A..

Abu Dhabi Airport (ADAC) has been placed by a survey conducted on the region's airport construction. US $6.8 billion (AED25 billion) masterplan as one of the largest airport developments in the Middle East. The survey included all Gulf countries, Jordan, Iraq, India, Sri Lanka and the African continent. The projected increase in commercial air traffic and tourism to the region has been a factor in prompting such infrastructure projects. Mohamed Al Bulooki, director of marketing and communications, ADAC, said: "The Middle East and North Africa region will witness the world's largest growth in aviation industries between 2008 and 2011 - almost 40% more growth than the global average.

Aeroflot has signed a contract with Airbus for the purchase of five A321 aircraft to add to its growing medium haul fleet. The contract was signed at the 46th Farnborough International Airshow. Powered by CFM International CFM56-5 engines, Aeroflot's A321s will feature a spacious and comfortable two-class cabin layout, and will be deployed on the airline's extended European and domestic networks.

Aviation Capital Group (ACG) has signed a firm contract for the purchase of 23 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. With this contract, the wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific LifeCorp will have ordered 68 A320 Family aircraft since March 2007 and will have 148 A320 Family aircraft in its portfolio.

Asiana Airlines has signed a contract with Airbus for the purchase of 30 A350 XWB aircraft, plus 10 options. Delivery of the aircraft will begin in 2016. “The A350 will play a key role in the Asiana fleet of the future,” said Park Chan-Bup, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Asiana Airlines.

Airbus received 525 orders for new aircraft and delivered 245 planes between January and June, the EADS subsidiary said. Net orders, stripping out cancellations, totaled 487.

Airbus is planning to launch the successor generation of A320s in 2014 and put them in service around 2018. Development cost of the project, called A30X, is estimated at between EUR8 billion (USD$12.52 billion) and EUR10 billion euros

Air France KLM reported a 2.6 percent rise in June passenger traffic, bringing the increase in its first fiscal quarter to 3.7 percent. The Franco-Dutch airline's load factor fell to 81.5 percent, down 1.2 percentage points, in June. In the April-June quarter, its planes were 80.3 percent filled on average, down 1.1 percent.The group said premium traffic had pushed up the amount of revenue it yields per seat, before adjusting for currencies.

Alitalia will receive a capital injection of EUR700 million to EUR800 million euros from Italian businessmen as part of a plan to save the ailing carrier. Some 10 businessmen would take part in the rescue plan being drawn up by the government-appointed adviser, bank Intesa Sanpaolo, but did not name them.It said the plan included around 5,000-6,000 job cuts and aimed to make Alitalia a stronger player on the domestic market, with turnover of EUR4 billion (USD$6.28 billion).

Airbus officially opened a new A380 Delivery Centre at the manufacturer's site in Hamburg, Germany. During the ceremony, Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO, named the building after Jürgen Thomas, the former head of the Airbus Large Aircraft Division, who was in charge of the development of the A3XX (to become A380) from 1996 to 2001.

Aegean Airlines said it will raise ticket surcharges by up to three euros for domestic and international flights, due to the increasing cost of jet fuel. The carrier, which competes with state-owned Olympic Airlines flying domestic and international routes, reported a loss of EUR4.4 million euros (USD$6.91 million) in the first quarter citing a 57 percent jump in energy costs.

Arik Air announced an order for an additional seven Next-Generation 737s at the Farnborough Airshow. The airline ordered 10 Next-Generation 737s in September 2007 and now has a total of 17 Next-Generation 737s on order. Arik Air currently operates six 737-700s.

Air France KLM, confirmed it was considering offering high-speed rail travel and will adjust its winter seat capacity in the face of rising jet fuel costs. The Franco-Dutch airline pulled out of a bid to rescue Italy's Alitalia earlier this year and competes with the emerging transatlantic partnership of British Airways, American Airlines and Spain's Iberia. It confirmed that it was discussing a high-speed rail alliance with Veolia -- a French utility that runs several rail connections but is not yet active in high-speed travel, which is dominated by state-owned SNCF, Deutsche Bahn and the equally state controlled Thalys and Eurostar firms. "As part of the opening to competition of rail transport in 2010, Air France and Veolia are looking into the possibility of a partnership to create a new high-speed rail player on the European scene," an Air France-KLM spokesman said.

