Lufthansa is expecting its best ever summer for bookings, driven by strong demand for premium tickets, on North American routes and a booming German economy, its CE said Tuesday. "Even though we are growing 15%, our seat load factor is going up and that's why I'm so optimistic for this summer to be a record summer," Carsten Spohr said, signalling the company's planes are more full even though it has sharply increased the number of available seats. Spohr was speaking after Lufthansa received the Skytrax award for best European airline, toppling rival Turkish Airlines. The carrier has been investing billions in renewing its fleet and improving its cabins as it seeks to win customers in a fiercely competitive market and achieve a coveted 5-star Skytrax rating. <br/>
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At least 10 people experienced turbulence-related injuries during a United Airlines flight Tuesday. The plane was traveling from Panama City, Panama to George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Texas when it experienced weather-related turbulence, United Airlines said. The FAA confirmed that the flight hit severe turbulence. "United Flight 1031, a Boeing 737, reported encountering severe turbulence in Mexican airspace, about 80 miles east of Cancun," it said. United said that 9 customers and crew members were transferred to area hospitals for treatment. Paramedics met the aircraft on the runway for immediate treatment. The others were treated at on the scene for minor injuries. Last year, 44 passengers and crew members suffered turbulence-related injuries that were sufficient enough to require reporting to the FAA. <br/>
Boeing’s strong opening act for the new 737 MAX 10, the largest of its re-engined narrowbody family launched this week at the Paris Air Show, continued Tuesday with major orders from United Airlines and Chinese lessor CALC. United Airlines is converting 100 of its previous 737 MAX orders to the new -10 variant. The conversion makes United the largest single 737 MAX 10 customer. “The 737 MAX 10 will enable us to continue using larger and more efficient aircraft within our domestic network,” United EVP and CFO Andrew Levy said. Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CE Kevin McAllister noted this was the 11th Boeing aircraft for which United had been a launch customer, going back to the Model 88 around 1928. <br/>
Rapidly expanding Ethiopian Airlines has placed a follow-on order for 10 Rolls-Royce powered Airbus A350-900s, which were previously listed as undisclosed on Boeing’s order book. In addition, the carrier ordered 10 additional 737 MAX 8 aircraft, exercising options from their 2014 order, which was the largest for the 737 MAX in Africa. Ethiopian now has firm orders for 30 737 MAX 8s. Ethiopian took delivery of the first of its original order for 12 A350s in June 2016 and it now operates 4 of the type, including 2 leased aircraft. Alongside the A350 aircraft order, Ethiopian signed a US$1.5b Trent XWB engine order with Rolls-Royce, as well as a TotalCare support contract. The in-service Ethiopian A350s were initially deployed on Addis Ababa-London and have more recently been used on the airline’s Beijing route. <br/>