, Oslo-based low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle began a transatlantic service in 2013 with a return ticket from London’s Gatwick airport to New York starting at £389, although the cheapest flights can be few and far between. Gatwick boss Stewart Wingate described Norwegian’s long-haul launch as a “game-changing event”. But the costs of expanding into the US have plunged Norwegian into the red for the first time in eight years.

Ryanair’s head of marketing, Kenny Jacobs, told the Financial Times that the Irish carrier was a bigger brand and business than Norwegian and so would be able to build more traffic and a more efficient cost model.

Ryanair has recently seen an uplift in profit hopes after performance improved largely because of its discovery of the benefits of customer service. The airline has allowed more carry-on baggage, started allocating seating and cut punitive charges. It has also improved its website and launched a service for business customers.

The transatlantic route is one of the most profitable in the world, but it is dominated by long-established airlines, led by British Airways, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, said Ryanair’s service would be aimed at a different market to the traditional carriers.

“It would generate new demand. If you can fly people across the Atlantic for a relatively small sum, a lot of people would fly out [to the States] for a long weekend.”
Ryanair would also need to attract business customers paying premium fares to make the flights economical, he added.
“There are a lot of questions, but I think it can probably happen. They have an incredibly strong record in their short-haul business on costs. From a unit-cost point of view they are they the lowest around.”
John Strickland, an independent aviation consultant, said the success of Ryanair’s transatlantic venture would depend on the airline getting a good deal on the purchase or lease of planes: “It is not just any aircraft, it is about getting efficient and cost-effective aircraft, otherwise you could lose your shirt.”
A low-cost transatlantic service would also need to attract a mix of customers, he said, both cost-conscious tourists and business travellers prepared to pay more. “If you have got people travelling for business, you have got a better chance of spreading your risk.”

Qatar Airways boss accuses Delta Air Lines of flying 'crap' planes

 

   

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al-Baker (pictured) on Monday, March 16, 2015, denied his company receives subsidies and accused rivals Delta Air Lines of flying "crap" older planes, escalating hostilities between Gulf and American carriers.     

DOHA (AFP) - The chief of Qatar Airways on Monday denied his company receives subsidies and accused rivals Delta Air Lines of flying "crap" older planes, escalating hostilities between Gulf and American carriers.

 

Speaking at an arts conference in Doha, Mr Akbar al-Baker said any money his airline receives from the state is in the form of "legitimate" equity and added his company's fleet of aircraft were much cleaner for the environment in comparison to Delta. "I think Mr Anderson (chief executive of Delta Richard Anderson) doesn't know the difference between equity and subsidy. We never receive any subsidy," Mr Baker said.

He was responding to claims made earlier this month by three United States airlines - Delta, American and United - that Qatar, along with carriers in the United Arab Emirates have received US$42 billion (S$58.5 billion) in unfair subsidies to wrest business away from competitors.
Mr Baker also accused Delta of flying "crap airplanes that are 35 years old", when talking about pollution by the aviation industry.

In contrast, Mr Baker said Qatar Airways had an "ultra-modern fleet" and was the lowest CO2 contributor in the aviation industry.

Dramatic moment KLM flight attendant extinguished fire 'caused by lithium ion battery in passenger's hand luggage' on flight from Amsterdam to Bangkok

• A spokesman for KLM said the cause of the fire is under investigation
• One of the passengers claimed it was caused by a lithium ion battery 
• Small fire was detected as the plane taxied to its gate at a Bangkok airport
• KLM said there were no injuries and everyone disembarked safely

 

Passengers experienced tense moments on board a KLM flight today after a small fire erupted inside an overhead compartment for hand luggage.

 

A spokesman for the Dutch airline said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but a passenger claims it was sparked by a lithium ion battery inside a traveller's bag.

 

Flight attendants used an on-board fire extinguisher to put out the blaze which occurred moments after the plane landed in Bangkok at 10:40am local time.

 

The KLM spokesman said the Boeing 777, carrying 321 passengers plus employees, was taxiing to its gate at Suvarnabhumi Bangkok International Airport after flying in from Amsterdam.

He told MailOnline Travel: ‘There was a short fire on board in one of the overhead luggage compartments for hand luggage and our crew made sure that the fire was put out.

 

One of the passengers on flight KL875 recorded video as a flight attendant used a fire extinguisher to spray a smouldering bag as it sat on a seat in business class.

