Aviation

  Bloomberg Virgin Galactic Ltd, the commercial space company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, is set to resume test flights next month in a new spaceship that replaces the craft that crashed in a fatal accident two years ago. The company is due to complete ground tests in August and move to testing the vessel in the skies while attached ...

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM Group Chief Financial Officer Pierre-François Riolacci announced he’s stepping down a week after a new CEO took charge, leaving the airline scrambling to find a successor amid tensions with French pilots over cost-cutting efforts. The stock dropped to a 3 1/2-year low. Riolacci will leave the carrier in November to become CFO at Danish facilities manager ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s plane-servicing business, the German airline’s most profitable unit, is more than quadrupling research and development spending to shore up its dwindling market share and fading margins. The Lufthansa Technik maintenance, repair and overhaul division is in the middle of a 200 million-euro (US$221 million), five-year R&D program that’s come up with products such as sharkskin-like fuselage ...

  Washington / Bloomberg Boeing Co. is proposing to stretch its largest 777 model to create a twin-engine behemoth aimed at delivering a knock-out blow to Airbus Group SE’s struggling A380 superjumbo jet, said people familiar with its plans. The U.S. planemaker has approached several carriers about the plane it calls the 777-10X, including Emirates Airline, the world’s largest operator ...

  Doha / Bloomberg Qatar Airways Ltd. is considering further increasing its stake in British Airways owner IAG SA after the U.K.-based company lost a third of its market value in the fallout from the country’s vote to leave the European Union, according to people familiar with the matter. Qatar Airways, already IAG’s largest shareholder, is exploring boosting its holding ...

  Manila / Bloomberg Philippine Airlines Inc. hired Morgan Stanley to help look for an investor as it seeks to become a five-star carrier, President Jaime Bautista said. The airline, wholly owned by billionaire Lucio Tan, plans to find a “specific equity investor” as early as next year, Bautista told reporters in Manila. “There are on-going talks with possible investors,” ...

  Washington / Bloomberg Top pay rates for United Airlines flight attendants would rise as much as 31 percent, a union spokeswoman said, under a proposal to bring the 25,000 members under a single labour contract for the first time. The maximum pay for veterans with at least 13 years of experience would be set at $62 an hour, the ...

  New York / Bloomberg After coping with terrorism, bankruptcies and consolidation, the largest US airlines are facing a new problem: They may start running out of pilots in as soon as three years. That looming pilot deficit will soar to 15,000 by 2026, according to a study by the University of North Dakota’s Aviation Department, as more captains reach ...

  Singapore / bloomberg Turkey’s aviation stocks fell after coordinated terror attacks at one of Europe’s busiest airports threatened to deal another blow to the nation’s struggling tourism industry. Turkish Airlines and airport operator TAV Havalimanlari Holding AS were the biggest drag on the Borsa Istanbul 100 Index after three suicide bombers killed at least 40 people and wounded more ...

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Air Canada firmed up an order for at least 45 Bombardier Inc. C Series jets, giving the much-delayed aircraft programme a boost as the plane nears its commercial debut. The sale of CS300 narrow-body jetliners is valued at $3.8 billion based on list prices, Bombardier said in a statement. Air Canada also has options for 30 ...