Firms given maximum fine of €225,000 each and are expected to appeal after lower court had cleared them
A Paris appeals court has found Airbus and Air France guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 Rio-Paris plane crash that killed 228 passengers and crew.
The verdict is the latest milestone in a legal marathon involving two of France’s most emblematic companies and families of the mainly French, Brazilian and German victims of France’s worst air disaster.
Continue reading...Under aviation regulator proposals rival companies would bid to design and build parts of airport expansion
Heathrow could be forced to allow other companies to design and build its third runway and new terminal after the UK aviation regulator argued that rival bids could keep construction costs down.
A long-awaited review by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) proposes changes to the regulatory model that governs how Heathrow runs and covers its costs.
Continue reading...Impact of disruption from Iran war may be felt into 2027 even if strait of Hormuz reopens, says aviation body boss
Increases in air fares for travellers in Europe are “inevitable” over the peak summer period because of the high cost of jet fuel, according to the head of the international aviation body.
While some airlines faced with weak demand have reduced their European fares recently, Willie Walsh, the former British Airways boss who leads the International Air Transport Association, said there was no way carriers could absorb the extra costs in the long run.
Continue reading...Passengers evacuated safely after person jumped perimeter fence and walked on to runway, airport spokesperson says
A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a person on the runway of Denver’s international airport during takeoff, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate, authorities said.
The plane, headed to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff” at about 11.19pm on Friday, the Denver airport’s official X account wrote.
Continue reading...Promises to cut emissions and use more fuel-efficient planes fail to stop rise, with Ryanair’s carbon footprint 50% up on 2019
Emissions from flying in Europe have now passed pre-pandemic levels, with Ryanair’s carbon footprint 50% higher than in 2019, research has shown.
Total aviation emissions continue to increase despite industry pledges to decarbonise and the introduction of more fuel-efficient planes, driven by the massive expansion of low-cost carriers.
Continue reading...Firms raising prices at fastest rate in three years, driven by soaring energy and wage bills but also extra materials costs
Airlines and other companies are increasingly using fuel surcharges to cover soaring costs, a survey has found, in a further sign of Iran war-linked inflation hitting the economy.
A poll of companies in the services sector, which includes airlines, found rising fuel prices had contributed to businesses raising prices at the fastest pace in more than three years in April.
Continue reading...Heidi Alexander says part of answer to strait of Hormuz crisis is importing more fuel from US and west Africa
A refinery in Nigeria accused of dismissing workers for joining a union has emerged as key to the UK government’s hopes of saving the summer holiday amid a jet fuel shortage.
Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said at the weekend that part of the answer to the strait of Hormuz crisis was to import more fuel from the US and west Africa.
Continue reading...Airport seeks deal with BA owner, Virgin and billionaire local landowner, who has own expansion plan, over cost and service issues
Heathrow’s new chair has opened talks with airlines and the billionaire local landowner Surinder Arora to defuse a row that threatens to further delay the £49bn plan to build a third runway at Europe’s busiest airport.
Philip Jansen, who was appointed at the start of the year, is understood to have held meetings with the airport’s carriers and with Arora, who has been promoting his own £25bn expansion scheme, in the hope of finding the middle ground in a row over cost and service issues.
Continue reading...Republicans blame Biden administration block on JetBlue deal; Democrats point to fuel price surge amid Iran war
US airlines and government officials battled on Saturday to deal with stranded passengers and stricken employees after discount carrier Spirit Airlines abruptly ceased operations – and a political and business blame game got under way over the collapse of the low-cost carrier.
“If you have a flight scheduled with Spirit Airlines, don’t show up at the airport; there will be no one here to assist you,” the US secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, warned at a press conference after laying out measures for customers booked with the Florida-based company to obtain refunds or find discounted flights on other airlines.
Continue reading...Carriers will retain airport slots if they cancel services as passengers are urged to continue with travel plans
Penalties on airlines that cancel UK flights because of jet fuel shortages have been eased, it has emerged, as the government issued fresh advice to reassure the public they can still fly and should stick to travel plans.
Airlines that cancel owing to a lack of fuel will not lose their rights to valuable takeoff and landing slots at busy airports, which can be forfeited when flights fail to operate over a period.