 

A photo snapped moments earlier shows the crew spraying the bag while it was on fire in the overhead luggage bin

 

The passenger posted the video and photo on her Twitter account, @Accone, and wrote: ‘Well done @KLM for calm management of cabin fire on flight KL875 caused by a battery in a passenger’s carry-on luggage’.

She added in a second tweet: ‘Take Lithium ion batteries in carry on! One caused a fire on our flight. It was immediately detected & extinguished; difficult in cargo.’

 

   The KLM crew is being hailed for extinguishing the fire and preventing injury to passengers and employees.

The spokesman for the Dutch airline said the plane will be inspected and any necessary repairs will be completed before it returns to service.

KLM’s policy on lithium ion batteries mirrors that of other carriers around the world.

Loose lithium ion batteries may only be carried in hand baggage, and each spare battery must be stored in the original packaging, or the battery contact points must be covered with tape to insulate them and packed in separate plastic bags.

 

It permits the transport of object that are powered by lithium batteries, including mobile phones, laptop computers and tablet computers. 

 

Last week Boeing and other aircraft makers urged a ban on bulk lithium battery shipments on passenger planes, saying the threat of fires is ‘an unacceptable risk’.

An industry group warned that current fire suppression systems on planes cannot extinguish a blaze involving bulk shipments of lithium ion or lithium metal batteries.

Norwegian Air, first on in Europe to offer free WIFI in-flight

Planes Collide in Fiery Crash During Practice for Malaysia Air Show

 

Two planes with an Indonesian aerobatics team collided while practicing for an airshow in Malaysia on March 15 2015.

Two planes with an Indonesian aerobatics team collided while practicing for an airshow in Malaysia on Sunday, sparking a fire and injuring the pilots involved, according to reports.

The crash happened during a practice run for the Langkawi international Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition. The pilots, part of Indonesia’s Jupiter aerobatics team, are safe but sustained various injuries, the New Straits Times reports.

 Flames and smoke can be seen following a plane crash during a practice run for the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition, March 16, 2016.

Video taken by onlookers shows the planes approaching and clipping each other – then flames pouring from one as it streams toward the ground. As the plane loses altitude, a pilot’s parachute can be seen deployed.

A plane from Indonesia's Jupiter aerobatics team can be seen after crashing during a practice run for the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition, March 16, 2016.

The New Straits Times reports that the four pilots injured in the crash were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

British Airways flight to Dubai forced to return to Heathrow due to 'smelly poo in toilet'

The pilot announced that the long haul flight could not continue due to health and safety concerns over pungent odour emanating from plane's toilet

   A British Airways flight to Dubai was forced to return to Heathrow Airport when a “smelly poo in the toilet” became unbearable for passengers.

The pilot announced that the long haul flight had to be aborted, after cabin crew were unable to prevent the pungent odour emanating from an overflowing toilet.

Around 30 minutes in the seven-hour flight, the plane returned to London amid health and safety concerns.
 

Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev, who represents Potters Bar Parkfield was on the plane and said it was “insane” that passengers had to wait 15 hours for another flight due to a “smelly poo in the toilet”.

He told Mail Online: “The pilot made an announcement requesting senior cabin crew, and we knew something was a bit odd.
“About 10 minutes later he said you may have noticed there’s a quite pungent smell coming from one of the toilets.”

Mr Sachdev, who was not seated near the toilet in question, said: “He said it was liquid faecal excrement, those are the words he used.

“He said it’s not a technical fault with the plane, and he was very adamant about that.”
The captain said the plane’s crew had investigated the problem, but were unable to fix it, so the plane would need to return to London for health and safety reasons.


^{Hertsmere councillor Abhishek Sachdev}

The BA105 flight took off at 8.15pm on Thursday night and was due to land in Dubai seven hours later. Instead, passengers had to wait 15 hours before they could resume their journey, and caught another flight to Dubai at 1pm on Friday.

Mr Sachdev, who was travelling with his pregnant wife, Rupa, and their two-year-old daughter, Shravani, said: “It’s obviously disappointing to lose a whole day of your trip.

"You might expect it on some random airline, but you wouldn’t expect it from British Airways.”
A British Airways spokesperson said: "We're very sorry for the discomfort to our customers. We provided them with hotel accommodation and rescheduled the flight to depart the next day."

EasyJet Is First Low-Cost Carrier With an Apple Watch App

American Airlines got considerable play during the Apple Watch event yesterday in San Francisco, but other travel brands have been quick to announce their offerings for the new smartwatch.
European low-cost carrier easyJet will launch its Apple Watch app on April 24, the same day the Apple Watch becomes available for purchase. EasyJet says its Apple Watch app, which will be available in five languages at launch, will seamlessly connect to the easyJet smartphone app created by Mobile Travel Technologies. The Apple Watch app will provide personalized, real-time flight notifications, with users feeling a gentle tap upon receipt,‎‎ as well as access to easyJet’s Passbook boarding passes.

