Airborne Aviation UK

Lucy Tobin
British Airways today moved a step closer to its £5 billion merger with Spain’s Iberia after winning approval from the European Union’s competition regulator.

The British flag carrier was also given approval to develop its oneworld alliance on transatlantic routes with American Airlines, and capitalise on the Open Skies agreement that aims to free aviation routes between the US and the European Union.

The three airlines agreed to cede some take-off and landing slots at Heathrow — so rivals will be able to launch routes between London and New York, Boston, Dallas and Miami — in order to share more of their routes and cut costs.

The EU antitrust group said: “The commission’s investigation confirmed that the merged entity will also continue to be subject to competition from a number of competitors on the markets for air cargo transport and ground-handling services.”

At BA’s annual meeting yesterday, chief executive Willie Walsh said he expected further airlines to join the International Airlines Group, the name of the combined BA-Iberia business.

BA is waiting for the pensions regulator’s approval for a recovery plan for its £3.7 billion pension deficit, the last barrier to the merger.

By JANE WARDELL (AP)

FARNBOROUGH, England — Virgin America announced plans to buy 40 new Airbus A320 aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow on Thursday, the last major business day at the biennial event that has this year witnessed a revival in commercial aviation.

Plane makers have so far notched up orders worth more than $28 billion at the show, even though government budget cuts are keeping the defense sector in the doldrums.

Orders at the show are well off the record-breaking $88.7 billion worth of deals announced at Farnborough in 2008, but the gathering has already exceeded the slow orders for commercial planes of around $7 billion at sister show Le Bourget, near Paris, last year.

Virgin signed a memorandum of understanding — not yet a firm order — with Airbus. The 40 new planes, at a list price of $3.3 billion, would be delivered from 2013 through 2016 with options for 20 more in 2017-2018.

“A repeat order from Virgin America — a U.S. airline growing quickly both in terms of their route network and their reputation for excellent service — is a great affirmation of the benefits of operating the A320 family,” said Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy.

Airbus’ arch rival Boeing Co., meanwhile, announced it had signed an agreement with Azerbaijan Airlines to substitute two Next-Generation 737 airplanes for one 767-300ER (extended range) and two 767 Freighters, a new model type for the airline based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“With our centralized geographic location, Azerbaijan is becoming a busy hub in the region between east and west and north and south,” said Jahangir Askerov, president of Azerbaijan Airlines. “We are capitalizing on this development by expanding our long-haul passenger fleet and growing our cargo business.”

The International Air Transport Association recently forecast that the global industry would make a small profit of $2.5 billion this year, after a huge loss of $9.4 billion in 2009 — a quick improvement from its predictions late last year of more losses this year.

More than 1,000 exhibitors from 38 countries are at Farnborough, with delegations from Egypt, Taiwan and Morocco attending for the first time. Organizers also cited stronger interest from major players China and Russia.

Among the big buyers at the industry’s premier event were two plane leasing companies that have only been created in recent months. Air Lease Corp. has so far signed the largest deals, dividing orders for 115 planes worth $8.6 billion between Boeing, Airbus and French-Italian regional turboprop manufacturer ATR. Qatar’s Al Baker said his company’s leasing arm was noting strong demand.

Other buyers include Thai Airways, Berlin-based airline Germania, Indonesian national carrier Garuda and Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways.

Canadian manufacturer Bombardier has so far failed to line up an order for its much-touted C-series, which the Montreal-based company is marketing as a fuel-efficient alternative to the current offerings from the Boeing-Airbus duopoly.

Boeing has notched up a number of sales for its fuel-efficient 787 jetliner, which is making its international debut at Farnborough after a problem-plagued production line delayed the delivery schedule. The first 787 is due to be handed to Japan’s ANA later this year, more than two years overdue, and Boeing has said that could slip into the first few weeks of 2011.

After making its international debut at Farnborough, the 787 stopped business at the show on Tuesday when it was given a send-off by two World War II-vintage Spitfire fighter planes as it made its journey back to Seattle to rejoin the four other test models.

The renewed optimism in commercial aviation, however, could not dispel the bad news from the defense industry, where governments are cutting budgets after spending billions bailing the global economy. Cuts to Western military budgets have been the talk of Farnborough.

In the U.S., the world’s biggest single defense market, the Pentagon is looking to trim some $100 billion from personnel and procurement costs over the next five years. The U.K., Europe’s biggest defense market, is considering defense cuts of up to 20 percent.

