Aviation

  Bloomberg After a comfortable two-year spell of cheap fuel and no major crises to dampen travel demand, US airlines are in for what looks to be a more turbulent 2017. Buckle up. Seven consecutive quarters of declining jet fuel expenses have come to an end as carriers are likely to report higher bills for the fourth quarter of 2016, ...

  Bloomberg There’s a new leader in the US market for corporate aircraft management, as a merger of the American fleets of BBA Aviation Plc and Gama Aviation Plc elbows aside a unit of Warren Buffett’s NetJets Inc. The deal brings together about 110 US-based aircraft managed by Gama and 90 overseen by BBA, the companies said. While similar in ...

  Bloomberg British Airways flight attendants will walk out next week after the carrier declined to extend their right to strike in return for renewed pay talks following the rejection of the latest offer, according to the Unite union. So-called “mixed fleet” cabin crew, who work on both short- and long-haul flights, will take action for 48 hours from Tuesday, ...

  LOS ANGELES / Agencies SpaceX plans to resume flights as early as next week after finding the cause of an explosion that destroyed a rocket and satellite on a Florida launch pad in September. The Hawthorne, California-based company is aiming for a January 8, flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Los Angeles Times reported. The launch still needs ...

  LAGOS / AP Nigeria’s government plans to close the airport in the capital, Abuja, for six weeks to repair a runway that some airlines have described as dangerous, an aviation ministry statement said. The government plans to close Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the country’s second-busiest, for most of February and March. Work by German construction company Julius Berger would ...

  TOPEKA, Kan / AP Westar Energy is increasing the use of drones for such things as inspecting equipment, navigating remote areas and managing some emergencies, as the utility tries to improve safety and efficiency while also saving money, company officials said. Westar and Kansas State University’s Polytechnic Campus offer an unmanned aircraft systems program and have one of the ...

  Seoul / AFP Korean Air said it would let its crew use stun guns more aggressively and put more male staff aboard flights to clamp down on violence, after an incident involving an unruly passenger. South Korea’s flag carrier said it was tightening security after 1980s US pop singer Richard Marx lashed out at the company on social media ...

  BEIRUT / AFP Iran and European planemaker ATR are due to sign a deal next week for the purchase of 20 short-haul passenger aircraft, an Iranian official said, weeks after Tehran finalised deals with Boeing and Airbus. ATR, co-owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo Finmeccanica , in February reported preliminary orders from Iran for 20 twin-engine turboprop ATR 72-600 ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, has taken delivery of its first Rolls-Royce engine-powered Airbus A380 superjumbo and has resolved its dispute with the engine maker over a technical issue. The A380 jet arrived in Dubai on Thursday morning, two days after Airbus said it would delay the delivery of 12 A380s to the airline over ...

  Santiago / AFP Qatar Airways bought a 10-percent stake in LATAM, the largest airline in Latin America, the Chilean-Brazilian company said. The investment, first announced last July, amounts to 60.8 million shares at a price of $10 each, LATAM said in a statement. The airline — the product of a 2012 merger between Chile’s LAN and Brazil’s TAM — ...