Calif. military jet crashes; pilot killed, 1 hurt

A military jet crashed during a training mission over the Mojave Desert, killing the pilot and injuring another crewman who ejected, the Air Force said Friday.

Capt. Mark P. Graziano, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene after his T-38A jet went down at about 1:15 p.m. Thursday near California City, about nine miles north of Edwards Air Force Base.

Maj. Lee V. Jones, a senior navigator, ejected from the twin-engine plane. He was listed in stable condition at a Bakersfield hospital, a statement from the base said.

Both men were assigned to the Test Pilot School at the base. Graziano was training to be a test pilot and Jones was training to become a test navigator.

“We are shocked and saddened by this sudden loss and our hearts and prayers go out to Mark’s family and loved ones,” Col. Terry M. Luallen, commandant of the school, said in the statement.

The crash is under investigation by a board of officers. The base did not disclose any other details.

It was the second crash of an aircraft from Edwards in less than two months. On March 25, a test pilot died when an Air Force F-22A Raptor crashed about 35 miles north of the base.

The T-38 Talon is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer used primarily for pilot training.

Test pilots and flight test engineers are trained in T-38s at Edwards, while Air Force Materiel Command uses the jet to test experimental equipment such as electrical and weapon systems. NASA uses T-38s as trainers for astronauts.

Jet Airways gets access to fly to Sharjah from India

India’s second-ranked airline by passengers carried, Jet Airways (India) Ltd, has been permitted by the aviation ministry to expand services to West Asia, connecting four Indian cities with Sharjah, raising concern among smaller rivals planning to fly to the region that their large peers are hogging limited, bilaterally negotiated rights. 

Jet entered the West Asia market in January last year on expiry of a rule that allowed only the national carrier—National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil, that runs the Air India services—to fly to this region. With some six million Indians estimated to be working in the region, with about a quarter of them in the United Arab Emirates, Jet Airways expanded quickly into these lucrative routes as part of its first phase of international expansion that included connections to the US and Europe. 
Of the 18 cities it connects internationally now, six are in this region, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait and Muscat. It plans to add three more cities—Riyadh, Jeddah and Sharjah—to its West Asia network. 
Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, Jet Airway’s bigger rival by share of passengers carried, which flies to London, Dhaka and Colombo, does not operate flights to West Asia yet. 
A Jet Airways spokeswoman confirmed to Mint that her airline had received permission for flights to Sharjah but declined further detail. 
Outbound: Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal. Six of the airline’s current international destinations are in West Asia. Ramesh Pathania / Mint 
The permissions for Jet Airways from the outgoing government cover daily services to Sharjah from Kochi, Kozhikode (formerly Calicut), Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai, according to a senior government official who wanted to remain anonymous. 
The airline earlier this year started flying the Chennai-Dubai and Mumbai-Kuwait routes even as it cut down on domestic routes. 
“The introduction of these new flights will serve to further strengthen our Gulf network, better enabling us to offer passengers seamless connectivity and a world-class product on the Indo-Gulf sector,” Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief executive officer, Jet Airways, said in an April statement while announcing the launch of Mumbai-Riyadh and Mumbai-Jeddah services. 
The ongoing expansion by large carriers to West Asia is likely to make it difficult for smaller carriers such as SpiceJet Ltd, which too is in the process of selecting routes to fly international next year when it completes flying the stipulated minimum of five years on domestic routes for eligibility to fly overseas. 
On routes in countries in West Asia or those such as China, the civil aviation ministry grants rights to carriers based on agreed bilateral rights with each of those countries, and several West Asian routes have already used up the maximum number of flights. 
SpiceJet may have to keep in mind the bilateral capacity while selecting the routes it chooses to fly, said Samyukth Sridharan, its chief commercial officer. “It is too early. We are still doing our study and will finalize (routes) by mid-July,” he said of the international operations from next year. “Obviously we will have to keep that (bilaterals) in mind.” 

An aviation expert said the ministry should check if the permission given to Jet Airways to fly on any overseas routes governed by bilateral agreements are utilized or not. “If not, other carriers should get an equitable share,” said Kapil Kaul, India CEO for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an aviation consultancy. 
The permission given to Jet Airways comes at a time when the airline has been told by West Asian carriers to which it had leased four long-haul Boeing Co.-made 777 planes to that the aircraft will be returned by the end of this year. A Jet Airways executive, who asked not to be identified, said it was in talks with two SouthEast Asian airlines and one West Asian carrier to lease out these aircraft for six more months after December. 
The once profitable Jet Airways has seen its losses mount over the past three years, and analysts expect it to post a loss of Rs150-250 crore for the last quarter of fiscal 2009. 
If the airline is unable to clinch the new leases, this executive said, it could result in changes in its international operations or parking the planes on ground.

