oneworld

BA owner IAG is holding talks on leasing additional A380s second hand because it believes the options it has to buy more of the Airbus superjumbo are too expensive, its CE said Monday. The move is part of a strategy of increasing the proportion of leased aircraft IAG has within its fleet, Willie Walsh said. ”We have options on A380s ... but we are not going to exercise them because they are too expensive," he said. "We see the option of leasing them second hand as an attractive opportunity." Walsh said IAG was also interested in leasing or buying more second-hand Boeing 777-300ERs. "We see going forward probably a greater mix of leased in the fleet than we’ve traditionally had," he said. Walsh said IAG was looking at adding another five or six A380s to the BA fleet, but that the jet could also be suitable for Spain-based group airline Iberia.<br/>

A man on board a Perth flight bound for Sydney had to be restrained by passengers and crew after he became aggressive when flight attendants refused him drink service. The 45-year-old man was travelling on a Qantas flight on Sunday morning when the incident occurred. Passenger Simon Bowen, who was escorting a group of Hale School students to a cricket tournament in Sydney, said the "abusive" and "violent" incident started about half an hour into the four-hour journey. "He sparked off a little bit of a loud request for a drink which went denied... there was a bit of abuse towards the air hostesses," he said. "It erupted in a bit of violence and a bit of fists being thrown towards people and a couple of nearby fellows managed to just get a handle on [him].” Bowen said the man was restrained with elastic handcuffs for the remainder of the flight.<br/>