Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA aircraft hijacking

Greek police have arrested a 65-year-old Lebanese man suspected of involvement in the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines (TWA) plane in which a U.S. navy diver was killed. A Greek police official said on Saturday the suspect had disembarked from a cruise ship on the island of Mykonos on Thursday and that his name came up as being wanted by German authorities. He was also wanted in connection with a 1987 kidnapping crime, possibly related to his release in return for the freeing of two… (www.yahoo.com) More...

Italy's Conte calls on Delta to commit more to Alitalia

Delta Air Lines should consider increasing its planned investment in the rescue of Alitalia, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday as talks over the relaunch of the Italian flagship carrier drag on. The U.S. airline is part of a group of investors led by Italian railway group Ferrovie dello Stato behind a possible rescue of the loss-making airline. The potential investors, which also include infrastructure group Atlantia and Italy's treasury, plan to create a new company… (www.yahoo.com) More...

What Really Brought Down the Boeing 737 Max?

Malfunctions caused two deadly crashes. But an industry that puts unprepared pilots in the cockpit is just as guilty. (www.nytimes.com) More...

Delta CEO: SkyTeam Failed, Airline Will Create Their Own International Network of Carriers

Delta CEO Ed Bastian told Bloomberg that the SkyTeam, of which Delta is a part, hasn’t “brought a lot of great value to customers..[or] to member airlines” and so they’re trying to create their “own international network of carriers” with Delta “as the centerpiece.” The Atlanta-based carriers is shifting away from an alliance focus and “taking a different approach” where they use local airline brands that can operate in local markets around the world and influence those airlines to be more… (viewfromthewing.com) More...

Emirates Just Released a Photo of Its First Class Bar Blinged Out in 500,000 Crystals

Last year, the internet freaked out when Emirates posted a photo of one of its 777 planes totally covered in crystals. The photo, which is only a rendering of what the plane would look like, was created by Sara Shakeel, an artists famous for blinging out mundane objects. Considering the airline's upscale taste and the poshness that comes from Dubai, people around the world speculated whether or not the photo was real. (www.yahoo.com) More...

Ryanair cuts jobs, offers O'Leary a $111mln bonus

Conflicting fortunes Thursday for Ryanair staff, and the Ryanair boss. Europe's largest budget airline says it plans to cut as many as 700 positions. Some could go at the Dublin headquarters. At least some will be compulsory redundancies. The move comes after the airline said it had a surplus of 500 pilots. It's a different story though for high-profile boss Michael O'Leary. On Thursday (September 19) Ryanair shareholders narrowly approved a bonus scheme that could see him pocket… (www.yahoo.com) More...

Moscow Sheremetyevo becomes Russia’s first three-runway airport

The new, third runway of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO) welcomed its first regular flight on September 19, making SVO the first major airport in Russia to be equipped with three landing and take-off strips. Runway-3 is located north of the airport’s so-called new Northern Terminal complex (comprising of Terminal B and C1, which is currently under construction), whilst the two existing runways of the country’s biggest airport are located between the Northern and Southern Terminals (D, E, F)… (www.rusaviainsider.com) More...

Icelandair agrees initial 'fraction' of 737 Max compensation

Icelandair had estimated the impact of the grounding on earnings at $140 million by 1 August (www.flightglobal.com) More...