LUFTHANSA BECOMING THE LARGEST AIRLINE CARRIER. German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG completed the takeover of Austrian Airlines AG Thursday by signing final contracts in Vienna. With this deal, the Lufthansa group is to become Europe's biggest carrier, surpassing French-Dutch airline AirFrance-KLM in terms of passenger numbers. Speaking earlier in Frankfurt, Lufthansa executive board member Stefan Lauer praised Austrian Airlines' staff for their cooperation in implementing a series of cost-cutting measures that include cutting 1,000 full-time positions from a staff of 8,000 through the ... Read More

LUFTHANSA TAKING OVER AUSTRIAN AIRLINES. German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG is to complete the takeover of Austrian Airlines AG Thursday by signing the final contracts in Vienna, said Stefan Lauer, a member of Lufthansa's executive board. With this deal, the Lufthansa group is to become Europe's biggest carrier, surpassing French-Dutch airline AirFrance-KLM in terms of passenger numbers. The ailing Vienna-based flag carrier is to retain its network of destinations, as was the case when Swiss, British Midland and Brussels Airlines joined the Lufthansa ... Read More

Aer Lingus Facing Deep Cuts To Survive. Aer Lingus has had an operating loss of € 93m from the first half of 2009. Last year for the same time frame they had a loss of € 23m. Passenger fairs and cargo revenues being lower have resulted in a 12% lower than anticipated revenue for the first half of the ... Read More