The first three of up to 30 ATR 72-500 turboprops have been delivered to Indonesian regional carrier Wings Air. Wings Air, a subsidiary of fast growing Lion Air, has ordered 15 ATR 72-500s and holds options on a further 15 72-600s.
US regional airline Mesa Air Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while it undergoes a financial restructure. Chapter 11 will allow the airline to continue to trade while it restructures. Mesa operates 130 aircraft, most on regional or thinner routes on behalf of or on codeshare agreements with United, US Air and Delta,
Air New Zealand announced in late December that it will commence direct services between Sydney and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands from July. The flights will initially operate once a week during a four month trial period over the late winter peak using 223-seat 767-300s, after which a decision on the longer term future of
The Qantas and AirAsia groups have announced an alliance between AirAsia and Jetstar aimed at reducing fleet acquisition, operating, fuel and spare parts costs for both low cost airlines. The announcement, made in Sydney by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, and Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan on January 6, aims to pool the
Qantas passengers around Australia and New Zealand were affected by delays on January 3 after the airline’s Amadeus check-in system crashed for the second time in two months. The system experienced a server outage of about one hour during the morning peak which produced flow-on delays for most of the day, the airline only catching
Pacific Blue will commence twice weekly services between Cairns and Auckland from March 23, parent Virgin Blue announced on December 30. The new services will be the first international flights from Cairns for the Virgin Blue group, and will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays. To mark the launch Virgin Blue is offering one-way sale fares
