Iranian search-and-rescue teams on Tuesday offered the first images of the site of an airplane crash in southern Iran that killed 65 people, with officials hoping to reach the aircraft's "black boxes" to learn exactly what downed the flight. State TV aired footage showing the plane crash site against the side of a snow-covered mountain near Yasuj, some 780 km south of Tehran, Iran's capital from which the Aseman Airlines flight took off on Sunday. A helicopter pilot interviewed by state television said the crash site appeared to be only 30m from a peak on Mount Dena in the Zagros Mountain range. "Some large parts of the plane, which were labeled with the Aseman company logo, were seen," said the pilot, identified by state TV only as Capt. Soheili. Authorities hoped searchers would recover the aircraft's "black boxes" later Tuesday. That equipment, typically painted in a bright colour to allow searchers to easily find it, records cockpit conversations and radio transmissions, as well as other data from a flight. "If the conditions are right, the 'black box' will be taken out of the plane today and will be delivered to Aseman Airlines," the semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Masoud As'adi Samani, the secretary of Iran's Air Society Association, as saying. The site also was too dangerous for helicopters to land on it, forcing rescue crews to jump out the hovering aircraft, according to state TV footage. The site is at an altitude of some 3,500m. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted the chief of the Iranian army's ground forces, Gen. Kiumars Heidari, as saying commandos in special vehicles would need to drive up to the site to collect the dead. <br/>
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SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, reported a E1.2b turnover for 2017, the highest turnover in its history. The carrier transported 8.8m passengers in 2017, up 10% compared to 2016. Load factor rose to 84%. SunExpress did not report detailed financial figures, but attributed the positive numbers to an uptick in passenger growth, especially a 20% boost in Turkish holiday destination traffic. Tourism in Turkey is recovering after challenging conditions in 2016 when a series of terrorist bombings and a failed coup attempt in Turkey depressed yields and slowed bookings. CEO Jens Bischof said, “In 2017, we [turned] challenges and risks in into opportunities. We redirected our network and sales strategy, and reduced our costs significantly.” For the 2018 summer schedule, the busiest season for European carriers, SunExpress continues to focus on the Mediterranean region, including a network increase from Turkey to the Middle East and Russia. SunExpress flies to 60 international destinations in 20 countries and operate 1,200 weekly flights. The company has 4,000 employees.<br/>
Southwest plans to start rolling out international cargo shipments in May, with Mexico City, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta at the top of the list, the carrier announced. The new service, subject to government approvals and the successful deployment of its new Southwest Cargo Suite (SCS) point-of-sale and back-office system, would expand to more destinations in 2018, Southwest said. SCS is expected to be in place by April 1 and will enable advanced cargo bookings and electronic air waybills. Southwest saw cargo revenue rise 1.2% year-over-year in 2017 to $173m, “primarily due to increased demand,” the carrier said in its most recent 10-K filing with the US SEC. Its 2018 Q1 outlook was for a YOY rise compared to 2017's first three months. “Sluggish demand” contributed to a 4.5% drop in full-year 2016 revenue to $172m from $178m in 2017.<br/>
Spirit Airlines will add St. Croix to its route map, a move that will further expand the carrier’s footprint in the Caribbean. Spirit will fly to the island from its base in Fort Lauderdale. Service will begin May 24 with three flights a week. The route is the latest in a recent growth spurt for the company. Domestically, Spirit will begin flying from Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Va., by March. Internationally, new routes to Ecuador and Haiti will launch this spring. St. Croix will become Spirit’s 65th destination overall and its second in the US Virgin Islands. The ultra low-cost carrier already flies to St. Thomas, which it also serves from Fort Lauderdale. Beyond the new route to St. Croix, Spirit also said it is restoring service to Caribbean destinations that were hard hit by hurricanes in 2017. Spirit said it was continuing efforts “to rebuild to its full historic Caribbean scheduled service levels.” Starting March 10, the airline said its schedules will return “to pre-storm, daily service” for St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and for San Juan and Aguadilla in Puerto Rico. Spirit said it intends to resume Saturday-only service to St. Maarten on May 5. <br/>
Nok Air aims a turnaround to profit this year thanks to expansion of domestic and international routes. With a focus on cost-cutting plans, higher capacity and aircraft utilisation this year, the airline hopes to avoid a loss. Nok Air posted a net loss of 1.9b baht last year. “Our target is to turnaround from a loss to a profit,” said Piya Yodmani, Nok’s CE. The airline wants total revenue to increase by 3b baht to 17.8b this year. In 2018, Nok Air aims to raise passenger numbers by 4% to reach 9m, up from 8m last year, as well as increase available seat kilometres by 29%. For network expansion, it will continue focusing more on the mainland China market by increasing frequencies on existing routes or adding more routes. This year, the airline plans to operate new flights to the India market, expected to start in June 2018. “Expansion into overseas markets will be able to help Nok Air to increase revenue from international flights operation to 40% from 20% last year,” Piya said. The airline’s 2018 growth plan should further strengthen collaborations with two partner groups — THAI Group and Value Alliance (a group of low-cost airlines), he said.<br/>