Aviation

  Oslo / AFP Irish no-frills airline Ryanair announced on Wednesday it will shut down one of its Norway bases, condemning to closure an airport in the Oslo region, in protest against a disputed new tax. “The Oslo base will close in October,” Ryanair’s chief commercial officer David O’Brien told reporters as an 80 Norwegian kroner ($10, nine-euro) passenger tax came ...

  Mumbai / Tribune News Service India’s domestic air traffic market grew the fastest in the world for the 13th consecutive month in April, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its report. The market grew at nearly 22%, it said. “India’s domestic traffic soared 21.8%, marking the 20th month of double-digit traffic growth and the 13th consecutive month ...

  Shanghai / Bloomberg With its ubiquitous Phantom drones, Chinese manufacturer SZ DJI Technology Co. brought aerial photography to millions. Now, with dozens of competitors biting at its heels, the world’s biggest producer of consumer drones needs to prove that its products are more than just glorified selfie sticks. “Right now, DJI is the king of the drones-are-cool market, they ...

  Sydney / AFP Chinese aviation and tourism giant HNA is buying a 13 percent stake in Virgin Australia, the airline said on Tuesday, just a week after the Hainan company scooped up part of Portuguese national airline TAP. HNA, led by Chinese billionaire Chen Feng and best known as the parent of Hainan Airlines, will pay Aus$159 million (US$115 million) ...

  Dublin / Bloomberg Airline chiefs from around the world have begun gathering for their annual meeting against a background of increasing concern about a slowdown in demand just as carriers pile on capacity to exploit low oil prices. Only a few months ago, this week’s International Air Transport Association symposium in Dublin looked set to be dominated by talk ...

  Kuala Lumpur / Bloomberg AirAsia Bhd. received an offer valued at about $1 billion for its aircraft-leasing business, Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said, prompting the shares to reach a new 14-month high in Kuala Lumpur trading. Asia’s biggest discount carrier intends to divest the fully-owned unit called Asia Aviation Capital Ltd. at some point, Fernandes said in an ...

  Frankfurt / AFP Airbus chief Tom Enders conceded in a newspaper interview on Sunday that some of the “massive problems” dogging the European airplane manufacturer’s new military transporter, the A400M, were of the group’s own making. “We underestimated the engine problems,” Enders told the Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag. At the start of the programme, Airbus had “let itself be ...

  Frankfurt / AFP German airline Lufthansa said on Sunday it will suspend flights to Venezuela from next month owing to the economic crisis in the country. “We have decided to suspend the service between Frankfurt and Caracas for the time being as from June 17,” a company spokesman said. The service, three times a week, was Lufthansa’s only flight between ...

  Nicosia / AFP A Cyprus-based budget airline, Cobalt, announced it will launch passenger flights to Greece and Britain from June. Cobalt said it was granted an Air Operator Certificate after a successful test flight with its first Cyprus-registered Airbus A320 from Larnaca to Heraklion in Greece. Its chairman, Gregory Diacou, said the carrier will begin flights to Athens on June ...

  London / Bloomberg British Airways is evaluating its routes to Nigeria, adding to aviation-industry pressure on the government as sister carrier Iberia and US competitor United Airlines halt flights to the oil-based market as traffic stutters and currency controls delay access to revenue. The UK carrier is struggling to repatriate its share of the $575 million that Nigeria currently ...