Italian Minister Ignazio La Russa said his country will reduce its order of Eurofighter jets by 25 planes to save euro2 billion ($2.57 billion), while British Defense Secretary Liam Fox told the industry to lower costs or see programs slashed.

The Eurofighter is built by a consortium of European military manufacturers, including Britain’s BAE Systems PLC, the German-French and Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA.

Italy had originally ordered 121 jets and the 25 it wants to cancel come from the last batch of planes, for which contracts have not been finalized. Eurofighter spokesman Marco Valerio Bonelli declined to comment on whether Germany, Britain and Spain could reduce last batch orders as well.

Airbus, meanwhile, sought to gloss over problems that have dogged its A400M military transport plane.

The hulking gray airlifter is one of two star performers — the other being the also delayed Boeing 787 — of the flying displays at Farnborough.

But the plane is still around four years late and euro3.5 billion over budget, and despite reaching an agreement in principle earlier this year on how to share the cost overruns, the seven customer nations have still to sign the final agreement.

The show runs through Sunday at an airfield about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of central London.

AP reporter Andrew Khouri contributed to this report

The Aerion Supersonic Business Jet.

Nevada-based Aerion Corporation is championing the comeback of supersonic air travel in the form of a new executive jet.

The company says it has already received $US4 billion in orders for the Aerion Supersonic Business Jet, which it expects to be launched in 2014.

At its top speed, the company says the jet will shave about three hours off the flight time between Paris and New York.

In theory, you could take-off from Paris at 8am and touch down in New York in time for a breakfast meeting.

Cessna is also building a jet called the Cessna Citation X. It is claimed to be the fastest civilian aircraft in the sky, cruising just shy of the sound barrier at Mach .92.

The Aerion Supersonic Business Jet

Cost: Starting from $US80 million, depending on the fitout

Maximum speed: Mach 1.8, (1030 knots / 1909 km/h)

Cruising speed: Mach 1.7 (966 knots / 1790 km/h)

Paris-New York: 4:14 hours

Seating: 12 passengers ( a 50-seat version is in the works)

Crew: 2

Expected launch date: 2014

smh.com.au

A NEW ad by a Russian airline featuring bikini-clad flight attendants washing planes has taken raunchiness to another level.

The saucy clip promoting Moscow-based start-up airline Avianova shows women stripping out of their stewardess uniforms and washing the company’s planes.

It is the latest airline to use sex as a selling point. Last week another new airline, Spirit Airlines, came under fire for its raunchy ad.

The commercial, featuring scantily clad women with the slogan “Check Out The Oil On Our Beaches”, was slammed for poking fun at the BP oil disaster.

The airline has since pulled the ad following widespread condemnation.

Avianova launched in August last year and serves 16 destinations within Russia.

It has a fleet of five Airbus A320 planes, and has recently advertised fares starting from under $10.

AIRBUS’ chief executive officer, Tom Enders, has admitted that the A380 freighter version is on the “backburner”.

Speaking at the delivery of Lufthansa’s first A380 in Hamburg (Germany), Enders said that it was important for the aircraft manufacturer not to overstretch itself when market conditions are only just improving.

With the whole A380 programme looking like it may turn into an expensive white elephant due to delays and unfortunately timed market conditions, parent company EADS’ chief executive officer Hans Peter Ring, admitted the five-year target to break even on the model, “is not to be understood as guidance, just as an extrapolation of current trends”.

Reading between the lines of management speak, Ring seems to be suggesting the model won’t be breaking even within five years.

That leaves Airbus in the unenviable position of knowing that the A380 – while a dream to fly on – is a drain on resources, but needing to promote it so as to try and recoup as much of the initial investment as possible.

However, Richard Aboulafia, vice-president analysis at the Teal Group, said: “The A380 is best regarded as a US$25 billion write-off and an act of industrial irresponsibility.”

PLANS to develop Scotland’s Carlisle Airport into a freight storage and distribution centre have been scuppered by a local Irthington farmer, Thomas Brown.

Brown went to the Court of Appeal, which has now ruled that the authority should have conducted a full environmental-impact assessment before approving Stobart Air’s plans for the airport.

Stobart’s chief executive officer, Andrew Tinkler, said: “We intend to appeal as we feel the court has not given due regard to us as an airport operator. Despite this setback, we remain committed to finding a solution for our future logistics activities at the airport.”

However, he added: “If it’s not possible to do it in Carlisle we’ll have to look at other areas. Hopefully as time goes on we’ll be able to get the solution we need at Carlisle Airport.”

