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Lufthansa Cabin Crews Set to Start Airline's Longest Strike

Deutsche Lufthansa AG faces its longest-ever strike after flight attendants rejected the airline's latest offer in a long-running dispute over savings efforts aimed at weathering competition from low-cost rivals such as Ryanair. Cabin crew are set to halt work Friday afternoon, the UFO labor union said in a statement Thursday, without specifying the exact time or routes and airports th...

German Inquiry into Ryanair Pilot Work Status Extended

Authorities in Germany have increased the scope of their investigation into Ryanair's relationship with some of its pilots. After the opening of an investigation last May, which involved raids on the apartments of three Ryanair pilots, the inquiry has grown to include about 50 pilots who fly with the airline but who are not officially Ryanair employees, registered instead with the UK agency...

United CEO Oscar Munoz to Return in 2016 First Quarter

United Airlines released a Nov. 5 letter from United president and CEO Oscar Munoz to company employees indicating Munoz will return in the 2016 first quarter. Munoz was stricken by a heart attack on Oct. 15 and has been on medical leave. On Oct. 19, United announced the appointment of EVP and general counsel Brett Hart as acting CEO. Munoz's letter read: "Dear United team,...

Russian Helicopters to showcase new Mi-171A2 alongside VIP Ansat and Ka-32A11BC firefighter at Dubai Airshow

Russian Helicopters, part of State Corporation Rostec, will demonstrate the latest medium multirole Mi-171A2 alongside the light multirole Ansat in VIP configuration and the firefighting version of the Ka-32A11BC at Dubai Airshow on 8-12 November. The Mi-171A2 combines the finest qualities of the Mi-8/17 series with the latest aircraft manufacturing technologies. Key upgrades include a new,...

Airbus sees Middle East as important market for its new ACJneo family

Airbus sees an important potential market for its new ACJneo Family in the Middle East, where private jets are well established as business tools for companies, billionaires and governments, helping them to be more productive and efficient. Airbus’ ACJneo Family initially comprises the ACJ319neo and ACJ320neo. The ACJ319neo will fly eight passengers 6,750nm/12,500 km – equivalent to...

Rockwell Collins signs first Jet ConneX service agreement with VistaJet

VistaJet is Rockwell Collins' first business aviation customer to adopt Inmarsat's Jet ConneX providing the fastest broadband connectivity available. Rockwell Collins is a value added reseller of the Jet ConneX service as part of its ARINCDirect offering. Jet ConneX is expected to be available globally in early 2016. It will support both voice and high-speed internet via Inmarsat's...

The rocky road to survival

Having made impressive strides with its turnaround plan, Air Nambia is itching to get back into growth mode before a new breed of low-cost competitors swoops on the country. Martin Rivers reports. We know the low-cost carriers will come. It’s just a matter of when. So said Rene Gsponer, Air Namibia’s outgoing managing director, in a stone-faced interview at the International Air Tra...

Latin America network to be developed by Delta Cargo

Delta Cargo is looking to develop its network into Latin America (LATAM) while in North America it is focusing on US West coast growth. The carrier’s director of sales for the Americas, Andy Kirschner, tells Air Cargo Week, despite the industry facing some challenges like excess capacity, and foreign exchange yield pressure, it is seeing strong numbers domesticall...

Air Charter Service transports helicopters to Europe

Air Charter Service (ACS) has transported two Mil Mi-8 MTV helicopters from Africa to Europe using an Ilyushin IL-76 for refurbishment work. ACS says the operations took a number of weeks to plan, and the rotors, tails and landing gears all had to be removed before the helicopters were loaded onto the aircraft. The helicopters can carry up to 24 people or four tonnes of cargo. The ref...

Korean Air confirms order for 30 Boeing 737 MAXs

Korean Air has finalised its order for 30 Boeing 737 MAXs and two Boeing 777-300 Extended Ranges in a deal worth about $4 billion. The airline announced its intention to purchase the aircraft at the  Paris Air Show on 15 June. Korean Air also has the option for an additional 20 737 MAXs, which if exercised, would bring its total order to 52 aircraft. Boeing Comm...

