Aviation

Bloomberg Alaska Air Group Inc. is close to buying Virgin America Inc., the carrier backed by billionaire Richard Branson, according to people with knowledge of the matter. While negotiations are advanced, the deal could still fall apart and a last-minute bid from JetBlue Airways Corp. may be possible, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details ...

NEWARK / AP The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced it’s easing limits on the number of hourly flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, and the airport’s operator said that should lead to greater competition and lower airfares. The limits at Newark Liberty, which serves the New York City region and is one of the busiest airports in the nation, ...

BERLIN / Reuters Dutch carrier KLM has launched the first in a series of 80 flights from Oslo to Amsterdam using a biofuels blend to power an Embraer E190 jet, in a boost for the biofuels industry that has been held back by weak oil prices. The flights will run over a period of five to six weeks and use ...

Bloomberg AirAsia Bhd. is raising 1 billion ringgit ($257 million) selling stock to a company controlled by its founders as the continent’s biggest budget airline raises cash to finance aircraft purchase and pare down debt. The airline will issue 559 million new shares at 1.84 ringgit apiece to Tune Live Sdn, equally owned by Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes and ...

Colombo / AFP Sri Lanka is seeking foreign assistance to rescue its loss-making national carrier, a minister said, after the government announced the airline was unable to pay back nearly $1 billion in debt. The airline owes at least $933 million but the government last week said the true figure could be much higher. Official sources said Colombo was in ...

Singapore/ Bloomberg China’s three biggest airlines reported soaring net profits in 2015 despite the country’s worst economic growth in a quarter of a century, as more Chinese travelled abroad. Cheaper jet fuel helped the bottom line, but losses from foreign exchange hurt as China’s yuan currency slid against the dollar, they said. “With the slowdown in world economic growth, and ...

SYDNEY / Reuters Air New Zealand (NZ) Ltd, the biggest shareholder of Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, has on Wednesday announced that it may sell its 26 percent stake in a sign that backers of Australia’s number two carrier are growing impatient with its slow profit turnaround. The move, nine days after Air New Zealand publicly supported Virgin’s request for a ...

Bloomberg Kenya’s government shelved plans to build a new terminal at the main international airport as the East African nation’s tourism industry struggles to recover from attacks by Islamist militants. The decision to halt the project at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is the result of “prevailing economic and financial dynamics which have been on a downward trend over the ...

Bloomberg Boeing Co. plans to cut about 4,000 jobs from its commercial airplanes division by mid-year as part of a broader effort to reduce costs amid fierce competition from Airbus Group SE. The US planemaker doesn’t plan any involuntary layoffs, for now. Rather, the savings will come from 1,600 workers who elected to leave the company under a voluntary program ...

Bloomberg Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA reported a fourth-quarter loss and predicted business would worsen this year in the face of declining demand and a shrinking Brazilian economy. The net loss was 1.18 billion reais ($324 million), the airline said in a statement after the close of trading in Sao Paulo. Fourth-quarter net revenue totaled 2.65 billion reais against analyst ...