US Airways Group Inc has ordered 20 Airbus A350 planes honouring its promise to buy the fuel-efficient aircraft aimed at trans-Atlantic flights as part of a financing deal for the airline’s acquisition by America West Airlines.

AFTER years of losses and soaring fuel costs driven even higher by Hurricane Katrina, two of America’s biggest airline carriers, Delta and Northwest, looked to be headed to bankruptcy court last night.

US Airways Group Inc said its passenger load factor in September was 60.3%, a 4.2 percentage-point increase on September last year.