The leader of Carlisle City Council, Councillor Mike Mitchelson, said: ”The city council will continue to work with the developer to bring forward improvements to Carlisle Airport. We will also give detailed consideration to the terms of the judgment and any possible grounds for appeal.”

Aviation consultant Peter Elliott, who once worked for Tinkler and who acrimoniously left the company’s employ said with Schadenfreude glee: “I am thrilled for the people of Irthington. There will now be no airfreight aircraft flying low over their village.”

Elliot had tried to take Tinkler to court for alleged “criminal aviation activities” at Carlisle Airport. The case collapsed, leaving Elliott bankrupt.

By ARTHUR MAX and ANGELA CHARLTON (AP) PARIS — Air France says it’s safely carried out a test flight over France for the first time since a volcanic ash plume shut down aviation over Europe.

The plane traveled from Charles de Gaulle airport to Toulouse in southern France. Another test flight is under way in southwest France, it said, and three more will follow, for a total of five test flights Sunday.

European airlines are pushing national regulators to reopen airspace across Europe, saying the ash appears to have diminished enough to make flying safe.

Dutch airline KLM said it safely flew aircraft without passengers through a window in the cloud of volcanic ash over Europe Sunday, and pressed for an end to the total ban on commercial air traffic that has paralyzed travel across the continent.

___

Arthur Max reported from Amsterdam. Associated Press Writers Karl Ritter in Stockholm, Greg Katz in London, Toby Sterling and Mike Corder in Amsterdam, Slobodan Lekic in Brussels and Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Dutch airline KLM said it safely flew aircraft without passengers through a window in the cloud of volcanic ash over Europe Sunday, and pressed for an end to the total ban on commercial air traffic that has paralyzed travel across the continent.

Other airlines including Lufthansa and Air France said they, too, were conducting test flights. Authorities, however, extended airspace restrictions across Europe and said there was no end in sight to the plume spewing out of a volcano in Iceland, which they insist is dangerous to planes.

KLM said the planes, of various types in its fleet, flew at normal altitude above 10,000 feet but did not encounter the thick cloud that had hovered over the continent since Wednesday, apparently indicating the Icelandic dust had thinned or dispersed.

A KLM spokeswoman said four flights completed the short flight from Duesseldorf in western Germany without incident and four more planes were due to return to their home base at Schiphol Airport. The airline had permission from Dutch and European aviation authorities before sending the planes aloft.

Engineers immediately took the aircraft for inspection as they landed.

Steven Verhagen, vice president of the Dutch Airline Pilots’ Association and a Boeing 737 pilot for KLM, said he would have no qualms about flying today and his 4,000-member organization was calling for a resumption of flights.

“With the weather we are encountering now — clear blue skies and obviously no dense ash cloud to be seen, in our opinion there is absolutely no reason to worry about resuming flights,” he said.

“We are asking the authorities to really have a good look at the situation, because 100 percent safety does not exist,” Verhagen said. “It’s easy to close down air space because then it’s perfectly safe. But at some time you have to resume flights.”

But meteorologists said the situation above Europe was unstable and constantly changing with the varying winds — and the unpredictability was compounded by the volcano’s irregular eruptions spitting more ash into the sky.

The cloud “won’t be present at all parts of the area at risk at all times, you can see clear area, but it will change, it won’t stand still,” said John Hammond of the British Meteorological Office.

Millions of passengers have had plans foiled or delayed because of a ban on air travel that has gradually expanded over large swaths of Europe since Thursday.

The aviation industry, already reeling from a punishing economic period, is facing at least $200 million in losses every day, according to the International Air Transport Association.

KLM, a subsidiary of Air France, began test flights Saturday with a Boeing 737 flying up to 41,000 feet (13,000 meters), the maximum altitude at which the aircraft is certified to fly.

“We observed no irregularities either during the flight or during the initial inspection on the ground,” said Chief Executive Peter Hartman, who was aboard Saturday’s flight.

The airline planned to return seven airplanes without passengers to Amsterdam from Duesseldorf on Sunday.

“We hope to receive permission as soon as possible after that to start up our operation and to transport our passengers to their destinations,” Hartman said in a statement.

German airlines also conducted flights, but at a lower altitude. German restrictions allow such flights, so long as no passengers are on board.

