JetBlue Airways announced the development of Orlando International Airport into the airline's seventh focus city. The designation of Orlando as a key city in Jet- Blue's growing route network underscores the airline's commitment to the Central Florida economy, with more flights and destinations; an expansion into as many as 10 gates in Airside 1 at Orlando International Airport; the development of a 292- room JetBlue Crew Lodge; and the establishment of a local crew base for JetBlue's pilots and inflight crewmembers. More flights and destinations - plus growth to Caribbean and Latin America Earlier this month JetBlue inaugurated its first international routes from Orlando, including the region's only daily nonstop service to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Cancun, Mexico. Furthering its commitment to capitalize on Orlando's location at the crossroads of the Americas, JetBlue has received tentative approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to offer Orlando's only service to South America, with daily nonstop service to Bogota, Colombia, beginning later this year(a). Combined with its existing flights to Puerto Rico - up to seven departures per day to Aguadilla, Ponce, and San Juan - JetBlue is proud to be Central Florida's leading airline to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Qantas Airways announced it would operate a record 47 flights between the U.S. and Australia each week, when it commences new services to Brisbane and Sydney beginning March 27, 2008. The new services will include adding: two flights per week between Los Angeles and Brisbane from March 27 and April; one flight per week between Los Angeles and Sydney from March 30; and one flight per week between Honolulu and Sydney from April 5. Qantas Executive General Manager, Mr. John Borghetti, said the airline was strongly committed to growing its U.S. services.

Select Flights Feature an ‘All-Women Flying Crew’; Celebrations to continue till March 15
Kingfisher Airlines, India’s only 5 Star airline, today set a record of sorts by featuring an all women crew, including flying crew on select flights across its network. Captain Payal Pasricha and Captain Priya Prabhu became the first two women pilots to kick-off the celebrations on International Women’s Day as they flew Kingfisher Airlines Flight IT 101 from Mumbai to Bangalore. As the aircraft was cleared for push-back, the captain’s welcome address on the flight was greeted with a spontaneous applause from all guests on board the flight as the captain finished announcing the

commencement of the celebrations. A short while later, Captain Archana Kapoor and Supriya Thakur who were flying Kingfisher Airlines Flight IT 301 form Mumbai to New Delhi became the second set of women pilots to continue the celebrations of International Womens Day. Kingfisher Airlines also operated flight numbers IT 104 from Bangalore to Mumbai and flight IT 306 from New Delhi t Mumbai with an all women flying crew. Commenting on this special initiative to operate select flights with an all-woman flying crew, Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said, “8th March is celebrated as International Women’s Day worldwide, with a view to recognizing, celebrating and highlighting the economic, political and social achievements of women in our society. This initiative marked the commencement of a week-long celebration where specially created greeting cards would be distributed to all guests flying Kingfisher Airlines along with their boarding passes.

Management of Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration "falsified the report" that said the airline had come into compliance with rules for crucial safety inspections for jets, according to records released by a U.S. House committee. That allegation appears in more than 90 pages of documents that suggest a culture of cronyism compromised the FAA's oversight of Southwest Airlines in Dallas. Two whistle-blowers said FAA supervisors and colleagues undermined their efforts to get Southwest to comply with federal directives. The FAA has fined Southwest $10.2 million for continuing to fly more than three dozen jets that were 30 months late for safety inspections and should have been grounded until the work was done. But the agency hasn't fired any employees over the incident, which has embarrassed the FAA and called into question its partnership approach to regulating airlines. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters suggested that more disciplinary actions could be handed down.

Aloha Airlines files for bankruptcy again
Aloha Airlines, has filed for bankruptcy protection and blamed "predatory pricing" by competitor Mesa Airlines for its troubles. The company, which employs 3,500, had emerged from bankruptcy protection about two years ago. Hawaii-based Aloha filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, asking the US Bankruptcy Court to allow it to continue to operate and to approve its financing arrangement with its principal working capital lender, General Motors Acceptance Corporation. Aloha cited its inability to generate sufficient revenues from its inter-island passenger business due to predatory pricing by Mesa Air Group's Go Airline. Phoenix-based Mesa Air launched its Go Airline inter-island Hawaiian service in June 2006.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways are in the final stages of deciding whether to buy small passenger jets being developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Sankei newspaper reported on Thursday. Mitsubishi has been trying to develop the lightweight, fuel efficient next-generation "Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ)" with 70-90 seats, with an estimated development cost of JPY150 billion yen, Sankei said. The daily said ANA was expected to buy about 30 such jets while JAL was likely to buy more than 30 and introduce them sometime after 2012. If the two airlines decided to buy the jets, it was expected to give an impetus to Mitsubishi's project to develop Japan's second domestically-developed passenger plane in the post-war era, the daily said.

Ryanair will offer domestic routes within France and Germany for the first time, Europe's largest low-cost airline said. The flights between Marseilles and Paris and between Frankfurt and Berlin will start in May, with tickets going on sale from Thursday, the Dublin-based carrier said in a statement. Ryanair announced last month it would open its 26th European hub at Reus Airport near Barcelona in Spain.

Russia might delay delivery of its new Superjet 100 passenger planes to Aeroflot beyond its contractual deadline at the end of 2008. The plane has not yet been tested in the air, the head of state aviation major UAC said. Aeroflot last year ordered several dozen of the planes from state-owned UAC, or United Aviation Company. "Without a doubt, the timing became constrained. I don't exclude that it could be shifted. I can't say when they will be delivered to Aeroflot," UAC head Alexei Fyodorov told reporters. The Superjet 100, designed to carry between 75 and 95 passengers, was jointly created with U.S. air company Boeing (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research). It was meant to start flying by the end of last year but its launch was delayed. The Superjet 100 is the result of almost a decade of efforts by Russia's largest warplane maker, Sukhoi, which is part of UAC. It is Russia's first all-new airliner since the fall of the Soviet Union and is being targeted at Western airlines. The Superjet will replace Russia's ageing Soviet-made fleet of Tupolev Tu-134 and Yakovlev Yak-42 planes on domestic routes, which have a longer range of 4,550 km. (Reporting by Anton Doroshev, writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Erica Billingham)