Lufthansa conducts electric taxi trials on A320

Boeing gears up to deliver its first 747-8 passenger version

Boeing will make first delivery of the passenger version of its upgraded and overdue 747-8 on February 28 to an unidentified VIP customer, the world's second-largest planemaker said on Tuesday. The company said in an email that it will mark the delivery of the airplane dubbed the Intercontinental with an event near Seattle featuring program leaders and test pilots. The first airline set to receive an Intercontinental is Germany's Lufthansa, which has ordered 20.

The freighter version of the 747-8 was first delivered in October, capping a development delay of about two years. Boeing, which competes with Airbus for sales, has 36 orders for the passenger plane on its books with nine attributed to unidentified VIPs. The Intercontinental can seat 467 passengers and lists at more than $330 million.

Brace yourselves frequent fliers in India, the aviation industry is about to hit some turbulence

It looks like Indian airlines are not the only ones sweating under the pressure of high operating costs and increasing threats from the competition: even international carriers are feeling the heat and starting to cut capacity to India. That could mean bad news for passengers because ticket prices, at least on some international routes, could rise in the face of reduced competition.

On Monday, Austria’s largest airline, Austrian Airlines, which operates a global route network of around 130 destinations, said it is discontinuing flights in the Mumbai-Vienna sector from March 25 as the route has became unprofitable because of the challenging economic situation and intensifying competition from other airlines.  Unless there is reform in the aviation sector, especially in the matters of jet fuel prices and undercutting of ticket prices by Air India, we’re likely to see more airlines cutting down their operations in India.

Austrian Airline’s CEO, Jaan Albrecht, said in a statement that, “From the summer of 2012 onwards, we shall be sharply increasing flight frequencies to our core markets in Eastern Europe, and building up capacity to the Middle East in a trade-off with the destination of Mumbai.” It’s not the only airline to cite problems with operating in India, which is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. Local carriers are already floundering massively operating on domestic routes. While passenger traffic has climbed in leaps and bounds in recent years, operating costs, cut-throat price wars and a skewed policy environment mean that more than 80 percent of Indian carriers are losing money. Kingfisher Airlines is a stark case in point.

Not surprisingly, even international airlines are wilting under the same set of pressures. According to a report in the Business Standard, global airline Air France announced that it is reducing its frequency to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to six flights a week, ostensibly to adjust with lower demand in summer, although it’s likely that tough operating conditions would also have played a part that decision.  In the past year, more than five foreign airlines have withdrawn flights from the Mumbai and Delhi routes, citing high operating costs, including high airport and fuel charges. These include AirAsia, Air AsiaX, Thai AirAsia, FinnAir and Virgin Atlantic. Just last month, American Airlines announced it would discontinue its Delhi flights, while Lufthansa also halted its flights to Kolkata.

Other leading global airlines like British Airways, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have also said they would rethink their plans of flying in and out of Delhi if airport charges are increased by a whopping 280 percent, according to the newspaper report.  Unfortunately, it looks like their problems are just about to multiply because flying out of Mumbai could also get more expensive as the airport operator, MIAL, is in the process of acquiring 16 acres of nearby land, according to another Business Standard report. This expansion cost is likely to result in higher airport development fees, which currently stands at Rs 600 for an international passenger and Rs 100 for a domestic passenger.

Of course, we already know about high jet fuel prices: fuel costs account for nearly half the operating cost of domestic carriers. High sales tax on jet fuel is a big culprit here — about 24 percent , one of the highest in the world. There has been talk of allowing foreign carriers to take up to a 49 percent stake in local carriers, which might ease some financial pressure off local carriers.  But what of international ones? Unless there is reform in the aviation sector, especially in the matters of jet fuel prices and undercutting of ticket prices by Air India, we’re likely to see more airlines cutting down their operations in India.

For fliers, that can only mean higher prices from the airlines that stay back.

Boeing's new 747-800 Intercontinental

Boeing unveiled its new B747-800 Intercontinental, the new high-capacity passenger airplane that offers airlines the lowest operating costs and best economics of any large passenger airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance. Approximately 10,000 guests, including customers, Boeing employees, government officials, partners and suppliers, gathered in the factory in Everett, Wash., to witness the premiere of the Intercontinental at an event themed "Incredible, Again." Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Albaugh said the newest 747 incorporates technological advancements that make it an extremely productive airplane for customers.

