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Lithuanian national airline flyLAL said on Monday it was considering filing for bankruptcy after grounding flights and failing to sell itself to a Swiss fund. The airline, the former state-owned carrier which was privatised in 2005 by local businessmen, had just two weeks ago said fund Swiss Capital Holding was ready to buy it, but the deal failed to materialize. The last flight operated by flyLAL landed on Friday, and about 11,000 passengers were left with valid, but unused flight tickets.

A Lithuanian Airlines (flyLAL) Boeing 757 departs Funchal Airport in Portugal on December 31, 2008. (Photo Copyright Jorge Miguel Abreu)

Singapore Airlines has announced plans to fly the Airbus A380 from Singapore to Paris. The French capital will represent the fourth A380 destination for the airline, after London, Sydney and Tokyo. Daily flights from Singapore to Paris using the giant aircraft will get underway on 1 June this year, replacing the existing ten weekly services operated by the 278-seat Boeing 777-300 aircraft.

Qantas Airways has announced that it launched its maiden A380 flight between Sydney and London on Friday. The Australian national carrier will operate three A380 flights on the ‘Kangaroo Route’ each week, with further aircraft set to be added to the airline’s fleet in May.

Two Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft operated by the Russian military have collided at Makhachkala Airport in southern Russia, killing at least four people. IL-76MD RA-76827 (cn 1003404151) was performing its landing rollout when its right wing collided with sister-ship RA-76825 (cn 1003404136) which was entering the runway via an intersecting taxiway. 4 of the 7 crewmembers aboard the taxiing aircraft were killed as the cockpit was ripped away and a fire erupted; all 31 occupants of the landing aircraft survived. Visibility at the time of the crash was extremely low, with visibility reported less than 1/4 mile in freezing fog.

Photo: IL-76 CCCP-76827 (now registered RA-76827) was one of the two aircraft involved in the collision (Photo Copyright MilanNN)

US Airways Airbus A320-214 N106US (cn 1044) has crashed into the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from New York’s La Guardia Airport. Flight 1549 to Charlotte, NC departed from LGA at 3:26pm with 151 passengers and crew aboard. The flight crew reported a bird strike and a dual engine failure, then indicated they would ditch the aircraft into the water. The FAA has confirmed that all passengers and crew were evacuated safely.

Britain’s government on Thursday said it approved contentious plans to allow the construction of a third runway for London’s Heathrow airport. The approval, announced by transport secretary Geoff Hoon in an especially heated session in parliament, came despite mounting opposition from residents, lawmakers and environmental campaigners. Heathrow’s owner BAA has long argued in favor of a third runway as it blamed a lack of capacity for increasing flight delays. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic also said more capacity was needed. Heathrow, located in the west of London, handles about 67 million passengers a year. The planning process for a third runway is likely to take years and building might not start before 2015. Until then, opponents might start legal action against the decision.

Photo: Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe, currently uses only two main runways. (Photo Copyright Keith Burton)

Airbus expects aircraft orders to drop sharply in 2009, and suspects that deliveries may have peaked in 2008. Along the way, the aircraft maker also is scaling back expectations on its flagship A380. Only 18 deliveries are now forecast for the year–down from 21–which was already a revision from an earlier plan for 26. Total order intake for 2009 is estimated at around 300 to 400 units, with Airbus COO for customers, John Leahy, noting that the low end is more likely. “This is clearly going to be a slow year for all aircraft orders,” he notes.

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer delivered 59 jets during the fourth quarter of 2008, totaling 204 jets in the year. For the second consecutive year, the Company set a new aircraft delivery record, delivering 20% more airplanes than in 2007 (169 jets). During 4Q08, Embraer delivered 44 E-Jets to Commercial Aviation, eight Legacy 600s, two Phenom 100s, and one EMBRAER 175 to Executive Aviation, and four jets to the Defense and Government segment.

Photo: Embraer’s new Phenom 100 executive jet taxis at Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Photo Copyright Wade DeNero)

Qatar Airways is in talks to revise delivery of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jet and is seeking compensation after the manufacturer’s latest delay affected the airline’s expansion. Ali al-Rais, the airline’s executive vice-president, commercial, said no new delivery deadline has been set yet. “They already know they have been at fault,” he told reporters in Dubai. “They know that the standard clause will kick in.” Boeing pushed back the schedule for its troubled 787 Dreamliner for the fourth time last December, making its new plane almost two years late.

Beginning Feb. 1, commercial airline service will return to the Montana cities of Glasgow, Glendive, Havre and Wolf Point. Great Lakes Aviation of Cheyenne, Wyo., announced Wednesday it will resume daily flights between the four cities and Billings. Those cities and three others in eastern Montana were served for three decades by Big Sky Airlines, but financial problems forced the airline out of business last March. Great Lakes assumed Big Sky’s federal Essential Air Service contract to serve Montana. Essential Air Service is a program offering airlines federal subsidies to serve routes to small cities that otherwise would be unprofitable.

