On January 10, 1990 the first McDonnell Douglas MD-11 took off to the skies. Praised by enthusiasts and passengers, crews had mixed feelings about the trijet and operators somewhat despised it. From the beginning, the aircraft failed to deliver on its fuel burn and range promises. A PIP (product improvement package) was introduced but by that point the dye was cast. Airlines like Singapo...
Private aircraft finance provider Global Jet Capital today appointed industry veteran Dave Labrozzi as chief operating officer. Before retiring in 2014, Labrozzi spent 35 years with the GE group, of which 22 years were focused on the business aviation sector. For 15 years he served as president of GE Capital, Corporate Aircraft, which Global Jet Capital is in the process o...
Beijing has allowed Chinese citizens to begin using Taiwan as a transit point for onward international flights. Last week, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said passengers flying from Nanchang, Kunming Changshui and Chongqing would be allowed to transit through Taipei Taoyuan International Airport before flying on to a third destination. Reuters reports the two sides have been discussing...
Veteran Formula 1 driver and aviation pioneer Niki Lauda is set to return to the airline industry following his acquisition of Amira Air (Vienna) late last year. Lauda told Die Presse newspaper that he had acquired the Austrian VIP/business charter operator from former owner Ronny Pecik but did not disclose either the terms or the value of the deal. Founded in 2004, Amira Air currently opera...
Responding to public interest, the AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their top ten safest low cost airlines. Unlike a number of low cost carriers, these airlines have all passed the stringent International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and have excellent safety records. They are in alphabetical order: Aer Lingus Flybe HK Express Jetblue Jets...
Ryanair has become the first scheduled airline in the world to carry more than 100m international passengers in a single year, after reporting that 101.4m chose the airline to travel in 2015. This follows the official release of the carrier’s December 2015 passenger numbers, showing that traffic grew by 25% to 7.5m customers, representing a 12-month rolling annual traffic result of 101.4m...
Aviation expert Samudra Sukardi said that he agrees with the ratings given by AirlineRatings.com that named eight of the country’s airlines as the least safe in the world. "It’s true. The fact is, we have accidents and others,” Samudra to Tempo on Saturday (9/1). Samudra considered that the low rating could not be separated from the government’s role, w...
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked Viet Nam's aviation industry to create breakthroughs in building and upgrading airports in a bid to elevate it to a position among ASEAN's top four. Speaking at a ceremony in Ha Noi yesterday to evaluate the sector's development over the last 60 years, the Deputy PM said the industry made crucial contributions to national construction and...
WestJet celebrates the airline’s first flight from Alberta to Hawaii on its own Boeing 767-300 extended-range aircraft. To this point, flights to the Hawaiian Islands had been taking place on leased aircraft. “As we enter our 20th anniversary year, non-stop service from Alberta to Hawaii onboard our own wide-body aircraft is an exciting new chapter in the WestJet success story,&rdqu...
A British Airways flight to London City Airport from Ibiza was evacuated after a female passenger was discovered with a 'fake passport'. Police were called onto the plane at Eivissa airport after crew became suspicious of very nervous-looking woman, reports Periodico de Ibiza. Gabriel Gimenez, who was travelling on the flight to Dublin via London, said the crew removed...
The U.S. government is fining United Continental Holdings Inc. $2.75 million for mistreating passengers with disabilities and for six instances of stranding aircraft on the tarmac. The Department of Transportation began receiving a “significant increase in the number of disability-related complaints” about how United treated customers in wheelchairs or who needed additional assistan...
Ben Baldanza resigned his position as Spirit Airlines CEO and also his board position on January 4. His separation agreement with the airline was revealed Friday evening in an SEC filing by the company. Baldanza will receive $1 million divided into monthly payments over the next two years and he will consult for the airline for one year. His annual salary at Spirit had been $500,000 as...
Gulfstream Aerospace has promoted Nicolas Robinson to the position of regional vice president of new aircraft Sales for Africa. Robinson, previously the company’s director of Product Support Sales for Asia Pacific, reports to Trevor Esling, Gulfstream regional senior vice president, International Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Robinson is based at the Gulfstream sales and d...
Report by Kaleyesus Bekele, Addis Ababa: The US Air force has shut down its drone base in southern part of Ethiopia, Arbaminch town that it has been using to fight the islamist militant group in Somalia, Al Shabab, for the past four years. In 2009-2010 the US Air Force invested millions of dollars to upgraded the Arbaminch Airport runway and built a small annex to house a fleet of drones call...
The overall air transport surplus parts market, currently estimated at between US $3 billion –US $4 billion a year, is set for annual average growth of around 5%-6%, according to Honeywell Aerospace Trading (HAT). In a White Paper just released, HAT predicts the highest growth will come from the Asia Pacific region, which is starting from a smaller volume base than the more mature North A...
Europe’s third largest low-cost airline Norwegian has reported its highest ever passenger figures in a single year - with nearly 26 million passengers in 2015 and a load factor of 86 per cent. The airline’s busiest ever year in the UK and increased long-haul operations both contributed considerably to the growth, with increased passenger numbers, more new aircraft and high load fact...
Hong Kong Airlines, an internationally-acclaimed full-service airline, will officially launch thrice-weekly flight service to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on February 27th. An all-economy class Airbus A320 aircraft will be deployed on the Phnom Penh route. The new service will further strengthen the airline’s network in Asia and offer more choices and greater convenience to passengers travell...
Bristol is the most punctual airport in the UK and the only British inclusion in the world’s top 20, new figures reveal. New rankings for 2015 placed the small West Country airport as the ninth most on-time small airport in the world, with 88.64 per cent of its flights arriving or departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. Aviation analyst OAG broke down its rankings into three...
Ryanair cut fares to attract bookings after the Paris terrorist attacks, which boosted passenger numbers by a quarter last month and helped it grow at more than double the rate of fierce rival easyJet in 2015. The Irish budget airline, which is led by chief executive Michael O’Leary, carried 7.5m customers in December, a 25pc jump on the same month a year earlier. Ryanair’s load fac...
He taps the plane on the side before boarding. “When I think about it, I become a little emotional,” said the pilot of the record-setting Solar Impulse 2, Andre Borschberg. “We are now again in the preparation mode, with the objective to come back to Abu Dhabi.” The Swiss national said all efforts are being made to see that the plane completes its voyage to Abu Dha...
Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen private jet airport expects cheaper oil to give the sector a boost. The airport is anticipating a rise in flights of about 7 per cent this year, helped by the tumbling oil price. Cheaper aviation fuel makes business jets more profitable to operate. While the plunge in oil prices has taken its toll on regional economies, private jet operators hope to benefit from i...
