Aviation News

Lufthansa Group has continued to argue against its obligation to provide feeding flights at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) for flights to New York, highlighting that Condor has continued expanding its German domestic and European network.

Lufthansa Group has continued updating stakeholders about the process of integrating ITA Airways into its operations, announcing that it has started the sale of over 100 new codeshare connections within Europe.

A Delta Air Lines flight was forced to return to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday morning after passengers and crew noticed a strange "haze" in the plane shortly after takeoff, according to FOX5 Atlanta. DL876, a Boeing 717, carries 94 passengers, three flight attendants, and two pilots.

British Airways is the British flag carrier and has its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. The airline handles many flights across the Atlantic, especially to the United States. The airline was formed in 1974 following the merger of BOAC and British European Airways.

While unusual, open skies agreements exist, such as between Canada and the US, the EU and the US, and within the EU. Where they don't exist, countries have bilateral air service agreements to dictate the number and nature of flights that can operate. Since two countries are involved, each side has the same traffic rights.

The first Airbus A320 flight was on February 22, 1987, over 38 years ago. The first example was the A320-100 series. Unlike the standard A320-200, this was a lighter variant and did not have wingtip fences. The first aircraft was delivered to the launch customer, Air Inter, in 1988.

United Airlines has requested the Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide it with certain flexibility regarding its flights to South Africa. The carrier notes that it has asked for something that Delta Air Lines had previously filed for.

Trade organization Airlines for America (A4A) has called on Congress to pump more money into air traffic control (ATC) staffing amid ongoing controller shortages. Additionally, the group believes the modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS) is a top priority to keep the United States at the forefront of aviation safety.

Spirit Airlines'website has indicated that passengers choosing the airline’s most basic fare option will now have to pay to change or cancel their flights, a reversal from its policy that it announced not even a year ago.

Two of Germany's largest and busiest airports are facing extensive operational disruption today as a result of strike action being taken by one of the company's biggest trade unions. Airport workers in Cologne/Bonn and Düsseldorf have walked out amid a wage dispute, with their absence resulting in widespread cancelations and delays. The strikes came about after recent wage negotiations proved fruitless.

The nomination of Steven Bradbury to become the Deputy Secretary of Transportation has split Democrats and Republicans at the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The surrounding discourse included questions about the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) actions – or inactions – during the Boeing 737 MAX crisis in 2018 and 2019.

The Trans-Tasman market between Auckland and Brisbane has gained a new fifth-freedom operator: Solomon Airlines.The little-discussed carrier became the city pair's fifth operator, joining Air New Zealand, China Airlines, Jetstar, and Qantas. Cirium Diio data shows this is the first time the market has had that many carriers since 2020.

A Delta Air Lines flight bound for Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport from Los Angeles was forced to return on Saturday night after smoke was detected in the galley, according to CNN. Flight DL43, which had departed from Los Angeles International Airport at approximately 21:00 local time, was just 30 minutes into its journey when the decision was made to turn back.

In a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Thursday, the Trump administration's nominee for deputy secretary of the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) said that the government "needs to be tougher" on Boeing following production delays with many government and civilian aircraft.

Belgian flag carrier Brussels Airlines (SN) currently lacks long-haul capacity. It has signed an agreement with Air Europa to provide some excess capacity on its New York route to free up an Airbus A330. That aircraft can then be deployed elsewhere on Brussels Airlines’ network, mitigating some of the impact of the partly grounded fleet.

Atlas Air and DHL Express plan to dissolve their joint venture, Polar Air Cargo, according to a report by Cargo Facts.

Reuters reported that Airbus may be unable to raise A350 output above six per month in 2025, while the A350F freighter program will be delayed by up to twelve months. While Airbus does not comment on the faltering Boeing 777X project, Airbus has been quietly cashing in by securing increasing orders for the A350 Family and had planned to double monthly production to 12 by 2028.

Virgin Atlanticand WestJet have expanded their codeshare agreement, with the two making adjustments after the former’s plans to launch direct flights to Toronto, Canada.

At the Barclays 42nd Annual Industrial Select Conference, among other musings, Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle suggested cutting jet bridges from airports. The thinking is to speed up aircraft turns and improve utilization of the Frontier Airways fleet.

In remarks to a CITI investor’s conference, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet doubled down on defending the F-35 Enterprise. With the implicit threat of investor and innovator extraordinare Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) coming for the F-35 Enterprise, Taiclet laid out the case for the F-35 to Citi's 2025 Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference.