Norwegian Air has vowed to push ahead with plans to increase the number of flights it offers out of Gatwick Airport, even if the rival expansion bid at Heathrow wins the battle for govt backing. The govt’s long-awaited decision on Britain's future airport expansion could be made in favour of Heathrow as soon as this week, but a spokesman for the airline said this would not derail its plans to offer more flights from its Gatwick base. Earlier this year the airline spoke out publicly in favour of Gatwick’s proposed expansion, saying it would increase its existing capacity by 50 long-haul Boeing 787 Dreamliners if a second runway is built at the airport. A spokesman said that Norwegian had always backed Gatwick as the right choice for the Britain's next runway, but whatever the final decision, the airline’s UK growth plans remain unchanged. <br/>
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Hawaiian Airlines executives had a dilemma: Their planes were burning more fuel than projected on their regular 4,180km route between Honolulu and American Samoa. Various factors for increased fuel use, like winds, were ruled out. So the carrier asked passengers on the twice-weekly flights if they wouldn't mind being weighed before boarding. The results of Hawaiian Airlines' 6-month voluntary survey found that on average the passengers and their carry-on bags were 13.6kg heavier than anticipated, and it's prompted a new policy: Passengers are no longer allowed to pre-select their own seats on flights between Hawaii and the US territory. But the new policy has prompted complaints to federal transportation officials and claims that people from American Samoa are being targeted because of their weight. <br/>
CityJet is aiming to turn a profit by 2017, but is remaining silent on reports that it plans to make further acquisitions. “The company was heavily loss-making, but that situation is not going to continue. We’ll turn into profit certainly in 2017, if not in 2016,” CityJet CCO Cathal O’Connell said. CityJet, which is active in scheduled flying, wet-lease work and ad-hoc charters, has been through several transitions over the last few years. In Oct 2015, CityJet announced plans to acquire 100% of Finland-based Blue1 from SAS. The carrier has since been linked to 2 potential acquisitions—UK regional Stobart Air and less solidly to Danish regional Cimber—but O’Connell declined to comment on these reports. Over the past year, CityJet has swelled its headcount from 510 to 850 staff. <br/>
Spanish regional airline Binter Canarias is establishing a subsidiary in Cape Verde. “We think we will get our license in 15 days and 1 week later we will start to fly,” Binter president Pedro Augustin de Castillo said. He added that Cape Verde was selected because the archipelago is similar to Binter Canarias’ core operation, between the Spanish Canary Islands. The new subsidiary, Binter CV, will initially operate 2 ATR 72-500s, although the fleet is expected to grow to 4 or 5 aircraft. These are being phased out of Binter Canarias’ main operation in favour of newer ATR 72-600s. The start-up will compete against incumbent carrier TACV Cape Verde Airlines, but Binter CV plans to offer more frequencies than its local rival and is expecting to carry around 400,000 passengers a year. <br/>