Qatar Airways will consider renewing a shirt sponsorship deal with Barcelona only if the price is right. The Catalan club are pursuing a record sponsorship contract but the Doha-based airline has not yet agreed a deal. The outspoken boss of the airline Akbar Al Baker on Sunday suggested he was willing to play hard ball with the European champions. “We are in the middle of negotiatio...
Aerospace Industries Association chief operating officer Bob Durbin is thrilled with the turnout of American aerospace firms at this year’s Dubai show, with the number of exhibitors in the US pavilion almost doubling to 140 compared with the previous edition. He says the turnout of smaller companies is particularly pleasing, as tier two and three suppliers are critical to the defence and...
With AgustaWestland presenting its full family of medium-class helicopters at Dubai, the one notable, although not unexpected, absence from its static display is the AW609 civil tiltrotor. Two of the company’s test pilots were killed in a crash in Italy of the second AW609 flight-test prototype (N609AG) on 29 October, with the incident now being probed by the country’s ANSV air acci...
India's Jet Airways has been identified as the customer behind a previously unattributed order for Boeing 737 Max 8s. Boeing says the deal with Jet, announced at the Dubai air show, comprises conversions of 25 Next-Generation 737s to the re-engined variant plus options and purchase rights spanning an additional 50 Max 8s. Jet will be the first Indian airline to take delivery of...
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will raise an Israel Aerospace Industries 1124A Westwind that crashed near Norfolk Island in 2009, as it re-opens an investigation which was criticised for not having recovered the aircraft's recorders. In an update on its website, the ATSB says that it has contracted Pacific Maritime Pacific Maritime Group to assist in the recovery of...
It has been a mixed day for travellers at Australia’s international airports, who have been forced to deal with a 24-hour strike from Australian Border Force (ABF) staff as part of a pay dispute with the government. About 5,000 ABF staff stayed away from work on Monday, affecting operations at eight international airports. Reports from Melbourne Tullamarine and Sydney Kingsford Smith s...
Alliance Aviation Services says it has plans to ensure its all-Fokker fleet keeps flying for the next decade. The primarily fly-in/fly-out and charter operator has 15 Fokker 100s, eight Fokker 70LRs and five Fokker 50 turboprops, having sold two Fokker 100s to Virgin Australia in the past year that were surplus to requirements. Alliance managing director Scott McMillan said th...
Empire Aviation Group (EAG) has launched new aircraft management operations in Hong Kong with offices and staff in place, the company said at the Dubai Airshow yesterday. EAG has set up a new joint venture company with a local partner company and is already managing a Gulfstream G650 business jet on behalf of a local owner based in Hong Kong. The new operation will serve the domestic Hong Ko...
The Middle East region will require some 220 new regional jets over the next 20 years, according to the latest market forecast from Embraer. In the forecast, released at the Dubai Airshow yesterday, the Brazilian manufacturer said that the 70-130-seat market in the region would be valued at $10 billion over that period. With Embraer forecasting that the global marketplace for the 70-130-pass...
DC Aviation Al-Futtain, the result of a partnership between Al-Futtain group and DC Aviation, has signed ground handling agreements (GHA) with flight support companies including HADID and World Fuel l Colt / Spire Flight Solutions. As part of the GHA, DC Aviation Al-Futtain will provide ground support, 24 hours on site customs and immigration, conference rooms, business services, passenger and...
New research from Global Jet Capital, a provider of financing solutions for large-cabin, long-range private jets, reveals there are around 62 aircraft of this size for sale in the Middle East, with a combined value of around US$646.9 million. Some 19 of these aircraft are registered in Saudi Arabia, and 18 are in the United Arab Emirates. The remainder is spread out across the Middle East....
China's four major carriers achieved an accumulated net profit of 20.97 billion yuan in the first nine months of this year, while all of them posted declines for the third-quarter profit due to exchange losses resulting from yuan depreciation. China Southern Airlines (CZ), the nation's largest carrier by passenger and fleet, reported a net profit of from January to September,...