Emirates Earnings Fall 72 Percent.

Emirates, headquartered in Dubai U.A.E, said that their profit fell 72 percent for their last fiscal period due to the drop in demand for air travel and the heavy expenditure of high oil prices. Despite the heavy hit, the carrier remained profitable; their 21st consecutive year, thanks to increased sales due to high capacity.

Emirates posted a profit of 1.49 billion dirhams ($406 million) for the year ended March 31, 2009. The number is shy of their record profit of 5.3 billion dirhams a year earlier.  Note that these figures include the entire Emirates Group as a whole, which include profit for the airline itself, as well as their cargo services, tour operations, etc.

Emirates has grown rapidly in the past few years. Their fleet is relatively new – 64 months average. Their fleet size, at the end of March 31, 2009, was listed at 127 aircraft. The airline currently has 5 Airbus A380s in service, and they’re awaiting 53 more of the super-jumbos.

Despite the profits, the carrier did announced unpaid leave for thousands of flight crew to cut costs. Like many airlines, even the fastest growing carriers still struggle in the weakened economy.

United Begins Dulles Moscow Flight

United Airlines began its new Washington Dulles-Moscow Dodomodevo Flight on a Boeing 767-300. UA964 Departed Washington at 4.50pm and arrived in Moscow at 10.45AM next day. UA is expected to do well on this route as it has a superior product compared to Aeroflot and strong government travel between the two capitals will boost loads too.

Qatar Airways begins its Doha-Houston Flight today

Amid much fanfare, Qatar Airways began its much touted Doha-Houston on a brand new Boeing 777-200 LR. Touted as flights between the two ebergy capitals of the world, the flight offers 5 Star rated service on board. The flight landed amidst rainy conditions in Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Enjoy the pics

Anchorage Airport closed as volcanic ash falls

The Anchorage, Alaska, airport remained closed Sunday morning after an erupting volcano shot ash some 45,000 feet in the air on Saturday, officials said.Ash from Mount Redoubt fell around the city -- Alaska's largest -- resulting in the closure of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Only a trace amount of the ash reached the airport grounds, airport spokesman Jeremy Lindseth said, but it was enough to affect operations. He said he did not know how many flights were canceled or rerouted as a result of the ash, and did not know when the airport would reopen.

The eruption occurred at about 1:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET) Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN. The volcano erupted four times on Friday, at times shooting ash 51,000 feet into the air.

The eruptions are the latest in a series that began March 22.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has set the alert level at its highest possible designation -- red -- indicating that an eruption is under way or imminent and that the eruption will produce a "significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere."

Friday's volcano activity prompted Alaska Airlines to limit flights to and from Anchorage, according to the airline's Web site. The airline canceled all its Thursday flights to and from Anchorage after an eruption earlier in the day sent an ash cloud 65,000 feet high.

Singapore Airlines ends Boeing 747 London service

Singapore Airlines on Saturday, 28MAR09, operates the last Boeing 747 London service, marking an end of an era after 35.5 years.

The airline received its first Boeing 747 a year shortly after it split from MSA (Malaysia-Singapore Airlines) in 1973, and entered operation on the Kangaroo route around Oct 1973 (01OCT73).

Starting 29MAR09, current 747 flight will be replaced by smaller-capacity Boeing 777-300ER, while the other 2 daily continues to operate with Airbus A380.

El Al plans to launch Tel Aviv-New Delhi air service

Israel's national air-carrier El Al Israel Airlines is planning to enhance connectivity between India and Israel by launching Tel Aviv-New Delhi service from summer, a senior airline official said. 

The proposed flight would operate twice a week, El Al Israel Airlines Limited General Manager (India) Judah Samuel said, adding that, "however, the final dates for the launch have not yet been finalised." 

At present El Al Airlines operates three flights a week from Mumbai to Tel Aviv and has a commercial tie-up with national air-carrier Air India and Naresh Goyal-owned private airline Jet Airways, he said. 

The carrier was also mulling flights to some other destinations. However, they were only on the drawing board stage, he said. 