Lufthansa flew 10 empty long-haul planes to Frankfurt from Munich at heights of between 9,800-26,200 feet (3,000-8,000 meters Saturday under so-called visual flight rules, in which pilots don’t have to rely on their instruments, spokesman Wolfgang Weber said.

He stressed that the flights weren’t tests, and were merely intended to get the planes in the right place at the Frankfurt hub for when restrictions are lifted.

“We simply checked every single aircraft very carefully after the landing in Frankfurt to see whether there was any damage that could have been caused by volcanic ash,” Weber said. “Not the slightest scratch was found on any of the 10 planes.”

German air traffic control said Air Berlin and Condor had carried out similar flights.

Air Berlin, Germany’s second-biggest airline, said it had transferred two planes from Munich to Duesseldorf and another from Nuremberg to Hamburg without problems on Saturday. They flew at 9,840 feet (3,000 meters).

A technical inspection of the aircraft after landing “did not reveal any adverse effects,” the company said.

Air Berlin Chief Executive Joachim Hunold declared himself “amazed” that the results of the German airlines’ flights “did not have any influence whatsoever on the decisions taken by the aviation safety authorities.”

Kyla Evans, spokeswoman for the European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol, said it was up to national aviation authorities to decide whether to open up their airspace. The agency’s role was to coordinate traffic once it was allowed to resume.

Scientists say that because the volcano is situated below a glacial ice cap, magma is being cooled quickly, causing explosions and plumes of grit that can be catastrophic to plane engines, depending on prevailing winds.

“Normally, a volcano spews out ash to begin with and then it changes into lava, but here it continues to spew out ash, because of the glacier,” said Reynir Bodvarsson, director of Swedish National Seismic Network. “It is very special.”

Bodvarsson said the relative weakness of the eruption in Iceland also means the ash remains relatively close to the earth, while a stronger eruption would have catapulted the ash outside of the atmosphere.

In 1989, a KLM Boeing 747 that flew through a volcanic ash cloud above Alaska temporarily lost all four motors. The motors restarted at a lower altitude and the plane eventually landed safely.

The Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, an independent aviation research group based in Sydney, Australia, said it remained unclear whether the closure of much of Europe’s airspace was “a massive overreaction of super-cautious politicians and bureaucrats,” or a genuinely serious event.

The group noted that a similar eruption under a glacier in Iceland in the 1990s, led to minimal disruption, with flights routed around the area.

“It certainly did not lead to region-wide closures of air space. Such has the paranoia around safety and security grown since September 11,” the center said in a statement.

The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation began allowing flights Saturday above Swiss air space as long as the aircraft were at least at 36,000 feet (11,000 meters). It also allowed flights at lower altitudes under visual flight rules, aimed at small, private aircraft.

Air France said it will conduct test flights “to improve knowledge of the impact of the ash cloud on airplanes.” The first flight, in an Airbus A320 carrying no passengers, was to take off Sunday afternoon from an unspecified location in southwest France.

The planes would undergo inspections afterward, Air France said, adding it got approval from the French civil aviation authority for the flights and is in touch with other European airlines doing the same thing.

Germany extended closure of its airports through 1800GMT Sunday and Britain until 0000 GMT. Dutch restrictions also remained in place, though the Dutch Transport Ministry said it was allowing further test flights.

“The goal of these test flights is to make measurements in Dutch airspace about the possible consequences of the ash on the airplane parts, the ministry said in a statement.

Airspace remained closed in Denmark, Finland and most parts of Sweden on Sunday. In Norway, authorities lifted air travel restrictions in the central part of the country, but kept airspace closed in other parts of the country, including the capital, Oslo.

Several world leaders, including President Barack Obama, had to abandon plans to attend the state funeral for Polish President Lech Kaczynski because of ash-related disruptions. Some low-level flights were being allowed in southern Poland, which is how the Polish Air Force was able to ferry the coffins of Kaczynski and his wife from Warsaw to Krakow aboard a prop-powered military cargo plane early Sunday morning.

Southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH’-plah-yer-kuh-duhl) volcano began erupting for the second time in a month on Wednesday, sending ash several miles (kilometers) into the air. Winds have pushed the plume south and east across Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and into the heart of Europe.

The eruption is ongoing and forecasters said light prevailing winds in Europe — and large amounts of unmelted glacial ice above the volcano — mean that the situation in the air is unlikely to change in the coming days.

Around the world, anxious passengers have told stories of missed weddings, business deals and holidays because of the ominous plume. Stranded passengers reported the delays were causing financial hardships. Some had to check out of hotels and sleep in airports.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was heading homeward Sunday in an armored car after spending the night in northern Italy — continuing a long and circuitous return from the United States.

