UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) announced that the civil aviation sector in the UAE continued recording higher growth rates in February 2010 compared to the same month last year.

Growth was noted across all operations including aviation, air safety, security, infrastructure, transportation, licensing and aeromedical as well as many transactions which are related to the civil aviation sector and ancillary operations in the UAE.

GCAA’s monthly report of February 2010 showed that total UAE air traffic movements were 47.8 thousand, an increase of almost 12.7% compared to the 42.4 thousand movements in February 2009. (continue reading…)

Turkey’s national carrier, Turkish Airlines, or THY, is aiming to expand its passenger capacity and market share in the central European country of Hungary, where it says it has seen great interest in the airline.

The company plans to increase the number of passengers utilizing THY’s flight services in Hungary, said Levend Ar?soy, THY’s director-general in the country.

THY participated in the 33rd International Budapest Tourism Fair last week and drew a good response, Ar?soy said. (continue reading…)

Asia and Pacific nations vowed Saturday to fight emerging terror threats to commercial aircraft by boosting international security standards and measures, including screening technology.

The declaration was made in Tokyo at a one-day meeting attended by ministers and senior officials from 17 countries, plus Hong Kong and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Aviation Security was held in response to an aborted terror attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 approaching Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano noted that the 289 people aboard the plane were from 18 countries including Australia, Japan, Canada, India, Pakistan and China.
(continue reading…)

Picture an airline that is having a super sale. When I say super, I mean SUPER. Selling tickets for only $0.19 USD (well it was for 1 Danish crown, but that equals about $0.19). Then picture a second airline whose employees go and buy out hundreds of the $0.19 tickets, not letting real passengers purchase them. Too crazy to happen? Think again.

Norwegian Air Shuttle, to celebrate a new route between Copenhagen and Karup, were offering the super cheap airfares. Danish airline Cimber Sterling employees saw a good opportunity to take advantage of the low fares.
(continue reading…)

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an emergency airworthiness directive demanding that airlines check a mechanism that controls tail flaps on about 600 Boeing 737s.

The directive was issued Friday and concerns flaps on the horizontal tails of the jets. On March 2, a Ryanair 737-800 en route from the Netherlands to Madrid, Spain, experienced severe vibrations in flight and had to make an unscheduled landing in Belgium.
(continue reading…)

Airline stocks have been flying high in 2010 thanks to renewed hopes over an economic recovery, an uptick in business travel, and a stronger dollar. The Claymore/NYSE Arca Airline ETF (FAA) has shot higher on the news, gaining nearly 5% on the week and 15% so far on the year. A slight pullback in oil prices–one of the primary negative factors weighing on the airline industry–has also added momentum to FAA in recent sessions. Ongoing concerns over the financial health of Europe have boosted the greenback, which generally moves in the opposite direction of oil.
(continue reading…)

European antitrust regulators on Wednesday took a step toward approving an expanded alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia after the airlines offered to give up landing and takeoff slots at airports serving London and New York.

The European Commission said the three airlines, all members of the Oneworld alliance, had offered to cede slots at Heathrow, Gatwick and Kennedy Airports.
(continue reading…)

United Airlines is seeing passenger revenue rise faster than the rest of the airline industry, with business travel and other high-end fares picking up.

The carrier said on Tuesday that January passenger revenue for each mile it flew rose 10.5 percent. That gain is three times bigger than the airline industry as a whole.
(continue reading…)

AirAsia, one of the leading no-frills airlines, plans to expand flight route in India. It plans to add four direct flights connecting Bangkok with Kolkata, New Delhi, Amritsar and Mumbai from May this year.

“New Delhi and Mumbai sectors will be serviced by Air Asia X, low cost long haul carrier via new Airbus A330, while Amritsar and Kolkata will be serviced by AirAsia, low cost short haul airline by Airbus A320 aircrafts,” Kathleen Tan, head, (regional head – commercial), AirAsia, told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday.
(continue reading…)