IATA says airline industry “remains sick”

06 JAN 2009:  Buckle up. We're in for a bumpy ride. IATA director-general and chief executive, Giovanni Bisignani says, "The outlook is bleak. We face the worst revenue environment in 50 years" as IATA announced its forecast for 2009 showing an airline industry loss of US$2.5 billion. All regions, except the US, are expected to report larger losses in 2009 than in 2008.The forecast highlights (or should they be lowlights) are:

It's not enough to just be number one

06 JAN 2009:  The French Riviera, the Eiffel Tower, art, cuisine, fashion, wine, romance, Provence, Burgundy, Paris, vineyards, The Louvre, Carla Bruni as First Lady - what more does France need to maintain its proud position as the world's No. 1 travel destination?

First commercial flight from Europe to Iraq

06 JAN 2009:  Don’t the airlines have enough problems? The first commercial flight between Europe and Iraq in 17 years has landed at Baghdad airport. About 150 passengers, mainly Iraqis, arrived on the Nordic Leisure charter flight from Denmark.

Easy Jet sends pax to wrong city

06 JAN 2008:  The 140 Bulgarians, who were stuck in Bucharest for two days after the low-cost UK airline Easy Jet brought them there instead of Sofia, have vowed to sue the air company. An Easy Jet flight from London was scheduled to land in Sofia on Saturday, January 3, at 8:30 pm. The plane landed in Bucharest instead, with the explanation that the Sofia Airport had been closed over inclement weather conditions. In fact, the airport was open and the weather was fine.