Merkel was diverted to Portugal and continued to Rome on Saturday. The chancellor’s delegation then took to Italy’s highways in a convoy of an armored car and buses.

In Iceland, torrents of water have carried away chunks of ice the size of small houses. More floods from melting waters are expected as long as the volcano keeps erupting — and in 1821, the same volcano managed to erupt for more than a year.

Ritter reported from Stockholm. Associated Press Writers Toby Sterling and Mike Corder in Amsterdam, Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, Angela Charlton in Paris and Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.

By Ben Perry - AFP

• Airlines grounded as volcano ash spreads
• Passengers use any means to get home
• Weather service says ash could last all week

MILLIONS of people face worsening travel chaos as a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland moves further south and east, forcing European countries to extend flight bans.

Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano erupted on Wednesday, sending ash drifting towards Europe at an altitude of about eight to 10 kilometres.

Europe’s three biggest airports – Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt – were closed. The ash cloud is now spreading towards Greece.

With flights grounded all over Europe, stranded holidaymakers and business travellers sought any means possible to get home – or contented themselves with just staying put.

An official for the Eurostar Channel tunnel rail service said thousands more passengers than normal were set to travel on its trains between London and continental Europe on Saturday.

British businessman Tom Noble said he had to buy a women’s bicycle to board a ferry home from France as the operator had no foot passenger tickets left and would only allow him on if he was a genuine cyclist.

Sky News reported comedian John Cleese paid £3000 for a taxi from Norway to Brussels so he could get the Eurostar home to England.

Airport closures
France has shut the three airports in the Paris area and others in the north of the country until 8am (4pm AEST) on Monday due to the ash cloud that has caused the biggest airspace shutdown since World War II.

Italy will not allow any flights in the north of the country until 6am (4pm AEST) Monday, while Britain, Ireland and Germany have shut their airspace until 12pm GMT (10pm AEST) Sunday.

British Airways has also cancelled all flights due to have arrived in and departed London today.

Other European nations also moved to extend their flight bans, including Austria to midnight GMT (10am AEST) today and Belgium to noon GMT (10pm AEST) tpday.

Poland says it’s shutting its airspace “until further notice”.

The closure of Poland’s airspace has stopped world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, from flying to the southern city of Krakow for Sunday’s funeral of president Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria.

The Kaczynski couple were among 96 people, most of them Polish dignitaries, killed in a plane crash in Russia last Saturday on their way to a World War II memorial service.

About 17,000 flights in European airspace yesterday were cancelled due to the cloud of volcanic ash, said Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic control in 38 nations.

A normal Saturday would see 22,000 flights in Europe. Eurocontrol said only about 5000 were able to operate.

Out of 337 scheduled flights by US carriers to and from Europe, 282 were cancelled yesterda, according to the Air Transport Association.

The impact is likely to exceed the airspace shutdown after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the International Civil Aviation Organisation said.

Justifying the widespread airport closures, aviation officials have explained that aircraft engines could become clogged up and stop working if they tried to fly through the ash.

In the past 20 years, there have been 80 recorded encounters between aircraft and volcanic clouds, causing the near-loss of two Boeing 747s with almost 500 people on board and damage to 20 other planes, experts said.

Ash could stay all week
Winds blowing the massive cloud eastward from Iceland to Russia will continue in the same direction for at least two days and could go on until the middle of the week, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said today.

“The ash will continue to be directed towards Britain and Scandinavia,” Teitur Arason, a meteorologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.

“That’s the general situation for the coming days… more or less for the next two days or maybe the next four or five days,” he said.

The volcanic ash cloud is heading towards Greece as it moves further south as well as east into Russia, Britain’s meteorological group the Met Office said.

Economic fallout huge
The International Air Transport Association meanwhile has warned of the economic fallout from the volcano eruption in southeast Iceland.

According to their figures it’s costing airlines more than $US200 million ($A214.04 million) a day.

LUFTHANSA pilots have cancelled their threatened four-day strike following successful negotiations between the carrier and their union, Cockpit. Both parties will now enter mediation.

The strike would have affected Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, and subsidiary Germanwings and run from 13-16 April.

The dispute over wages and job security has been growing for several months now. In February, an initial walk-out by pilots cost Lufthansa €48 million (US$64 million) before the company managed to persuade the German courts that the strike was illegal.