January 17th 2009, Mexicana (or Compañía Mexicana de Aviación) will launch twice-weekly flights from Mexico City to London’s Gatwick Ariport (return flight leaves London at 10:30am and arrives in Mexico City at 17:35p). The airline will be using a Boeing 767-200ER for the service. Mexicana’s plans are to fly to Sao Paulo Grarulhos (GRU), London (LGW)
and Madrid (MAD). “The arrival of a second -200 the following month will allow it to
double the frequency. The aircraft also will be used on a new
five-times-weekly Sao Paulo Guarulhos service scheduled to start Dec.
10.” The Madrid flight is supposed to start in February
2009 (on Airbus A330).
“Passengers on these flights will enjoy bed seats, an exclusive
in-flight meal prepared by Mexican chef Enrique Olvera and a select
list of handpicked Mexican wines.”
Mexicana is Mexico’s largest airline and is the first airline that was established in the country. It has been Mexico’s national airline since 1924.
From ATWOnline –
Mexicana has been hit by the current industry downturn like many
carriers, but it remains in “adequate” financial health and is focused
on a long-term plan that includes oneworld entry and the launch of its
first European services early next year, CEO Manuel Borja said
yesterday at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun.
All three routes are underserved, he said. The GRU and LGW flights
largely will cater to corporate customers, with a “small percentage” of
leisure travelers, while MAD is “more of a mix.” He conceded that MX
will post a “small” loss in 2008 but expects a “neutral” 2009.
New runways will be opened at three major US Airports – Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport and Seattle’s Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The propose cost for the new runways is around $450 million (Chicago), $350 million (Washington DC) and +$1 billion (Seattle). The runways are supposed to reduce the current delays at the airports and provide capacity for future increases in demand. 
Qantas Airlines named its future fleet of 20 Airbus A380 aircrafts after famous Australians in aviation.
Air France went through severe disruptions (2/5 of long haul flights and half of the rest getting canceled) after the pilots began their four-day strike in protest to the change of the legal age for retirement. The change in retirement age from 60 to 65 was passed in the French parliament earlier. 
Barack Obama, the President-elect for USA, traded his “Air Obama” or “O-Force One” (Boeing 757) that was used during the campaign for a chartered American Airlines Boeing Super-80 or MD-80. The aircraft was recently used to fly him from Chicago to Washington DC for his White House meetings.
A Ryanair flight FR4102 (Boeing 737) originating from Frankfurt, Germany with 166 passengers on board (and 6 crew) suffered from multiple bird strikes (both engines ingested multiple European starlings) causing an emergency landing at Rome’s Ciampino Airport. The airport was closed till late Monday afternoon since the aircraft removal was hampered due to “substantial damage” to the landing gear.
By November 20th, all the US Airports will have designated TSA passenger security-check lanes called “family lanes” to move through security checks and inspections at “their own pace”. The “popular” lanes had been tested earlier at 48 airports “provide a space for families and passengers who don’t travel very often to move through security at their own pace“.
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