Finnair’s third A330 aircraft will make its first commercial flight to Delhi on 20 May after which it will start regular scheduled flights between the Indian capital and New York. The new A330 aircraft are part of a major long haul fleet renewal which will see Finnair take delivery of a total of five new A330s this year. … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Finnair’s latest A330 on Delhi route

Swiss WorldCargo, the air freight division of Swiss International Air Lines, has announced plans to implement short-time work for its personnel from June 1, in response to what it said were “continuing substantial declines in airfreight volumes.” The carrier, now part of the Lufthansa Group, which earlier this year put its staff on shorter working hours, has said that the adoption of short-time working is intended to retain jobs in the current global economic crisis, and is … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Swiss WorldCargo to implement short-time work

Airbus parent EADS reported firstquarter net income of €170 million (US$232 million), down 40 per cent from €285 million a year earlier, as net commercial aircraft orders dropped dramatically year-on-year to eight compared to 395 in last year’s firstquarter. First-quarter revenue fell 14 per cent to €8.47 billion and EBIT fell 70 per cent to €232 million. Airbus’s revenue declined 21 per cent to €5.88 billion as it delivered 116 aircraft … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: EADS first-quarter profit tumbles 40%

Rhenus Freight Logistics and Lufthansa Cargo have signed an agreement aimed at winning more air freight business from medium-sized European companies shipping to the US, Asia and Middle East. Rhenus, which has annual turnover of some €3.3 billion (US$4.5 billion), said it would introduce its European shipper customers to Lufthansa Cargo as part of the preferred partner deal. “Our customers obtain reliable and high-quality services for their air freight in return,” added … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: Rhenus & Lufthansa team up to boost volumes

Further cuts in global freighter capacity are inevitable because of unsustainable loss-making among airlines, according to Europe’s biggest all-cargo carrier. Robert van de Weg, senior VP for sales and marketing at Cargolux, said demand was down by 20-25 per cent, but estimated that capacity had only been reduced by 10-12 per cent. “So there is quite a lot still to come out, “ he added, saying Cargolux had reduced its services by around 10 per cent. Most of the … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: More freighter capacity cuts likely