Bodies, debris retrieved from Air France crash
Brazilian search crews on Saturday retrieved the first bodies from a crashed Air France flight in the Atlantic, and investigators said faulty speed readings had been found on the same type of jets. Navy ships found the bodies of two men and debris including a blue seat with a serial number matching Air France Flight 447, a rucksack containing a vaccination card, and a briefcase with an Air France ticket inside, rescue officials said.

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First made-in-China Airbus makes maiden flight
The first Airbus plane built outside Europe made a successful four-hour maiden flight on Monday in China, European consortium EADS said. Airbus began assembling some A320 jets in Tianjin near Beijing in September from fuselage parts shipped from Europe, increasing its presence in the world’s fastest growing markets for large aircraft. Airbus aims to reach output of four A320s a month in China by the end of 2011. Airbus has estimated that China would need more than 3,000 large aircraft between 2006 and 2025, including 180 super jumbo passenger planes. The first aircraft will be delivered to Dragon Aviation Leasing in June and be operated by China’s Sichuan Airlines. Chinese firms have ordered more than 700 aircraft from Airbus, the majority of which are from the A320 family of planes, it said. Airbus and U.S. rival Boeing have been turning to Asian markets, led by China, for growth as demand weakens at home.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSPEK18447420090518
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-05-18-a320-china_N.htm

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Air France to run high-speed train rivaling Eurostar?!
Air France is looking into the possibility of starting a rival cross channel rail service to Eurostar. The airline has been in informal talks with the German train operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) and has also been having meetings in the past months with executives from Travelport. The carrier has also had talks with a leading rail freight company, Veolia Transport about forming a strategic partnership to run high speed train services. A high speed cross channel service by Air France will be possible from January 1, 2010 when the liberalisation of rail passenger services in the EU comes into force.

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Farelogix delivers an open source desktop application
Farelogix has launched Project Hawkeye, which is being described as the travel industry’s first open-source, web-based travel management point-of-sale application. The first release of Hawkeye is now complete and is immediately available for free public download from www.farelogix.com/hawkeye. Under the open source model, users will have free access to the Hawkeye application source code, supporting documentation, and also an opportunity to exchange feedback and share development enhancements and suggestions in a community environment. Built using .NET and C#, Hawkeye can be used as an `off-the-shelf’ agent desktop; or users may download the source code and customise it to fit their particular business, preferences, or workflow needs. The system supports complete air shopping, booking, ticketing, exchange, refund, as well as full integration of flight merchandising options for carriers that have elected to use the unbundled selling model. A user interface for profile management and trip templates is also included.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/north-america/farelogix-delivers-open-source-agent-desktop-application

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TUI Travel confirms speculation about strategic talks between TUIfly and Air Berlin
TUI Travel confirms that it is in discussions with Air Berlin PLC, which may involve an equity participation in an enlarged Air Berlin PLC. However, there is no certainty that these discussions will result in an agreed transaction. Further updates will be provided when appropriate.

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