Airbus is expected to sell five A380 superjumbo aircraft to All Nippon Airways (ANA), its first sale of the world's biggest passenger plane to a Japanese airline.A sale in Japan would be a big breakthrough for the European plane maker as it has only about 4 percent of Japan's market, compared with a half share elsewhere.

AMR will reduce its employee headcount by about 8 percent as it cuts capacity to offset record-high fuel prices, the company said in an internal memo.In a letter from Jeff Brundage, AMR's senior vice president in charge of human resources, job cuts would be in line with the overall system capacity reductions, which are expected to total 8 percent.

Association of European Airlines has released details of its members' punctuality performance in the first quarter of 2008.On intra-European services, the rate of delay showed a marked deterioration compared with the comparable period in 2007. This year, 22.4% of departures were delayed by more than 15 minutes, while the corresponding figure for 2007 was 20.5%.Breaking down the figures by primary source of delay, there was a slight improvement, from 7.6% to 7.3%, in the proportion of departure delays attributed to pre-flight preparation in other words, the aircraft was not ready to leave on time, e.g. for reasons of serviceability, late loading, crew availability or completion of paperwork.

Air India Express will spread its wings further into the Gulf, with the induction of the 12th owned B737-800 aircraft. The airline will commence operations to Kuwait from three cities in south India Kozhikode, Kochi and Mangalore.

Aviation Lease and Finance Company Kuwait's agreed to sell eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, with a list price of USD$1.6 billion, to Saudi Arabian Airlines, Alafco said. The company said in a statement the aircraft would be delivered between 2014 and 2015. Alafco also said it would lease out four Boeings for 12 years to the Saudi carrier with delivery expected in 2012. The list value of one plane is USD$200 million, while the leasing price is 1 percent of the purchase price paid as a monthly rent, Alafco said in the statement posted on the bourse web site.

Air China announced that it will be commencing regular direct flights from Beijing to Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Air New Zealand has announced a range of pricing and capacity changes in response to the continued high cost of fuel and changes in demand. “The airline industry faces sizeable challenges in this rapidly changing economic environment and we continue to review all aspects of our business including fares, network and costs,” says Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe.

Air Canada will cut 2,000 jobs and crimp its capacity by 7 percent as runaway fuel prices sap the profitability of many of its routes, the country's biggest airline said. Air Canada's drastic action, which translates into a 7 percent cut in its workforce, comes after the carrier tried to fight the impact of surging oil prices by parking older, gas-guzzling jets and tacking fuel surcharges onto its fares.

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Boeing Company released its 2008 Current Market Outlook (CMO) for India, projecting the country’s need for 1,001 new commercial airplanes (passenger and freighter), worth more than $ 105 billion at current list prices, over the next two decades (2008 through 2027). This is an increase from its 2007 CMO for India (2007-2026) of 911 commercial airplanes at a value of more than $86 billion. “Boeing market outlook is rooted not only in these near-team realities, but also recognizes the nature of a long-term forecast,” said Dr. Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Boeing and Aviation Capital Group (ACG), a subsidiary of Pacific LifeCorp, announced that the Newport Beach, Calif.- based leasing company has ordered an additional 15 Next-Generation 737-700s. The order is worth approximately $934 million at list prices.

British Airways is launching an advertising campaign to try to rescue the reputation of Terminal 5, its new home at Heathrow Airport, which opened to chaotic scenes of lost baggage and cancelled flights in March."We will start an ad campaign based on the truth of T5," Chief Executive Willie Walsh told shareholders at the group's AGM. "We will get the message across that T5 is working and it's working well."

Boeing and Dubai's recently launched low-cost airline FlyDubai announced an order for 50 Next-Generation 737-800s at the Farnborough Air Show. Valued at approximately $3.74 billion at current list prices, the order will be added to Boeing's Orders & Deliveries Web site at the next regularly scheduled update. FlyDubai has substitution rights to convert its 737-800 orders to 737-900ERs (extended range) in the future.

Bombardier Inc. issued a challenge to bigger rivals Boeing Co. and Airbus with the launch a new aircraft range. The C-series aircraft will carry 110-145 passengers and is designed to compete against the aging Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 jets -- as well as the 98-114 seat ERJ 190 by regional jetmaker Embraer, or Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA.

