Air Canada posted a 75.7% jump in net income to C$768m for Q3, on higher traffic and lower costs. Operating revenue in the quarter to end September was C$4.45b, a 10.6% increase from last year. Capacity (in available seat miles) was up 20.9% and traffic (in revenue passenger miles) up 18.9%. Corresponding load factor was down 1.5 percentage points at 85.5%. Unit cost per available seat mile fell 8.3% on lower fuel costs. Air Canada saw a 13.7% increase in passenger numbers, with a 27.9% jump in international-to-international connections as it added over 20 international and US trans-border routes.<br/>
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LOT Polish Airlines has agreed to acquire a 49% stake in Estonian flag carrier Nordica’s Regional Jet subsidiary as the Polish flag carrier aims to strengthen its presence in Central and Eastern Europe. Both carriers would preserve their national identities. Starting Nov. 19, LOT will use its designator from Tallinn, Estonia, on routes to Brussels, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Vienna, Kiev, Vilnius, Oslo and Trondheim. Flights between Tallinn and Munich will be served by LOT, which bases one Embraer regional jet temporarily in Tallinn, Estonia. Initially, two Nordica Bombardier CRJ900s will operate from LOT’s Warsaw hub, which will rise to three later on. The cooperation enables LOT to continue its growth strategy while reducing the need for additional cockpit and cabin crews. On Oct. 13, the Star Alliance member agreed to lease up to 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s from US lessor Air Lease Corp. for delivery in 2017-2020.<br/>
Boeing and Airbus are holding a paper airplane contest. A very expensive one. And the winner may get the chance to build the world's longest jet. The US and European aerospace giants are vying for a coveted spot in the fleet of Singapore Airlines. By the end of the year, the airline is expected to back one of the company's designs, according to three people familiar with the campaign. There's a "pretty fierce campaign for this" order from Singapore, said one of the people. At the moment, the Boeing and Airbus planes exist largely as PowerPoint presentations that are being evaluated by engineers at Singapore Airlines. Both planes would be the longest twin-aisle jets ever built and the biggest with just two engines. Nose to tail, they'll be nearly the length of a football field. Airbus' A350-2000 would be nearly 258 feet long and seat 400 passengers. Boeing's 777-10X would be 263 feet and hold 450, in standard arrangements. That's about 30 and 50 passengers more, respectively, than the current largest A350 and 777X jets. While both jets may earn the title of world's longest, they won't carry the most passengers. The four-engine Airbus A380 has the distinction of being able to hold more passengers than any other airliner, carrying about 550 people on two decks. Boeing's new design would put it within striking distance of the A380 and even its own iconic 747 jumbo jet. Both have suffered from slow sales and declining production. And the new 777X would also have the advantage of being able to fit into airports that can't accommodate the A380 and its gargantuan wingspan, while carrying nearly as many passengers. Singapore is weighing all the attributes of each jet as it decides on which to back.<br/>
An Austrian Airlines spokesman says that a flight from Vienna to Kosovo made an unscheduled landing in Belgrade after the crew noticed vibrations in one of the two engines. Wilhelm Baldia says the Fokker 100, flight OS769 to Pristina, landed in the Serbian capital instead on Sunday. He says the landing was "without problems," and some of the 79 passengers continued on to their destinations directly on other flights. Those who couldn't be rebooked were flown back to Vienna Monday after spending the night in Belgrade.<br/>