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For the second year in a row, Scandinavian Airlines has been awarded a WEBBIE Award by Flight Global. The The Webbies, now in its fourth year, celebrates the best and brightest in aviation websites and social media activities, by the leading global aviation and aerospace website FlightGlobal.com.The FlightGlobal family also included renowned aviation magazines Flight International and Airline Business. SAS was awarded the Webbie for best use of social media for the “Summerplane... Read Full Story

ARC, the financial settlement link between airlines and travel sellers, reported today that the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S.-based travel agencies increased 10.7 percent * in the first month of 2012 compared to January 2011, and 22.3 percent over the same period in 2010. January 2012 ticket sales totalled $7.3 billion, compared to $6.6 billion in 2011, and $5.9 billion in 2010. Year-to-date passenger segments in January 2012 fell 2.3 percent – at 27.7 million... Read Full Story

Finnair is beginning discussions with potential cooperation partners on forming a joint venture for a cost effective expansion of the company’s presence in the Nordic countries. The potential joint venture would accelerate Finnair’s Nordic Champion strategy, and the aim is to establish new bases and expand the company’s network in the Nordic Countries. “The potential joint venture would expand our home base to cover the entire Nordic region,” says Mika Vehviläinen, Finnair CEO. “This requires... Read Full Story

Airlines for America commended Congress for its bipartisan leadership in passing the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 , a comprehensive bill that will help make air travel even more safe and efficient for passengers and shippers while avoiding further tax increases for customers and airlines. “We commend Congress for passing a responsible bill that recognizes that commercial aviation is central to America’s global competitiveness and a key enabler of job growth and U.S. productivity... Read Full Story

The growth in scheduled flights worldwide continues again in February with airlines providing 5% more flights. In line with the general worldwide trend for larger aircraft, this translates to a slightly larger capacity increase (of 6%) as the average available seats in February 2012 nudges towards 127 per aircraft versus 125 in the same period last year. This marks the ninth consecutive month of growth compared to the same period last year, according to the latest statistics from OAG , a UBM... Read Full Story

Flight Attendants from over 20 airlines, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), and concerned citizens from across the country will hold an OccuFLY protest at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, February 6. Flight Attendants and supporters will protest the latest attack on collective bargaining rights included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill. “The FAA reauthorization should be focused on addressing the pressing safety issues... Read Full Story

US Airways Group, Inc. today announced January 2012 traffic results. Mainline revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for the month were 4.6 billion, up 3.8 percent versus January 2011. Mainline capacity was 5.9 billion available seat miles (ASMs), up 3.1 percent versus January 2011. Mainline passenger load factor was a record 78.8 percent for the month of January, up 0.5 points versus January 2011. US Airways’ President Scott Kirby said, “Our January consolidated (mainline and Express) passenger... Read Full Story

SAS Group CEO commented to Planegrazy how they will improve the airline in 2012: “Positive income before nonrecurring items for the full-year 2011 but greater challenges in 2012 - Spanair’s bankruptcy implies an impairment charge of SEK 1.7 billion.” We were unable to deliver marginally positive earnings for the full-year 2011 as previously communicated due to Spanair filing for bankruptcy and the subsequent requisite impairment corresponding to SEK 1.7 billion. As dissatisfactory as... Read Full Story

Finnair continues to optimize its narrow body fleet and has signed an agreement on the sublease of four Embraer 170 aircraft to Estonian Air. The sublease opportunity is in part made possible by Finnair’s continued work on network optimization and rationalization, and the company achieves considerable savings with this agreement. Fleet optimization is a part of Finnair’s savings program that targets annual savings of 140 million euros. The sublease periods begin in the first quarter of 2012... Read Full Story

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that full year 2011 passenger demand rose 5.9% compared to 2010, in line with long-term growth trends. In contrast, cargo markets contracted by 0.7% for the year; but recorded positive demand growth in December of 0.2%. Growth in demand lagged capacity increases at 6.3% (passenger) and 4.1% (cargo) putting downward pressure on load factors. The average passenger load factor for 2011 was 78.1%, down from 78.3% in 2010, while the... Read Full Story