IAG aircraft orders

International Airlines Group (IAG) is converting two Airbus 330-300 and two A330-200 longhaul aircraft options into firm orders for Aer Lingus and Iberia, respectively. Aer Lingus will receive its aircraft in 2016 while Iberia’s aircraft will be delivered between 2017 and 2018. They will enable the airlines to expand their existing longhaul fleets. The modern, fuel efficient aircraft w...

German Investor for airBaltic

The Latvian Cabinet of Ministers has approved plans to sell 20% of airBaltic to German investor Ralf Dieter Montag-Girmes for EUR 52 million and agreed to invest a further EUR 80 million in the airline. The total of EUR 132 million of fresh capital for the Latvian carrier will spur its Horizon 2021 business plan and fleet modernisation. Ralf Dieter Montag Girmes, G...

Goodbye to vintage Boeing Business Jet

During 50skyshades recent visit to Baku, in order to get to know the aviation industry of Azerbaijan republic, we had a chance to meet SW Business Aviation company (a part of Silk Way Group), to see by ourselves the infrastructure, discuss with the management their results of 2015 and future plans. Talking to General Director Boyukagha Guliyev, we found out that company is ready to say&n...

IATA: September Shows Continued Strong Traffic Demand

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for September showing solid demand growth compared to September 2014 for domestic and international traffic. Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 7.3% compared to the year-ago period, slightly above the 7.1% growth achieved in August. September capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) inc...

American Airlines Customers Gain New Non-Stop Routes to Cancun

American Airlines will offer new access to Cancun, Mexico – one of Mexico’s most popular destinations – when it adds new service from four U.S. cities in 2016. The new seasonal service to Cancun International Airport (CUN) will operate on Saturdays from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), Nashville International Airport (BNA) and Ka...

New long-haul aircraft order for Iberia

Iberia has confirmed an order for two long-haul Airbus A330-200s, to be delivered in 2017-2018. The twin-engine A330/200s modern and highly fuel-efficient and will reduce CO2 emissions. They have a range of up to 11,500 kilometres. The new aircraft will raise to 29 the number of long-haul aircraft ordered by Iberia since August 2014, of which deliveries will begin next month. Thirteen new Ai...

Lufthansa Group airlines suspend all flights to Sinai until further notice

The airlines of the Lufthansa Group have suspended their commercial flight operations to and from the Sinai Peninsula until further notice. The precautionary action has been taken in view of the current Sinai situation. The Lufthansa Group will coordinate all its further actions in this regard in close consultation with the authorities. The action affects two planned weekly flights to and from Sha...

GainJet Adds Mission Flexibility with B737 Aux Tanks

Last month, Athens-based VIP charter operator GainJet Aviation increased its flexibility with a quick change auxiliary fuel tank system from Swiss company Long Range. GainJet (Stand 800) will install the system in its VIP Boeing 737-400, increasing its flight endurance by as much as three-and-a-half hours to a total of nine hours aloft. That brings city pairs such as Dubai-London and New York-Pari...

Honeywell Develops Apple Watch App for Cabin Control

Honeywell Aerospace is in the final stages of developing a native Apple Watch app that can control cabin systems in aircraft equipped with the company’s Ovation Select cabin management system. The watch software is expected to be available in the iTunes App Store next month and will be similar to the Ovation Select apps already available for Android and iOS devices, which can control cabin l...

ANALYSIS: Gulf airports fight for share of rapidly rising demand

Airport investment is in overdrive at aviation’s busiest global crossroads, as the hubs of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways vie to keep pace with the growth of their flag-carriers, and with eachother to attract international air traffic. While Doha’s new Hamad International is about to embark on an expansion that will take throughput to almost 70 million pass...

Airbus eyes the wide game in China

Airbus expects strong demand for widebody aircraft in China, as Chinese carriers work on their fleet plans for the next five years. Speaking to Flightglobal in Beijing, Airbus China president Eric Chen says the boom in outbound traffic, coupled with the relatively small widebody fleet in the country, will drive airlines to look at larger jets. The continued bottlenecks at the country’s ai...