HEADLINE NEWS.

Air New Zealand shareholders at a special meeting approved the airline's plans to acquire four 777-200ERs and two 7E7s and lease another four 777-200ERs. Shareholders also endorsed an options package for 42 aircraft: Nine 777-200ERs, 17 777-300ERs and 16 7E7s. Aug 6, 2004

AirAsia will launch one daily flight between Hat Yai and Kuala Lumpur. Aug 5, 2004

AirTran Airways will begin daily nonstop flights between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Ft. Lauderdale Dec. 7 2004. Aug 4, 2004

AirTran Airways on Nov. 4 2004 will launch new daily nonstop service between Atlanta and Grand Bahama Island, between Ft. Lauderdale and Rochester, between Orlando and Milwaukee, between Orlando and Pittsburgh and between Rochester and Tampa as well as two daily nonstop flights between Atlanta and Miami, between Bloomington/Normal and Orlando and between Baltimore/Washington and Ft. Myers. On Nov. 20 the airline will begin one daily nonstop flight between Ft. Myers and Milwaukee and on Dec. 7 it will launch one daily nonstop between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Ft. Lauderdale, between West Palm Beach and Philadelphia and between Philadelphia and Ft. Myers. Effective Dec. 17, AirTran will commence one daily nonstop flight between Dayton and Tampa and between Flint and Tampa, and beginning Jan. 10 it will launch one daily nonstop between Dayton and Ft. Lauderdale. Aug 5, 2004

All Nippon Airways plans to launch a new low-cost carrier on Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu next year. Plans call for two 130-seat 737-500s replace some of the routes currently served by Air Nippon. According to insiders at ANA, the new airline will be launched later this month and will operate more than 100 flights a day by 2007. It is expected to have a lower cost base than Air Nippon. Aug 6, 2004

America West Airlines received authorization from US DOT to begin a codeshare partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Under the agreement, passengers will be offered connections between Virgin Atlantic services to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Washington Dulles and America West services from Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego. Also, AWA will begin four weekly flights between Las Vegas and Puerto Vallarta Nov. 1 and four weekly flights between Las Vegas and Los Cabos Oct. 31 2004. The services will be provided by America West Express, operated by Mesa Air Group, using CRJs. Aug 4, 2004

American Airlines, in an effort to help offset high fuel prices, last week increased "most domestic US, US-Canada and US-Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands fares" by $5 one way and $10 roundtrip, effective immediately. The airline said some other international fares also have been increased but did not specify. According to American, each 1-cent rise in the price of a gallon of fuel costs it more than $30 million a year. In the second quarter, in which the airline posted $6 million in net profits, AA and its Regional affiliates spent more than $900 million on fuel, up nearly 42% year-over-year. Aug 2, 2004

ATA Airlines will launch seasonal nonstop Saturday-only service between Indianapolis and St. Thomas and seasonal one-stop Saturday-only service between Indianapolis and San Juan. Both flights will begin Dec. 18. In addition, effective Nov. 20, service from Indianapolis to Ft. Lauderdale will increase from one to two daily flights, to Orlando from two to three daily flights, to St. Petersburg/Tampa from two to three daily flights and to Ft. Myers from seven to 14 weekly flights. Aug 3, 2004

German budget airline dba will be ready for a share sale to the public in 2-3 years. The plan is to allow staff to purchase holdings ahead of the IPO. Dba was bought by Nuremburg-based investment company Intro last year from British Airways for eur1 ($1.20). Reuters reported that dba expects to return to a profit in the current financial year ending next March after a loss in the previous year. It is expanding its network of internal German routes and wants to increase its fleet from 14 to 24 aircraft by 2009 as it competes with Lufthansa for business passengers, which account for about two-thirds of dba customers. Aug 5, 2004

easyJet launched daily flights from Dortmund to Alicante and Nice. Aug 2, 2004

easyJet will begin daily service between London Luton and Turin Oct. 13, between Bristol and Madrid Oct. 31 2004, between London Stansted and Valencia Nov. 3, between Stansted and Almeria Nov. 11 and between Luton and Bratislava Dec. 8. In addition, it will launch two daily flights between Berlin Schoenefeld and Bratislava Nov. 25. With the new flights, the carrier will operate 179 routes among 48 cities this winter. Aug 6, 2004

Film Movement and IKA Media launched a new inflight channel dedicated exclusively to independent films. Continental Airlines signed on to be the first airline to carry the channel, which will debut in Aug. 2004. Aug 6, 2004

Germanwings, the low-cost subsidiary of Eurowings, will add seven new destinations from its hub in Stuttgart by Oct. 30 2004. As a result, the carrier will double its Stuttgart-based fleet to four A319s. The new destinations are Hamburg, Dresden, London Stansted, Madrid, Warsaw, Krakow and Zagreb. Germanwings also will add a third frequency to Berlin. With the additions, it will offer flights to 15 cities from Stuttgart. Aug 5, 2004

Iberia will launch daily A340 service between Madrid and San Jose, Costa Rica, Oct. 1 2004. The carrier previously served San Jose from Miami. However, it announced its intention to close its minihub at MIA earlier this year and said it would either serve the city directly or through flights by associated companies. Aug 6, 2004

Independence Air began six daily nonstop flights between Washington Dulles and Savannah/Hilton Head, nine daily nonstops between Dulles and Cleveland, 13 daily nonstops between Dulles and New York JFK and nine daily nonstops between Dulles and Winston-Salem. Independence said that on Oct. 1 2004 it will launch six daily nonstop flights between Dulles and Huntsville and eight daily nonstops between Dulles and Charlotte. Aug 3, 2004

Independence Air inked an agreement to acquire one additional 132-seat A319 for a total of 28 firm Airbus orders to date. The aircraft will be acquired directly from Airbus and is scheduled to be delivered in March 2006. Aug 2, 2004

JAL Group plans to introduce new domestic passenger services using IC card technology, including a ticketless check-in service developed by JAL for domestic airports in Japan. The JAL IC Check-in service will allow cardholders to board domestic flights without a ticket or boarding pass; they simply "touch and go" with their cards at the boarding gate. The service will begin at Tokyo Haneda this winter and later will be installed at other domestic airports. Aug 6, 2004

JetBlue Airways requested authority from the US Dept. of Transportation to launch daily service between New York JFK and Nassau Nov. 1 2004. The service would continue the airline's expansion in the Caribbean following the start of service to San Juan in 2002. Aug 4, 2004

Under an agreement, JetBlue Airways and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will build a 640,000-sq.-ft. passenger terminal housing 26 gates at New York JFK at a cost of $875 million. The new terminal will be built on a 70-acre tract in the airport's central terminal area while preserving the TWA Flight Center designed by Eero Saarinen. The project also includes a new parking garage with more than 1,500 spaces, a connecting bridge to the nearby JFK AirTrain station and "work needed to incorporate the connecting tubes of the TWA Flight Center (T5)" into the new terminal. JetBlue will operate the terminal under a lease of up to 34 years. Construction is expected to begin next year. Aug 5, 2004

Qatar Airways increased its service between Doha and Moscow from three to four weekly flights. In addition, it upgraded the aircraft operating on the route from A319s to A320s. Aug 6, 2004

Ryanair will launch new service from London Stansted to Santander Sept. 20 2004, Riga Oct. 31 and Zaragoza Dec. 1. The carrier also will begin new service Sept. 20 from Rome Ciampino to Santander and Eindhoven. On Oct. 31, Ryanair will commence new service from Frankfurt Hahn to Riga and Santander and from Tampere to Riga. Aug 2, 2004

SAS Braathens, the Norwegian unit of SAS, announced that it will raise prices by up to 35% on some flights while leaving its cheapest domestic fares unchanged. According to Reuters, low-fare rival Norwegian soon will announce price adjustments as well. SAS Braathens said domestic fares will rise about Nok100 ($14.31) on average. Increases will represent less than a 10% boost over current fares except for a couple of destinations in Europe, which will see a 35% price hike. SAS Braathens said the new prices will be in effect on tickets bought as of last Tuesday for flights from Aug. 17 2004. Aug 5, 2004

Singapore Airlines introduced text message check-in for its passengers. According to Senior VP-Products and Services Yap Kim Wah, passengers can text-in remotely and then collect their boarding passes and check their bags at special counters, thus avoiding the regular check-in lines. The SMS check-in will be available at 12 airports including Singapore, Auckland, Bangkok, Christchurch, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur. Aug 4, 2004

Song also will begin daily nonstop service between New York JFK and Nassau Dec. 1 2004. This will be the LCC's first international service. Aug 4, 2004

United Airlines will operate three additional weekly flights between Los Angeles and Sydney from mid-Dec. 2004 until the end of March 2005. It currently operates daily nonstop service between the cities with continuing service to Melbourne. Aug 4, 2004

US Airways will begin Saturday-only service between Charlotte and Liberia, Costa Rica, and Barbados. Both new flights will begin Feb. 12 2004 and will be operated with A319s. Additionally, on Nov. 7 the airline will expand its Boston-Aruba service with three more weekly flights. Currently, US Airways operates Saturday-only service on that route. Also, beginning Dec. 11 the airline will add a second Saturday nonstop flight between Charlotte and St. Thomas using 193-seat 757s. Aug 3, 2004

US Airways and American Airlines were forced to delay hundreds of flights because of a computer glitch that caused a malfunction in both airlines' computer systems. US Airways said roughly 100 of its flights were delayed and approximately 150 AA flights were affected, according to media reports. Aug 1, 2004

Virgin Atlantic began offering language learning courses as part of its inflight entertainment system. The airline teamed with Linguaphone to offer the courses, which teach passengers to understand and speak a new language by listening with no need for written material. Aug 4, 2004

In a move that will enable it to double its size over the next five years, Virgin Atlantic Airways reached agreement with Airbus on an order for 13 new Trent 500-powered A340-600s with options for a further 13. The airline already operates seven A340-600s and will take five more from a previous order by 2006. Deliveries of the newly ordered aircraft are scheduled to take place from 2006 to 2008 and the order is valued at more than $5.5 billion. Virgin also operates nine A340-300s and 13 747- 400s. "These new aircraft will enable us to increase the number of passengers we fly each year from four million to eight million," Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson said. "To do so we will be adding capacity around our existing network like the US, China, Japan, India, the Caribbean and Africa. In addition, we'll be adding lots of new destinations--our current wish list includes Melbourne, Dubai, Bangkok, Mumbai, Chicago, Toronto, Jamaica, Nairobi and Rio." Meanwhile, it appears that Virgin again has pushed back the delivery date of its first A380. Earlier this spring, it delayed delivery of the aircraft from summer 2006 to late 2007. According to a schedule of future aircraft deliveries that accompanied Aug 5th announcement, however, the first A380 now is set to arrive in 2008. When queried by Online about the discrepancy, an airline spokesperson said the carrier still could take delivery of the A380 in late 2007. Virgin's remaining A380s will arrive in 2008-09. Aug 6, 2004