Aviation

A sun-powered plane made a successful test flight on Monday, clearing a vital hurdle towards its goal of a round-the-world trip next year, its pilot and mission chiefs said.
      
Solar Impulse 2 carried out a flight lasting two hours and 15 minutes, half an hour longer than scheduled, German test pilot Markus Scherdel said.
      

Greece is looking to make improvements to its fleet of F-16s after already setting in motion an upgrade for its Mirage fighter jets, Kathimerini has learned.

Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos has asked for a plan to be put in place for the improvements to the F-16s. It is not yet known how much such a scheme would cost.

Air Serbia "to break even by end of year"

BELGRADE -- The Air Serbia carrier expects to break even at the end of this year and have its business at "a positive zero", said Director Dane Korica.

Bulgaria's Government will decide on the future of the project for buying new fighter planes for the air forces in June, said Defense Minister Angel Naydenov. 

The flag carrier Bulgaria Air starts seasonal flights Sofia-Beirut-Sofia, which will be regularly performed from July 6 until August 31.

The frequency of the flights will depend on the passenger traffic during the summer season.

Lufthansa Orchestra – the symphonic orchestra of Lufthansa employees from across the world – will have a concert in Sofia on June 29. 

The event, dubbed Music in the Sky, will be held in the hangar of Lufthansa Technik at the Sofia Airport and will co-star Bulgarian jazz singer Beloslava and the band of Zhivko Petrov. 

PARIS - Serbian tennis player Dusan Lajovic is off to a successful start at Roland Garros, as he defeated Federiko Delbonis of Argentine 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round on Tuesday.

Lajovic's second-round opponent in the Paris Grand Slam will be Juergen Zopp of Estonia, in their first match against each other.

Russian inspectors are to conduct an unarmed surveillance flight over Bulgaria this week, under the Treaty in Open Skies, a Russian official reported Monday.

Swiss voters rejected Sunday the introduction of a EUR 3300 worth minimum wage, which would have been the world's highest.

Some 76 percent declared themselves against the minimum CHF 22 (EUR 18) an hour that workers in one of the richest countries could receive under the proposal which was put forward on a referendum, according to the Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

By Stathis Kousounis

The number of direct flights Athens is on the rise, with Delta Airlines scheduled to start its daily summer service linking the Greek capital with New York’s JFK tomorrow.

Meanwhile the Greek Tourism Ministry has announced that the first direct flights between Athens and Shanghai will take off on June 15.