Boeing and partners in industry and government achieved significant reductions in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions during a recent deployment of an innovative Air Traffic Management (ATM) concept called Tailored Arrivals. From Dec. 4, 2007 to March 23, 2008, United Airlines, Air New Zealand and Japan Airlines completed 57 flights into San Francisco International Airport that utilized a continuous descent rather than a series of level segments as now required. The Tailored Arrivals approach reduced fuel consumption during descents by up to 39 percent, depending on airplane type, and total carbon emissions by more than 500,000 pounds.

British Airways has announced a slowing traffic for the month of June, caught between the Scylla and Charybdis of higher costs and falling demand. Along with its would-be operational merger partners, oneworld's American Airlines and Iberia Airlines, cutbacks, higher fares and increased codeshare operations appear to be the prescription for survival.

Boeing Co., expects the market for commercial airplanes to be $3.2 trillion over the next 20 years, with the Far East aircraft market overtaking North America in that time. The Asia-Pacific region is seen getting 9,160 planes worth $1.19 trillion, while North America is seen receiving 8,550 planes worth $740 billion. The expected deliveries for Asia-Pacific rose from last year's forecast, while North American deliveries are down. In addition, Boeing lowered its projections for a fleet size at the end of the next 20 years of 35,800 from 36,400 forecast last year.

British Airways announced an agreement to acquire French airline L'Avion and integrate the company with its new subsidiary OpenSkies, which recently launched daily flights between Paris Orly Airport and JFK.

British Airways said its traffic fell 3.7 percent in June, as a ticket price increase and the UK economic slowdown put passengers off traveling on both business and economy flights.

Boeing Company delivered a Next-Generation 737-800 to Toronto-based Sunwing Airlines.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines announced an order for two Boeing Next-Generation 737-800s, with purchase rights for two additional 737s.

Boeing Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney reports that the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of forty (40) cents per share.

Bombardier said it had secured a firm order for business jets in a contract valued at about USD$340 million, which could grow to about USD$1.5 billion if all conditional orders are confirmed. Bombardier, the third-largest civil aircraft manufacturer, said that the order had been placed by an undisclosed European customer for 110 Learjet 60 XR aircraft, of which 25 are firm orders and 85 are conditional orders.The deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2009.

C..

Continental Airlines said it recorded an after-tax gain of USD$22 million in the second quarter reflecting a number of special items. The company said it recorded a net gain of USD$78 million from the sale of its remaining interest in Copa Airlines, a special tax credit of USD$28 million, and another USD$3 million from the tax effects of special items. It also recorded a USD$58 million pretax operating charge relating to write downs on aircraft swept up in capacity cuts planned for later this year, and a USD$29 million write down of student loan-related auction rate securities.

Continental Airlines and United Airlines announced a framework agreement to cooperate extensively, linking their networks and services worldwide to the benefit of customers, and creating revenue opportunities and cost savings and other efficiencies. In addition, Continental plans to join United in the Star Alliance, the most comprehensive airline alliance in the world.

Cathay Pacific has opened service to Chennai with an initial four flights a week to and from its Hong Kong hub, as part of its expansion of schedules to India.

clickair, Spain's largest low fare airline, has commenced its latest route between London Gatwick and Vigo in northern Spain. The new route is especially significant as it's the first time there have been direct flights from the UK to Spain's Pontevedra province in South Galicia.

Cathay Pacific's shares tumbled 7.8 percent to a two-year low after it warned of disappointing first-half earnings due to high fuel prices, triggering a round of selling in aviation shares in China and Singapore. Cathay, Asia's third most valuable carrier by market capitalization, said that it was forced to pay 60 percent more for jet fuel in the first six months of the year. The most recent market prices for jet fuel, which have risen this year alongside skyrocketing crude oil, were nearly double what it paid in 2007, it added. Fuel accounts for a major share of airlines' costs.

Continental Airlines reported a June consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 83.6 percent, 2.1 points below the June 2007 consolidated load factor, and a mainline load factor of 84.1 percent, 2.0 points below the June 2007 mainline load factor. In addition, the carrier reported a domestic mainline June load factor of 85.9 percent, 1.8 points below the June 2007 domestic load factor, and an international mainline load factor of 82.4 percent, 2.0 points below June 2007.

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Deccan Aviation has launched India's first helicopter service from the new Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) to key business locations in Bangalore.