A passenger who was overcome by deicer fumes on an Alaska Airlines flight at Sea-Tac Airport Christmas Eve is suing the airline in federal court. The fumes filled the cabin of Flight 528 bound for Burbank, Calif. The 143 passengers and six crew members started smelling strong fumes as the deicer was being applied to the plane. Eighteen passengers were treated at the airport. The flight crew and one off-duty flight attendant were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Philippine low-cost carrier Zest Air’s brand new Xian MA60 turboprop (RP-C8893, cn 704) landed short of the runway then struck a concrete wall at an airport in the central Philippines on Sunday. The 56-seat turboprop was attempting to land on runway 06 (2,657ft) in windy conditions when the crash occurred. The accident led to a five-hour closure of the Caticlan airport in Aklan province and forced the diversion or cancellation of several flights, airport officials said. The accident injured 22 crew members and passengers, and two airport guards and a utility man on the ground were injured by flying debris.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a Delta Connection carrier, says it will furlough 80 pilots next month as Delta Air Lines cuts capacity amid slumping demand. ASA said other employee groups will not be affected by the layoffs, which are expected to last about a year.

Southwest Airlines Co. confirmed reports Friday that a pilot is now on leave while the airline and the FAA investigate claims a passenger made in Columbus, Ohio, about the pilot smelling of alcohol shortly before a departure. A spokesman for Dallas-based Southwest says the Federal Aviation Administration is currently investigating the matter, but nothing has been confirmed at this point. The flight in question was flight 3396 from Columbus, Ohio to Orlando, Fla., Southwest said.

The Boeing Company in 2008 recorded 662 net commercial airplane orders, bringing its backlog of unfilled commercial orders to more than 3,700 airplanes. The Next-Generation 737 remained the company’s best seller, with 484 chosen last year by customers from nearly every region of the world. Demand for the all-new 787 Dreamliner also remained strong with 93 ordered, primarily by Middle East customers. The twin-aisle 777 captured 54 orders from customers in Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia. The 767-300ER (Extended Range) logged 28 orders, and the 747-8 Intercontinental added three to the orders list. During 2008, 375 airplanes were delivered to customers worldwide: 290 737s (including six Boeing Business Jets), 14 747s, 10 767s and 61 777s. Deliveries were affected by a strike that halted commercial production for several weeks.

Photo: The oft-delayed Boeing 787 Dreamliner netted 93 firm orders in 2008. (Photo Copyright Tom Alfano)

Investigators trying to determine why an Airbus A320 on a maintenance flight crashed into the Mediterranean last November got some good news this week: usable data finally was retrieved from the plane’s voice and data recorders. The Airbus A320, which had been leased to a German charter carrier and was being checked before returning to service with Air New Zealand, plummeted into the Mediterranean approaching the airport in Perpignan, France in good weather, without any emergency radio call from the pilots. All seven aboard were killed.

Photo: A320-232 D-AXLA (cn 2500) was the aircraft involved in the crash. It is seen here in May, 2008 operating for XL Airways Germany. (Photo Copyright Florian G.)

Italian national airline Alitalia looks set to clinch a long-awaited deal to sell a stake to Air France-KLM, giving the former ailing state-controlled carrier the large international partner it needs to complete its turnaround. The stake sale may be finalized in the next few hours after Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi effectively gave his blessing to it. The Franco-Dutch airline could approve the purchase of a 25% stake in Alitalia for around €300 million ($407.6 billion) as early as Friday, said a person familiar with the matter. Alitalia’s board would then formally approve the sale at a meeting Monday, the person added.

The takeover of much of the European airline industry by the continent’s biggest carrier seemed to move ahead today as separate reports linked German giant Lufthansa with bids for SAS of Scandinavia and Italy’s Alitalia. Lufthansa recently took control of Britain’s bmi, Heathrow’s second biggest carrier, and has already taken over Swiss and Brussels Airlines and is in negotiations with Austrian Airlines. Now executives at the German carrier have fueled the belief they are stalking SAS. Separately, the Italian press reported Lufthansa may bid for the troubled Alitalia.

Irish carrier Aer Lingus has rejected a takeover bid from a fellow budget airline. The airline announced today that a bid from Ryanair was rejected on the grounds that it “fundamentally undervalues the airline.” Both airlines have confirmed that they held a meeting regarding the potential takeover yesterday. However, Aer Lingus’ shareholders were not prepared to accept the 750 million euro offer. Ryanair currently owns a stake of approximately 30 per cent in Aer Lingus.

Downsizing at major U.S. airlines kept planes full during the winter holidays despite weaker travel demand in a sagging economy, according to data released this week. The airline industry, clawing its way out of a downturn resulting from soaring fuel prices in the first half of 2008, slashed the number of seats for sale in the second half to improve efficiency and support fares. Plummeting oil prices since July further insulated carriers from the economic recession that hobbled other industries.