South African Airways needs to go into business rescue to avoid liquidation. That’s the view of at least one aviation industry expert as the airline awaits the Treasury’s decision on a key aircraft leasing deal. SAA wants to restructure its aircraft deal with manufacturer Airbus. The proposal reportedly championed by chairperson Dudu Myeni is for the planes to now be leased th...
By Alex Vanover When I started taking flying lessons in 1998, one thing that surprised me was the relatively primitive engines that modern airplanes use. These are engines that have more in common with tractor engines than the reliable high-tech automotive engines we all drive behind. Would you be surprised if I told you that in the year 2015 most brand new airplanes have engines that use carbu...
Lufthansa German Airlines and Copa Airlines have successfully concluded a codeshare agreement for Copa flights to Latin American destinations. In a first step, Copa flights in the current winter schedule from Miami, Florida, to Panama City, Panama, are being operated under an additional Lufthansa flight number with immediate effect, enabling Lufthansa Group passengers to travel seamlessly from Fra...
Yesterday the Latvian airline airBaltic welcomed a Bombardier CSeries aircraft to Rīga, Latvia, as part of CS100 demo tour to Northern Europe. Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic: “Bombardier CSeries will be the backbone of our jet fleet beyond 2016. We are thrilled to have this CS100 in Riga for display. Bombardier’s CS300 airliners are integral to the execution of...
The first ever landing by a commercial Boeing 757 passenger airliner on a blue-ice runway in Antarctica occurred yesterday at Union Glacier. The landing was a joint partnership between Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE), Loftleidir Icelandic, and NAS Corporation Limited (NAS). ALE is the parent company of Adventure Network International (ANI). The Boeing 757-200 ER...
After San Francisco, Air India (AI) plans to launch direct flights to Washington DC and other cities in the U.S. AI already operates non-stop flights to three U.S. cities - New York, Chicago and Newark, with operations to San Francisco scheduled to commence from December 2. "AI is actively pursuing to connect more cities in the U.S. (with India). A New Delhi-Washington flight is al...
AirAsia on Friday introduced four new routes out of U-tapao airport, setting a record in the Thai aviation industry for simultaneous launches. The launch of scheduled flights to Chiang Mai, Udon Thani, Singapore and Macau demonstrates the low-cost carrier's confidence in new traffic catchments which the sleepy navy-operated airfield in Rayong could create. Friday's launches brought t...
Further simplifying the procedures and making it easier for the procurement of aircraft by airlines, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has delegated the power to grant initial No Objection Certificate (NOC) or in-principle approval for import or acquisition of aircraft to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This comes two after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed norms for r...
An American Airlines Boeing 767-300, registration N393AN performing flight AA-199 from Milan Malpensa (Italy) to New York JFK, NY (U.S.), was enroute at FL320 about 170nm south of London Heathrow, EN (UK), still in French Airspace, when the crew reported a cracked windshield and initiated a rather normal descent to FL120. During the descent the aircraft turned north to divert to London Heathr...
The start of the 2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will once again begin with the traditional Etihad Airways fly-past as the teams, drivers and race fans at Yas Marina Circuit prepare for the final race of the 2015 season. Etihad Airways’ A380 Chief Pilot, Captain Ali Al Jabri, who is co-ordinating this year’s spectacle and flying the superjumbo over the starting gr...
A Pakistani anti-terrorism unit in Lahore on Friday sent to jail on 14-day judicial remand a private airline pilot, who is under investigation over a botched landing of a Boeing 737, allegedly because he was drunk, according to local media reports. Captain Asmat Mahmood was taken into custody by police after a medical report stated he was drunk while flying the plane that skidded off the runway...
Expanding flying rights for UAE airlines into India could help to boost the subcontinent’s economy, but the move would come at the expense of the ailing state airline Air India, analysts say. A report by India’s National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), released on Thursday, highlighted that Emirates airline has an economic impact of $848.6 million on India’s econ...