Dragonair, commenced its non-stop daily flights between Hong Kong and Bengaluru. Bengaluru is the seventh new destination Dragonair has launched since it became a part of Cathay Pacific Group.

Delta Air Lines said it expected to post a profit in the second quarter, excluding special items, and plans to cut domestic capacity by 13 percent in the second half of 2008. Delta, which plans to acquire Northwest Airlines, said the predicted domestic capacity cut is larger than the 10 percent reduction the airline forecast in March.

Dragonair will further expand its fleet with the acquisition of two more Airbus A320- 200s. The fleet enhancement is a strategic move in support of the airline's continued network expansion. The two new A320-200s, acquired on an operating lease with CIT Aerospace, are scheduled for delivery in 2009 and 2010.

Domodedovo International Airport maintains leading position among European Airports according to ACI Europe.

E..

Emirates travelers will be able to experience state-of-the-art A380 for the first time on August 1 when the airline launches its first A380 commercial service from Dubai to New York JFK. The 14-hour non-stop flight will also be the first-ever commercial A380 service to the United States.

East Midlands Airport overall trend for air travel from continues to be positive as the summer season begins. During the month of May, statistics show a 10.7% rise in passengers compared to the same period in 2007. 534,690 passengers travelled through the Airport in May, the first month in the Airports history to achieve over half a million passengers, making this the 26th month of consecutive passenger growth.

Etihad Airways announced firm orders for 45 Boeing aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. The list price for the order is more than US $9 billion. The Abu Dhabi-based national airline of the United Arab Emirates has signed contracts for: 35 B787 aircraft. The engine type is subject to further discussions.10 B777-300ER aircraft, powered by GE90 engines.There are also options for a further 25 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777s. In addition, Etihad Airways has agreed purchase rights for a further 10 Boeing 787s and five Boeing 777s. Aircraft deliveries will begin in 2011 and be completed in 2020.

Embraer, reported 22 firm orders for its 190 executive jet, as airlines opted for smaller and more efficient planes. Aeromexico, traditionally a large passenger carrier, ordered a dozen of the Embraer's 100-seater jets with the option to buy another 15, while Saudi Arabia's NASair upped its order to ten planes from five.Austrian entrepreneur and former Grand Prix racing driver Niki Lauda also bought five for his low-cost Niki airline and has options for five more.

ExecuJet Aviation Group is experiencing so much demand for pre-owned aircraft that it has created a dedicated division with sales representatives in Europe, South Africa, the Middle East and very shortly, the USA. Under the continuing worldwide team leadership of Andrew Hoy, Nicholas McHaffey takes the management responsibility as newly appointed Head of Global Pre-Owned Sales, having served for three years as Sales Director for ExecuJet Middle East. Pre-owned demand is being led primarily by the Middle East which is growing by 20% each year and also in India, and China, where ExecuJet recently opened offices in Mumbai and Beijing.

Etihad Airways announced firm orders for 55 aircraft with manufacturer Airbus at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. The list price for the order is approximately US $12 billion. Aircraft deliveries will begin in 2011 and be completed in 2020. The Abu Dhabi-based airline has signed contracts for: 20 A320 aircraft. 25 A350 aircraft, powered by Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines .10 A380 aircraft. The engine type is subject to further discussions

Embraer said it delivered 52 jets in the second quarter, up from 36 a year ago, bringing the total for the first half of the year to 97, a new record for the Brazilian aircraft maker. The world's third-biggest aircraft maker said in a statement that with the first half shipments, it expects the total of commercial jets for 2008 to reach the top end of its target of between 195 and 200.

Embraer said that China's Kun Peng Airlines has agreed to buy five Embraer 190 passenger jets in a deal valued at USD$187.5 million. The sale, announced at the Farnborough International Airsho.

ExpressJet Airlines said it would suspend branded commercial operations as of September 2, blaming high fuel costs. "If we had any other choice, we would not take this difficult action," Jim Ream, ExpressJet's president and chief executive, said in a statement. "However, rising fuel prices has made the operation impossible to sustain." The announcement comes a week after the Houston-based airline said it would terminate agreements with Delta Air Lines by mutual consent as of September 1 and return aircraft to its lessors within a year.

