Hijack scare halts US flights

Two aircraft were quarantined for 90 minutes at New York’s JFK airport yesterday after a telephone threat to the Port Authority.
An American airlines flight from San Francisco and a Finn Air flight from Helsinki were moved to a remote area of the airport following a series of hoax calls that were made claiming a number of hijacks were planned on US flights, according to reports.
Air marshals and the FBI were said to have boarded the aircraft to investigate and one of the airport’s runways was shut down.
American Airlines issued a statement saying: “We generally don’t comment on security issues, but our people are trained to work with authorities to thoroughly assess these types of threats - both credible and non-credible.
“We recommend reaching out to the Port Authority Police Department for additional information.”
Source:www.breakingtravelnews.com

China-Japan Dispute Affecting Flights

 

Flights from China to Japan have been affected amid increasingly angry protests over a territorial dispute between the two countries.
All Nippon Airways reported a rise in cancellations on Japan-bound flights from China.
Some Japanese companies have also temporarily shut factories and shops in China while Chinese state media warned on Monday that Japan could suffer another "lost decade" if trade ties sour.
The dispute follows Japan's decision last week to buy disputed East China Sea islands, which Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu, from a private Japanese owner.
(Reuters)

Lufthansa To Present Low-Cost Airline Plan

 

Lufthansa management will present a strategy update to the supervisory board on Wednesday including plans for a new European low-cost airline, German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche said in its Monday edition.
A spokesman for Lufthansa declined to comment on the supervisory board meeting, adding that no strategy decisions are to be expected on Wednesday.
Separately, WirtschaftsWoche, citing unnamed sources, said strikes could have cost the German airline EUR€100 million (USD$131 million) if the lost revenue from passengers who booked with rival airlines as a result of the actions was factored in.
Lufthansa said it was too early to put a final figure on the cost of industrial action and reiterated the strikes were said to have resulted in lost revenue in the double-digit million euro range.
Around 1,737 flights were cancelled during the strikes, with 187,614 passengers impacted, employee magazine Lufthanseat said in its most recent edition. Another 165,598 passengers were hit by delays, the employee publication further said.
(Reuters)

Air Nigeria Closes In Latest Aviation Setback

International carrier Air Nigeria said it would terminate operations on Monday due to "staff disloyalty and environmental challenges", the latest setback for the country's aviation industry after a rival's plane crash in June killed 163 people.
Privately-owned Air Nigeria was part of Richard Branson's Virgin group until he pulled out in 2010, selling his minority stake.
It operated flights across West Africa and to London.
It is now shutting down operations and sacking over 500 staff in a move that has prompted union protests over alleged unfair dismissal and unpaid salaries.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority suspended Air Nigeria in June due to financial concerns, although some flights were allowed to continue.
Several Nigerian airlines have folded in recent years due to lack of finance or poor safety.
"Corporations are like individuals, who naturally will get sick, and the usual thing to do is to admit them to hospitals, either for corporate surgery or for treatment, as the case may be," a statement from the company's Chairman Jimoh Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim said Air Nigeria would close operations for at least a year but he hoped to resurrect the airline in the future.
Dana Air flight 992, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, crashed into an apartment block in a populated Lagos suburb in June, killing 153 people onboard and 10 others on the ground.
Air crashes are relatively common in Africa's most populous nation, although Air Nigeria was never involved.
The aviation ministry cleared Dana to fly again last week even though the accident bureau has not concluded its investigation into the crash.
(Reuters)

AirAsia To Be First A320 Operator With Sharklets

Low-cost carrier AirAsia will be the first airline to sport fuel-saving sharklet wing tips on an A320 plane from December, Airbus said at the Berlin air show on Tuesday.
The bent-back wing tips offer fuel savings of about 4 percent. Airbus completed the first new-build A320 equipped with sharklets in Toulouse in April and previously said it expected the first member of the family to enter service from the fourth quarter of 2012.
AirAsia is Asia's largest budget carrier and last year placed a record-breaking USD$18 billion order for 200 of Airbus's fuel-saving A320neo jets.
The airline is close to a further deal to buy up to 100 A320 jets, although an order may not be ready to be announced in Berlin, sources familiar with the matter said last week.
(Reuters)