 

“We are very excited to work with easyJet on their app for the Apple Watch, the first implementation of Mobile Travel Technologies’ app extension product for Apple Watch,” said Gerry Samuels, CEO of Mobile Travel Technologies, in a statement. “The easyJet Apple Watch app will bring new and innovative ways for passengers to interact with the airline. It’s a great next step in the easyJet mobile journey which we are proud to be part of.”

Glances, another key feature of Apple Watch, will inform and remind passengers of key parts of their journey, including pre-departure information, check-in detail, up-to-date local currency exchange rates, weather in destination and real time flight status.
Travelers will also be able to tweet and post to Facebook at various stages of their trip directly from the watch face such as countdowns to departure or sharing their destinations’ weather.

Virgin America Is The Michael Jordan Of Airlines

                          

A Virgin America flight takes off at San Francisco International Airport in 2013.

Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Images

The Chicago Bulls won 88 percent of their games during the 1995-96 regular season, going 72-10 and claiming the best record in NBA history. Impressive, right? It’s hard to win that often in any field, let alone one with so much competition.
But there’s an airline that pretty much does exactly that. In 2014, Virgin America was faster than its competition on 87 percent of the routes they had in common.
This week, we rolled out our fastest flights interactive, which seeks to place airlines on a level playing field by looking at what routes each one flew. It’s easier to avoid delays while flying out of Honolulu instead of Chicago, for instance. A fair comparison between the airlines ought to account for this, as ours does.
In the interactive, the method of comparing airlines depends on regression analysis. While there’s nothing particularly complicated about regression, there are various ways it can go wrong. It’s almost always worth it to sanity-check a regression result by applying another (ideally simpler) method to the same data.
So here’s a simple and fun one: We’ll compare airlines head-to-head, as though they’re basketball teams. For instance, American Airlines and United Airlines both fly from Chicago O’Hare to Oklahoma City. American flew the route about nine minutes faster, on average, in 2014, accounting for delays, cancellations and diversions.¹ So it gets a “win” on that route, while United takes a “loss.”
We can run this comparison for every competitive route in the country.² American and United often do battle, for instance — both have hubs at O’Hare and in Los Angeles. Among the 230 routes³ they had in common, American compiled a 148-82 win-loss record.
Here are the standings for every airline matchup:


Some of the comparisons are incredibly lopsided. Alaska Airlines went 35-1 against Southwest Airlines. Virgin went 50-2 against United, 22-4 against American and 15-1 against JetBlue Airways, helping it to a 120-18 overall record. That was the best in the business: a Jordanesque 87 percent winning percentage.
That some airlines are so dominant against others suggests that there’s a lot of “signal” in this data set. After hundreds or thousands of flights on the same routes, luck — like happening to run into a thunderstorm when another airline doesn’t — doesn’t play a major role in on-time performance.
The head-to-head method still has some flaws. For instance, Frontier Airlines, which rates as about average by our regression method, has a stellar 144-47 win-loss record. But that’s partly because it has a lot of routes in common with United and Southwest, two of our more poorly rated airlines.⁴
But overall the head-to-head comparison backs up our regression results. Hawaiian Airlines ranked fifth out of 10 airlines in our regression, for example. Those results are partly based on the many routes it flies within Hawaii (like from Honolulu to Hilo), on which it has little competition. But Hawaiian faces plenty of competition on routes from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland, and it went 21-15 against other airlines. That’s a perfectly decent record, but not exactly the ’96 Bulls.

Funny flight attendant!

American Airlines apologizes after refusing to refund deceased girl’s ticket

 The Cantrell family of St. Charles, Illinois looked forward to their annual beach trip in North Carolina.
But last fall, their plans changed after the death of  9-year-old Madison “Scout” Cantrell who suffered a sudden asthma attack.

 

Scout’s mother, Felicity Cantrell, said that even though they had their travel booked, including airline tickets, the family decided to change their plans after daughter Katie, 13, decided it would be too painful to go on a vacation without her beloved sister.
"Emotionally, I couldn’t go back there this year without her," Katie told NBC 5. "It would never be as much fun without her."
When they tried to cancel their tickets on American Airlines, the carrier refused to offer a refund for Scout's ticket.