EgyptAir and Lufthansa Systems recently signed a contract covering the implementation of the codeshare management solution SchedConnect. The system will be introduced at the Cairo-based airline. EgyptAir will officially join Star Alliance. With the implementation of SchedConnect, the carrier makes an essential step towards fulfilling Star Alliance membership requirements.

Emirates recently commenced service to two influential Asian cities, with inaugural flights to both Guangzhou, China and Kozhikode, India departing from Dubai International Airport. Both destinations will be served by six flights a week.Passengers traveling from the United States will be able to connect to both destinations via Dubai.

Eva Airways, plans to increase direct flights to China and seek to work with Chinese airlines as cross-Straits business ties improve.Taiwan and China plan to launch regular flights between the long-time rivals for the first time since 1949. Direct weekend flights will start soon.

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FlyDubai' will be Dubai's new low cost airline to be launched in couple of months. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE vice president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai has approved the LCC's name as 'FlyDubai'.

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GKN Aerospace wins exceed USD2.5bn - All 2007 growth targets met or exceeded. In the 18 months since the beginning of 2007 GKN Aerospace gained new business with a value over USD2.5bn. By the end of 2007 the Company had reached its 5 year target declared in 2002, of doubling turnover to exceed USD2bn.

Georgian airline TAM Air 7 is launching direct air service on the routes Tbilisi Sochi Tbilisi and Tbilisi Rostov-on-Don Tbilisi. The airline currently provides the air service to Sochi from Batumi on Tuesdays and Fridays.

GE Aviation announced that it has completed the acquisition of certain assets of Walter Engines, a Czech Republic-based manufacturer of small turboprop engines and high-precision machined parts for the aviation industry. The acquisition broadens GE's offerings for aviation customers and enables the company to enter the fastest growing aviation segment-the small, twin-engine turboprop aircraft.

GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. and Lufthansa Systems announced that they have signed a six-year contract over the product suites for the airline resource management (NetLine) and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. is the parent company of the Brazilian airlines GOL Transportes Aéreos S.A. (GTA) and VRG Linhas Aéreas S.A. (VRG), which operates the VARIG brand.

Gulf Air, is all set to begin its services to Hyderabad with its inaugural flight taking off from Bahrain International Airport.

Gefest Insurance Company has signed an insurance contract on construction work and further reconstruction of the runway at Sheremetyevo-2 totaling RUR1.3 billion. The contract will be effective before the end of 2008. On completion of the reconstruction the throughput capacity of the airport will be substantially increased, as well as the capacity to accept and dispatch the aircraft. (USD1 = RUR23.6402).

George Bush Intercontinental Airport will be the home of a brand new, state-of-the-art, world-class training facility. Along with a new partnership, exciting plans to establish training classes and a facility were announced by the Houston Airport System, its affiliate HAS Development Corporation and the Texas Engineering Extension Service, a member of the Texas A&M University System.

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Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport announces it has begun retrofitting 135 wheelchairs with rear-luggage carriers that will make it easier for wheelchair-bound passengers to handle their carry-on luggage while at the airport.

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International Air Transport Association (IATA) congratulated the European Commission on adopting the second package of legislation for a Single European Sky (SES). “Every drop of fuel saved counts. With oil at US$135 and jet fuel even higher, saving fuel is critical for financial survival. And it is at the core of our commitment to improving environmental performance. The adoption of the Single European Sky II package is a welcome response to IATA's call for governments to act quickly to eliminate inefficiencies in air traffic management,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.

Iran and Russia have reached a preliminary agreement on the joint production of Russian Tu-204 and Tu-214 medium-haul passenger airliners in the Islamic Republic. The manufacturing of Russia's updated Tu-204 and Tu-214 passenger aircraft in Iran was put on the agenda after Russian experts studied the technological capabilities and human resources of the Iran Aviation Industries Organization. Russia and Iran are completing talks on the project to build 100 210-seat liners in the next 10 years for the Iranian aircraft fleet.

J..

Jet Airways has shelved plans for its discount unit JetLite to fly international routes because of the tough market environment, a senior official said. High oil prices have prompted Indian carriers to raise fares and trim routes in a bid to cushion falling margins. "In the current scenario, we cannot operate new routes, as they take time to develop and yield returns," Rajeev Gupta, chief executive of JetLite said.

