The run up to the Easter holidays are going to be problematic for travellers going abroad to Europe. Strikes at airports in Germany, Italy and Spain are likely to cause severe disruption all this week.

Lufthansa had to cancel dozens of flights today, including services between London and Frankfurt as ground handlers at German airports went on strike this morning.

Easyjet were also affected as it cancelled a flight between Luton and Schonefeld and warned passengers travelling from Berlin to London to travel with carry-on luggage only, if possible. British Airways advised passengers to check their flight’s status before going to the airport. BA also advised passengers travelling to Milan to do the same as there are also strikes at Milan airports.

There is a general strike in Spain on Thursday which is likely to lead to widespread delays and cancellations.  BA is giving passengers the option of re-booking to travel today, tomorrow or on 3rd-6th April inclusive. Easyjet and Ryanair have advised passengers to get the latest information on their websites  as the situation develops.

A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 has been forced to return to Singapore after a problem with one of its four engines meant it had to be shut down.

The aircraft was bound for Frankfurt when it had to turn around almost three hours into the flight. The aircraft landed safely and all 430 passengers were transferred to another plane.

SIA stressed that passenger safety was not at risk as the aircraft was ”capable of flying safely on three engines”.

In a statement SIA said: ”Singapore Airlines flight SQ26 from Singapore to Frankfurt turned back to Singapore about 2hr 55mins into the flight after the crew reported a problem with one of the aircraft’s four engines.”

It added: “the crew reported an engine surge in the Number 3 engine and the engine was shut down… a surge is typically a disruption of airflow which affects the normal operation of the engine.”

The airline said that the engine will undergo a thorough inspection in consultation with the makers of the engines, Rolls-Royce.

This is not the first incident involving a Rolls-Royce engine, towards the end of 2010 a Qantas A380 made an emergency landing following a mid-air explosion of one of its engines; and last July a SIA A380 from Singapore to Hong Kong was forced to turn back after an engine shut down.

Sustainable fuels are a hot topic in aviation circles, with Virgin, Thomson Airways, Lufthansa and Air France all hitting the headlines with their  biofuel developments. Now it is the turn of Airbus, as it throws its hat into the ring with studies into producing a more sustainable fuel.

Eucalyptus mallee trees, grown in Western Australia’s wheat belt, are sustainably harvested and converted to a feedstock for refining into alternative aviation fuel via a process called Pyrolysis. This indigenous tree helps to return salt-affected land to a productive state, so Airbus said in a statement that planting these trees to produce fuel on a large scale “ is expected to bring a range of environmental and social benefits to farmers and rural communities”.

The role Airbus is to take in this development is to support the approval and certification of the process so that this type of fuel can be used for the first time in commercial aviation.

Cash-strapped Indian airline Kingfisher will suspend international operations to eight overseas cities, including London Heathrow, as well as reducing domestic flights on 10th April.

Earlier this month British Airways announced that it was suspending its codesharing agreement with the airline, but had refused to comment fully on its reasons.

The suspension of these operations are to give Kingfisher Airlines time to come up with a rescue plan.

India’s aviation authorities have decided not to suspend the airline’s licence following a meeting with the owner Vijay Mallya, but are continuing to monitor the situation. However, India’s aviation minister appeared doubtful when he spoke to reporters in New Delhi yesterday: ”The problem is in the last two to three months, he’s given so many plans and he’s not adhered to any of them.”

The level of debt run up by the airline is believed to be £900m, and since banks have refused to lend it more money it has been struggling to keep flying. Kingfisher will tackle this by reducing its domestic operation to no more than 125 flights a day, less than half the number in October. Mallya admitted that this was only “a holding plan”.

The news provoked a 5.5% fall in Kingfisher shares, their lowest level since it began trading. This is good news for rival airlines Jet Airways and IndiGo as they increase their market share and pricing power.

Ryanair is being investigated by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) over concerns that emergency exit seats have been left empty after it introduced an extra £10 charge for passengers to sit there.

The seats provide extra leg room, which is popular with many customers, but this extra room is primarily for the exit doors in the case of an emergency, and anyone who sits there is expected to follow directions and, if necessary, open the doors in the event of an emergency.

The extra charge has meant that these rows have been known to be left empty on take off, with passengers on surrounding seats asked to familiarise themselves with the evacuation procedure. Some passengers expressed doubts about being able to fully understand the instructions without sitting next to the exit itself.

