Billionaire investor Stelios Haji-Ioannou made an extraordinary list of demands from Fastjet amid fears the Africa-focused airline could be about to go bust, writes Rupert Steiner. The entrepreneur, who owns a 12 per cent stake in the airline, demanded it publish immediately passenger numbers after he claimed planes were only 10 per cent full. He also wants ‘detailed month by month cas...
As passengers sat patiently waiting to depart for Rome, suddenly the Dreamliner slammed onto the tarmac as the nose gear gave way. How did it happen? An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-800 scheduled to fly from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Rome, had just completed boarding and was about to depart when the nose gear collapsed at the gate. Passengers were shaken in the incident, and one flight attenda...
Boeing has chosen Britain as home for its new European headquarters in a major boost to campaigners in favour of the UK leaving the EU. The world’s largest aircraft maker shrugged off Brexit concerns to select London as the base for its entire European operation. The Britain Stronger In Europe campaign has claimed that a vote to leave the EU would spark an exodus of firms. But Boeing s...
On Tuesday, 8 March 2016, the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar (BHHH) at Biggin Hill Airport, Kent, officially opened its impressive new hangar facility. Elliott Marsh writes. BHHH’s long-awaited move into Biggin Hill Airport’s Hangar No. 204 concluded in Winter 2016 with the whole fleet relocated “across the way” to a larger facility on the Western fring...
Buried on page 87 of the Air France-KLM year-end financial statements was this note regarding the substitution of two on order A380s for three A350-900s: Air France previously deferred these in 2013, pushing delivery back to 2017. As per Aviation Daily, A380s no longer fit with the “future strategy and vision” of Air France. The airline has long struggled with properly u...
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) achieved an operating profit (adjusted EBIT) of CHF 453 million for 2015, a 34% improvement on the previous year (2014: CHF 337 million) and the third-best operating result in the company’s history. With market conditions still challenging and fares continuing to fall, total annual income from operating activities suffered a 3.5%...
Yesterday afternoon, Qatar Airways commenced daily, non-stop service between Logan International Airport in Boston and Hamad International Airport in Doha. The historic first Airbus A350 arrival touched down at Logan this afternoon, marking the beginning of a much-anticipated partnership between the city of Boston and the ‘2015 Airline of the Year’ by Skytrax. Qatar Airways Group Ch...
AirAsia X, an affiliate of the AirAsia Group, received its second IATAOperational Safety Audit Certification (IOSA), confirming that the airline is in compliance with the international operational safety standards. IATA’s Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to access the operational management and control sy...
Airbus is delighted to further its long relationship with Air India and to welcome them as a future A320neo operator from 2017. Air India and Alafco have signed a lease agreement for operating lease of 14 A320neo aircraft at the Hyderabad airshow in India. With this agreement Air India will benefit from A320neo’s 15 per cent fuel burn reduction, reduced noise and environmental footprint,...
Duncan Aviation has been granted base maintenance authorization on Embraer Legacy 450 and 500 aircraft, allowing the company to offer full maintenance support and service for all scheduled maintenance events on these aircraft models. “We’re delighted that an OEM of Embraer Executive Jets’ stature in the industry has chosen Duncan Aviation as a base maintenance facility, and we...
By: Vinay Bhaskara The Boeing 787-8 is currently thought of as a dead-man walking, as is its Airbus doppelganger the A330-800neo. While the 787-8 has accrued 457 total orders, the A330-800neo has only won 10 orders since it was launched in July 2014 at the Farnborough Air Show. The better selling 787-8 has seen orders dry up over the last three years, with many customers converting upwards to t...
Iran could begin making parts for Airbus Group SE aircraft under plans being discussed following January’s historic agreement to purchase 118 jetliners from the European manufacturer. Airbus’s Middle East office said the company is evaluating areas of industrial cooperation with Iran that may include component production and maintenance and overhaul work. Iran developed an abilit...