Japan Airlines has become the fourth airline in a year to use biofuel during a test flight.
The hour-long Boeing 747-300 flight was powered by 50 per cent traditional jet fuel while the other half came from a biofuel blend.
The airline industry is developing second generation fuels from nonedible products, after fuels made from edible plants were criticised.
Biofuel used in the latest flight at Tokyo airport was a mixture of camelina (a kind of flax), the flower jatropha and algae.
Algae is seen as an especially promising material because ponds with a combined total acreage equal in size to Belgium would be enough to meet all demands from commercial airlines across the globe.
Today’s test followed similar flights by Continental Airlines and Air New Zealand. The world’s first test flight using biofuel was conducted by Britain’s Virgin Atlantic Airways last February.
Pilots have reported that the pace of fuel use indicated the biofuel was more efficient.
The test flights are supported by Boeing and the four airlines have cooperated with different aircraft engine manufacturers to compare data on biofuels made from different materials and various mixes of biofuel and conventional fuel.
Yasunori Abe, 52, chief of JAL’s global environment division said: ‘From a long-term perspective, we need to search for a fuel that can replace petroleum. Biofuel is especially attractive because CO2 emissions from biofuel can be seen as zero.’
US Airways wants to launch a direct flight from Charlotte to Rio de Janeiro this year, which would give the Queen City its first daily nonstop service to South America.
Charlotte’s dominant carrier said Wednesday that it has applied for the route with the U.S. Department of Transportation, which recently decided to allow more service to the Brazilian city. US Airways would use a Boeing 767 that seats 204 passengers. 
The application comes as US Airways and other major airlines have cut domestic service this year, and as the economic downturn has raised concerns about demand for both domestic and international flights.
“Brazil is an attractive market for US Airways and fits well into our commitment to expand our international service,” said Doug Parker, US Airways’ chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
The airline plans to start nonstop flights from Charlotte to Paris on April 21 and already has direct flights to Frankfurt and London. In addition, German airline Lufthansa has a daily Charlotte-Munich flight.
Charlotte is US Airways’ largest hub, and much of the airline’s international traffic connects from other cities. US Airways also has flights from Charlotte to 22 destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America.
“Expanding our reach to South America from Charlotte is the next logical step,” Parker said.
Other U.S. airlines have asked the federal government about adding routes to Rio de Janeiro. A US Airways spokeswoman said a decision on the routes won’t come before Feb. 19 — the due date for airlines to make their case to transportation officials.
It’s not the first effort by US Airways to secure a route from Charlotte to South America. In October 2007, the airline asked for permission to fly from Charlotte to Bogota, Colombia. Federal officials instead awarded flights to Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines.
American Airlines won’t need to furlough flight attendants despite a reduction in flights because enough employees took leaves of absence or other voluntary steps, the attendants’ union said Wednesday.
The union had said earlier this month that it expected there would be 200 to 400 extra flight attendants because American is cutting capacity.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants said Wednesday that American’s vice president of onboard services, Lauri Curtis, told employees the company fell slightly short of its goal for voluntary departures. But, the union said, Curtis said the company would offer more leave and vacation slots to make up the difference.
Tami McLallen, a spokeswoman for the airline, a unit of AMR Corp., said it is “unfortunate to ever be faced with a possible furlough situation, so this is great news that so many flight attendants were in a position to take advantage of these voluntary options.”
American announced last week it plans to cut capacity more than 6.5 percent this year. Airlines are dealing with a downturn in travel demand because of the recession.
The union said Fort Worth-based American has 17,100 active U.S.-based flight attendants and 1,180 on furlough and awaiting recall.
There’s a good chance that you’ll be able to use your cell during a flight pretty soon. British Airways is going to let passengers on selected flights between London and New York send text messages. The flights aren’t very packed — the A318s the airline is using are arranged in a 32 seat layout — and it hasn’t yet been decided whether the privilege will cost more than the price of the seats.
In-flight WiFi was the first amenity to get implemented (well, and showers), and now airlines are experimenting with texts. So what’s next, full calling? I for one don’t want to get packed in like a sardine next to someone gabbing away, but so it goes. Then again, I’ve enjoyed having in-flight WiFi — is the freedom to use your phone at all times one you’d find useful even at the expense of another’s (and your own) comfort?
SAP, the world’s biggest business software company, announced today it would shed 3,000 jobs this year and warned that the cuts may yet go even deeper.
Faced with falling demand for its applications, the German group is also imposing a wage freeze on its 51,500 employees worldwide.
Henning Kagermann, co-chief executive, hinted that SAP may be thinking about further cutbacks. “Perhaps we will have to talk about even more decisive measures than we can today,” Kagermann said in Frankfurt.
The cuts come only a week after Microsoft announced it is slashing 5,000 jobs, as the global downturn hits the technology sector.
Kagermann, who steps down in May, told reporters: “In 2009 we have arrived in a new world. The economic crisis is here to stay.”
Kagermann and his fellow chief executive, Leo Apotheker, who will take sole charge once Kagermann leaves, said they planned to reduce staff to 48,500 by the end of the year, producing annual personnel cost savings of €300m to €350m (£325m).
“Unlike in past years, which were characterised by double-digit growth rates, the outlook for 2009 is completely different,” they said. “For this reason, we will have to intensify our cost-saving efforts by implementing additional measures.”
The group, based in Walldorf, near Heidelberg, refused to indicate where the job cuts would fall or to give an outlook for sales and earnings this year given global economic and financial uncertainty.
Talks are already under way with labour representatives, including unions, in countries where SAP operates. The two chief executives said they were looking for “fair solutions” with each region and line of business considered.
This emerged as SAP posted a 2% decline in net income last year to €1.89bn (£1.75bn) on US accounting principles – and a 14% rise to €2.23bn by non-US standards.
Overall sales, boosted by a strong performance in the first half of 2008 and the acquisition of US company Business Objects, rose 13% to €11.57bn. Operating income increased 4% to €2.84bn.
Kagermann said last year was composed of “two completely opposite halves” but insisted that SAP, which had created 30,000 jobs in the last decade, would emerge “successfully” from the crisis – as it had from the last downturn in 2002-03.