This has also raised health and safety concerns from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), who are keeping a watch on the situation.

A spokesperson from the CAA said: ”Our guidance to UK-registered airlines is that whoever is sitting next to the emergency exit must be briefed about what to do. If that person says they are not willing to do it, then someone else must be found who is happy with that role.”

He added: “It’s an important task. It’s not easy to open the doors and they must be physically strong enough to throw them from the plane.”

A spokesman for Ryanair said it will cooperate with the IAA, but also added: “Ryanair complies with all mandatory safety directives. All passengers are provided with the same safety and evacuation information.”

(Please note that there are other airlines registered in Britain which also charge passengers extra to sit next to the emergency exit.)

A dispute between Boeing and Air India has broken out over compensation for 787 Dreamliner delays.

The Indian government claims that Boeing agreed to pay $500 million in compensation to the airline for the delays in delivery of 27 Boeing 787s ordered in 2005. The aircraft manufacturer denies agreeing to the compensation payout.

But Boeing chief executive Jim Albaugh said: “We don’t comment on deals that we’ve done. But I can tell you we’re not writing anybody a cheque for $500m.”

India’s Kingfisher airlines is in financial difficultly, and on 9th March British Airways suspended its codesharing agreement with the airline.

Christopher Fordyce, regional commercial manager for south Asia at British Airways, simply said that Kingfisher Airlines is “undergoing a financial restructure” and would not elaborate further on the reasons for the codeshare suspension.

Kingfisher Airlines is now looking to find ways to cut costs and strip back its overseas flights as it attempts to attract funding from investors. It has already asked the Indian government to relax rules on foreign ownership in order to help with a potential rescue package.

Cathay Pacific has added the Boeing 777-330ER to its fleet. It is the first aircraft to feature its Premium Economy Class and new long-haul Economy Class seats.

Passengers can book the Premium Economy seats for flights departing from 1st April onwards, which will initially be featured on some selected flights to Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver and New York.

Premium Economy features a quieter, more spacious cabin, with between 26 and 34 seats per aircraft. The seat pitch is 38 inches – six inches more than Economy Class – and the seat is wider and has a bigger recline. It also has a large meal table, footrest, cocktail table, 10.6-inch personal TV, in-seat power outlet and multi-port connector for personal devices.

Passengers will have priority check-in and boarding before Economy Class, they will be able to take more luggage. They will also be welcomed with a juice and champagne, and will have a larger selection of meals.

Social networking is being taken to a whole new height, quite literally, by two airlines – KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. Passengers can pick who to sit next to by viewing other passengers’ social network profiles or photos before the flight on KLM’s ‘Meet & Seat’ and Malaysia Airlines’ ‘MHBuddy’ programmes.

According to the New York Times, two start-ups, the Danish company Planely and Hong Kong-based Satisfy, also have software that matches passengers based on their social-networking profiles and other data they may submit.

These developments have been welcomed by some as a brilliant way to make new friends, network, or even find a potential partner. However, others are concerned and view it as a creepy concept, with the potential to be stalked.

“Very weird,” writes Nora Barry Byrne on KLM’s Facebook page. “I totally vote on the creepy. Is the default to opt in or opt out? If I was travelling with my kids/teens or travelling on my own — all I think of is the creeps that would use this to stalk.”

KLM’s Meet & Seat is voluntary and is only available on flights between Amsterdam and Atlanta, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Houston, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Nairobi, New York, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Sao Paulo or Toronto. Passengers who opt in will have from 90 days to 48 hours before departure to access the ‘Manage my Booking’ page, which will allow them to share their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles with the other passengers, and see the seating choices on a map. It isn’t an all or nothing approach either however, as they can choose which information to share and edit their profile photo also.

“Dozens of passengers have already shared their profile during the first few days,” Ellen van Ginkel, a KLM spokeswoman told USA Today.

Malaysia Airlines’ MHbuddy is a Facebook application which allows passengers to view the photos and seat selections of any of their Facebook friends on the flight and can choose seats next to them, if available.

Ryanair will temporarily close its Bremen base for nine days in August while the runway is resurfaced.

All flights to and from Bremen will be cancelled from 6th-14th August (inclusive) and passengers will be given full refunds.

Ryanair’s three aircraft will be moved to other European bases for the maintenance period.