Qantas is expecting a 25 per cent efficiency improvement from a new $55 million material and logistics distribution centre opened this week near its Sydney headquarters.

QANTAS remains intent on replicating its Jetstar Asia joint venture in other Asian countries, despite problems that have prompted its Singaporean investment to reduce aircraft numbers and raise more money.

Norwegian has decided to invade an already-crowded Polish low-cost market and intends to hire Polish flight crew for the operation.The LCC announced yesterday that it will open a base in Warsaw and operate flights to three Spanish cities, France and its Oslo hub. It will base two aircraft at Warsaw, where it will compete with LOT Polish Airlines subsidiary Centralwings, SkyEurope Airlines and Wizz Air, among others.

FL Group announced yesterday the sale of its 16.9% stake in easyJet for approximately ?325 million ($395.9 million), earning Icelandair's parent company some ?140 million in profit from its initial investment and representing an annual return of 70%, "far surpassing" the 20% target. JPMorgan was the sole bookrunner and JPMorganCazenove was joint lead manager. FL Group said the proceeds will be "channeled into new investments during 2006." It now has liquid assets of about ?600 million.

Bmi Group reported a pre-tax profit of ?10 million ($17.3 million) in 2005, nearly four times greater than the ?2.6 million earned in 2004.

News from Travel Technology Update: Sabre Travel Network is rolling out Upsell, a program that displays amenities and upgrades that are available at a hotel that is about to be booked.The program is part of its drive to move more into a merchandising mode, rather than simply processing transactions.

Embraer reported a record year with sales topping $3.8 billion, an 11.3% increase over 2004, and net income of $446 million, a 17.2% rise.The Brazilian manufacturer's firm-order backlog was valued at $10.4 billion as of Dec. 31. Additionally, the company strengthened its financial position, with net cash of $360 million compared to $22 million on hand last year. It delivered 118 aircraft in 2005 and has a firm-order backlog of 322 170/190 aircraft. Included among 2005 deliveries were the first 190 that went to JetBlue and the first 175, delivered to Air Canada. It received a total of 94 orders for 170s/190s last year.

Grupo TAP, parent of TAP Portugal, reported a summary result showing a net loss of ?9.9 million ($12 million) in 2005, reversing a net profit of ?8.6 million in 2004, which was fueled by a ?30 million extraordinary gain from the partial sale of ground handling unit Servicos Portugueses de Handling.

Qantas has refused to rule out sending more engineering work offshore as unions stepped up their fight to prevent checks on one of the carrier's 747s being carried out in Singapore.

Cathay Pacific announced the appointment of Kerry McGlynn as Special Adviser to the airline's Corporate Communication Department with effect from 3 April 2006. He will be working closely with General Manager, Corporate Communication Alan Wong and his team.