Continue reading...Rising costs have continued to plague the company, now facing soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran
The White House is finalizing a financing package to help ailing US budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which could receive as much as $500m in loans as rising costs continue to plague the company.
News of the potential deal comes as Spirit and others struggle with soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran.
Continue reading...Spirit Airlines reportedly seeks emergency US government funding as war against Iran keeps aviation fuel costs high
Air Canada has announced a temporary suspension of flights from Toronto and Montreal to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, citing rising fuel prices.
The move comes amid growing concerns that airlines worldwide may scale back services as aviation fuel costs climb in the wake of the US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, which entered a fragile ceasefire earlier in April. Although Iran announced on Friday that the strait of Hormuz had reopened, helping ease oil prices, fuel costs remain significantly elevated after weeks of disruption.
Continue reading...Passengers can book a four-hour session in the bunk beds from May for Auckland-New York flights but airline cautions against smuggling in children
Economy passengers on Air New Zealand’s ultra-long-haul flight between Auckland and New York can book a spot in the airline’s bunk-bed style sleeping pods from May, which will take to skies in late 2026.
In what the airline says is a world first, six full-length, lie-flat sleeping pods, are squeezed into the aisle of the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The pods, known as “Skynest”, will include fresh bedding, a privacy curtain, ambient lighting and kit with eye-masks, skincare, earplugs and socks.
Continue reading...Summer holidays could be hit unless oil flows through strait of Hormuz recommence within three weeks
Airports have warned that jet fuel could run short within three weeks in Europe if oil supplies do not start to flow through the strait of Hormuz, raising concerns over flight cancellations in the UK and EU going into the summer holiday season.
Jet fuel shortages will become so acute without the resumption of supplies from the Middle East that cancellations across Europe will be inevitable, disrupting travel plans for potentially millions of passengers.
Continue reading...Fears of Easter chaos over scaling up of new EU border system are eased, with no facial IDs for Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengers
Passengers crossing the Channel from the UK to France will not face new biometric checks in the coming weeks, despite an imminent deadline for the complete implementation of the EU’s entry-exit system (EES), ports say.
Airlines and airports across Europe have feared chaos over the Easter holidays.
Continue reading...Austrian officials took action after airline ignored court order to pay €890 to unnamed women
Bailiffs have boarded a Ryanair aircraft after the airline refused to pay compensation to a passenger whose flight was delayed.
Austrian officials took action after the budget carrier ignored a court order to pay the unnamed woman €890 (£742) in legal costs and compensation for a delayed flight two years ago.
Continue reading...Hong Kong-based airline has business-class return listed at A$39,577, as travellers seek routes avoiding Middle East
The Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific is selling seats from Sydney to London for more than £20,000 in April, as passengers search for scarce long-haul flights without changing in the Middle East.
The tickets, listed at A$39,577 in business class for returns departing in mid-April, far outstrip the usual fares charged even in the first-class cabin.
Continue reading...Airline reports spike in ticket sales to Europe in March, as passengers with carriers affected by flight chaos rebook
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Qantas has announced it is increasing the price of its international air fares amid oil price volatility caused by the war in the Middle East, while the airline also reported higher-than-normal ticket sales for flights to Europe.
While the company hedges against change in jet fuel prices, it was not fully covered for the spike seen in the wake of surging oil prices, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Select departures organised as US state department warns Americans to leave on commercial flights ‘due to safety risks’
Travellers stranded by a widening war in the Middle East began departing the United Arab Emirates onboard a small number of evacuation flights on Monday, as governments around the world worked to extract their citizens from the region.
Etihad Airways and Emirates, the airlines based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, respectively, and the budget carrier FlyDubai said they would operate limited flights after the chaos and damaged caused by Iranian missiles and drones.
Continue reading...IAG reports record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at British Airways and sister airline Iberia
British Airways’ owner, International Airlines Group, has announced a sharp rise in annual profits to almost £4bn despite a slight fall in passenger numbers in 2025.
Pre-tax profits across IAG increased by 20% to €4.5bn (£3.9bn), with record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at BA and its sister airline Iberia.
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