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Fukuoka Airport to get new runway

Fukuoka Governor Wataru Aso told the prefectural assembly this week that a new runway should be built at Fukuoka Airport in Japan to prevent air traffic congestion, Jiji Press reported. 

Taking Aso's remark as expressing local residents' support of a plan to add a 2,500-metre runway to the airport, the central government is likely to give the final go-ahead for the construction shortly, sources familiar with the matter said.

Fukuoka Airport, which only has a 2,800-meter runway, cannot handle more than 145,000 landings and departures annually, while demand for air trips to and from the southwestern prefecture is expected to surpass the airport's capacity in the early 2010s.

To cope with the problem, authorities of local and national governments launched talks in July 2003 and have come up with the two options: adding a 2,500-metre runway to Fukuoka Airport or building a new airport with two 3,000-metre runways.

The new runway's construction is estimated to cost some US$2 billion and expected to be completed in about seven years.

Icelandair launches London-Seattle route

Icelandair will commence flights between Heathrow and Seattle this July, with a four times-weekly service connecting in Reykjavik.

The route will start on July 22, with flights on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays from London. Flight FI451 will depart London Heathrow at 1300, arriving into Reykjavik at 1500, where passengers will then have a two-hour connection onto flight FI681, departing at 1700 and arriving into Seattle-Tacoma airport at 1745. The return leg will depart Seattle at 1630 as FI680, arriving into Iceland at 0645 the next day, with a 55-minute connection onto flight FI450, landing back in London at 1145.

Icelandair will ply the route using Boeing 757 aircraft, configured with 183 seats in three classes (economy class, a recently-introduced economy comfort class, and Saga business class), and the carrier say its planes are fitted with “new leather-upholstered seats with state-of-the-art personalised entertainment systems”.

Philippines, Australia Sign Deal To Expand Air Access

Australia and the Philippines have signed a deal to increase the frequency and capacity of flights between the two countries, their governments said Thursday.

Philippine and Australian carriers will now be allowed to offer up to 4,000 seats each way per week between major Australian cities, such as Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane, and Manila or Clark in the Philippines.

The previous limit was 2,500 seats a week.

Over time and depending on demand, the limit could be raised to 6,000 seats, Australia's envoy to Manila, Rod Smith, told reporters.

The air agreement also authorizes the carriers of both countries to operate unlimited services to regional airports.

Around 313,000 people traveled between Australia and the Philippines last year, making Australia one of the top five sources of tourist traffic to the Philippines, according to official data.

Saudi Airlines to reach three more Indian cities

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) will commence flight operations to three new Indian destinations- Bangalore, Kozhikode and Lucknow starting this week. 

The Airlines will operate three flights a week to Lucknow, effective March 28; two flights a week to Bangalore, effective March 30; and four flights a week to Kozhikode, starting March 31, Abdullah bin Mushabbab Al-Ajhar, Saudia vice president for public relations told Saudi Gazette newspaper. SAA said the flights would serve passengers from Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam. ‘‘The additions affirm the continuous increase in air travel to this part of the world,’’ Al-Ajhar said. The airline’s strategic plan is to expand its route network to include high traffic destinations with potentially higher yields, he said. 

Boeing B757 aircraft would be used for all flights to the new destinations, he said. With the new destinations SAA will reach eight cities in India. SAA is keen on fulfilling all operation and traffic requirements on this sector as well as on any other viable international sector. Saudia carried 334,251 passengers and uplifted 14,880,336 kg of cargo out of India in 2008. 

Volaris Airlines picks Oakland, but still interested in San Jose

Volaris Airlines, a low-cost Mexican airline that has announced it will initiate service to the United States through Oakland and Los Angeles, is apparently still interested in coming to San Jose by 2010.

Officials of the airline visited Mineta San Jose International Airport in January when scouting sites for its maiden service between the U.S. and Toluca Airport near Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city.

Though Volaris submitted an application this week to the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin service to and from Oakland International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, San Jose is still under consideration, according to airport officials.

Earlier this month, Volaris announced it would begin service in and out of Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport in Florida in June.

William Sherry, director of aviation for city-owned Mineta San Jose airport, said he remains optimistic the region's third-busiest airport will be in the airline's second wave of expansion.

Like airport officials nationwide coping with the recession and various airline industry travails, Mineta San Jose officials could use some good news. Passenger volume at the airport decreased from 10.7 million in 2007 to 9.7 million last year, while the number of daily flight has slipped from 190 in September 2007 to 145 today.

