Europe's network airlines are finally realizing that low-cost carriers are here to stay. More importantly, they are also conceding that passengers are willing forgo some creature comforts and pay extra for add-ons such as checked baggage, seat selection and food.

For a glimpse of China's commercial aviation future, take a look at Shenzhen, the mainland's most developed city. The immediate outlook for the metropolis of 10 million, and therefore the more distant future for the rest of the country, is slower commercial aviation growth and less urgent need for new infrastructure.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), were presented with a challenge at the start of 2012: get their parties to agree to cut $1.2 trillion from the budget and deal with a series of tax extensions. Failing meant a likely recession caused by inaction, and election-year inertia only raised the stakes.

Big gain for Pratt as Embraer prepares for formal launch

Limited and uncertain funding has forced NASA to make hard decisions as it selects which technologies to take to the next level in its pursuit of aggressive fuel-burn, noise and emissions reductions for next-generation commercial transports. A victim of its own success, NASA's refocused aeronautics research program has advanced more technologies than its diminished budget can afford to take forward into the next phase of its Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project.

Virgin Atlantic Airways' choice to recruit American Airlines executive Craig Kreeger as CEO indicates the London-based airline is preparing for a new chapter in its history, jettisoning its historic independent streak to embrace a future as a fully fledged network carrier and possible alliance member. But the new CEO will have his hands full.

Four Skyteam members on either side of the Taiwan Strait are deepening their relationship with closer collaboration in their shared market between the island nation of Taiwan and China. The so-called Great China Connection service also marks one of the biggest steps forward in cooperation between China Southern and China Eastern airlines since the latter's 2010 application to join Skyteam. The application put both carriers in the same alliance and raised the question of whether the two state airlines would ultimately be merged.

The opening of an expanded terminal at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport signals its aspirations to compete with the larger two airports in the Russian capital, and it also opens capacity for UTair Aviation and its Star Alliance partners.