Jazz Air plans to chop 5 percent of its staff in response to cuts announced last month by its main customer, Air Canada, to cope with surging fuel prices, Jazz said. Jazz Air, the regional feeder carrier for Air Canada, said its moves -- which will mean 270 job losses and a 5 percent cut in capacity -- are necessary to match resources with its reduced expectations for revenues.

Japan Airlines said it planned to fly Asia's first commercial jet flight powered by biofuel before next March, as part of an international drive to reduce CO2 emissions from aviation. For the passenger-less flight, JAL will use a Boeing 747 aircraft with engines made by Pratt & Whitney. JAL will be the first Asian carrier to make such a flight and the fourth worldwide after British airline Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines.

Jet Airways has been honoured at the annual Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) awards for the growth of its passenger and cargo carriage through Changi Airport. The third annual Changi Airline Awards, held in Singapore, recognises airlines that have achieved the highest year-on-year growth in passengers and cargo, as well as airlines that have carried the most passengers and cargo through Singapore's Changi Airport. Jet Airways received awards for being one of the 'Top 5 Airlines by Growth in Passenger Carriage' and one of 'Top 5 Airlines by Growth in Cargo Carriage.'

Japan Airlines is to upgrade its First Class and Business Class - which it calls JAL Executive Class Seasons - when it introduces its new Boeing 777-300ERs, which debut on its route between its Tokyo Narita hub and New York JFK on 1 August, followed by San Francisco from mid-September and Chicago O'Hare and Los Angeles from April. At the same time, it will extend its Premium Economy cabin to these routes.

K..

Koltsovo Airport approved the decision during the annual shareholder meeting to spend RUR74 255 776 or 10% of net profit on dividends for 2007. (USD1 = RUR23.3727)

Kurumoch International Airport growth in passenger service of totaled 16% in the first half of 2008. In the reported period the airport handled 688 233 people (+16.3%).

Kazan International Airport handled 266 300 people in January-May 2008 (+42.8%). International passenger service was 94 000 people (+51.4%), domestic passenger service 172 300 people (+38.6%). The highest growth was achieved on the routes to Antalya, Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh, Yerevan, Saint-Petersburg and Surgut.

L..

Liege Airport Managing Director of has confirmed the decision to extend the main runway by 413 metres to a total length of 3,700 metres. The work on this extension began at the end of March 2008 and will occupy a total of 2 years. The said additional 413 metres will make possible the full charge takeoff of large aircraft bound for very distant destinations. According to conservative estimates, the extension of the runway will enable Liege Airport to increase its air traffic by 20%.

Lufthansa posted a rise in passenger numbers in the first six months of 2008. More than 28 million flew with Lufthansa in the period from January through June, an increase of 5.4 per cent on the year-earlier level. Capacity rose by 5.8 per cent in the same period. Revenue seat-kilometres were up by 5.5 per cent. The seat load factor reached 78.2 per cent (-0.3 per cent).1 Overall, Lufthansa and SWISS together carried close to 35 million passengers in the first halfyear, which is about 29 per cent more than in the comparable period in the previous year. Of the total, more than six million flew with SWISS. The number of flights rose by 22.5 per cent to a total of 413,218.Lufthansa Cargo transported around 869,000 tonnes of freight and mail, which is 0.9 per cent fewer than in the first half last time round. The cargo load factor fell by 0.3 percentage points to 68.2 per cent. The Lufthansa Group's first-half results will be published on 30 July 2008.

Lufthansa is going to increase the passenger service on the Russian routes by 10% in 2008 compared to the previous year.

LAN has completed the modernization of its shorthaul fleet with the retirement of the last of its Boeing 737-200s. It now operates only Airbus A320 types - 40 in total - within its home region. With the first of them delivered eight years ago, it means the airline is now operating one of the world's most modern and efficient shorthaul fleets.

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Middle East Airlines (MEA) Lebanon's national carrier, has taken delivery of its first A330-200 aircraft directlyfrom Airbus.

Malév Hungarian Airlines has increased its checked baggage allowance for Economy passengers on its European routes. They can now check in up to 23 kgs - 3 kgs more than before. The change only relates to flights operated by Malév itself - not by those operated by code-share partners but carrying the MA prefix.

N..

