Bombardier Commercial Aircraft and Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise announced that they have signed a firm purchase agreement for two additional Q400 turboprop airliners that will bring Ethiopian Airlines’ Q400 aircraft fleet to a total of 19 aircraft, the largest total fleet in Africa. Based on the list price of the Q400 aircraft, the transaction is valued at approximately...
Ryanair released its 2015 Irish traffic numbers which show it has delivered 70% of all traffic growth at Cork, Dublin, Knock and Shannon airports in 2015, a year of record growth for Irish tourism. Following the decision of Finance Minister, Michael Noonan, to scrap air travel tax in April 2014, Ryanair has continued to roll out new routes and more frequencies on existing routes, including...
Following the strategic plan to increase and modernize the fleet and expanding the flight route network, Mahan air, is going to establish new direct international routes, particularly to the European countries. In this regard, Mahan Air is going to commence direct flights from Tehran to Moscow in January 2016 & Tehran to Kiev in February 2016. In addition, Mahan air is going to pr...
Virgin America and China Southern Airlines announce a codeshare agreement to offer seamless booking and travel between China, Southeast Asia and multiple Virgin America destinations across the United States. Under the new agreement, China Southern will place its two-digit airline code (CZ) and flight numbers on a range of Virgin America routes operating from Los Angeles and San Francisco &nda...
Aviation Capital Group (“ACG”) announced that it has increased its senior unsecured revolving credit facility with DBS Bank Ltd. as administrative agent by $60 million to $220 million and extended the maturity to December 28, 2019. Together with its other senior unsecured revolving credit facility, ACG has $1.165 billion of revolving commitments from 21 banks...
The President of Fiji, His Excellency Major-General (Ret’d) Jioji Konousi Konrote, brought home Fiji Airways’ newest A330 to Fiji. Rapturous applause and excitement greeted the aircraft as it touched down at Nadi International Airport and taxied up to the airline’s Hangar facilities. Fijian Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama and other Government Ministers joined Fiji Airway...
In a continuing effort to strengthen its operations, PEMCO Aviation Maintenance (PEMCO) has named Douglas (Doug) Ragsdale, Director of Quality. He will be based out of the company’s corporate headquarters at Tampa International Airport and report to Ernie Kiss, PEMCO’s Vice President Quality and Engineering. Ragsdale is a proven aviation professional bringing more than 30...
Southwest Airlines Co. announced a new tentative agreement with Transport Workers Union Local 555, the union that represents more than 12,000 Southwest Ground Operations, Provisioning, and Cargo Agents. The Union’s Executive Board reviewed an Agreement in Principle that negotiators reached December 23rd and decided to conduct a ratification vote that could end more than four years of negotia...
It may seem a little pie in the sky, but in the not too distant future, commercial airliners could be flown without co-pilots under an EU-backed project designed to improve safety and cut the cost of flying. Aircraft manufacturers are working on a project that could eventually lead to the introduction of single-pilot operations on commercial jets. A consortium of 35 companies and research gr...
The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which serves more passengers than any other airport in the world, has reached 100 million passengers since Jan. 1, marking a milestone no other airport has ever reached, officials said. When anointed passenger Larry Kendrick flew in from Gulfport, Mississippi, on Sunday - one of the busiest travel days of the year - he was greeted with sever...
The rapid expansion of seat capacity to and from India by Middle East carriers is impeding United Airlines’ plans to build market share in the country. Instead, United, which already has daily nonstop service from New York to both Delhi and Mumbai, is mainly focusing on expanding operations to China’s secondary cities. Acccording to Brian Znotins, United’s network vice president,...
Iranian authorities have failed to get a clearance from Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) for Iran Air and Iranian Mahan to fly their aircraft over Saudi airspace due to safety issues, sources have revealed. According to the sources, quoted by local media, Iranian authorities sent a detailed report to GACA on Dec. 23, confirming the validity of the aircraft flown by the two...
An iconic and towering structure rises along the San Francisco Bay area skyline --and it’s safe to say it’s unlike any other. The 231-foot air traffic control tower features a graceful flaring base with an offset cab of glass at the top, giving it a distinct look resembling that of a wine glass or Olympic torch. A ribbon of glass stretches up the base, reflecting the sparkling water...
Flyways Linhas Aéreas (FYW, Rio de Janeiro Int'l) commenced revenue service on Monday, December 28, eight days after it received its business licence from the Brazilian civil aviation authority (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil - ANAC). The start-up's maiden flight from its Rio de Janeiro Int'l hub was to Belo Horizonte Pampulha and will be followed by se...
EgyptAir (MS, Cairo Int'l) has been fined USD140,000 by the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) for violating a US trade embargo against Sudan between 2010 and 2011. The BIS said in a statement that Egyptair had leased two B737-500s to Sudan Airways (SD, Khartoum) over the period August 2010 to February 2011 without having sought the required licences as required under Executive Orders...
As 2015 is coming to an end, 2016 is shaping up to be a year of big announcements and changes in the aviation and airline businesses. To predict just what these will be, our contributors, industry experts, analysts and staff have assembled their own educated guesses about the forthcoming year. Chris Sloan – President and Founder United Airlines, long an industry lagg...
The Civil Aviation Department (DCA) is getting a RM700 million upgrade to its air traffic management systems to keep up with increasing demands. A DCA official told theSun that the new system will be able to process significantly more data and information, which will allow Air Traffic Control (ATC) to perform its duties in a safer and more efficient manner. "The number of plan...
The aviation sector in 2015 was extremely busy internationally and domestically, not least with the €1.36bn acquisition of Aer Lingus by IAG having been finalised during the year. There will be further major change too, with Dublin-based airline CityJet poised to come under new control in coming weeks, and UK transport group Stobart also eyeing up a possible sale of its regional air divisi...
Munich-based aviation finance arranger EMP structured assets GmbH (EMP), working in conjunction with senior and junior lenders in Germany and Dubai has arranged the purchase of an A380-800 operating lease to Emirates from Stellwagen Finance Company Limited, the holding company for Aviation Finance Company Limited (AFC). AFC initially arranged 100% of the financing for Stellwage...
China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited, the largest independent aircraft operating lessor in China, today announced that it has completed the delivery of the third and the fourth of six A320 aircraft to China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (“China Eastern Airlines” or “CEA”). These two aircraft were delivered on 23 and 24 December, at the facilities of Airbus i...
On December 26, 2016, the Latvian airline airBaltic launched two new routes Riga- Verona and Riga – Salzburg for winter holidaymakers. Wolfgang Reuss, SVP of Network Management of airBaltic: “Our customer was our focus, when Tez Tour and airBaltic teamed up for this winter season. We are delighted to offer Verona, Italy, and Salzburg, Austria, in cooperation with Tez Tour...
