One moment Austrian Airlines'cargo department was boasting of itsexcellent links between Asia and thegrowing market of Eastern Europe.The next moment, its parent carrierannounced that the Asian half of thatequation is to be severely curtailed. From this year, a whole swathe oflong-haul routes have been binnedat the carrier, which is retiring theremaining four A330 aircraft from itsfleet. At the same time the carrier willadd a fourth and final 777, and, alongwith six 767s, these aircraft will … [Read more...] about EUROPE: Austrian hit by capacity cuts

The Italian government has failedto attract any preliminary bids forbankrupt Alitalia from potential majorairline partners. The only significant internationalbid came from US airline buyout specialistTexas Pacific private investmentfirm - which bought and turned aroundContinental Airlines in the US in 1993with strong attacks on unions. It is part of a group that last monthagreed to buy Australia's Qantas. Air France-KLM did not make apreliminary bid. It has previously saidthat Alitalia … [Read more...] about EUROPE: Alitalia fails to attract real bids

For the first time, the EuropeanCommission (EC) has withdrawn twocarriers from the list of banned airlines,after the carriers took decisive actionto remedy their failings. African cargo carrier DAS Air Cargo,Dairo Air Services (Uganda / Kenya)and Thailand's Phuket Air have beenremoved from the list of banned airlines,after proving to the Commissionthat they have now rectified the serioussafety deficiencies that originally led totheir banning from Europe. According to Jacques Barrot, … [Read more...] about EUROPE: EC updates airline ‘blacklist’

Russian flag carrier Aeroflot hassigned a memorandum of understandingfor 22 Airbus A350XWB aircraft.Aeroflot's decision brings the totalnumber of orders and commitments forthe Airbus A350XWB to 248. Aeroflotwill also further increase its Airbus fleetwith ten new A330-200s, which will beacquired on operating lease. Aeroflot was the first Airbus customerand operator in Russia, withA310s entering service back in 1992. Itwas also the first airline in the CIS tooperate the A319 and A321. … [Read more...] about Russia: Aeroflot picks Airbus A350XWB

Following the completion of thedesign by Logopark Amur LLC, theconstruction of a new logistic centre inKhabarovsk in the Russian Far East inAugust, SeaNews Agency reported. The complex will be constructedunder the project "Megalogics", whichprovides for the construction of severalmodern warehouses of "A" class in 14of Russia's largest cities. The Megalogicsproject is an initiative of the RussianAvalon Group and an affiliate ofthe British investment group, … [Read more...] about Russia: New logistics centre in Khabarovsk