32. Future of aviation( Individual work)

The debate on the future of the aviation sector and the evolution of its traditional business practices is the core of this book. The new millennium began with terrorist attacks, epidemics, globalization, and the rise in oil prices which all combined to push the industry into a "perfect storm". Airline industry profitability has been an elusive goal for several decades and the recent events has only accentuated existing weaknesses. The main concern of industry observers is whether the airline business model, successful during the 1980s and 1990s, is now sustainable in a market crowded by low-cost carriers. The airlines that will respond rapidly and determinedly to increase pressure to restructure, consolidate and segment the industry will achieve competitive advantages. In this context, the present study aims to model the new conduct of the 'legacy' carriers in a new liberalized European market in terms of network and pricing competition with low-cost carriers and competitive reaction to the global economic crises.

33. Air transport in europe( Individual work)

Air Transport is fundamental to European mobility, prosperity and political cohesion. It plays a vital role in facilitating European economic growth and social inclusion, providing revenues to otherwise isolated regions and helping people broaden their horizons. Air transport plays a crucial role in the integration of an enlarged Europe, supplying essential links between Europe’s regions and with the rest of the world.

A viable aviation sector is essential to the sustainable growth of the European economy. As a pioneer in single-market liberalisation, a global competitor and a key driver in innovation, it is key to the achievement of the Lisbon agenda. Aviation creates more than 4.2 million jobs in Europe, a figure that should double by 2020, and contributes more than EUR 235 billion to European GDP.

The 35 European established service and scheduled network carriers represented by the AEA collectively carry 340 million passengers and 5.5 million tons of cargo each year, operating 2,620 aircraft serving 630 destinations in 160 countries with 11,200 flights a day. They provide around 383,000 jobs directly, and generate a total turnover of EUR 70 billion.

34. Falcons help pulkovo stay free of bird strikes

( Individual work)

Mid-air collisions of planes with birds often have fatal consequences. A bird hitting the engine or other important mechanism can have a serious effect on a plane’s ability to fly.

But some birds can be friends.

At St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport those friends are the four falcons "hired" by the airport operator this summer to guard the runways from other birds.

When the falcons rise into the sky over the airport, they act as red traffic lights to all those seagulls, crows and ducks that dare to fly near the landing and take-off routes.

Every year Pulkovo airport has incidents in which planes landing or taking off ram into birds flying above the airfield," said Andrei Sokolov, head of Pulkovo's ornithology service. "Everything we tried previously to counter this produced little result."

The airplane industry estimates at least 350 people have been killed as a result of bird strikes since the dawn of aviation. The problem is growing worse because of increasing numbers of birds and planes.

The deadliest bird-plane collision was in 1960, when an Eastern Airlines jet struck a flock of starlings and crashed into Boston Harbor, killing 62 people.

In 1995, an Air Force plane crashed in Alaska, killing 24 crewmen, after geese were sucked into one of the plane's engines.

Most bird strikes occur at low altitude during the most dangerous time of any flight, the take-off or landing.

When the falcons arrived at Pulkovo from a nursery in the city of Voronezh in early July there was a noticeable difference.

The falcons don't chase birds that approach the airport; they simply frighten other birds off with their presence because all other birds are by instinct afraid of the birds of prey.

Similar falcon or hawk services operate at airports in other countries, including the U.S., Germany, Britain and Poland.

Falcons are being introduced to quite a few other Russian airports.