"The ticket purchased is non-refundable so we cannot offer a refund, issue a travel voucher, or transfer this ticket to another person," said the airline.
Though American expressed their  “sincere condolences,” the letter says the company had “determined the request does not meet our exception requirements” and no refund or transfer of funds would be permitted.

Felicity said that although the family could take the financial hit of one plane ticket, she was shocked by the airline’s initial response.  She posted her story on Facebook,  receiving hundreds of comments from well-wishers who were angered by the airline's actions.

"This is not about the money,” Cantrell said. "Clearly, this has struck a chord with people… We can’t be the only family this has happened to."

Katie said she hopes that no other family in a similar situation would be forced to receive such an impersonal letter.
"I know that I would never write this to someone. I don't know how someone could send this to another family," she said. "I would never want to be treated that way and I would hope no one would ever treat anyone else that way."
Tuesday evening, American Airlines got in touch with the family, apologized for how the situation was handled and refunded the ticket.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the Cantrell family on the loss of their daughter, Madison," an American Airlines spokesperson told NBC 5. "We fully refunded Madison’s ticket last night and apologized to Mrs. Cantrell for not doing so immediately when she first contacted us."

90 Seconds in: Seattle

 A train operator is planning to compete with budget airlines by launching a fast, low-cost, train service between London and Edinburgh

   FirstGroup, which currently runs train franchises across Britain, said that passengers would benefit from “low fares, free Wi-Fi and on-board catering”, on new, single-class trains that would run five times a day between London Kings Cross and the Scottish capital.

Although possible fare structures have not been announced, FirstGroup said it would be “highly competitive with budget air carriers”.
 

The service is apparently designed specifically to lure passengers away from low-cost airlines, on a route by which two-thirds of trips are currently made by plane.
 

 
 

If FirstGroup’s submission for track access, currently with the Office of Rail Regulation, is successful, the new services will be introduced from 2018.
 

Tim O’Toole, FirstGroup’s chief executive, said:
“These innovative plans will give customers travelling between London, the North East of England and Edinburgh an attractive alternative to flying. We hope to entice passengers away from budget airlines through our low fares and high-quality trains.”



The four-and-a-half-hour service would make stops at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth. The stops in Stevenage and Morpeth would be convenient for travellers wanting to then take a flight from Britain, as these train stations are hopping-off points for Luton, Stansted, and Newcastle airports.
Telegraph Travel has previously investigated the cheapest way to get to Edinburgh from London, with coach services proving the most economical mode of transport. At the end of last year, the findings showed that a coach ticket cost £36, and a rail ticket £87 when booked a week ahead of travel.

Air Canada to tap EETC market to fund Dreamliner purchases

    Air Canada said on Wednesday it will offer three tranches of enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETCs) worth $1.03 billion to fund the purchase of eight new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

U.S. carriers have used the EETC market to fund aircraft purchases for the past two decades, but the market was off limits to airlines in Canada until the Canadian government changed the rules late in 2012.

EETCs, a special type of debt financing, ensure that lenders have direct claim over an aircraft in the event that an airline runs into financial trouble. They typically offer lower interest rates than other forms of aircraft financing.

Air Canada, the country's largest airline, said the Boeing 787-9 series aircraft it will purchase with the trust certificates are scheduled for delivery between July 2015 and March 2016.

It said a Boeing 787-8 series plane that was delivered in January 2015 will also be secured by the trust certificates.

Air Canada began to take delivery of the first of 37 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in the spring of 2014 as it renews its fleet of wide-body aircraft.

The airline first used EETCs in 2013 to finance the purchase of five Boeing 777-300ER series aircraft.

Shares in Air Canada were down 2 Canadian cents at C$12.20 on the Toronto Stock Exchange early on Wednesday.

Ryanair to become first airline to fly to Spain's ghost airport

Ryanair is set to become the first airline to operate scheduled flights from the Spanish “ghost airport” of Castellón.


Budget carrier comes to rescue of Castellón airport, which opened in 2011 but lay unused for years and became an emblem of reckless spending before recession

The Irish carrier will announce plans on Wednesday to fly from the airport, which cost €150m (£107m) to build but stood empty for almost four years and is widely regarded as a symbol of regional governments’ profligacy during Spain’s long-gone property boom.
Flights will link the UK and other northern European countries to the airport, which lies north of the city of Valencia on Spain’s Mediterranean coast.
Castellón–Costa Azahar airport was one of the Valencia region’s many grand and largely gratuitous building projects: the city of 800,000 people already had one airport with another in nearby Alicante serving a similar market. The city also built a Sydney-style opera house and Europe’s largest aquarium during Spain’s years of property-fuelled boom years, before the financial crisis left the country’s economy in tatters.
The airport was commissioned by the leader of Castellón province, Carlos Fabra, a member of the ruling right-wing People’s party, and was officially declared open in March 2011. Fabra is now serving time in prison for tax fraud. Fabra also commissioned a 24-metre-high copper sculpture to stand outside the airport – widely believed to be of himself – at public expense.