Santa Clara County is considered a strong potential market for Volaris because it has 400,000 residents of Mexican descent, or 22 percent of its population. That's the largest percentage of Mexicans or Mexican-Americans of any Bay Area county, including Oakland's home county of Alameda County.

Alameda, however, does have the second-highest percentage of residents of Hispanic descent in the region and Oakland's Fruitvale district has been transformed from a largely black community to one that is predominantly Mexican.

At present, Mineta San Jose airport has 12 weekly flights to Mexico, with Mexicana Airlines operating 10 flights a week to Guadalajara and twice a week to Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacan. The airline dropped service to Mexico City two years ago.

To smooth its entry into the U.S., Volaris has established a cooperative arrangement with Southwest Airlines, the dominant carrier at Mineta San Jose and Oakland airports. It allows passengers to book flights on either carrier through the other.

FAA Issued Safety Directive on Montana Plane

Just 12 days before the fatal crash of a Pilatus PC-12 killed 14 people in Montana, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) issued an airworthiness directive on the plane, requiring that a safety inspection be performed to check for a problem that could reduce the effectiveness of the plane's controls. 

The directive is not effective until March 30th, at which date the owner would be required to do the inspection within 150 flight hours.

Prior to the FAA directive, the plane's manufacturer sent out a service bulletin in January and the European Aviation Safety Agency issued its own directive in late February, regarding potential problems with the plan's stick-pusher.

Venezuela to take over Aeropostal, more airports

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced he would nationalize the country's private airline Aeropostal, citing government allegations it is linked to international drug networks.

Chavez, whose military on Saturday took control of all the country's major airports and maritime ports, said "we will renew (Aeropostal) as a social property."

He compared the projected transformation to that of state-owned airline Conviasa, which was created from the shell of bankrupt Venezuelan airline Viasa.

Chavez also said there would be an effort to grasp total regulatory control of the country's aviation industry.

But Humberto Figuera, president of the Airline Association of Venezuela, told AFP that a final decision is pending on the airline's expropriation, and its supposed links to drug trafficking.

Speaking earlier to governors and parliamentarians from his ruling United Socialist Party, Chavez announced the creation of two state firms to run the country's ports and airports that were taken over from regional authorities.

At the meeting Chavez ramped up his political attacks, slamming opposition leaders as "bandits" and arguing that their "crimes" have gone "unpunished" due to their political position.

Also Wednesday Venezuela's military moved to take control of five smaller airports in the northwest of the country, after the weekend's action that saw the military take control of all the country's major airports and maritime ports.

The expropriation was legal, following a recently enacted law handing management of the facilities to the central government.

Soldiers occupied maritime terminals in the opposition stronghold city of Maracaibo in the state of Zulia, the port of Guanta in Anzoategui and others in the states of Carabobo and Nueva Esparta.

The move was to "reverse the disintegration of national unity," said Chavez, referring to the reversal of decentralization moves 20 years ago that handed authority of ports and airports to state governments.

"We are reunifying the motherland, which was in pieces. This is a very important step."

When Chavez announced the move last week he threatened to arrest opposition governors if they resisted.

Many opponents decried the order as unconstitutional and as an attempt to concentrate all power in Chavez's hands.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Caracas in protest Friday over the president's jail threats to opposition figures.

Continental launches Shanghai-NY flight

Continental Airlines will launch its first daily nonstop flight between Shanghai and New York today, making it the first carrier to open a new cross-border route to China this year amid the worsening global economic downturn and general recession of the aviation industry.Continental is the only carrier providing daily nonstop service from three Chinese cities to New York so far.

The world's fifth-largest airline established nonstop daily service between Beijing and New York in 2005 and between Hong Kong and New York in 2001.

Despite the economic crisis, the airline is confident about the long-term growth of China and the increasing contacts between the two major financial and business centers of the world, said Jeff Smisek, president and chief operation officer of Continental. The airline is also upbeat about the rising traffic driven by the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

Continental will operate the daily nonstop flight with a Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The inaugural flight will depart Shanghai at 3:45 pm and arrive at Newark Liberty Airport on the same day, at 6:20 pm. The return flight will depart Newark Liberty Airport at 11:20 am, arriving in Shanghai the following day at 1:45 pm.

Flight time will be approximately 14 hours and 30 minutes each way.

