Aegean Airlines grew passenger traffic on its domestic and foreign routes by 8% in April to May compared with last year, starting the summer season on a strong footing, Greece's largest carrier said Tuesday. Aegean flies a young fleet of 61 aircraft, mostly Airbus A320 jets. "The strong investment in the Athens network, coupled with strong demand for (flights) to Greece this year, have yielded a very good start to the summer season," Aegean's CE Dimitris Gerogiannis said. The carrier flew a total of 2.1m passengers in the two month period. Passenger traffic on its international flights grew 15% year-on-year to 1.2m passengers.<br/>
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Air NZ will go shopping for their next wide body planes from the end of the year as it eyes ultra long range routes into the North or South America. CE Christopher Luxon said the new aircraft would replace the airline's eight 777-200 which although refurbished were bought around the mid-2000s. "By the end of the year we'll get clear about what aircraft are out there," Luxon said. "Really our objective is to move deeper into North America and South America." Luxon said among those planes that could be in the running included stitched versions of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner the airline already flies, a larger version of the Airbus A350XWB that is already in service for other carriers, or the next generation of the 777 which is still under development and won't be available until the 2020s. Both the larger versions of the Dreamliner and the A350 are already undergoing flight tests. Luxon said his airline would continue to target the Australian market who wanted to fly to North or South America via Auckland.<br/>
SIA said jobs are likely to be cut as part of a business review Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier has kicked off to revive earnings following a surprise quarterly loss. The premium carrier’s staff is aware headcount reduction is possible under the process, CEO Goh Choon Phong said Tuesday. The group, including affiliates and units, employed an average 24,350 workers at the end of March 2016. Some jobs may become “irrelevant,” while some workers may need new skills for different tasks, Goh said, adding it is too early to provide numbers. The review process that covers the carrier’s fleet and network started more than six months ago, and SIA has hired external advisers for help, he said.<br/>
A classical musician has accused a United supervisor of barring her from boarding a plane with her centuries-old violin, sparking a scuffle that caused her to miss her flight and left her worried her hands — and by extension, her livelihood — may have been harmed. Yennifer Correia's attorney said Tuesday a lawsuit against United is likely on the 33-year-old Memphis woman's behalf after the Sunday confrontation in Houston as she was preparing to fly to Missouri for a symphony rehearsal. Correia had a discount fare that, according to rules posted on United's website, doesn't let passengers stow luggage in the overhead bin, although an exception is allowed for "small" musical instruments. It was not clear Tuesday why Correia was told to check the violin — made in Italy and believed to date to the late 1700s, her attorney said — instead of being allowed to carry it on board. United has refunded Correia's airfare, discussed the matter with its Houston employees and has "reached out to Ms. Correia to gain a better understanding of what occurred and to offer assistance," spokesman Charles Hobart said. "We're disappointed anytime a customer has an experience that does not live up to his or her expectation," he said.<br/>