The first commercial flight at the airport, which is now under the management of the Canadian engineering conglomerate SNC-Lavalin, took place in January 2015 – a charter flight carrying the staff and squad of the football club Villarreal to a match in San Sebastián, northern Spain.
A Ryanair spokesman confirmed that the airline was due to hold a press conference at Castellón airport on Wednesday, but said: “Ryanair does not comment upon or engage in rumour or speculation.”

Ryanair has announced a change of strategy to start flying to more primary, city-centre airports, but their use of Castellón appears to be bucking that trend. However, the airline’s low-cost business model has long relied on securing minimal landing charges at airports across Europe, from rural France to London’s Stansted, with a pledge to deliver customers and growth.

Shares of Air France KLM SA

 (OTCMKTS:AFLYY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Analyst Ratings Net reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company.

Air France KLM SA (OTCMKTS:AFLYY) traded down 0.26% on Wednesday, hitting $7.72. 4,307 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Air France KLM SA has a one year low of $7.43 and a one year high of $16.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8. and a 200-day moving average of $9..

AFLYY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of Air France KLM SA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded shares of Air France KLM SA from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, analysts at RBC Capital downgraded shares of Air France KLM SA from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th.

Air France Klm SA, (OTCMKTS:AFLYY), is an airline engaged in the business of passenger transportation. Its operations are divided into four segments: Passenger Transport, Cargo Transport, Aeronautical Maintenance and Other Activities.

Norwegian pilot Strike seems to be Over

   Norwegian Air pilot strike is apparently over according to unnamed sources. We have not seen yet an official confirmation from the airline media reporters though.

But this strike has taken a high Price for the low cost Budget airline, Norwegian Air Shuttle's shares fell 4.6 per cent to NOK223.90 on Tuesday, as pilots continued to strike amid a struggle between the airline and the union to resolve a pay dispute.

About 200,000 passengers have been affected by the strike, which started on February 28. Its flights within Scandinavia are the most affected with planes on most routes in the region grounded, though long-haul routes are operating as normal.

The strike has generated volatility in the shares of Norwegian, which have dropped more than 19 per cent so far this year.

The company said it had no further information on the status of the negotiations, but is working to reach a solution with the union.

The dispute is seen as a test for Norwegian as a low-cost airline based in a high-cost country, competing with Ryanair and easyJet, and of Norway's ability to adapt to global competition.
But it is not the only issue affecting Europe's third-largest low-cost airline. It made its first loss in eight years in 2014 and is also in a dispute with US regulators over transatlantic flights.

Monarch Airlines prepares for reduced summer schedule from five UK bases as fleet is cut by eight aircraft and charter flights end

2014 looks set to remain Monarch’s busiest ever year for some time to come as the airline is cutting capacity by around 17% this summer, as the fleet is cut from 42 to 34 aircraft. One base (East Midlands) and 26 routes have been cut this summer while eight new scheduled routes have been added.

This year should mark a turning point in the history of Monarch Airlines, the UK-based leisure airline. At the end of last year the airline’s ownership changed and several key decisions were made about the airline’s future direction. Charter flying would be eliminated from the start of the summer season and the airline’s fleet would be reduced from 42 to 34 aircraft. Last year we predicted that the airline would reach the seven million passenger mark in 2014, which it just about did, setting a new record for the carrier. Charter flights contributed just under 12% of the airline’s passenger numbers in 2014 compared with over 90% in 2000. In 2015, the airline is likely to carry around six million passengers as a result of cute to the airline’s fleet and route network.

Source: UK CAA.

Five UK bases this summer after East Midlands closes

This summer will see the closure of the airline’s base at East Midlands, which it only opened in August 2012, primarily in response to the demise of bmibaby from that airport. However, the airline’s eight routes from the airport (six to Spain, plus Faro and Malta) will all cease operating by the end of this month, with the airline focussing its operations in the UK midlands at its Birmingham base, less than 60 kilometres from East Midlands.

Source: UK CAA.

