Thomas Cook Airbus A321 at Bristol Airport (Image: The Aviation Media Agency)
Airline news

Thomas Cook pilots stage 12 hour walkout

Pilots flying for UK leisure airline Thomas Cook are staging a 12-hour walkout over pay. The strike, which began at 3 am this morning following a failed last ditch attempt by Thomas Cook to obtain an injunction to prevent the action. The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) authorised the strike which is [read more]

Airbus Blade laminar wing section (Airbus)
Airline news

Airbus readies A340 Blade for first laminar flow tests

Airbus is preparing the A340 Blade aircraft for its first flights to test a breakthrough new wing with a laminar profile to help reduce fuel usage and increase efficiency. The Blade (Breakthrough Laminar Aircraft Demonstrator in Europe) is no stranger to testing as it is the 25-year-old A340-300 prototype MSN0001, registered as F-WWAI. [read more]

Ryanair B737-800 after takeoff (src Wikipedia)
Airline news

Ryanair joins Airlines UK

You might have thought that Ryanair would be Marxian (Groucho) in its approach to club membership (“I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member”) however, it has announced that it has joined Airlines UK (AUK), the industry body representing UK-registered carriers. Ryanair, which will carry [read more]

Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 G-VOWS (Image: Max Thrust Digital)
Airline news

Air France-KLM buys stake in Virgin Atlantic

Airline giant Air France-KLM has bought a stake in Virgin Atlantic equal to around a third of the company. The 31% stake, worth £220m GBP, leaves founder Sir Richard Branson Virgin Group with a minority holding of just 20%. Delta Airlines now holds the majority share of 49%. In an open [read more]

Airline Price War
Airline news

Could an airline fares price war be coming?

Irish Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) Ryanair (FR/RYR) has warned it may cut fares by around 8% sparking an airline fares price war as carriers compete for passengers this summer. Competition in the airline sector and in particular the low-cost carrier market has been intensifying recently and that is expected to continue to [read more]