Asian Airfares Group Launches BusinessFlights.com

AsianAirfares.com launches a new web site www.BusinessFlights.com providing a travel management solution for small and large businesses.The site, with its simple travel booking interface, is easy-to-use. Its global search engine automatically redirect users to the main booking portal of AsianAirfares.com, where users can book securely 24/7 for the best possible deals on airline tickets, hotel rooms, vacation packages, car rentals, cruises,...

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Boeing Statement on United Arab Emirates C-17

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 24, 2009 -- The Boeing Company is pleased that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced its intent to acquire the C-17 Globemaster III, the world's most advanced airlifter. The C-17 continues to serve as the backbone of international airlift missions, supporting numerous humanitarian-relief and peacekeeping efforts around the world. We look forward to partnering with the UAE as it strengthens its airlift capabilities with the C-17, which remains unequaled in performance, versatility and reliabili...

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Top 10 spring bargain destinations for families with AsianAirfares.com

Asian Airfares Group Releases List of Spring Break Specials Today AsianAirfares.com, one of the fastest growing travel Portals in the World, announces the top spring travel destinations for 2009. Spring is one of the best seasons for bargain leisure travel. Often, travelers are so busy gearing up for summer holidays that they completely overlook the good prices and pleasant weather of spring.As long as you're flexible about your dates and even your destination, it's not too late for your gang to have some fun in the sun (or the snow, or the...

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Lufthansa airlines

Lufthansa may face a full strike by its cabin crew members after trade union UFO said on Tuesday the latest round of wage talks with the German flagship carrier had failed."We will decide on (whether to call for) further strikes today," a spokesman for the union said, adding UFO may ballot for industrial action.This was the fourth round of talks in which Lufthansa has been offering a wage increase of up to 10 percent. The package includes better work conditions and profit sharing.Pushing for a better offer, cabin crews represented by UFO have staged...

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Airlines Canada

Air Canada only emerged from its last round of bankruptcy protection in 2004. But the economic crisis has hammered most international carriers as traffic has dropped, forcing them to cut routes, reduce capacity and lay off employees.Air Canada last year cut 2,000 jobs and reduced capacity by 7 percent and has made more cuts since.Chief Executive Montie Brewer said on Friday -- as Air Canada announced an unexpectedly large loss of CAD$727 million for the fourth quarter of last year -- that the airline would seek to reduce costs by another CAD$100...

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Air Ryan

order 200 planes for USD$7 billion with delivery starting in 2013, CEO Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday.Ryanair is not in advanced talks with either of the two on the order and is happy to wait until the plane makers' "order book collapses" to negotiate a better deal, he said.The planes have a list price of about USD$70 million each but Ryanair expects to negotiate at least a 50 percent discount to pay about USD$35 million - USD$40 million each for a total order of roughly USD$7 billion, he said."The sticker price is USD$70 million, but we would...

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Air Canada

Air Canada, the country's biggest airline, could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection if it does not secure additional financing and succeed in renegotiating covenants in credit card agreements, UBS analyst Fadi Chamoun said."Notwithstanding lower fuel costs, we believe that cash from operations will be insufficient to meet rising pension funding obligations and over CAD$1 billion (USD$800 million) of debt repayment over the next two years," Chamoun said in a note dated February 13.Covenants in credit card agreements could tighten further...

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Airline Adverts

We specialize in the following:Arranging group and individual tours to China and Hong Kong.Special tours for people with special interested like special programs for photographers, art lovers, teachers, doctors, Chinese herbal education, Chinese Taiji and martial arts, investments, Cultural Exchange, high school marching band, chorus groups and more.Handling of Visa application to China.Our travel information covers the most popular destinations in China, the Great Wall in Beijing, the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian, mighty Yangtze River cruise and...

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g taken to the Erie County medical exam

Speculation has focused on the wintry weather as the cause of Thursday night's crash, when the Dash 8 Q400 turboprop plane pitched wildly in its final approach before plunging to earth, killing all 49 people on board and one person in the house.Two women in the house survived.Chealander said it was too early to know whether ice was to blame. The mechanical systems seemed to be working normally, he said, but there would be more clarity when a team in Washington begins a detailed analysis of the flight recorders on Sunday.The plane's crew reported...

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Ice Slows Search At Site Of Deadly US Plane Crash

Investigators were hampered by ice on Saturday as they searched for bodies and clues in the wreckage of a commuter plane that crashed into a house in western New York state, killing 50 people."It is a slow process but we are making progress," said Steve Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board.Despite delays caused by frozen water from fire hoses and the mingling of debris from the plane and house, he told a news conference the NTSB hoped to wrap up the investigation in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence Center by Wednesday."The medical...

