Northwest Airlines* will recall some 600 flight attendants on furlough to fill vacancies in Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul. According to the Professional Flight Attendants Assn., the company plans to recall roughly 150 flight attendants Dec. 15 and another 450 by Jan. 30.
Separately, Northwest will expand its operations at Indianapolis again by adding new seasonal service to Phoenix from Feb. 16 to April 30 and increasing flights to Ft. Myers, Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Tampa early next year. When combined with its existing schedule of 36 flights to 13 destinations, which will grow to up to 39 flights to 15 destinations in Dec., by Feb. the airline will offer an all-jet schedule from Indianapolis with up to 44 flights a day to 16 destinations.
Also, NWA launched six weekly flights between Guangzhou and Tokyo ...


Taiwan government* has backed away from previously announced plans to sell its holding in China Airlines. According to Reuters, the government intends to reduce its stake below 50% but maintain management control. The state-run China Aviation Development Foundation, owner of 71% of the carrier, could sell around half that stake while remaining the largest investor, ...


EasyJet launched 16 new routes with the start of the winter schedule Oct. 31. About half of the routes connect more UK bases with Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain and also are being used to add Estonia to the network, while the other half will expand the carrier's intra-continental network. Additionally, the LCC is launching a new London Luton-Basel service Nov. 1 and flights from Bristol to Valencia, London Stansted to Valencia and Luton to Warsaw Nov. 3. By the end of March, easyJet will operate 189 routes across 55 cities. Most of these routes will be operated by the 13 new A319s ...


Iberia* is offering 8.9% more capacity during its winter season, which began Oct. 31, as compared to last year. The carrier launched 10.4% more capacity overall on long-haul routes ...


Aeroflot's* board over the weekend gave approval for the Russian airline to swap orders for three A321s for two A319s and an A320. It also voted to replace the board elected in July to reflect the wishes of the current government, ...


Hapag-Lloyd Express* will add four 737 Classics to its current fleet of 11 737-500s for the upcoming summer season. "Besides the 737s, we are also evaluating adding two F100s to have a smaller aircraft available for the opening of new routes," CEO Wolfgang Kurth told ATWOnline. The discount carrier, a unit of TUI, launched service to Salzburg from Hanover and Cologne yesterday. It will begin service to the Austrian city from Berlin and Hamburg Dec. 3, ....


Boeing* believes China will become the world's second-biggest commercial aviation market after the US within 20 years. According to Director-Product and Service Marketing Randy Tinseth, Chinese airlines will buy 2,300 aircraft worth $183 billion by 2023 to meet the growth. "China's aviation will lead the world. We see a great deal of growth here," he said. Tinseth told media at the biannual China International Aviation and Aerospace Forum that the country's growth has trebled since 1980. Boeing foresees passenger growth of 7.3% and GDP growth of 5.5% annually. The company has a 62% share of the China aircraft market ....--GT


Swiss* operated its last MD-11 flight Oct. 31. The Chicago-Zurich flight ended 13 years of Swiss operation of the type. ...


China Southern Airlines* plans to refurbish its five 777s that serve primarily long-haul routes. The number of seats in the first-class cabins will rise from 18 to 24 after removing some business-class seats. First-class seat pitch will increase from 60 in. to 70 in. The airline said two of the 777s already have been refitted by GAMECO and Boeing Commercial Aviation Services ....


Rockwell Collins* was selected to provide avionics for new aircraft by several airlines. Shandong Airlines selected Rockwell Collins' Flight Dynamics Head-up Guidance System for installation on its new 737-700s and dash 800s. Delivery of the systems will begin in mid-2005. Air China selected Rockwell Collins to provide avionics on five new 737NGs that are scheduled for delivery in 2005 and Xiamen Airlines selected the company to provide avionics on five new 737NGs ....


Lufthansa Technik* won its first maintenance agreement with a US low-cost carrier as it announced a 15-year Total Component Support contract with Spirit Airlines ....


Singapore Technologies Aerospace* signed a 10-year aircraft maintenance contract with UPS. Under the accord, which is valued at $438 million, ST Aero will undertake aircraft maintenance work on UPS DC-8s, A300s and MD-11s ....


Wencor Aviation* acquired APS, maker of the digEplayer series of portable inflight entertainment systems. APS will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Wencor, which is active in aircraft product and ...

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[i]Source : Air Transport World Daily News Headlines