Norwegian Air Shuttle said it would post losses for the second quarter, due mainly to weakness in its Swedish business, and proposed to sell new shares to shareholders to finance aircraft purchases. Norwegian, a small rival to Scandinavian airline SAS, said a rise in fuel prices had been a challenge throughout the second quarter. Norwegian Air Shuttle said it expected to report losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of between NOK40 million and NOK45 million kroner (USD$7.87 million - USD$8.85 million) for the second quarter.

Northwest Airlines said it would cut its frontline and management staff by 8 percent as part of a sweeping capacity reduction aimed at offsetting the rising cost of jet fuel. Northwest, the latest carrier to announce job cuts, estimated the reduction and a variety of new fees would generate USD$250 million to USD$300 million annually.

NIKI Austrian budget airline operator is in talks with Brazil's Embraer and Bombardier to buy smaller planes.

NetJets, a provider of private planes, will buy 40 new aircraft from Gulfstream Aerospace in a deal worth about USD$1.9 billion.

Northwest Airlines is to reduce the number of seats for sale in the fourth quarter and cut its work force as it struggles with sky-high fuel costs.

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Oman's authorities are expected to initiate construction work on two new greenfield airports before the end of this year.

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Port Authority of NY & NJ reconvened its Flight Delay Task Force to continue to press for the more than 100 recommendations it proposed in a December 2007 report to expand capacity, reduce flights delays and improve customer service for delayed passengers.

Polet Airlines will start operating the flights via Tolmachevo International Airport (Novosibirsk), 2008. Besides, S7 Airlines and Sibaviatrans are extending their route network. Polet Airlines will provide the flights Novosibirsk-Ekaterinburg-Voronezh on SAAB-2000 with the capacity of 55 people, weekly.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Delta Air Lines have announced plans for the massive reconstruction of two terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport. A USD $20 million planning study for the redevelopment of Terminals 2 and 3 has been approved by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners. The terminals, both operated by Delta Air Lines, handle more than nine million of JFK's 48 million annual travellers, and are the oldest passenger facilities at the airport.

Q..

Qatar Airways, has signed a MoU for the purchase of four Airbus A321 aircraft. The agreement was signed at a ceremony at the 46th Farnborough International Airshow by Qatar Airway's Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker, and Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders.

Qantas announced formally the establishment of a new FFP, first flagged when private equity group TPG and partners bid to buy the airline a little over a year ago. This offers the airline a range of potential upsides.

R..

Ryanair said that it carried 5.17 million passengers in June or 19 percent more than a year earlier thanks to its growing route network but the average flight was not quite as full. Europe's biggest low-cost airline said its load factor was 84 percent in the month, down from 85 percent in June 2007.

S..

Saudi Arabian Airlines, has signed a firm contract with Airbus for eight A330-300 wide body aircraft, as part of its fleet modernisation plan.The contract follows one for 22 Airbus A320s signed at the end of 2007, marking the first agreement between Saudi Arabian Airlines and Airbus for commercial aircraft in 26 years.

Southwest Airlines said it will start a code share partnership with Canada's WestJet Airlines, marking Southwest's first foray into the Canadian market and a key boost for WestJet's expansion plans.

SAS said that June passenger traffic rose 3.5 percent from a year earlier, and said its cost-cutting plan was running according to plan. SAS said its passenger load factor fell 1.8 percentage points to 74.7 percent. Like many other airlines, SAS has struggled to compete in recent years with cut-price rivals and overcapacity. Last year, SAS launched its Strategy 2011 plan aimed at boosting annual pretax profit to SEK4 billion kroner (USD$666 million).

Singapore Airlines received its fifth Airbus A380 superjumbo. The carrier's Singapore-London route except for the first week in August, when it will fly to Beijing to meet higher passenger traffic during the Olympics, Singapore Airlines said in a statement.

SunExpress will optimize its route planning using Lido Operations Center (Lido OC) from Lufthansa Systems for another five years.

Singapore Airlines has signed a contract for Amadeus' Altea Customer Management Solution.

SriLankan Airlines is closely supporting initiatives by the government of Sri Lanka to spark a boom in Middle Eastern tourism to the country by adding more weekly flights to the region. With this initiative, SriLankan will have 37 weekly connections to nine cities in the Middle East Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Muscat, Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait. Additional flights are to three cities Doha which increases from the present 4 flights up to 6; Bahrain which goes from 5 to 7; and Dammam which will have 3 flights, up from the present 2.

