Air NZ chief exec Christopher Luxon has carved out a big reputation for foot-on-the-throat attention to the bottom line.

The family of a pilot killed when his helicopter crashed in North Canterbury yesterday have described him as a loving and kind man who loved flying, hunting and motorbikes.

The helicopter pilot killed in a crash in North Canterbury today has been named as David Stanley Jones, 48, of Woodend.

A new front in the transtasman airline battle is opening up over summer with competition hotting up on Perth and Adelaide routes.

Air New Zealand says it is on track to boost earnings by 20 per cent for the first half of the year.

Air New Zealand says its on track to boost earnings by 20 per cent for the first half of the year.

Airline Qantas' credit rating has been reduced to junk status in the wake of Thursday's announcement of mass job losses and an expected first half loss of up A$300 million.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has launched a defence of his management team's performance after issuing a grim profit warning and slashing jobs.

Emirates has launched the world's longest Airbus A380 non-stop service, flying the double decker plane from Dubai to Los Angeles.

Emirates has launched the world's longest A380 flight - linking Dubai with Los Angeles. The flight has a published flight time of 16 hours and 20 minutes. - Video supplied by Emirates.

Virgin Australia will go ahead with its A$350 million ($388 million) equity-raising after the Australian Takeovers Panel rejected a complaint about the plan.

Jetstar New Zealand head Grant Kerr is used to rolling with the punches.

Hobbit stars have unveiled a giant, NZ-themed pop-up book in Beverly Hills, a dragon has been revealed on an Air NZ plane and giant eagles have descended on Wellington.

A painstaking operation to recover the remains of at least eight people killed when a police helicopter crash-landed on a busy pub in Glasgow continued yesterday.

An Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Palmerston North was abandoned just after take-off yesterday after smoke appeared in the cockpit.

Auckland Council is in line for a $100m windfall, after Auckland International Airport this morning announced it would be paying out $454m to its shareholders.

The fight over Air New Zealand and two other airlines taking a bigger stake in Virgin Australia is intensifying with the deal now in line for further regulatory scrutiny.

Infratil, the Wellington-based infrastructure investor, has sold its unprofitable Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the Scottish government for 1 British pound (NZ$1.98).

A pilot has been forced to make a hasty landing after colliding with a cow at a rural airstrip this morning.

Among the many things Warren Buffett is famous for is his view that airlines are a lousy investment. Just last May, he was at it again.

Air New Zealand says its group wide yields, after removing foreign exchange impacts, were up by 1.9 per cent in October.

China Southern Airlines is putting on extra Dreamliner flights to Auckland to meet high demand over Chinese New Year.