To celebrate its new non-stop route between Zurich and San Francisco, Swiss International Air Lines has come up with a colourful “flower power” San Francisco livery on one of its Airbus A340-313X.

The final design was chosen from a selection of three by the readers of the 20 Minuten daily paper. Around 30000 readers voted, and their choice will remain on the aircraft for more than a year.

Taking off soon are Lufthansa’s new Airbus A380 planes, which have been lavishly decorated—in the first-class cabin, at least. Gone are the tiddly toilets and basins, and in their place are separate washing and changing rooms.

It all reeks of first-class cash, and interestingly Lufthansa chose to keep the open plan design for the seating area instead of opting for separate cabins, due to customer feedback.

Instead, there’s “sound-absorbing curtains” and “sound-absorbing carpeting” which blocks the hub-bub and noise of the economy-class from leaking into the first-class.

Air France KLM appears to be on the verge of being named a minority partner in the reorganized Alitalia, beating out Lufthansa for the right to purchase a 20%-25% stake, according to widespread press reports from Italy.

Investor group Compagnia Aerea Italia met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday and “explained . . . their preference for Air France and were told there were no objections from the government,” a CAI source told Reuters in Rome.

Etihad Airways could acquire Europe’s third largest low-fare airline, Air Berlin if the deal goes through.

If the deal proceeds, Etihad would be the first to accomplish a takeover across continents, after talks between British Airways and Qantas failed last week. In addition to its commercial limitations, the airlines would face regulatory hurdles such as bilateral air service agreements and subsequent traffic rights issues. It is therefore unclear if outright majority ownership of Air Berlin is feasible particularly since the airline already has a strong 31.2% foreign ownership component. Air Berlin’s biggest shareholders include U.S./Russian investor Len Blavatnik (18.94%), Hans-Joachim Knieps (9.59%) and JPMorgan Chase (4.97%). The free float is at 65.71%.

Both airlines have strong growth ambitions that have not yet paid off. Etihad, launched in late 2003 as the new national airline of Abu Dhabi, currently operates 39 widebodies. It has also placed orders for 35 Boeing 787s, 10 777s, and 55 Airbus jets, a combination of A320s, A350XWBs and A380s. In the past, Hogan said that the airline is expected to see its first profit in 2010, but that goal is getting more elusive as a result of the global recession. While Etihad does not publish detailed financials, company sources say it has posted a loss in excess of $1 billion in 2007. But, as an Abu Dhabi government-owned entity, the airline has been able to access funding for its expansion, most recently new loans for two more A340-600s. Its business model – much like Emirates’ – is geared toward connecting long-haul markets in Europe, the U.S., Asia and Africa through the Abu Dhabi hub. But unlike Emirates, Etihad is developing a more regional network with its new A320 fleet, too.

Air Berlin still expects a small profit in 2008 in spite of the high fuel prices in the first three quarters and the sour economy. But excess capacity, the complicated acquisitions of former rivals LTU and DBA, and a costly expansion on business traveler-oriented long-haul routes that was terminated earlier this year due to mounting losses, are huge impediments. Air Berlin’s financial situation has been the subject of much speculation, and if the market continues to decline as expected, its situation seems bleak. On the other hand, its network and slot holdings, as well as a long-established relationship with German tour operators, are seen as valuable assets.

Britain’s BMI is being taken over by  Lufthansa for €400m (£318m).

Lufthansa, which already owns just under 30% of BMI, has bought the 50% owned by BMI chairman Sir Michael Bishop, taking its stake to 80%. The remaining 20% of BMI is owned by Sweden-based Scandinavian Airlines, which has said it also wants to sell.

The deal will give Lufthansa the second largest share of takeoff and landing slots at London’s Heathrow airport, behind British Airways. BMI holds 11.4% of the slots at Heathrow, second only to BA’s 41.5%.

The first Airbus A380 used for passenger service has landed at London Heathrow today.

The flight is managed by British Airways, although it is a Singapore Airlines flight. British Airways are currently preparing for their 12-double decker A380’s which should arrive from April 2012.

British Airways isn’t the only airline to put in an order for the aircraft. Virgin Atlantic are also waiting for 13 A380’s, due in 2013.

470 passengers are onboard the flight SQ308 which is due to fly into Terminal 3.

The A380 is a much quieter aircraft and is producing only a quarter of the noise of the Boeing 747-400.

Lufthansa to open all-premium Dubai route with PrivatAir BBJ: “Lufthansa is to open a new all-premium Boeing Business Jet service between Munich and Dubai in May in partnership with Swiss-based business aircraft operator”

First in Europe to commence trans-Atlantic green flights
SAS Scandinavian Airlines today concluded Europe’s first commercial
trans-Atlantic green approach trial, which is designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. SK904, an Airbus A330, from New York’s Newark airport arrived early this morning at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, following a successful Continuous Descent Approach (CDA).

With this initiative, SAS is the first airline in Europe to materialize its commitment to the emissions and noise reduction program AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions). AIRE is a joint initiative from the European Commission and the US Federal Aviation Administration. SAS is carrying out the CDA program with partners Stockholm-Arlanda airport, Airbus and the Swedish state-owned aviation service company LFV.

SAS has already carried out over 2000 A-CDAs (Advanced Continuous Descent Approach) on flights in Sweden with a Boeing 737 and is the only commercial airline worldwide to have invested in the environmentally conscious program and tested it during a number of years. A trans-Atlantic green approach with an Airbus A330 is estimated to save initially approximately 150 kilos of aircraft fuel and 470 kilos of carbon dioxide (CO2).

- The approach carried out at Arlanda today was in fact very easy for us pilots. The engines were running at idle power from our cruise altitude, until the final stage of the approach.The aircraft’s Flight Management System was automatically flying the whole approach routing and the passengers conceived the approach as nothing but smooth and quiet,” says Sigmund Lockert, Airbus 340/330 Fleet Chief Pilot, Scandinavian Airlines, who was also First Officer on today’s flight.

- This is a big step for the aviation industry, and Scandinavian Airlines is proud to once again lead the way when it comes to environmental issues. Next year we will continue with this type of demonstrations, as we are truly committed to support research in this area and make all SAS International flights as environmentally-friendly as possible in the future,” says Lars Sandahl Sørensen, Chief Executive Officer, SAS International.