"The new B747-800 Intercontinental features the latest in innovative technologies — applying many of the breakthroughs also found on the 787 Dreamliner," said Albaugh. "We think our customers will value the low operating costs and passengers will enjoy the comfort of the striking new interior."

"The B747-800 Intercontinental will be a great complement to our fleet, fitting nicely into the 400-seat category, improving our fleet's eco-efficiency even further," said Nico Buchholz, executive vice president, Lufthansa Group Fleet Management. "As launch customer, we are looking forward to welcoming this new aircraft to our fleet next year as it adds to our ongoing fleet modernization and environmental efforts." Korean Air and VIP customers have joined launch customer Lufthansa in ordering a total of 33 B747-800 Intercontinentals. First delivery of the B747-800 Intercontinental is scheduled for the fourth quarter.

"As the only airplane in the 400 to 500-seat market, the B747-800 Intercontinental will give operators an airplane perfectly suited for long, heavily traveled routes around the world," said Pat Shanahan, vice president and general manager, Airplane Programs, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The new B747-800 Intercontinental will set a new standard in economic and environmental performance, while providing a world-class passenger experience."
The B747-800 Intercontinental will have the lowest seat-mile cost of any large commercial jetliner, with 12 percent lower costs than its predecessor, the 747-400. The airplane provides 16 percent better fuel economy, 16 percent less carbon emissions per passenger and generates a 30 percent smaller noise footprint than the 747-400. The 747-8 Intercontinental applies interior features from the 787 Dreamliner that includes a new curved, upswept architecture giving passengers a greater feeling of space and comfort, while adding more room for personal belongings.

The airplane unveiled today is painted in a new Sunrise livery of red-orange that only will appear on the first B747-800 Intercontinental and is a significant departure from Boeing's standard blue. The new color palette honors many key Boeing customers whose cultures recognize these colors as symbols of prosperity and good luck.

Lufthansa cargo plane crashes in Saudi airport

A Lufthansa MD11 cargo plane crashed at the Saudi capital's international airport on Tuesday but there were no casualties, the airline and the kingdom's civil aviation authority said. Two crew members were taken to hospital to undergo treatment for minor injuries. The firefighters have contained the fire, a spokesman for the General Authority of Civil Aviation reported. The two pilots exited the plane using emergency escape slides. There were no other crew members on board the aircraft. The MD-11 freighter carrying an 80-tonne load crashed at 1138 local time as it was arriving in Riyadh, Lufthansa Cargo said. The aircraft, which has been heavily damaged, was on its way from Frankfurt to Hong Kong via Riyadh and Sharjah. Europe's biggest cargo carrier said it was sending a team of experts to Riyadh to help investigate the cause of the crash. An airport official told Reuters the plane veered off the runway on landing: "It did not stop until the Royal Terminal runway. Soon after smoke started to emerge, followed by a fire". A local television channel earlier reported the cargo plane had split in half.

Cargo absolutely booming - Lufthansa

"The cargo business is currently absolutely booming. For the first time in over 10 years we are seeing not just strong imports out of China, but also strong exports to China," Stephan Gemkow said.
Demand in China for goods made in the United States and in Europe is rising as wages improve and markets open. Trade data published on Saturday showed that imports rose 34.1 percent in June.
At the same time, exports rose 43.9 percent, giving China a USD$20 billion trade surplus.
Global industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last month that demand for both air travel and air freight rose strongly in May and now exceeds levels seen before the global economic downturn.
Air cargo is seen as a leading indicator of the health of global trade. Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, on Friday reported a 20 percent rise in June cargo.

Few flights resume services in Europe

3 flights bound to New York, Dubai and Shanghai left Amsterdam on Monday night with at least 800 passengers. The EU Transport Commissioner is confident that some more flights might resume services on Tuesday. The Volcanic ash cloud over the Europe has crippled all major airlines and has stranded 1000's of passengers in different parts of the world. British Airways and Lufthansa had carried out test flight's and see no problems in resuming services. The British Airways sent a B747 for its test flight, on board the test flight was their CEO.
The bad news is that the volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthen and is moving East towards UK. IATA sees losses worse than post 9/11 because of this airspace closure in Europe