Air Transport World

A Malaysian government official said this week the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 had entered a course to the southern Indian Ocean on his home flight simulator, the New York Times, AP and other news organizations are reporting.

Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will cut its double daily Zurich-Istanbul Ataturk flights from Oct. 29.

Germany-based airberlin has signed a codeshare agreement with UK-based regional airline Flybe that will increase connectivity between their two countries and beyond.

Russian airlines carried 38.1 million passengers in the 2016 first half, down 7.6% year-over-year (YOY).

Rome Ciampino Airport (CIA) will be temporarily closed from late Oct. 14 through Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. local time for runway maintenance and upgrades.

British Airways (BA) has completed a major makeover of 18 of the airline’s Boeing 747s to give them the look and feel of their newest aircraft, with 16 additional Club World lie-flat seats and state-of-the-art inflight entertainment systems.

FAA is opening up approximately 1,400 new entry-level air traffic control specialist (ATCS) positions and will accept applications Aug. 8-15, the agency announced Aug. 2.

Aircraft News-Aug. 4, 2016

Global air passenger traffic growth is up 6% year-over-year in the 1H 2016, according to IATA’s latest Air Passenger Market Analysis.

Four Southwest Airlines unions are calling for the resignations of CEO Gary Kelly and COO Mike Van de Ven, citing what they call “leadership failures.”

July’s Farnborough Airshow produced a boost for European OEM Airbus, with sales at the UK event contributing toward a total of 146 single- and twin-aisle sales over the month.

Canada’s two biggest airlines continue to focus on growing international business, despite recent challenges.

Air France estimates the week-long cabin crew strike, which ended Aug. 2, will cost the company more than €90 million ($100 million).

The United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) will produce a preliminary report into the Aug. 3 crash of an Emirates Airline Boeing 777-300 at Dubai International Airport within a month, the regulator said Aug. 4.

Polish flag carrier LOT has denied press reports that its Chinese counterpart Air China is considering taking a 49% stake in the eastern European airline.

A relaunched version of Russia’s Ilyushin Il-114 regional airliner will be assembled at the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod, a part of MiG Corp.

HNA Group subsidiary Hainan Airlines has completed a deal for a 23.7% stake in Brazil’s Azul Airlines, with a $450 million investment.

Panama City-based Copa Holdings posted net income of $54.5 million for the 2016 second quarter, down 14.9% from a net income of $64.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Worldwide air freight market demand rose 4.3% year-over-year (YOY) in June—the sector’s biggest rise since April 2015—according to IATA’s Air Freight Market Analysis.

MRO Briefs-Aug. 3, 2016

Germany-based airberlin will increase flights to the US up to 50% by summer 2017, from 55 to 78 weekly nonstop flights from Berlin and Dusseldorf compared to this summer.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched premium economy class on Airbus A380 flights from New York JFK to Frankfurt and Singapore.

Air cargo operator Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings posted 2016 second-quarter net income of $20.6 million, down 27.5% from the $28.4 million net profit the company reported in the year-ago quarter.

Emirates Airline suffered its first-ever hull loss accident on Aug. 3 when a Boeing 777-300 crash-landed at Dubai’s International Airport and burst into flames.

The European Commission (EC) is to demand that several airlines operating into the Italian island of Sardinia pay back what have been deemed unfair subsidies.