SAS said it had abandoned its plans to sell its loss-making Spanair unit due to tough market conditions, sending its shares down 10 percent. "The value we could realize does not reflect the underlying value in Spanair," Chief Executive Mats Jansson said.

Spanair has joined an elite group of prizewinners at Munich Airport. Peter Trautmann, the COO of FMG, the Munich Airport operating company, presented Spanair's Ramon Ferre with the MUC Exchange Award 2008 at a ceremony recently. With this award FMG honors airlines that achieve outstanding growth in Munich.

S7 Airlines has received two new integrated simulators for emergency crew training on A320 and Boeing 737 NG. Both simulators were manufactured by RP Aero Systems. A320 simulator installation is scheduled for January 2009. The cost of the simulators exceeds USD2 million.

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Tunisair, North African airline celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, has signed a firm contract with Airbus for the acquisition of three A350-800s, three A330-200s and ten A320s, as part of an important fleet development plan that will modernise and expand the fleet of this growing airline. With this acquisition, that follows an initial agreement announced last April, Tunisair is the third African airline to order the all-new A350 XWB. Tunisair currently already has 12 A320s, four A319s, and three A300-600s in operation.

THY Turkish Airlines, one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe, carried 10.3 million passengers in the first half of the year, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier, it said. The Turkish flag carrier said in a statement to the stock market that available seat kilometres rose 9.6 percent year-on-year to 21.2 billion for the six-month period, and revenue passenger kilometres rose 14.4 percent to 15.5 million.

Thai Airways International and other shareholders to take a serious look at the future of low-cost carrier, Nok Air, writes Alastair Carthew. THAI holds 39% of the carrier. Fuel now accounts for 50% of the airline's operating costs against an industry average of 30-35%. Nok Air and THAI have of ten b e e n in conflict as THAI executives feel the no-frills carrier has been directly competing with its parent airline. Nok Air recently cut back on twice daily flights from Bangkok to Hanoi and halted its daily Bangkok-Bangalore f light, its f irst international route.

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United Airlines first US carrier to offer iPod and iPhone connectivity personalized in-flight entertainment system. United is the first US carrier to offer iPod and iPhone connectivity to its in-flight entertainment system, enabling customers to enjoy their individual content on a 15.4-inch personal television, all while the iPod or iPhone charges.

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VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, the Russian Titanium manufacturer, Airbus, a leading aircraft manufacturer, and its shareholder EADS, the European Aerospace and Defense Company, signed a framework agreement on titanium supply. The agreement covers the supply of Titanium to Airbus and others EADS Divisions until 2020. It further boosts the relationship that exists between the companies since the early 1990s, by extending the number of added-value products purchased in Russia. The scope of the contract includes the supply of Titanium round and flat mill products, and covers die forgings parts for all existing Airbus aircraft, including new programmes such as the A350XWB.

Vueling and Clickair have agreed to merge, in a move to rationalise competition in the brutal Spanish low cost market. A merger, which is subject to Spanish competition commission approval, would create an airline with approximately 50 aircraft and 10.7 million passengers p/a, the third largest airline in Spain, after Iberia and Spanair.

Virgin Atlantic announced that it has teamed up with I Love New York (New York State Division of Tourism) to offer wine tasting in its flagship Clubhouse at Heathrow Terminal 3 this summer.

Vnukovo International Airport continues to demonstrate the highest growth in passenger service among the European airport of its group (group 3 5-10 million people annually). ACI Europe has published the report on the activities of its members in April 2008. According to the report, the passenger service of Vnukovo International Airport grew by 27.8% in April 2008. Lyon Airport (France) an Alicante Airport (Spain) were rated the second and the third with the growth in passenger service totaling 10.2% and 10%, respectively. In April 2008 Vnukovo International Airport was rated the 45th among 107 European airports in terms of passenger service. In January-May 2008, total passenger service of Vnukovo International Airport totaled 2.852 million people (+36%).

Virgin America, said it would cut flying capacity by about 10 percent in the fourth quarter from previously estimated levels, as it deals with high oil prices.

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Xiamen Airport, an airport operator based in China's southern Fujian province, said it had obtained regulatory approval to buy airline-related assets from its parent. Xiamen Airport will pay CNY516.2 million yuan (USD$75 million) for the assets from Xiamen International Airport Group, the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.