At the handover of the 100th A380 superjumbo to Gulf carrier Emirates earlier this month in Hamburg, Airbus rolled out the red carpet to airline executives and Dubai royalty, who in turn winked and nodded that another multi-billion-dollar order for the double-decker was on the cards. Ten days on, dignitaries were filing into a conference room at the Dubai Air show to witness the unveiling of a lifeline order for the slow-selling jet -- when the unimaginable happened. Excitement over a mammoth follow-on contract from the A380’s only significant backer turned first to bewilderment as word spread that no announcement would be forthcoming, and then to mortification for Airbus as Emirates proceeded instead to hand a $15b deal to rival Boeing. The eleventh-hour switch amounted to much more than just a lost order for Airbus, sending ripples across the aviation industry as the superjumbo’s already uncertain future turned a shade darker. It also provided a rare insight into how decisions are made at the world’s biggest long-haul airline -- as well as the uneasy interdependence between a planemaker and its key clients. Airbus and Emirates have developed an almost symbiotic relationship around the A380. The Gulf giant has given the superjumbo a public profile it would otherwise have struggled to attain, while the airline put the 550-seat jet at the heart of its bid to divert a significant proportion of global traffic via a former aviation backwater. Story has more details.<br/>
unaligned
The German government should revoke landing rights for Kuwait Airways given its ban on Israeli passengers, a senior Justice Department official said on Friday, saying such discrimination was intolerable. Christian Lange, parliamentary state secretary in the ministry, appealed to Chancellor Angela Merkel to personally advocate a ban on Kuwait Airways’ operations in Germany. A German court ruled Thursday that the airline had the right to refuse to carry an Israeli passenger due to his nationality, a verdict that Jewish groups said condoned anti-Semitism. Lange told Merkel in the letter that he had received countless phone calls from members of the Jewish community and from others in Israel, expressing shock about the court ruling, made just days after Germany solemnly marked the anniversary of the Nov. 9, 1938 Nazi pogroms against the Jews. “We cannot say ‘Never again’ at a remembrance ceremony, but then remain silent when activists in Germany call for a boycott of Israel, or, as in this case, when an airline refuses to carry Israeli citizens,” Lange said. “Especially the German government must make clear that we reject this form of discrimination and hate, and that we stand by the side of our Israeli friends,” he told the chancellor. The Lawfare Project, the legal group that represented the plaintiff in the case, has vowed to appeal against the ruling.<br/>
Aer Lingus will have at least 24 aircraft flying transatlantic routes every day from 2022 as it pursues plans to more than double this business, according to CE Stephen Kavanagh. The airline announced on Friday that it intends flying from Dublin to Seattle, Washington, in the northwestern US, from next May, just weeks after confirming that it would add Philadelphia to its transatlantic network next summer. Kavanagh said the carrier’s fleet expansion plans would, by 2022, give it “a minimum of 24 aircraft flying over the Atlantic every day”. He said the airline would order a new Airbus A330 long-haul aircraft in coming months to boost frequencies on existing transatlantic flights from Dublin. Kavanagh indicated that the airline may also increase the number of flights on transatlantic services from Shannon Airport, from where it serves Boston and New York. Aer Lingus wants to grow the number of passengers on its North American services from Dublin to 4.5m by 2020 from an estimated 2.5m this year. It has doubled this business since 2013, according to Kavanagh.<br/>
Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines Friday lifted restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes travelling from Beirut to London, the airline said. Britain implemented curbs on electronic items in the cabin in March on direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia in response to unspecified security threats. Passengers had to check devices larger than a mobile phone such as laptops into the plane’s hold. These devices can as of Friday be carried in the cabin on direct MEA flights from Beirut to London, “provided specific random additional security measures are implemented at the London flight segregated gate,” MEA said in a statement. British Airways, which operate the only other direct route from Beirut to London, has not lifted the restrictions, the airline said Friday.<br/>
A Southwest pilot arrested after TSA agents found a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage before his flight left St. Louis Lambert Airport will not face criminal charges, a Missouri prosecutor's office said Friday. "The warrant was refused today on Unlawful use of a Weapon, as we cannot prove he knowingly carried the firearm into the secure area," Ed Magee, spokesman for St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch, said in an email. "He is still subject to FAA regulations." The 51-year-old pilot's name has not been released. The TSA said he was arrested on suspicion of unlawful use of a weapon early Wednesday. Local police were alerted around 4:45 a.m. and took possession of a 9 mm Smith & Wesson M&P Shield that was loaded with seven rounds of ammunition. Southwest said the pilot is on administrative leave while an investigation continues. An email message seeking comment from the FAA was not immediately returned. Southwest Airlines said the pilot was scheduled to work Flight 1106 to Las Vegas as the first officer or co-pilot. The flight was delayed 45 minutes following his arrest.<br/>
