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According to a report in today’s Economic Times (ET), low cost carrier (LCC) GoAir is expanding its fleet and operations. The airline has decided to scale up its fleet size to 35 by March 2011 from the existing strength of six aircraft. The airline will add 20 aircraft by end of this year and later bring in another nine in …

Nathan Hurst at The Detroit News has written a good article on how Detroit Metropolitan Airport is fast loosing ground as the United States’ gateway to Asia. The airport is facing a slew of delayed introductions, reduction in frequencies, and in some cases outright cancellations of flights to a variety of Asian cities. Detroit is the home of the automotive …

British Airways has placed firm orders on Embraer for eleven fuel efficient E-Jets, comprised of six Embraer 170 and five Embraer 190SR jets, with options for an additional three 190SR jets. The Embraer 170s will be powered by General Electric CF34-8C5 engines and the 190SRs will be powered by CF34-10E5 engines. The airline’s wholly owned subsidiary BA CityFlyer, which operates …

Reuters is reporting that Australia’s competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, sued the cargo unit of Singapore Airlines on allegations they were involved in international price-fixing. The commission has already taken action against Qantas Airways and British Airways, who paid fines totaling $17.1 million. The commission accused Singapore Airlines Cargo, of entering into arrangements with other carriers to …

Heavy fog today hit air and train traffic at New Delhi, with about 20 flights from Indira Gandhi International Airport here being delayed and two cancelled while over 25 Delhi-bound trains running late by upto 11 hours. Dense fog enveloped the airport around 11.30 am with runway visibility dropping to 600 metres which forced the airport authorities to implement the …

In a second incident involving a commercial jet mishap at a major airport in just about twelve hours, as per Reuters, a Continental Airlines Boeing 737 plane went off the runway and caught fire at Denver International Airport at 18:18 December 20, (01:18 GMT December 21). Less than 12 hours earlier, at 13:51 GMT, December 20, a Gulf Air Airbus …

The two luxury hotels at the hub of the recent Mumbai terror attacks, the Trident Hotel, and the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers, re-open in Mumbai today. Ratan Tata, chief executive of the Tata Group which owns the Taj, has vowed to restore the building to its former glory after it was ravaged by fire, bullets and grenades. The whole …

PTI reports, the engine of a Gulf Air Airbus A321 aircraft with 124 passengers and nine crew caught fire a few minutes prior to its take-off today, disrupting flight operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai, for about an hour. “The engine of the Bahrain-bound Gulf Air flight GF 065 caught fire just when it was lined up …

oneworld, the global airline alliance, claims to have become the first to launch a new internet booking tool to allow purchasing of multi-airline round-the-world air tickets. The oneworld Explorer fare tool is available on the Oneworld website, making the airline alliance the first alliance to offer public fares for sale on the internet. All oneworld member airlines will also provide …

BIAL, the promoter of Bengaluru International Airport, has been making steady progress in streamlining operations, and increasing functionality and usability at airport, especially in the non-passenger areas, but BIAL had a litany of woes yesterday, which made for a terrible Friday, and left me shaking my head, commiserating with BIAL. First, the Karnataka High Court ruled that the airport is …

In 2009, Delta Air Lines will add its first-ever daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia* effective July 1; three-times weekly service between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil* beginning May 21; and increased service between Los Angeles and New York-JFK starting March 2. The current seven daily flights between Los Angeles and New York-JFK will increase to …

Thanks to a post by Jon Ostrower at FlightBlogger, I came across some breathtaking 360 degree panoramas of the Airbus A380. Thanks Jon. The photographer, Giles Vidal, has produced several panoramic views from the delivery of the first A380 to Singapore Airlines, including tours of the cabin, to the A380 cockpit, and now a beautiful panoramic look inside the cabin …

As I indicated in my previous article, there are strong rumours of a “merger” or “tie-up” between Australian carrier Qantas and Malaysian Airlines (MAS). Given the regulatory stranglehold and national politics involved in Asia, a full merger is next to impossible. Not only do I feel that this tie-up will happen, I strongly believe that it will result in positive …

After a gap of 12 years, the Indian Air Force has deployed Mig 29 fighters to Hindon air base near New Delhi. This is the first time since 1996 that the base has reactivated for fighter aircraft operations after it was closed due to increasing bird activity near the base. At that time, MiG 27 were stationed there. In 2006, …

Bloomberg has an interesting analysis of the risks to British Airways after the failure of its merger talks with Qantas, and why BA must pursue its long dragging discussions with Iberia to success. Click here to read the article.

The Competition Commission (CC) has confirmed that, subject to final consultation, it will require BAA to sell both Gatwick and Stansted airports as well as Edinburgh airport. It also proposes to introduce measures to ensure that investment and levels of service at Heathrow, and possibly Gatwick and Stansted, meet more effectively the needs of airlines, passengers and other airport users. …

British Airways Plc and Qantas Airways Ltd are announcing that after detailed discussions about a potential merger, talks have ended. Despite the potential longer term benefits to both British Airways and Qantas, the airlines have not been able to come to agreement over the key terms of a merger at this time. British Airways and Qantas will continue to work …

Next Generation Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) to use global positioning data to pinpoint aircraft positions, rather than Old Generation radar Newark Liberty International Airport will become the nation’s first major hub to test a new satellite navigation technology to help reduce flight delays, under an agreement approved today by the Port Authority’s board of commissioners. The technology, called Ground …

Is this the shape of new Airbus A320 family aircraft to come ? Jon Ostrower at FlightBlogger has the report with more pictures. Click here to read it. December 17th update. Airbus press release. Airbus has started flight-testing of Blended Winglet devices on an Airbus A320. The Blended Winglet technology, developed by Aviation Partners Inc. (API), has been specially adapted …

With terror threat on the aviation sector looming large, Government has decided to introduce checking of passengers at ladder-points in all functional airports across the country and enhance the strength of sky marshals on more flights. These and other measures were reviewed at a meeting Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had with airport operators, airlines and all concerned agencies. “The …