Niki grounded all flights after Lufthansa dropped its plan to buy the carrier from collapsed parent Air Berlin, raising the prospect of thousands of travellers being stranded ahead of the Christmas travel rush. The company, which was Air Berlin’s most valuable asset, stopped flying “for the time being,” it said Wednesday after filing for insolvency at a court in Berlin. The move came after EU competition regulators opposed the Lufthansa deal. EU antitrust officials were wary of granting Lufthansa too much market power and weren’t willing to accept the remedy package the airline had proposed. Lufthansa said it will now stop financing Niki, which it had been keeping afloat at a cost of about E10m a week since August. The German govt said it regrets the EU’s stance and will do everything it can to limit the damage to taxpayers. <br/>
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Air NZ CE Christopher Luxon has written to customers advising that the cabin product and service style will be different on leased planes to cover engine problems with Dreamliners. The airline will soon get 2 wet lease aircraft from Portugal's Hi Fly to operate selected Auckland–Sydney services and most Auckland–Perth services over the coming weeks. Luxon thanked customers for their patience as the company worked through "these unexpected challenges" of the Rolls-Royce engine issues on its Boeing 787-9 fleet. Luxon advised that passengers would notice a difference in the products and service style they were used to. Under the terms of the wet lease the flights would be operated by Hi Fly crew and pilots as Air NZ staff are not trained to operate the A330 and A340 aircraft. <br/>
SIA has taken delivery of the first of 5 Airbus A380 aircraft, featuring recently launched on-board cabin products and innovations. The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, is part of a Jan 2013 order. The new SIA A380 offers more personal space in all classes, accommodating 471 passengers. The cabin features 6 private suites and 78 business-class seats on the upper deck, and 44 premium-economy and 343 economy-class seats on the main deck. The aircraft also features the latest IFE systems and full connectivity from every seat. The new A380 will launch its first services Dec 18 from Singapore Changi to Sydney, Australia. SIA will also retrofit 14 A380s already in service with the new cabin products. <br/>