Hainan Airlines will start direct flights from its base in Haikou, on Hainan island, to Sydney, Australia, from Jan. 30, the official Xinhua news agency reported Sunday. The airline will fly an Airbus A330 on the new route twice a week, Xinhua said, adding the service was designed to meet increasing demand from tourists and business people. It will be the first international route operated by Hainan Airlines from its home on the southern island province and the company’s seventh direct route to Australia, according to Xinhua. Hainan Airlines already flies to Sydney from the cities of Xian and Changsha, and to other Australian destinations, including Cairns and Melbourne, from other Chinese cities.<br/>
HNA Group subsidiary Capital Airlines launched Qingdao-London services Nov. 17, as part of its international expansion plan. The new twice-weekly service uses an Airbus A330. In recent years, Capital Airlines has accelerated the pace of its international expansion as demand grows for outbound travel. Capital Airlines was established in 2010 as a joint venture between HNA Group and the Beijing municipal government. The carrier operates 72 aircraft, comprising seven A330s, 20 A319s, 34 A320s and 11 A321s. In addition to the new Qingdao-London service, this year Capital Airlines opened four intercontinental routes: Beijing-Lisbon; Beijing-Qingdao-Sydney; Qingdao-Moscow and Hangzhou-Saipan. The airline also plans to open more than 30 international services from Beijing’s new airport, which is scheduled to open in 2019.<br/>
Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways, which connected to India by launching daily flights to Hyderabad from Friday, will add Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Kochi to its network from January next year. Jazeera Airways CEO Rohit Ramachandran said that it will be a daily flight to Mumbai while services to Kochi will be four days a week and to Ahmedabad thrice a week. He said the airline plans to add destinations in India, mainly targeting nearly one million Indians living in Kuwait. “This would be the first phase of our journey to India. We would like to fly to more destinations and add a lot more frequencies,” he said adding that their plans were restrained by air services agreement between India and Kuwait which currently provides for only 12,000 seats per week in each direction. He believes there is potential for tripling this number and urged both the governments to take necessary steps to add the capacity. Jazeera expects 50% of the their business from India operations to come from people going to Kuwait for employment and Indian expatriates coming back to see their families. Another key segment will be passengers going for pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, and those visiting holy and historic places in Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt. There will also be a small number of Kuwaiti nationals coming for medical treatment to India.<br/>
Ryanair did not accept the results of an internet survey among its pilots about their attitudes to safety reporting procedures because the survey was “anonymous and unverified”, the company’s HR director Darrell Hughes has told the Irish High Court. Ryanair Pilot Group (RPG) said more than 1,000 pilots responded to the survey and that it gave rise to serious concerns for safety reporting in the airline, the court heard. The group later gave the results to a Channel 4 Dispatches programme. Hughes agreed with Ryanair counsel Thomas Hogan that the survey had been described as bogus because it was an anonymous and unverified internet survey. Hughes was giving evidence on the sixth day of Ryanair’s defamation action against three founders of the RPG – Evert Van Zwol, John Goss and Ted Murphy. The airline claims they issued an email in September 2013 falsely saying the company misled investors. The three deny the email meant what Ryanair alleges and deny defamation. Hughes told a judge and jury that the documents circulated to RPG members included one claiming Ryanair was trying to maximise profits at the cost of eroding pilot terms and condition. While Hughes believed the views were nonsense, it was typical of the “cut and thrust” of industrial relations.<br/>
Chinese-owned aircraft leasing company Avolon has firmed up an order for 75 Boeing airplanes and may order 20 more, its parent Bohai Capital said Sunday. The Dublin-based leasing group, founded by CE Domhnal Slattery, agreed to buy 55 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and 20 of the higher-capacity Boeing 737 MAX 10, Bohai said in a filing. It may order an additional 20 of the main 737 MAX 8 version, it added. Based on published prices, the confirmed part of the deal would be worth $8.7 billion at list values, though analysts say buyers typically get discounts of at least 50% for significant orders of such models. Including the possible extra purchase of 20 jets, the total deal would be worth $11b at list prices, Bohai said. The announcement broadly confirms a memorandum of understanding signed by Avolon at the Paris Airshow in June for 75 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Slattery said at the time that Avolon was considering Boeing’s 737 MAX 10. Bohai, part of aviation-to-shipping conglomerate HNA Group, said Avolon expected to take delivery of the aircraft between 2021 and 2024. <br/>