Flydubai Set To Launch Services In Jun-09

Dubai's first low cost airline, flydubai on Wednesday announced it will operate from Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport, when it begins its services later this year.

flydubai said it was on schedule to take off with the launch of its first routes mid-2009 without giving a specific date.

The carrier will operate a fleet of Boeing aircraft, each offering 189 economy class seats. Launch routes will be announced shortly and will include a range of destinations within four and a half hours flying time of Dubai.

Sri Lankan Airlines halves flights to India, trims costs

State-run national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines, has slashed flights to India from 100 a week to 51, as part of a cost-cutting strategy and re-aligning of services to conserve cash and maximize yields, an official said.  n the first quarter of the financial year starting March 2008, the airline lost almost 50 million US dollars, on core airline operations, chief executive Manoj Gunewardena said. 
"But progressively in the next two to three quarters we've managed to stem this loss significantly," he said in an interview Saturday. 

SriLankan's bottom line is usually propped up by profits from ground handling and a flight catering unit at Bandaranaike International Airport, its home base. 

In 2008, the carrier lost 6.1 billion rupees on core airline operations but ended the year with a 4.8 billion rupee profit, with aircraft sales bringing capital gains to supplement 3.3 billion rupees earned from ground handling and 985 million rupees from catering. 

Cochin, Calicut, Coimbatore and Hyderabad were dropped from the route network. Gunewardena says the destinations mostly brought traffic to the Middle East and Far East. 

Indian destinations that generate traffic to and from Sri Lanka have been maintained, he says. 

Stormy weather cancels flights at St. John's airport

Overnight snow and blustery conditions led to a string of delays at St. John's International Airport on Tuesday.

Air Canada said one inbound flight from Toronto has been cancelled, while several departures are either cancelled or delayed. Several flights were not able to arrive late Monday.

Travellers were advised to check with their carriers or with the airport.

Environment Canada issued a freezing drizzle warning for the St. John's area, coming on top of a snowfall of about 10 centimetres.

Many roads and highways across Newfoundland and Labrador were either snow covered or were reporting wet sections.

Air Nz Strike To Disrupt Easter Travel

Easter travellers may face unexpected delays as Air New Zealand flight attendants prepare to begin strike action over the holiday period.

Attendants who are members of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), working for Air NZ subsidiary Zeal, say they are being paid "poverty wages", while those working directly for the parent company receive up to $30,000 more a year. From next Wednesday workers will be refusing to work standby, and the following Wednesday, April 8, they will begin full strike action.

Air New Zealand general manager Tasman Pacific Airline Glen Sowry said the union have rejected an offer which would have meant a new entrant Zeal flight attendant, working 30 hours a week and a nine-day fortnight, would earn $41,000 per annum.

Plane skids off runway in Turkey

A Ukrainian plane with 44 passengers and crew on board skidded off the runway after landing at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on Monday, reports said. No one was injured.

This is the third serious aviation related incident in 2 days prompting concern of aviation safety in the skies and ground. Television footage showed the Embraer ERJ145 of the Dniproavia aviation company leaning on its nose several meters (yards) from the runway.

All 44 passengers and crew were evacuated safely, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

The private Dogan news agency said the plane's front landing gear was stuck in mud.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Air France-KLM to boost Gulf flights

Air France-KLM group will offer 75 weekly flights out of 10 stations in the Gulf region this summer.

It will be a four per cent increase on weekly flights compared to previous year.

In Bahrain, it will operate seven flights per week, out of which three will be operated via Kuwait instead of Abu Dhabi. The number of flights out of Muscat will increase from five to six per week and will be operated with a short stop in Abu Dhabi.

In Kuwait, the operations will go up from five to seven flights per week, and in Teheran from four to five flights per week.

In the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar the summer schedule is equal to that of last year with a total of 28 weekly frequencies out of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, 17 weekly flights out of Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah and five weekly flights out of Doha.

Abu Dhabi will become a fully non-stop KLM operation with six flights per week.

Wind shear may have caused Japan plane crash

Wind shear may have caused the crash of a FedEx jet that cartwheeled on the runway at Tokyo's main international airport and burst into a fireball, investigators said Monday, but experts noted that the model was notoriously difficult to land.The American pilot and co-pilot - the only two people on board - were killed when the MD-11 cargo plane bounced on its landing at Tokyo's Narita international airport, slammed onto the runway and tipped onto its side before exploding into flames.

Kazuhito Tanakajima, an aviation safety official at the Transport Ministry, said the crash may have been the result of wind shear, sudden changes in wind that can lift an aircraft or smash it into the ground during landing.

