Airline News March 2005

Airguide Online, March 30, 2005

Mar 14, 2005

Air France

Air France is boosting itsservice to eastern Europe this summer by offering three new destinations. Belgrade will have a daily flight; Ljubljana in Slovenia will have twodaily flights; and Zagreb will also have two daily flights, including oneoperated by Croatia Airlines. Thissummer the networks partners Air France and KLM are coordinated due to a regularservice of 15 round trips per day between Paris Charles de Gaulle and AmsterdamSchiphol, forming Europe's. Servicebetween the French regions and Amsterdam give these areas full access to the KLMnetwork, thus supplementing Air France's capacity. Air France also code-shares with KLM to a number of long-hauldestinations including Aruba, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain,Bonaire, Jakarta, Curacao, Guayaquil, Kuala Lumpur, Lima, Manila, Quito,as well to 15 European destinations http://www.airfrance.com

Mar 28, 2005

Air India

Air India is to introduce a three times weekly service from Birmingham to Amritsar and onward to Delhi on 15 May. The three class Boeing 777 will also operate to Toronto. Under an agreement that dates back over many years Air India also has a daily service to JFK from Heathrow, this time using a Boeing 747. http://www.airindia.com

Mar 21, 2005

Air Jamaica

Air Jamaica suspended flights to Grenada, St. Lucia and Barbados until April 16 in an effort to comply with local safety regulations. There is concern in some quarters that the suspended service will impact travel during the busy Easter holiday. The decision came a month after Air Jamaica pulled half its 20 planes out of service and canceled several U.S. and Britain-bound flights after a U.S. Federal Aviation audit raised questions about the airline's maintenance schedule. The airline's new board of directors is leading a major restructuring plan that includes cutting employees' salaries, trimming staff size by 10 percent and reducing or eliminating some flights.

Mar 23, 2005

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand appointed a star chef from one of Los Angeles' top restaurants as the airline's new menu consultant on flights originating from the United States to New Zealand. Govind Armstrong, executive chef and partner of the trendy Table 8 Restaurant, will help develop a completely new menu for Air New Zealand's Business Premier Class and Pacific Premium Economy Class travelers. The new menu options are expected to become available this summer, coinciding with the unveiling of Air New Zealand's new long-haul service.

Mar 4, 2005

Airbus

Airbus to start testing emergency escapes on A380 this summer. In an emergency, all 853 passengers on an Airbus A380 superjumbo jet must escape from the plane in 90 seconds. Airbus will test emergency evacuations this summer at a plant in Hamburg, Germany, the Wall Street Journal reports. The A380 is set to complete its first flight test in April. The A380 escape process features rubber slides made by Goodrich that stretch out 53 feet, longer than the usual 40 feet.

Mar 22, 2005

Airbus

Airbus coy about A380's appearance at Paris Air Show. Airbus said it has not decided if it will exhibit its A380 superjumbo jet at the Paris Air Show in June, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. However, a source at Boeing said Airbus has reserved space for the giant plane. Boeing will display its 777-200LR, the jetliner with the longest range in history.