A huge fourth-quarter loss related to the collapse of Iceland’s banking and financial sector last fall dragged Icelandair Group to a ISK7.47 billion (US$65.9 million) full-year deficit, reversed from a ISL257 million profit in 2007. Revenue soared 77.7 per cent year-over-year to ISK112.74 billion owing largely to a more than- threefold increase in aircraft and crew leasing revenue. Operating loss of ISK5.69 billion compared to a ISK2.34 billion profit in the prior year. Fuel costs nearly … [Read more...] about Icelandair

New Delhi-based LCC SpiceJet plans to start international operations in May 2010 and is considering launching a regional subsidiary to provide feed. According to press reports from India, SpiceJet is limiting its international ambitions to Asia for now. “We are currently evaluating the potential markets. The plan is to utilise the current fleet, which is capable of taking flight operations for destinations in the Asian continent,” CEO SanjayAggarwal told The Economic Times. … [Read more...] about SpiceJet

Air New Zealand is concerned that France’s Bureau d’Enqueteset d’Analyses released its 53-page interim report on the November A320 crash to the media before it was provided tothe airline, in addition to the fact that ANZ has not been given access to either the CVR or the FDR. BEA said the A320’s pilots,who worked for XL Airways, were conducting a low-speed teston approach to Perpignan when they lost control and crashedinto the Mediterranean Sea, killing seven. … [Read more...] about Air New Zealand

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says the total number of fatalities from aviation accidents dropped from 692 in 2007 to 502 in 2008, resulting in a 56 per cent improvement in the fatality rate from 0.23 fatalities per million passengers to 0.13 per million. The global accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jet aircraft) stood at 0.81, equal to one accident for every 1.2 million flights. This is slightly down on 2007, when the accident rate … [Read more...] about International Air Transport Association

Qantas Freight will continue to offer wide body international freight capacity across the Tasman when passenger schedules change from 10 June. Group general manager Qantas Freight, Stephen Cleary, said a number of alternatives were being evaluated to retain wide body freight capacity following changes to the carrier’s Tasman passenger schedule, which will seeincreased use of cargo-restricted B737 flights. … [Read more...] about Qantas Freight