Dubai ready for airshow THE NUMBER of exhibitors at this year's Dubai Airshow is expected to grow by 10 percent despite the impact of the global economic crisis on the aviation industry. Show organiser F & E Aerospace said compared to world-famous shows such as Farnborough and Paris, Dubai's show, which starts on November 15, was growing "at a rapid rate". LH posts losses, RJ hits profits GERMANY'S Lufthansa said last week it had weathered the economic crisis better than many other airlines despite posting a net loss of 32 million euros for the first nine months of this year. "Today we benefit from the fact that we were on a solid foundation with attractive products and that we were quick to recognise the turbulence ahead and tighten our safety belts," chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said. Operating profit between January and the end of September fell to 226 million euros, significantly below the year-earlier figure of 954 million euros. Royal Jordanian on the other hand had net profits of JD25.5 million, for the first nine months of 2009, against JD3.8 million in net losses incurred during the same period of last year. Operating revenues went down by 16 per cent, from JD532 million in the first nine months of 2008 to JD449 million for the same period of 2009. The airline pointed out that the profits came as a result of the decrease in fuel expenses in the past nine months by 50 per cent of the fuel bill compared to same period in 2008. Mom offloaded over bawling baby A SPOKESMAN for Southwest Airlines said the carrier has apologised to a mother who was kicked off a plane along with her cranky 2-year-old. The crew bounced Pamela Root and her son Adam off the San Jose-bound flight because passengers could not hear preflight safety announcements. He said Root also would receive a refund and a $300 travel voucher. Root said she was confident Adam's screams of "Go! Plane! Go!" and "I want Daddy!" would have subsided after the plane took off in Amarillo, Texas. A 90-year-old airline FOUNDED on 7 October 1919, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is celebrating its 90th anniversary. KLM is the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. KLM's 90th anniversary celebrations have been modest. The anniversary year was launched on 1 January with a Celebration Flight. The passengers included 90 sick children from the High- Flyer Foundation. In July, 90 senior citizens who had never before flown in an "aeroplane" were treated to a flight by KLM.
