News Archive

By Victoria Thomson, www.business.scotsman.com 30th January 2010

BUDGET airline Flybe claims to have become the UK's top domestic carrier after facing "the ultimate test" in the recession.
Flybe yesterday said it was one of only a handful of firms to post a profit in the recession as economic woes and fuel price volatility hammered the industry.

By Harry Suhartono and Mariko Katsumura, Reuters, 29th January 2010

* Analysts, executives expect few big commercial jet orders

* Ethiopian crash, JAL bankruptcy overshadow meet

* Airbus military carrier woes persist

* Low cost-carriers could grab limelight

The aviation business, badly hit by the economic crisis and the bankruptcy of Japan Airlines, is unlikely to find much to cheer about at this year's first major industry event, the Singapore Airshow.

By David Learmount

If investigators determine that pilots' loss of spatial awareness caused the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 crash in the sea off Beirut on 25 January, there will have been nearly 1,000 deaths in similar accidents since 2000.

Early indications point to striking similarities between the loss of Ethiopian flight ET409 and six other fatal airline accidents since 2000.

By David Jonas, Management Travel, 28th January 2010

Clear evidence of both resurgent transaction volumes and, at least in the airline sector, improving revenue trends, has meant that corporate travel demand, after finally turning positive in late 2009, has maintained some momentum in early 2010. Though it may be too early to describe the recovery as sustainable, reports of a slow but steady rise in business demand during the past few months have come from many industry circles.

By Juhan Tere, The Baltic Course, Tallinn, 26 Jan 2010

Estonian national carrier Estonian Air lowered a couple of weeks ago the wages of pilots and flight attendants by a third. The trade unions, however, do not plan to accept such a move, informs LETA referring to Äripäev online

By Dan Milmo www.guardian.co.uk, 26 January 2010

Aer Lingus has accused arch-rival Ryanair of deterring the likes of British Airways from taking a stake in the business because of Ryanair's "poison-pill" shareholding in Ireland's national airline.

Philip Pank, Transport Correspondent, The Times, 26th January 2010

After two years in a secret research facility, the ‘Skycouch’ is the first lie-flat bed for passengers who turn right.

It is the great challenge for the world-weary traveller: how to get a decent night’s sleep on a long-haul flight without paying through the nose for the privilege.