Airbus Group is in advanced talks with Vietnam’s VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co. for a multi-billion dollar single-aisle jet order, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The deal is likely to be announced as early as Tuesday in the presence of French President Francois Hollande, who is currently visiting the Southeast Asian country, the person said, asking not to be identified as the matter still isn’t public. Airbus said the manufacturer doesn’t comment on discussions it may or may not be having with customers. Late last year at the Dubai Airshow, the carrier agreed to buy 30 Airbus A321 planes in a deal worth $3.6b at list prices. The low-cost carrier started operations in December of 2011, and is seeking to expand in a market that’s grown 20% annually in the last three years, according to the airline. In May, the country’s only private airline said it would buy 100 Boeing 737-Max 200 jets in an order worth $11.3b when US President Barack Obama visited Vietnam.<br/>
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Argentine state-run carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas cancelled two flights to Caracas between Sept. 10 and 12 due to security concerns, a spokeswoman said on Monday. The announcement followed one of the biggest anti-government protests last week against socialist rule in Venezuela in more than a decade. "Because of calls for new demonstrations and marches in Venezuela we decided to cancel two flights," said Felicitas Cuatrillón, institutional relations manager for Aerolíneas Argentinas. She said the flights were cancelled "preventively because there could be disturbances" in order to keep crews safe. Aerolíneas Argentinas was nationalized in 2008 during the government of then President Cristina Fernandez. New market-friendly management appointed by centre-right President Mauricio Macri is working to cut costs. Several international airlines have stopped flying to Venezuela in recent years because they have not been able to repatriate ticket sales held in local currency.<br/>
French business class-only airline LaCompagnie announced plans to halt flights between London and the New York area as a result of the UK’s vote to quit the European Union, just days after British Airways said it was reducing its own premium service between the cities. LaCompagnie will cease its four-times weekly operations between Luton, northwest of London, and Newark, New Jersey, on Sept. 25, after beginning the service in April last year, it said Monday in a statement. BA is reducing its own business-only operation from London City airport to New York John F. Kennedy International to one daily flight from two at the end of next month. The French carrier is responding to a lack of long-term visibility following the Brexit vote, it said, even though the Luton flights had recently been operating with a healthy 77% load factor. “Despite the positive returns the airline was getting from British and American customers on the route, the position of LaCompagnie remained fragile,” the airline said. Capacity freed up by quitting the UK will be used to add a second daily flight to Newark from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on some days starting Oct. 25, it said. Passengers who had been booked to fly to or from Luton will be reimbursed or can switch their flights to Paris at no extra cost.<br/>
Emirates will use Airbus A380s between New Zealand and Dubai five times daily from the end of October with the introduction of the airline's double-decker aircraft on Christchurch services. Emirates will be the first airline to offer regular scheduled A380 services to and from Christchurch with the upgrade of the current daily Christchurch service from Boeing 777-300ERs. The new service will mean the removal of the en-route stop in Bangkok which will enable passengers to travel all the way between Christchurch and Dubai, with just one stop in Sydney. The launch of the Christchurch A380 flights will coincide with the introduction of the A380 on Emirates' daily non-stop route between Auckland and Dubai. It is currently the longest flight in the world. Emirates currently also operates three other daily A380 services between Auckland and Dubai and beyond via Australian eastern cities.<br/>
No-frills Thai Lion Air (TLA) has joined the global airline industry club whose members are largely full-service carriers in a move to support its growth plans. TLA has joined a handful of low-cost carriers to become a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The membership, which was officiated last Friday, allows TLA, part of Indonesia's gigantic Lion Air Group, to leverage extensive support and benefits rendered by IATA mechanisms. TLA managing director Darsito Hendro told the Bangkok Post that the membership, the first for a Thai-registered LCC, will be instrumental to the airline's international expansion. "Thai Lion is expanding internationally, already covering Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar, with Vietnam next and India and Australia on our radar screen," he said. <br/>