But Tanakajima said the wind speed alone was not necessarily dangerous. He said there was headwind of about 45 miles per hour, and a crosswind of about 7 miles per hour.

Wind shear is a sudden change in the speed and direction of the wind, and happens relatively frequently. But a dangerous localized form - called a microburst - can cause planes to lose airspeed suddenly and or lift abruptly if a headwind suddenly changes to a tail wind during takeoff or landing, said Patrick Smith, a Boston pilot and aviation analyst.

During the 1970s and 1980s, microbursts were blamed for a number of aviation disasters in the United States that helped usher in a new generation of wind shear detection technology.

Monday's was the first deadly crash at Narita - the main air hub for international flights to Tokyo - since the airport opened in 1978.

According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, pilot Kevin Kyle Mosley, 54, of Hillsboro, Ore., and co-pilot Anthony Stephen Pino, 49, of San Antonio, were killed as they landed the flight from Guangzhou, China.

Air France and Aeroflot bid for Czech Airlines

Russian state-controlled airline Aeroflot will on Monday submit a bid for Czech Airlines (CSA), business daily Kommersant said.

The Czech government has launched a tender to sell its 91.5 percent stake in the company, with the sale later this year expected by analysts to fetch more than $200 million.

Air France-KLM said earlier this month it will launch a tentative bid for CSA.

Airline industry to lose $4.7 bn in 2009: IATA

World airlines are set to lose $4.7 billion this year as a result of the global recession that has shrunk passenger and cargo demand, industry body IATA said on Tuesday.

The International Air Transport Association had estimated in December the industry would lose $2.5 billion in 2009.

"The state of the airline industry today is grim. Demand has deteriorated much more rapidly with the economic slowdown than could have been anticipated even a few months ago," Director-General Giovanni Bisignani said in a statement.

IATA, which represents 230 airlines including British Airways, Cathay Pacific and United Airlines, and Emirates, also raised its estimate of international airline losses in 2008 to $8.5 billion, from its previous $8 billion estimate.

Volcanic ash snarls air traffic in Alaska

The eruption of a 10,200-foot Alaskan volcano spewed ash up to 60,000 feet in the air, snarling air travel Monday and stranding small groups of people in remote, sparsely populated parts of the vast state.

The eruption of Mt. Redoubt, about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, had a limited effect on the state's largest city and its surrounding suburbs. Winds blew the lower layer of ash north of the capital, into the Susitna Valley, where a mild coating of debris was reported in some rural areas.The volcano erupted five times overnight, starting at 10:38 p.m. Sunday Alaska Daylight Time. The last reported eruption was at 4:31 a.m. Monday. Geologists said that eruptions could continue for weeks or months and that the largest impact would likely be on air travel.

Mt. Redoubt has erupted several times before, most notably for five months in late 1989 through 1990, when its ash stopped the engines of a KLM jet in mid-flight. The plane dropped two miles before its crew could reactivate the engines.

Aware of this history, Alaska Airlines canceled 19 flights Monday morning and continued to cancel flights north of Anchorage later in the day. Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage sheltered 60 planes and functioned with a skeleton crew.

Jetstar axes ground staff

Jetstar is axing 20 ground handling jobs at Launceston and Hobart airports.

The announcement comes just two weeks after Jetstar said it was shutting its Hobart base, giving 40 crew the option of redundancy or relocating.

Spokesman Simon Westaway says the cuts follow a decision by the company to put its ground handling services out to tender.

Mr Westaway says the contract has been awarded to Launceston company Air Trade.

He says the company will attempt to redeploy as many of the affected staff as possible and will be offering redundancies

Japan's Narita reopens crash-hit runway

Tokyo's Narita International Airport reopened its main runway Tuesday as workers finished clearing the wreckage of a crashed FedEx plane, an airport spokeswoman said.

"We reopened it at 9:10 am (0010 GMT)," the Narita spokeswoman said, adding the runway was ready for full operation.

The wreckage was removed for inspection by the transport authority, she said.

A FedEx cargo plane en route from China crashed in high winds and exploded in a ball of flames Monday at Narita, killing both pilots.

The crash forced the closure of the 4,000-metre Runway A, the longer of Narita's two runways, mainly used by medium and large aircraft. More than 350 flights a day use the runway.

