sky

Alitalia loses as much as E2m a day, Italy's Industry minister Stefano Patuanelli said Thursday, clarifying a comment he had made at a parliamentary committee the day before. The estimate lays bare the challenge facing the airline's new temporary administrator, who was been appointed earlier this month to cut costs and find a buyer for Alitalia after a consortium of potential rescuers backtracked. Asked about how much Alitalia was bleeding, the minister said "E2m a day" and then added "we are talking about a (daily) loss that fluctuates during the year because the cash-flow is completely different in different periods of the year," Patuanelli said. Patuanelli added that it was up to the airline's new administrator Giuseppe Leogrande to release a final data on the loss for this year. <br/>

Korean Air plans to charge passengers for seats in the emergency exit row to help overcome the snowballing deficit from fierce competition and a slowing economy. The company is the only local airline that offers seats in the emergency exit row and front row economy class without a fee. "The airline looked into measures to charge for roomier economy seats just like other local airlines and could implement the new policy as early as February," an industry source said. The move comes as the airline suffers a growing deficit from numerous external factors such as the sluggish economy, "Boycott Japan" movement, increased competition and rises in oil and currency exchange, which took a toll on the airline's profitability this year. <br/>

China Eastern Airlines has taken delivery of the first Airbus A350 to be fitted with a touchscreen option for the large displays in the aircraft’s cockpit. The initial aircraft to receive the option is an A350-900 Last year Airbus was testing touchscreen displays on an A350-1000, and certification by EASA took place in November. The technology is being introduced as an option through avionics specialist Thales. Some 20 carriers have selected the feature. Three of the 6 15.4in screens in the A350 cockpit can be adapted to include touchscreens. These include the 2 outermost screens – which normally show electronic flight bag information – and the lower of the 2 central screens, which normally contains the multi-function display. Airbus will offer the touchscreens exclusively on the A350 for now. <br/>

Delta Air Lines, which is starting direct flights to India after a decade this Christmas eve, has signed an interline agreement with Vistara and is open to looking at other commercial agreements, a senior executive said. The flight to India “fills the last remaining hole in our worldwide network,” Jimmy Eichelgruen, Delta director, sales for India, Africa and the middle east, said. He added that 1.3m people travel between the US and India (one way) every year. Air India and United Airlines are the only two other carriers offering direct flights between India and US. Delta’s resumption of direct flights to India was made possible after an agreement last year between the US govt and UAE and Qatar to address American carriers’ concerns of Gulf carriers getting illegal subsidies from their govt. <br/>