Merced Sun-Star

McClatchy Newspapers

Higher airfares are "inevitable" this summer to help airlines absorb soaring fuel costs, the head of the trade association that represents the nation's leading air carriers predicted Tuesday.

James C. May, the president and chief executive officer of the Air Transport Association, declined to speculate on the size of fare increases, but he said that rising ticket prices are unavoidable as airlines struggle with unprecedented increases in the cost of fuel.

AP Business Writer

Airbus on Tuesday announced new delays on deliveries of the superjumbo A380, already almost two years late, saying the company is behind schedule switching to automated production.

The European aircraft maker said in a statement that it will deliver 12 planes in 2008 instead of 13, and 21 planes in 2009 instead of 25. Executives will talk to customers about deliveries for 2010 - originally foreseen at 45 - in the coming weeks.

McClatchy Newspapers

TRAVEL WLT-NEPAL 5 MCT

MCT

Most supplies arrive in Namche Bazaar, Nepal, on the backs of porters or on caravans of yaks and "dzos," which are yak/cattle hybrids, February 13, 2008.

NAMCHE BAZAAR, Nepal - Trust me, it's not easy sharing a suspended cable bridge over a Himalayan gorge with a yak caravan. The bridge undulates and bucks, and one tends to freeze up and grasp the cable handrail.

That was only one of the hurdles in getting up to this picturesque village, gateway to countless Himalayan climbing expeditions, including to Mount Everest. Another hurdle is the altitude. Unless you are from a mountain state, you'll be huffing and puffing like I was during the eight-hour hike from the only airstrip in the area.

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