It was the first fatal accident at Japan's biggest international airport and the country's first since 1996. Scores of flights were cancelled Monday and the disruption was likely to continue Tuesday.

The nation's biggest carrier Japan Airlines said Tuesday there would be no fresh cancellation of departing flights although 17 flights that had been to arrive at Narita on Tuesday were off.

Unable to find lodgings, about 500 people spent the night at the airport, according to a Narita official.

Gulf Airways Upgrades equipment on Bahrain-India Route

On the heels of a equipment upgrade by Emirtes, Gulf Airways has also upgraded its equipment on its Bahrain-Delhi route due to strong demand. The route will be operated by Boeing 777-300 on its 3x weekly route.

Airlines planning to suspend services from Kozhikode

Owing to the huge loss in revenue following the ‘fare war’, more airlines are getting ready to suspend their services or cut down the frequency of the flights from Kozhikode International Airport. 

Etihad Airways and Emirates will reduce the frequency of the flights and Jet Airways also will cancel its Doha flights in the coming week. Other leading lowcost, no-frills airlines also will suspend services soon enough. 

The full service airline companies cannot survive with the new fares and they are forced to cut fares on a par with the low-cost services of Indian Airlines and Air India. 

A senior Air Arabia official told The New Indian Express that the poor demand from the passengers is the main reason for the revenue loss which results in the suspension of the services to Kozhikode. 

“There are almost 2600 seats available a day, but the demand is only around 1500,” he said. 

A Kozhikode-Dubai air ticket costs only Rs 6500 for a full-service flight of a leading airline which will provide fivestar food and other facilities for the passengers. 

A Jet Airways official said passengers’ demand the same fare of Air- India Express for a full-service airline. And the private companies are forced to provide five-star facilities on the same ticket fare of low-cost airlines. 

As of now, the fares have come down to an unrealistic-level as compared with those a few months ago. At this yield, only ‘full load’ flight can be operationally profitable.” “We think all airlines are equally to blame for the situation, said an aviation expert. 

The companies launch their services without any prior studies on sectoral requirements.” However, Saudi Airways and Bahrain Airways plan to launch their services from Kozhikode next month. 

Sri Lankan Airways and RAK Airways suspended their all services to Kozhikode early in 2009 because of the dip in their revenue.

Emirates upgrades equipment on Mumbai-Dubai Route

The world's leading carrier is set to upgrade its operating equipment on its high density Mumbai-Dubai route. EK is set to deploy the A340-500 on the DXB - BOM sector from 1st July 09 onwards for the flight EK 508/509 that would operate 4 times a week ( Mo,We,Fr,Sa)

Video of Japan Fedex Plane crash

Dramatic footage is released of the plane crash showing the plane bouncing off the runway twice before veering off the runway. This is very dramatic to say the least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgauHymjwc

Jet Airways doubles capacity on Mumbai-Dubai Route

Effective April 19 2009, Jet Airways will add another daily flight between Mumbai and Dubai. The flight is expected to be operated by a Boeing 737-800 Next Generation Jet. The timetable is as follows

9W 542 BOM - DXB 0930 1105 
9W 541 DXB - BOM 1235 1710

9W 546 MAA - DXB 1245 1530 
9W 545 DXB - MAA 1630 2215

Fedex Plane crashes on landing at Tokyo Narita Airport

A FedEx cargo plane burst into flames after bouncing off a runway in unusually high winds at Tokyo’s main international airport Monday, killing the pilot and copilot and closing a major runway for several hours.

The flight from Guangzhou, China, skipped along the main runway at Narita Airport before skidding to a fiery halt, according to footage from airport security cameras. Firefighters and rescuers immediately swarmed the plane. The pilot and copilot — the only people onboard the flight — were pulled from the cockpit and taken to a local hospital, where they were later confirmed dead.

The plane smashed into the longer of Narita’s two runways, which remained closed Monday morning with all incoming flights diverted, said airport spokeswoman Misuho Fukuda.

Unusually strong winds of up to about 47 miles per hour (76 kilometers per hour) were blowing through Narita City on Monday morning around the time of the crash, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Airport officials said it was too early to say whether the strong winds caused the crash.

Local news reports said the plane was an MD-11, a widebody airliner built by McDonnell Douglas and based on the DC-10.

Strong winds and turbulence have caused other recent incidents at the airport. Last month a flight from the Philippines was jolted by severe turbulence as it circled prior to landing, injuring 50 passengers and crew members.

 

VIDEO AT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgauHymjwc