French pilots’ four-day strike between February 6 and 9 against government bill restraining the right to strike is estimated to cost Air France up to EUR100 million (US$132.7 million). Air France said earlier it expected to maintain 60 per cent of long-haul flights and 70 per cent of short and medium-haul flights. But the impact seemed to be more severe as many last-minute cancellations came in the past few days….

Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Ministry has drawn up a white paper calling for public comment on its proposed policy change in the aviation sector, to shift the focus to infrastructure development and promotion of air cargo and transhipment. The new policy would be facilitated by country’s two main carriers, SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka, reports the Colombo Sunday Times. The report said that the policy being drafted is part of…

A Strike has been called by the French airline pilots union for February 6 to 9 against a government bill that is said to restrain the right to strike. Under the terms of the bill, workers in the air transport industry should make individual declarations of participating in a strike 48 hours before its commencement, so as to let airlines put contingency plans in place. This rule is already applied…

State cargo security and environmental regulations are the biggest challenges to air freight this year, says Amsterdam-based Bart Jan Haasbeek, country sales manager at Saudi Airlines Cargo, In an interview with Air Cargo World, of Roswell, Georgia, Mr Haasbeek said European carbon tax will damage the industry. “The cost for air transport will increase, causing more intra-European transports to be transferred to the ground, mainly to trucks. What’s more, the…

THE UK Competition Commission has ordered airport operator BAA to sell London Stansted airport, the second largest air cargo hub in the country and fourth biggest in all categories. The London Heathrow owner, challenging Amsterdam in freight volumes at 1.49 million tons in 2011, was forced to dispose of London Gatwick for US$2.4 billion to US-based Global Infrastructure Partners in 2009 and is in the process of selling Edinburgh, one…