Monarch has one of Europe’s most seasonal airline operations as a result of its focus on the leisure market, which from the UK at least is heavily biased towards the summer months. In August the airline typically transports almost four times as many passengers as it does in the off-peak periods of January and February. The low figure for April 2013 can be explained by the fact that Easter was in March that year, thus suppressing demand.

No new destinations for 2015; some Greek charter routes now scheduled

Based on analysis of OAG Schedules Analyser for this summer compared with last summer reveals that London Gatwick remains the airline’s biggest base in terms of weekly departures (with 144), ahead of Birmingham (116) and Manchester (113). However, in terms of destinations served Birmingham offers 24 compared with 22 each from London Gatwick and Manchester. London Luton and Leeds Bradford are much smaller bases. New routes and destinations for this summer (highlighted in yellow) are limited to Preveza, Rhodes and Zakynthos in Greece (all of which were previously served by the airline’s charter services), plus two new routes from Leeds Bradford to Alicante and Naples.
Apart from ending operations at East Midlands, Monarch has dropped routes from all of its other bases, six from Manchester and three each from all the others. This has resulted in a reduction in flights at all of the airline’s bases except Leeds Bradford, where the airline has maintained its two aircraft, 28 departures per week operation.
Seven of the airline’s top 10 destinations are in Spain, though Faro in Portugal tops the list with 48 weekly departures this summer. Dalaman in Turkey (fifth) and Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt (tenth) are the only other non-Spanish airports in Monarch’s top 10. Three destinations have disappeared from the airline’s network; Corfu, Malta and Split.
A total of 12 country markets will be served this summer from the UK with Spanish routes accounting for 52% of all flights, followed by Portugal (11.5%) and Turkey (9.6%). The only other country market with more than 5% of flights is Italy with 8.7%.

Source: OAG Schedules Analyser for w/c 3 August 2015. Click to enlarge

Ryanair merged with Norwegian?

While the pilot strike continues without a solution in sight  there are rumors of Norwegian's future. According to Norwegian media, the conflict become so costly that the Norwegian company is considering a merger with budget airline Ryanair. It is a horror scenario for the trade unions.

 

On Monday, the British Sunday Times reports that the airline set up a British subsidiary, Westforce Aviation, back in december. The information was confirmed by the Norwegian's Communications Director Anne-Sissel Skånvik.

 

But speculation that this would be a first step in moving the entire operation to the United Kingdom is denied. Instead, it is about a planned expansion of routes between the United Kingdom and countries in Asia and Africa.

"Then we must fly with bilateral agreements and then we have to have a British license," she says to the Norwegian E24.

But it is not the only rumor that gained momentum on Monday. According to an unnamed source, Norwegian's Managing Director Bjorn Kjos has been in contact with Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive of budget airline Ryanair, on several occasions during the past week. They will, among other things, have talked about a possible merger of the two airlines, according to Norwegian Nettavisen.

 

Via sms greets Charlotte Holmbergh Jacobsson, Swedish Norwegian's press officer, that the airline does not comment on rumors. The same message comes from Ryanair's press office – no comment.

"Had you asked me before the strike, I would have said that it would never happen. Now, I say that it can only take place if the Norwegian really bleed and have problems with their finances, "said Jacob Pedersen, aviation analyst at Sydbank in Denmark.

 

Such a scenario is the trade unions nightmare. Although Norwegian belongs to low-cost airlines Ryanair plays in its own League, much due to low staff costs.

 

"It's actually what they are striking against, isn't it? But Norwegian companies would have access to lower cost overall if they were part of the Ryanair model, "said Jacob Pedersen.

A merger would not be completely easy for Ryanair, especially when the existing workforce would suddenly get colleagues with trade union agreements. At the same time, it would also give the Ireland-based airline a stronger presence in the Nordic market.

"They would also get access to over 200 aircraft from Norwegian and it would be good for Ryanair's expansion plans," he says.

In the event of a fusion would Ryanair holding all the cards, according to Jacob Pedersen. It all depends on how expensive the strike is. No one knows how much Norwegian loses for each day the aircraft remains on the ground but it is speculated in the totals in the mångmiljons class.

"Otherwise it would be Bjorn Kjos way of saying that I have received what I can of this. We tried but could not grow outside the Nordic region because of trade union influence, "said Jacob Pedersen.

 

At the same time, it will not prevent Norwegian from rising on the stock exchange. After falling during the first days of the rising share price is now on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Since Wednesday last week, when most of the Norwegianpiloterna went out on strike, the parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle has risen by over 15 percent.