Aviation

South African Airways (SAA) has been awarded the 4-Star Airline ranking for 2014 by Skytrax for the 12th year in a row.

Partnership between UAE national carrier Etihad Airways and Swiss-based Darwin Airline leads to launch of Etihad Regional airline.

Lufthansa and Amadeus announced a new agreement that will see the airline sell advance seat reservation as an ancillary product in the travel agency channel using Amadeus Airline Ancillary Services.

Cologne-based Germanwings was recently ranked second most punctual airline in the world out of all airlines evaluated in a Europe-wide comparison carried out by American online service Flight Stats.

Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines have agreed to form an alliance enabling Air New Zealand to fly the Auckland-Singapore route again and Singapore Airlines to operate the Airbus A380 to New Zealand for the first time.

The Thessaloniki Tourism Organization welcomed the recent announcement made by Ryanair on the creation of a hub in the Greek Northern city.

Ryanair is discussing third party distribution of tickets via travel agencies with GDSs (global distribution systems) Travelport, Amadeus and Sabre.

The start of 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of commercial aviation together with the achievement of the best safety record in aviation history, according to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The world’s foremost safety and product rating website, AirlineRatings.com, has announced Air New Zealand as its Airline of the Year for 2014.

Air Serbia is offering more travel choices in the first half of 2014, with services being launched to six new destinations in Europe and the Middle East.