Commercial Aviation News

(Reuters) - Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) said that a project to merge some of its European and German domestic routes under a new low-cost brand has started successfully, as the airline grapples with losses at its European short-haul flights. "The transition is going well," a Lufthansa spokesman said on Saturday. The carrier said last year that Lufthansa flights within Germany and Europe, excluding those from its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, will be merged into its existing no-frills brand Germanwings from January 1, 2013.

German weekly Wirtschaftswoche on Saturday cited an unidentified Lufthansa supervisory board member as saying that Germanwings aircraft were operating at a fuller capacity and ticket prices were higher on average than expected. This goes a long way towards restructuring Lufthansa's pan-European traffic which chalked up losses of about 250 million euros ($328 million) last year, the magazine said.

Scandinavian Airlines bolster Airbus orders with order for A350s and more A330s

Scandinavian Airlines is looking to order eight Airbus A350-900s as well as another four A330s, to help rejuvenate its long-haul fleet. The carrier has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering the proposed acquisition, says Airbus.

British Airways reveived their first Boeing 787-8 from Boeing which flew from Seattle on delivery. Let's look at BA's Dreamliner orders. The airline originally ordered eight 787-8s and 16 of the larger 787-9 before committing to a further 18 787s including the newly-launched 787-10. BA has expects Toronto and Newark as the initial long-haul destinations for the first aircraft.

Video about British Airways newest addition to their fleet the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsvgDh0JWpw&feature=youtu.be&sf457673=1

Looks like Thai Airways has definitely cancelled their plans to send Airbus A380 aircraft on one of its two daily Bangkok-London Heathrow routes. The carrier, which was due to introduce the aircraft on December 1, 2013, attributed the delay to wing-fix works that will rectify the cracks found on the aircraft's wing-ribs.

"As wing-rib cracks were found on A380 aircraft in 2012, any A380 aircraft delivered before 2014 will be grounded after reaching a certain number of flight hours in order to modify the wing-rib," says an airline spokeswoman. "Therefore, four of Thai's A380 aircraft will be grounded for wing-rib modification from April 2014 onwards for a minimum of two and a half months for each aircraft."

Singapore Airlines have unveiled their new business and first class design and being touted as the benchmark for premium air travel. Customers travelling on select flights between Singapore and London will be the first to experience the new cabin products from September, in First, Business and Economy classes. The new seats and KrisWorld in-flight entertainment system will be progressively rolled out to other routes as additional new aircraft enter service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lVROcJbBljQ

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Airline seats facing backwards to the aft of the aircraft could limit passenger injuries should an aircraft crash, according to one aviation expert. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, ex-RAF instructor David Learmount suggests how reconfigured aircraft interiors could better protect passengers in a crash scenario even though it may be costly to put in place. "Lots of research has been done into it and the RAF has rear-facing seats on its transport aircraft because it is proven to be safer."

A look at the new ERJ175 American Eagle in new colours...

Airbus apparently gets sued over the Airbus single-aisle aircraft that had to make that emergency landing at Heathrow last month. The flight's cowling doors on the engines were apparently left unlatched and subsequently flew off when the aircraft departed Heathrow bound for Oslo, Norway. Of course you remember that one of the engines caught fire. Passengers on board a British Airways Airbus which was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow after an engine caught fire are suing the manufacturer for emotional distress.

U.S Airways shareholders approve on the American merger. This means the process has now moved a step closer to becoming reality.

A look at the first split Scimitar Boeing winglet on a United 737-800NG

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=587727207925564&set=a.271000599598228.69387.270986929599595&type=1&theater

LOLLLLL!!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=553713084670016

Sri Lankan supposedly firms order for A350 from Airbus. The initial tentative LOI order for four Airbus A350-900s as announced at this year's Paris Air Show (PAS). Now that order has been firmed by SriLankan. The carrier is also taking a number of A330s both will be powered by Rolls Royce engines.

British Airways has unveiled Johannesburg as the third destination for its Airbus A380 fleet, with services provisionally scheduled for early next year. The new route with the 380 is likely to start around February 12, 2014.

British Airways has unveiled Johannesburg as the third destination for its Airbus A380 fleet, with services provisionally scheduled for early next year. The new route with the 380 is likely to start around February 12, 2014.

MASwings, the regional subsidiary to Malaysia Airlines has received their first ATR-72-600 turbo-prop. They had a small fleet of ATR 72-500s. This is the first of nine ATR 72s that MASwings will introduce through to 2017. Firefly, also another subsidiary got ahold of their first ATR 72-6 in early July. Below is a photo of the new MASwings ATR 72-6.

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Boeing...looks to call in as many as 1,200 aircraft for ELT inspections.

Boeing says that it is asking "specific operators" of Boeing 717s, 737NGs, 747-400s, 767s and 777s to inspect aircraft fitted with Honeywell ELTs and gather data to support potential regulatory action by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This photo by 'MiamiSpotter' shows an American aircraft apparently not sure if it wants to release its past

Fake JetBlue sweepstakes tickets going around by imposter JetBlue FB page. Don't be fooled.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151609245031843&set=a.155417016842.117664.105014211842&type=1&theater

Lufthansa suffers huge losses for first half of the year

Lufthansa hasn't done so well in the first half of 2013 registering a 204-million Euro loss. Due to rising fuel prices, restructuring costs and sluggish business in the Middle East and Asia, Lufthansa If you contrast this the same period last year, the firm made a 50-million euro profit.