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Asia Holiday Travel Inc offering Tours to China

Asia Holiday Travel Inc offering Tours to China is an associated member of China International Travel Service, Hebei, the People's Republic of China founded in 1973. We are based in San Francisco, the departure point for our tours. Throughout our history, we have been focusing on those destinations we know best and successfully offering varieties of package tours to China, Hong Kong and other Asian countries for more than 20 years. We have sister-offices located in many parts of China. This unique resource and many years of experience are the guarantee...

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Bombardier Q400s Have Had Few Prior Problems

Canadian plane maker Bombardier said on Friday the crash of one of its Dash 8 Q400 turboprop aircraft near Buffalo, New York, on Thursday night, which killed 50 people, was the first fatal crash involving that type of plane.A spokesman for Bombardier told CBC television news that 220 of its Q400 NextGen turboprops have been delivered to airlines around the world.That fleet has logged more than 1 million flying hours and 1.5 million takeoff cycles without a fatal accident, John Arnone, a Bombardier spokesman, told the CBC.Three Dash 8 Q-400 planes,...

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Plane Crashes In New York State Killing 50

Plane Crashes In New York State Killing 5A commuter plane suddenly nosedived and crashed into a house in snowy western New York state late on Thursday, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground as it burst into a fireball.Speculation immediately focused on the weather as other pilots in the area reported ice buildup on their wings, but investigators cautioned on Friday that it was premature to determine a cause.Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, was travelling to Buffalo from Newark, New Jersey. Colgan...

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Biofuel From Forestry Waste Is Close

New types of green fuels produced using waste from forestry may be among the first new generation biofuels to start production, an executive from Finnish forestry and paper group UPM-Kymmene said on Thursday.UPM was planning to expand into biofuel production and was currently conducting trials to produce biodiesel, bioethanol and heavy fuel oils from forest residues including tree bark, twigs and stumps, said vice president corporate relations and development Hans Sohlstrom.Global airlines are likely to use a wide range of new generation bio-jet...

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Boeing 787 On Track For Q1 2010 Delivery

Boeing's delayed 787 Dreamliner remains on track for its first deliveries in the first quarter of 2010, Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said on Tuesday.The company pushed back the 787 delivery schedule for a fourth time in December, making its plane almost two years late and risking cancellations from angry airlines.Carson said that Boeing's record order backlog would serve the company well as economic recession "continues to challenge every region of the world."The company is working to backfill orders that were deferred...

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British Airways Undercarriage Fails On Landing, 4 Hurt

Passengers used emergency slides to evacuate a British Airways plane when its nose wheel collapsed on landing at London's City Airport on Friday, injuring four people, officials said.The front undercarriage failed when BA flight 8456 from Amsterdam landed at the east London airport on Friday evening with 67 passengers and four crew on board, the airline said."As a precaution, the emergency slides were deployed and the passengers were evacuated down the slides onto the runway," BA said in a statement.A passenger was taken to hospital with a minor...

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Air France-KLM Posts Q3 Loss, To Cut Costs

Air France-KLM swung to an expected third-quarter operating loss and abandoned costly fuel price hedges weighing on its finances, boosting its shares on Friday.Air France-KLM also announced EUR1.2 billion euros of capital spending cuts, half of them in the coming year, and said it would cut summer seat capacity by 2 percent, in a move adopted by many airlines to help shore up profitability.The losses were expected since Air France-KLM warned last month of a EUR200 million loss in the three months to December 31 as the economic crisis drove the...

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The commuter plane that crashed near Buffalo

The commuter plane that crashed near Buffalo, New York, late on Thursday was set to start its approach to land when air traffic controllers suddenly lost contact, control tower communications show.As the tower called in vain for Continental Connection flight 3407 operated by Colgan Air to respond, one controller asked for help to find out what happened to the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 plane with 44 passengers and four crew on board."Colgan 3407. Buffalo Tower. How do you hear?" the controller said."This is ground communication. We need to talk to...

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Plane Crashes In New York State Killing 49

Forty nine people were killed when a passenger plane crashed into a house 10 miles from Buffalo Airport, New York and burst into a ball of flames late on Thursday, officials said.The plane, a Continental Connection flight operated by Colgan Air, was on a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo with 44 passengers and four crew on board when it crashed in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence Center amid rain and sleet, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.Erie County Executive Chris Collins said all 48 people on board the plane were killed....

