Cheap Airline Tickets / Airline News

Xiamen Airlines became the first carrier to cancel a firm order for Boeing’s 787 aircraft, said Flight International, citing an unnamed person close to the airplane maker.

The Chinese airline canceled three 787 orders as part of a review, which may include switching the 787s for six 737-800s, the London-based trade publication said on its Web site. (more…)

Brazilian airline Varig suspended 27 flights on Friday, the country’s airport management company Infraero said.

Varig, which is on the edge of bankruptcy, suspended 27 flights, 13 of them from Rio de Janeiro.

As well as that, Brasilia airport sealed one of its runways for 90 minutes after a Varig aircraft lost a part of its landing gear, after the plane had already landed safely. (more…)

HIGH POINT — Josephine Tyburski spent 44 years working for Alitalia SpA — the Italian national airline — in New York. After receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer in 2004, she came to High Point to be with her daughter and to get medical treatment here.

She and her family expected that the airline would help take care of her. It had promised to do so by paying for extra medical bills, said Tyburski’s daughter Georgina Bell, 35.

It didn’t end up that way. (more…)

U.S$3.5 billion of net assets have been wiped off the opening balance of airlines on transition under IFRS, according to KPMG International’s Disclosure Handbook: Accounting and Financial Reporting in the Global Airline Industry which is launched today at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Paris.

KPMG International surveyed the 2005 public financial regulatory filings of 23 of the world’s airlines, including Air France, KLM, British Airways, and United that currently or in the near future will report under U.S. GAAP or IFRS. The report aims to highlight some of the key financial reporting trends and issues that impact airlines. It considers their critical accounting policies, disclosures around transition from previous GAAP to IFRS; and disclosure of risk (or cautionary factors). (more…)

The Managing Director, Dr. Yele Akinrolabu and his team is about concluding a deal to acquire a leading airline in Nigeria to boost its operation. In the next few months, NICON Airways is expected to be one of the country’s top domestic commercial airlines.

Airlines in Nigeria desirous of operating local routes were asked to have a minimum capital base of N500 million, N1 billion for those that are to ply the regional routes and N2 billion for airlines eyeing international routes.

June 10 (Bloomberg) — Malaysian Airline System Bhd., the nation’s largest carrier, said 4,200 employees, or about 18 percent of its total workforce, have taken up an offer to quit, part of the airline’s plans to cut costs and return to profit.

In addition, 1,171 employees will retire within the next two years and there will be 2,761 staff whose short-term contracts will end between three months and five years, the company said on its Web site yesterday.

The airline, based in the Malaysian state of Selangor, said on May 22 it expected to spend as much as 850 million ringgit ($232 million) reducing its workforce by between 3,500 and 5,000 in the biggest round of job cuts in the Southeast Asian country. (more…)

Worldspan has signed a five-year global distribution and airline hosting partnership with MAXjet, the first all-business class airline offering everyday low fares on transatlantic flights.

To support MAXjet’s core operations, Worldspan developed, operates and maintains end-to-end reservations and departure control systems for the airline. (more…)

June 8 (Bloomberg) — Shares of Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense SA, Brazil’s biggest international carrier, tumbled 32 percent after an auction for the bankrupt company’s assets attracted a single bid from an employee-led group. (more…)

PARIS (Reuters) — Global airlines are set to lose $3 billion in 2006, barely recovering from $3.2 billion of losses in 2005 as they contend with rising fuel bills, industry lobby group IATA said on Monday.

IATA, which represents 261 airlines handling 94% of the world’s scheduled air traffic, had previously forecast $2.2 billion of combined losses in 2006. But oil prices have hit new peaks while the dollar’s decline also hurts many airlines. (more…)

Continental Airlines announced Tuesday it had placed orders for another 10 787s, doubling down on two previous deals.The Dreamliners were part of a 34-jet order for the Houston-based airline, which also ordered 24 737s.

Terms were not disclosed. The deal is worth about $3 billion at list prices, or perhaps $2.25 billion after what analysts say are typical discounts for 737s and 787s. (more…)