Aer Lingus To Leave oneworld

Irish carrier Aer Lingus, one of the first members of the alliance oneworld, has announced its desire to pull out of the group, which is headed by British Airways and American Airlines. "Alliance membership has inevitably become less relevant for the airline over time, with an increasing number of customers availing of our new direct services at low fares," Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said.Why is Aer Lingus leaving? There are a few...

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United To Move World HQ?

United Airlines, according to economic development corporation World Business Chicago, might move its headquarters from Chicago to Denver. UAL is currently based in Elk Grove Village a suburb of Chicago. World Headquarters for United has been in the same location since 1961. All United would say is that it is seeking to 'consolidate its facilities', as a spokeswoman put it. UAL wouldn't speculate if it would move to Denver or San Francisco, as several...

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ANA To Start Domestic LCC

Japan's All Nippon Airways' chief executive has told the Financial Times that the airline plans to launch two, separate low-cost international and domestic airlines by 2009. "In 2009 competition will increase and low-cost carriers, particularly from elsewhere in Asia, will start flying into Tokyo," said the CEO. "We have to be well prepared for it." The international routes would be inside Asia.The possible main reason behind the launch: Tokyo's...

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Revenge in Russia

Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot has announced that it will purchase Airbus A350 airliners, when only a few months ago it had said it would purchase Boeing's 787. The reason? The U.S. has opposed Russia's potential membership in the World Trade Organization, and this move by Aeroflot is seen as politically motivated.In December 2005, according to the newspaper Vedomosti, Aeroflot was considering a purchase of 22 Boeing 787s. But as relations between...

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The Frequent-Flyer Program Turns 25

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the start of AAdvantage, the frequent flyer program of American Airlines. Even though it seems like every airline nowadays has a FFP, the idea was a foreign concept twenty-five years or so ago. On the eve of the deregulation of the industry in 1977, executives at American Airlines knew that there had to be a better way to gain the loyalty of their top customers. United Airlines gave customers a wall plaque...

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Olympic Airlines To Change Its Name?

Olympic Airlines has been in quite a bit of trouble recently. After the Hellenic government's failed privatization bid back in 2004, when it aimed to privatize the state-owned Greek flag carrier, Olympic finds itself in more troble with the government.This time, it's over illegal loans. The European Union alleges that hundreds of millions of euros were illegally given to the airline through loans by the Hellenic government. Kathimerini, a Greek...

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Swan(Song) For An Airline

First off, I apologize for my absence. I've got lots of catching up to do with this blog. Hopefully the few readers I've got haven't abandoned me yet.That said, today's big story: the final flight of Song Airlines. Song was the low-cost arm of Delta Air Lines. First flying on April 15, 2003 (mostly to stave off stiff competition from jetBlue at JFK), it tried to emulate jetBlue's model (except with Boeing 757-200s instead of Airbus A320s). For a...

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