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Pratt & Whitney Canada To Cut 1,000 Jobs

Aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Canada said on Thursday it will lay off up to 1,000 workers from its global operations as it responds to a drop in the business jet market.The company said it told its 10,000-strong workforce on Wednesday that around 10 percent of them would go within the next few months.Employees of the Longueuil, Quebec-based company were also told they would have to take 10 unpaid days off throughout the year on top of a two-week summer shut down."Given the economic context... we've got to put measures in place...

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US Airways Jet Had Bird Remains In Both Engines

Bird remains were found in both engines of a US Airways jet that lost power and ditched in New York's Hudson River last month, US transportation investigators said on Wednesday.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said both engines of the Airbus A320 were damaged and contained "organic material" that was sent to bird experts at the Smithsonian Institution for identification. The board previously had said bird remains were found in the right engine, and now has confirmed the same in the left engine.The pilot of Flight 1549 bound for Charlotte,...

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Dubai's LCAL Slashes Dreamliner Order

Dubai-based aircraft leasing firm LCAL has slashed its order for Boeing 787 Dreamliners to five planes from 21 due to the global economic crisis, Boeing's regional spokesman said on Thursday.The global downturn which has sent much of the industrialised world into recession has hurt airlines as fewer people travel, forcing carriers to review capital spending and abandon less-profitable routes."LCAL and Boeing have agreed to reduce the number of LCAL orders," said Fakher Daghestani, Boeing's Middle East communications director. LCAL specifically...

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US Airways Crew: "We're Gonna Be In The Hudson"

The crew of a US Airways jet disabled by birds that knocked out both its engines over New York calmly told air controllers: "We're gonna be in the Hudson" before splash landing in the river, according to tapes of the account released Thursday.The Federal Aviation Administration recordings revealed a four-minute segment of clipped, matter-of-fact radio communication between the pilots of Flight 1549 and controllers, who cleared the skies to get the stricken plane with 155 passengers and crew in for an emergency landing.The recordings start with...

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Low Fares on Flights to Hawaii

Low Fares on Flights to HawaiiThe Big Island's magnificent lava flows. Maui's road to Hana. Oahu's North Shore. Kauai's emerald rainforests. With so many unique experiences to choose from, it's hard to resist the temptation of the Hawaiian islands. Book your airline tickets to th Save even more when you book your Hawaii flight + hotel togeth...

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China Airline Sector Overhaul Unlikely

A major restructuring of China's loss-making airline industry is unlikely in the near term as the government has more urgent issues to tackle, a senior Chinese airlines executive said on Wednesday.Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China Eastern Airlines, said China should set up a state-owned company which will then hold stakes in its three biggest carriers to improve their synergies and global competitiveness.China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Air China, are the country's three biggest carriers. All have warned of losses for 2008 largely...

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BAA Agrees UK Tax Exemptions - Report

Spanish construction and services group Ferrovial has agreed a tax break on capital gains by its British airports unit BAA that could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, Expansion reported, citing unnamed sources.After a year of negotiations with Britain's Inland Revenue, Ferrovial has secured exemptions on capital gains from asset sales in 2008 as well as additional planned disposals, such as London's Gatwick Airport, the newspaper said.The Spanish company is considering indicative offers for Gatwick after it was told by Britain's antitrust...

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Brazil, Chile, Israel Airlines Fixed Cargo Prices - USDOJ

LAN Cargo, ABSA Cargo and EL AL Israel Airlines agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix air freight prices, the US Justice Department said on Thursday, and the companies will pay a total of criminal fines of USD$124.7 million.LAN Cargo and ABSA Cargo, which is substantially owned by LAN Cargo, will pay a combined fine of USD$109 million while EL AL will pay a USD$15.7 million fine, the Justice Department said.All three airlines agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors, who have collected more than USD$1 billion in criminal fines from an ongoing...

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Cargo, Passengers Boost LAN's 2008 Profit

Chile's leading airline LAN said on Tuesday its net profit rose 8.9 percent in 2008 and 16.1 percent in the fourth quarter as demand for passenger and cargo services offset fuel costs.LAN said in an earnings statement that fourth-quarter profit was USD$117.1 million, versus USD$100.8 million for the same period last year. For the year, LAN reported profit of USD$335.7 million, compared with USD$308.3 million in 2007."This result is mainly a result of greater demand in the markets in which the company operates, for passenger and cargo operations,...

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Korean Air Q4 Loss Wider Than Forecast

Korean Air Lines reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss on the weak won but expected it would swing to an annual operating profit in 2009.Korean Air, the world's largest air cargo carrier, is also set to suffer from declining exports from South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy.Analysts are worried about falling cargo shipments as Korean Air is highly exposed to South Korean sales of tech products such as semiconductors, mobile phones and flat screens to developed markets.Airlines worldwide face declining demand for passengers and cargo...

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Aerospace Q4 Profit Beats Estimates

B/E Aerospace, the world's biggest supplier of plane seats, posted a quarterly profit that beat most estimates, driven by strong operating margins and a doubling of sales at its distribution unit.The company also forecast 2009 profit above Wall Street estimates, even as it remained "cautiously optimistic" about the next two years amid a drop in air traffic.Demand for new planes has fallen sharply amid the global recession and this is expected to hurt several suppliers to original equipment manufacturers.However, B/E Aerospace has not seen any cancellation...

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Heathrow Airport

Heavy snow disrupted air travel in northern Europe on Monday, halting flights at London's Heathrow Airport and bringing traffic almost to a standstill.All flights in and out of Heathrow were cancelled for a period before a limited service resumed with long delays and cancellations. One of its two runways was closed.A Cyprus Airways jet at Heathrow slipped off a taxiway after arriving from Larnaca but came to a safe halt. No-one was hurt.Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports reported delays and flight cancellations. London City Airport, which serves...

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BA/Iberia Merger "Close", 55-45 Split Possible

The chairman of Spain's Caja Madrid, the biggest shareholder in Iberia with 23 percent, said an agreement on a merger between the airline and British Airways was close."I believe the operation is close, that's my impression," Miguel Blesa told journalists as he presented the unlisted bank's 2008 results on Monday.Blesa is also deputy chairman of Iberia.When asked what was blocking a merger agreement, Blesa said the share split, corporate governance questions and the location of the combined group's headquarters all needed to be resolved."The perception...

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Alaska Air Posts Q4 Loss After Charges

Alaska Air posted a fourth-quarter net loss on Thursday due to special charges, including realized losses of USD$50 million from early termination of fuel hedging contracts.The company reported a net loss of USD$75.2 million loss, compared with a profit of USD$7.4 million a year earlier.Special items also included pre-tax restructuring charges of USD$9.2 million and fleet transition costs of USD$6.7 million.Excluding special items, Alaska Air reported a profit of USD$16.4 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of USD$17.9 million.The company...

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US Airlines Fight FAA Crew Rest Requirements

Seven US airlines have sued the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming the agency broke its own rules and may have compromised flight safety when it set new standards for pilot rest times last year without input from the carriers.The airlines, including American Airlines, Continental Airlines and United Airlines, filed the lawsuit on December 24 in the the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.The airlines said in the complaint that they should have had a chance to comment on the rules, which would place yet another financial...

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United Airlines Widens On Volatile Fuel Prices

United Airlines parent UAL on Wednesday said its quarterly net loss widened on erosion in the value of its fuel hedges as oil prices dropped.The company said its net loss amounted to USD$1.3 billion, compared with USD$53 million a year earlier.The airline industry, battered severely last year by high fuel costs, cut capacity in the fourth quarter to offset that bill and to gain pricing power as economic woes eroded travel demand.UAL said its revenue was USD$4.55 billion in the quarter, down 9.6 percent.The company said it ended the quarter with...

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AMR, UAL Losses Widen, Tough Times Ahead air

Two of the largest US airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines, on Wednesday posted wider quarterly losses and warned that the economic slowdown in 2008 would likely continue this year, causing larger-than-expected job and route cuts.UAL, parent of United Airlines, said it would cut 1,000 salaried and management positions from its payrolls this year, while AMR, parent of American Airlines, said it would trim capacity more than expected.American and United are the first two major carriers to report their fourth-quarter earnings, and their...

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Airlines Ask US To Withdraw NY Airport Slot Sales

US airlines have asked the Obama administration to withdraw a government plan for boosting competition and reducing congestion by auctioning takeoff and landing rights at New York-area airports.The chief lobbying group for the major carriers asked Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to swiftly rescind last year's Bush administration initiative."As you noted at your confirmation hearing, auctioning slots does not make sense as a tool to address congestion," James May, chief executive of the Air Transport Association, said in a letter to LaHood dated...

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