Airline News - Europe.

Oct 30, 2006

Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus Employee Trust To Buy More Shares. The Aer Lingus Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT), which holds just under 10 percent of the airline, plans to exercise its right to buy a further 2.8 percent stake, broadcaster RTE reported on Monday. Oct 23, 2006

Bmi

Bmi discontinued its daily London Heathrow-Mumbai service because of a problem with the landing gear on the A330 it uses on the route, The Times reported. "We have tried without success to locate a suitable replacement unit but the uncertainty of the length of time we will be without the aircraft has also not helped the situation," CEO Nigel Turner told the paper. Repair work will not begin until Oct. 30 at the earliest and bmi said it is not sure when it will relaunch service. Oct 26, 2006

CSA Czech Airlines

CSA Czech Airlines has started to contact potential investors in its cargo terminal and handling operation in Prague. Prospective buyers should be shortlisted by the middle of December. CSA has started preparing to transform the terminal into a subsidiary, which should be established in January. Oct 26, 2006

Finnair

Finnair backs down, cabin staff strike ends. Finnair said Friday that it was returning to normal flight schedules "step by step" following a two-day strike by its cabin staff. Oct 23, 2006

Iceland Express

Iceland Express will begin service to Paris Orly, Bergen, Oslo, Basel and Eindhoven for the summer 2007 schedule. It operates three MD-90s. Oct 24, 2006

Japan Airlines, Malev Hungarian Airlines

Japan Airlines and Malev Hungarian Airlines expanded their codeshare agreement to include Malev's daily Budapest-Amsterdam service from Oct. 29. Oct 23, 2006

S7 Airlines

S7 Airlines announced it will launch an Almaty-Chelyabinsk service on Oct. 31 aboard a 737-500. Chelyabinsk is its third destination in Kazakhstan. Oct 23, 2006

S7 Airlines

S7 Airlines helped open the new arrivals hall at Novosibirsk's Tolmachevo Airport, bringing passengers in from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The terminal has been increased by 10,000 sq. m. with a new baggage facility that allows passengers to retrieve their luggage indoors. S7 is the main carrier at the airport, operating flights to 30 destinations. Oct 23, 2006

SAS Scandinavian

SAS Scandinavian Airlines' Danish cabin staff said they reached new terms with the carrier on Monday, averting a strike that would have halted both domestic and international flights from Denmark starting this weekend. The Danish Cabin Attendants Union said the one-year agreement covers a 3.5% wage hike, hours and other conditions, Reuters reported. It is effective retroactively from March and will run until Feb. 28, 2007. Oct 24, 2006

Swiss International

Swiss International Air Lines will increase its service from Geneva starting Dec. 15. It will launch a daily service to Prague and boost frequencies to London City to six-times-daily from four. Both services will be aboard Avro RJs. Oct 26, 2006

Swiss International

Swiss International to expand its Geneva-based network Swiss is to introduce a new daily service between Geneva and Prague on December 15. Services between Geneva and London City Airport will also be increased to six daily frequencies from the same date. The main innovation here will be a late-evening Geneva-London frequency which will return the following morning, enabling UK-based travellers to arrive in Geneva as early as 09:30. Swiss offers direct service to 21 destinations from Geneva. Oct 25, 2006

Swiss International

Swiss International will be joining in the celebrations - of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg's sixtieth birthday party on Saturday, October 28 by operating two sightseeing flights whose proceeds will be donated to the Theodora and Rote Nasen charities. Swiss will also be taking the opportunity to present its new Basel-based network. Oct 25, 2006

Swiss International

Swiss International's new daily Geneva-Prague service will depart from Geneva at 11:40 on weekdays, arriving in the Czech capital at 13:25. The westbound flight will leave Prague at 13:55 and arrive in Geneva at 15:35. Services at the weekend will operate to different schedules. All flights will be operated using Avro RJ100 equipment. Oct 25, 2006

Virgin Atlantic Airways

Virgin Atlantic Airways yesterday reached agreement with Airbus to defer delivery of its six A380s on firm order to 2013. The planes originally were scheduled to arrive in 2009, but Airbus production delays likely would have pushed back delivery. Terms of the deferral were not disclosed. Virgin said it extended leases on several 747-400s to compensate. Airbus said the A380 will have "proven" itself by the time Virgin takes delivery and noted that the deferral will help it "prioritize" deliveries for launch customers. Oct 27, 2006

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Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: [e-mail]

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Oct 23, 2006