Two Chinese private airlines announced yesterday they would unite as strategic partners to seek better development in the civil aviation sector.

Spain's Grupo Ferrovial has scheduled more meetings with BAA shareholders this week as it seeks support for its GBP?8.8 billion (USD$15.37 billion) bid for the British airports group, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.

Airbus does not expect to sell its wide-body, long-haul A380 aircraft in Latin America before 2010, a regional executive for the European plane maker said on Monday.

Mesa Air Group, Inc. has recently announced that it will begin operating inter-island flights as go! beginning June 9, 2006 and will be offering one-way fares of $39.

Air routes between China and South America are expected to become the next battlefield for airlines trying to cash in on the growing trade between the two sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Britain's BMI is suffering a collapse in passenger numbers as it loses out in a dogfight with low-cost rivals, train operators and European flag carriers, reports The Guardian.

Hong Kong Express Airways (HKE) has signed a three-year contract with SITA for the Horizon portfolio to include the use of SITA Reservations-the system of choice used by over 160 airlines worldwide to manage their distribution and sales processes.

Austrian Regional carrier Styrian Spirit shut down operations Friday, stranding hundreds of passengers, and subsequently declared insolvency.The Graz-based airline had been hopeful of securing a potential partner who would have injected ?5 million ($6 million), but the deal fell through and 152 employees will lose their jobs. CEO Andreas Roesslhuber told ATWOnline a few days prior to the closure that the carrier needed ?6-?9 million in fresh capital. Total debts are estimated at around ?44.4 million.

The US National Transportation Safety Board on Friday urged FAA to order immediate inspections of the inner skin of the composite rudder surfaces of certain A300 series aircraft in order potentially to avert the possibility of "a catastrophic failure of the rudder," NTSB Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker said in a statement.

The A380 successfully completed its passenger evacuation test yesterday, "paving the way [for European aviation authorities] to certify the aircraft in time for delivery by the end of 2006," Airbus said.