When Koen Rooijmans came to run the newly privatised Brisbane Airport in 1997, he saw one advantage the airport had over other Australian airports -- land.

Austrian Airlines Group is eyeing service to new destinations in Siberia."We are currently studying whether to start services from Vienna to Tjumen and Celyabinsk. We also hope to get permission to operate regular services to Kazakhstan during 2006," CCO Josef Burger told ATWOnline. In addition, Austrian plans to add 19 weekly frequencies to Eastern European destinations and 21 frequencies to Western Europe.

When Qantas held a dinner in Beijing recently to celebrate its new China flights, an Australian singer entertained the 220 guests.

Varig paid $56 million owed to aircraft leasing companies last Thursday, eliminating the threat that 40 of its aircraft--around 70% of its fleet--would be repossessed.

British Airways, Europe's third-largest airline by traffic, on Friday dismissed as ludicrous an actuary's suggestion the carrier would need to declare bankruptcy to clear its pensions deficit.

Although SAS Group has succeeded in reducing costs by SEK14 billion ($1.8 billion) over the past three years through its Turnaround 2005 program, the company's namesake airlines, collectively known as Scandinavian Airlines Businesses, continue to underperform. Furthermore, SAS says ongoing contract negotiations with unions are not progressing toward the cost-saving goals it needs, according to a recent edition of the company's internal newsletter. As a result, it is looking at shrinking SAB by eliminating unprofitable routes and cutting frequencies, resulting in layoffs and aircraft disposals. SAS Sverige (Sweden) laid off 120 employees in December while a further 150 were given a choice between transfer and redundancy.

Airports across the country are getting back to normal as thousands of AAI (Airports Authority of India) employees return to work.

Brazilian jet maker Embraer said on Friday it had suspended plans to build a factory in Jacksonville, Florida, after the US Army canceled a contract for a new spy-plane program.

The union representing about 14,000 ground workers at bankrupt Northwest Airlines said on Saturday that it would let members vote on a settlement proposal that could eliminate the need for the airline to void the workers' contract as it seeks savings.

In order to deal with the problem of rising costs due to increased oil price, Hong Kong-based carrier, Cathay Pacific, has recently introduced a new set of company policy, which limits the cabin crew with no more than 4 days layover time to only have one carry-on baggage smaller than the regulated size applies to the ordinary passengers, in order to save fuel. However, the measure has angered many of the airline's cabin crew.