AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*Italian carrier MERIDIANA FLY has confirmed that it is in talks with ALITALIA over a possible partnership. Responding to a report in an Italian newspaper, which claimed that Alitalia is in negotiations with a view to acquiring Meridiana Fly, the carrier said it "wishes to clarify that the company's future lies with national and international partnerships, as indicated by its controlling shareholder". Meridiana Fly added that talks with Alitalia "should be considered in that context", but points out that "at this stage, no partnership agreement exists and no decision has been taken". Meridiana Fly was formed in March 2010 through the merger of MERIDIANA and EUROFLY. Alitalia has no comment.

*Iran's head of the Civil Aviation Organization reminded all Iranian carriers that they have less than 1 week to stop flying Russian made Tupolev TU154 aircraft. The order and stop date wer given 6 months ago and was a direct result of the crash of a CASPIAN AIRLINES Tupolev TU154 in Qazvin that killed all 168 passengers and crew onboard. Iranian investigators said the crash was the result of problems with the engines on the Tupolev. Iran also said the crash of the POLISH AIR FORCE Tupolev in Smolensk, Russia, last April, also contributed to the ban that goes into effect on February 19. According to statistics, aviation accidents in Iran account for 9-10% of worldwide deaths every year.

*EMIRATES is considering swapping its order for 50 Airbus A350-900s to A350-1000s as Airbus works on finalizing design of the stretched variant. In November 2007, the carrier ordered 70 A350 XWBs, initially specifying 50 of the baseline -900s and 20 -1000s. But Emirates said that over the last 3 year,s the carrier's network has matured to the point where it "can no longer tolerate anything under 300" seats. Emirates is slated to take 290-seat A350-900s from April 2015. The A350-1000s would be a better fit, but the longer wait must also be considered. The A350-900 is scheduled to enter service in 2013, while Airbus has provided a 2015 entry into service date for -1000 stretch

*The dispatch reliability on the Airbus A380 for EMIRATES remains below expectations but the carrier is confident all the remaining kinks will be worked out by mid-2012, said the Emirates president Tim Clark. He said the reliability figure for its A380 fleet is running at 97%. "It should be higher. Those last remaining percentage points are those niggly little things," he added. "It's a huge airplane, an extremely complex airplane, a new airplane and therefore will have all sorts of bugs the designers and engineers wouldn't have foreseen," Clark says, adding that the A380 is a "very good" aircraft.

*AIR TAHITI NUI has been praised for its cabin crew service in a new review posted online. The review, done by a travel writer from Sydney, Australia, was conducted on a flight from Auckland to Papeete on an A340. The writer said: "The French Polynesian vibe starts early: attendants escorting wheelchair-bound passengers to the plane bid them farewell with double kisses. On board, all passengers are given a tiare, the tiny fragrant gardenia that is French Polynesia's national flower, to tuck behind an ear. Those who are married or attached should tuck to the left (same side as the heart) while singles tuck to the right". The review goes on to discuss everything from seat pitch to entertainment to dining options on the 5 hour flight. All items reviewed scored highly, although the seat pitch and leg room space is sparse.

*Airline safety is being eroded as operators cut crew training time and other costs, a senior Pilot trainer warned today. Geoff Klouth, an A320 training Captain with Australian budget carrier JETSTAR, said a drop in training standards and checks had prompted him to make a submission to a Senate inquiry into Airline safety. "Safety margins that were a normal part of the aviation industries and which contributed to Australia's safety record have been and are being eroded to a point where Airlines' safety can no longer be considered as a given," Klouth told the inquiry in Canberra today. He said insufficient Pilot and cabin crew training, poor rostering leading to increased fatigue and an overall reduction in resources were cause for concern. He also said that Airlines had cut the training time for cabin crew and were relying more on Cadet Pilots to drive down their operating costs.

*JETBLUE Flight 745, an A320, had to make an emergency diversion to West Palm Beach, Florida, yesterday, February 14, due to smoke in the cockpit. Emergency Services met the aircraft and could find no trace of heat, smoke or fire. The A320 was then removed from service for inspection.

*SRI LANKAN Flight 509, an A340, had to make an emergency landing in Male, in the Maldives, yesterday, February 14, due to a bomb threat. While enroute from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Male, a passenger stated that there was a bomb onboard. Once on the ground in Male, the passenger was arrested. A search of the aircraft and luggage found no trace of explosives. About 1.5 hours, the aircraft was cleared to continue on the next portion of its flight to London Heathrow.

*CATHAY PACIFIC Flight 831, a Boeing 777, had to make a diversion to Toronto, ON, Canada, on Saturday, February 12. While enroute from New York JFK to Hong Kong, and between Canada and Greenland, the crew reported the failure of the passenger water system. The 777 was diverted to Toronto, where they landed without incident 4 hours later. The aircraft was repaired and resumed its flight to Hong Kong 23 hours later.

*TIGER AIRWAYS Flight 5598, an A320, had to reject takeoff from Melboure, Australia, on Friday, February 11. The crew vacated the runway and taxied for another departure from runway 16 about 10 minutes. The aircraft then departed and reached Perth without incident. According to the ATSB, the crew had entered incorrect flight data into the FMS, but did not realize this until they were on their departure roll. The ATSB has opened an investigation.

*RYANAIR Flight 9085, a Boeing 737, landed without clearance in Alicante, Spain, on Thursday, January 6. The incident was just disclosed yesterday by Spanish authorities. The 737 was in contact with approach controal and was cleared to begin its approach. The aircraft went on to make a safe landing. However, the Spanish CIAIAC said that once on the ground, the crew realized that they were still on their approach frequency and had never contacted the tower, thus they had no approval to land. The CIAIAC said that they have opened an investigation.