The Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air has extended its contract with Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International (LTMI) for line maintenance services in Romania and Slovakia. The new agreement runs for eight years from November 2015 and reflects updated conditions and scopes of work. LTMI currently supports Wizz Air with line maintenance services for 16 A320-200 aircraft in Romania and other...
Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (14 Oct) announced it will open a new base at Corfu (No. 75), from April 2016, with 1 based aircraft (an investment of $100m), 11 new routes to Birmingham, Bratislava, Budapest, Cologne, Rome, Katowice, Poznan, Pisa, Rzeszow, Venice and Warsaw and more flights to Brussels Charleroi, East Midlands, London Stansted & Milan Bergamo, which will deli...
Irish regional airline CityJet announced Tuesday at the ERA General Assembly in Berlin that it has signed an agreement with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCAC) and Superjet International (SJI) covering a firm order for 15 Sukhoi Superjets along with options on another 10. Sukhoi values the agreement at more than $1 billion, including options and services. It expects to deliver the first of the...
Sikorsky will conduct a significant amount of ground testing on its S-97 Raider before returning to flight trials, with just 2.2h of a 110h flight test programme clocked since the maiden flight in May. S-97 chief test pilot Bill Fell says more testing will be done with ground-test rid at Sikorsky’s plant in West Palm Beach, Florida, to build “confidence” in the aircraft’...
Two Boeing helicopter programmes – the Boeing AH-64 and CH-47 Chinook – face several cut-backs if the Congress is unable to pass a new budget for Fiscal 2016, US Army acquisition leaders warn. The army’s request to buy 64 AH-64Es in the fiscal year that began on 1 October would be cut by half under a continuing resolution, says Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the army for a...
Hong Kong-based low-cost carrier HK Express (UO) will take delivery of six new Airbus aircraft in the second half of next year, including four 188-seat A320neo and two 230-seat A321 aircraft. The Hong Kong-based airline has 12 A320neos on order and will take delivery of the first four in the second half of 2016, with another four pending delivery each year. Deliveries will be complete...
Cathay Pacific has suspended flights over Iran and the Caspian Sea following warnings from air safety agencies that Russian missiles targeting Syrian rebels pose a threat to passenger jets. The International Civil Aviation Organisation and the European Aviation Safety Agency issued safety advisories last week over intensifying military activity. Russia, since late September, has be...
Chinese startup 9 Air (AQ) has selected AVIC Hubei Ali-Jiatai Aircraft Equipment Co., Ltd., a homemade airline seat maker, to supply seats for its Boeing 737 aircraft. 9 Air and Ali-Jiatai signed a Boeing 737 seat supply agreement in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon. According to the agreement, Ali-Jiatai will become the seat supplier for the low-cost carrier's 737 aircraft starting 2016....
Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX) forecasted a 65-86 percent increase in net profit for the first three quarters, due to robust travel demand and lower operating costs, the company said Tuesday night. Net profit for Jan.-Sep. 2015 is expected to reach 315.3-353.5 million yuan, up 65-85 percent compared with that of 191 million yuan in the same period last year, according...
The State Aviation Administration of Ukraine made a decision to completely terminate air communication between Ukraine and the Russian Federation from October 25, 2015 From October 25 Ukraine completely stops air communication with Russia, all the Russian airlines are now subject to ban on flights, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine said Monday. "The State Aviation Administration...
It’s been a little over two months since Emirates announced that it will embark on the world’s longest non-stop flight when it starts its service to Panama City next year. The flight in question takes a mammoth 17 hours and 35 minutes, and is set to begin on February 1 when its Boeing 777-200LR departs Dubai for Tocumen International Airport. But its title as the world’s lo...
Singapore Airlines (SIA) says it will resume nonstop flights to the United States in 2018 as the launch customer of a new ultra-long-range variant of the Airbus A350-900. The new variant, called the A350-900ULR, was unveiled in Toulouse on Tuesday (European time) and will have a range of up to 8,700nm. “Our customers have been asking us to re-start non-stop Singapore-US flights and we...
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says investing in Australia’s airports will help boost tourism and bring improved returns for the nation’s airport operators. However, Joyce stresses that investment should come from either government or the airport owners and operators rather than from the airlines that use the facilities. “Our airports show that there are some eye-waterin...
FL Technics, a global provider of tailor-made aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services, is delighted to announce it has successfully completed the necessary theoretical and practical training for execution of Airbus A330 maintenance. Having already purchased all the necessary equipment, the company is expecting to complete the certification by the end of 2015. “FL Technics estim...
Chinese construction equipment maker Sunward Intelligent Equipment Co said it has bought Canadian aviation services provider Avmax Group, which has assets of up to $312 million, amid a sustained downturn in the construction machinery market. Sunward closed the deal with Avmax's biggest shareholder in mid-September, but the pricing has yet to be finalised based on Avmax's future performance...
Airbus Group SA is likely to increase aircraft output at its Mobile, Alabama, factory beyond its current four-a-month target, the mayor of the Southern U.S. city said on Tuesday. Airbus has said it could produce up to eight single-aisle jetliners a month at the plant, which opened last month, an increase that would help Airbus work through its large backlog of orders, Mayor Sandy Stimpson...
Qatar Airways has chosen Adelaide as its fourth Australian destination, with daily flights to begin in May with Airbus A350-900s. The Doha-based carrier, which currently flies daily to Perth and Melbourne and will add Sydney to its network from March 2016, is the first airline to announce A350 services to Australia. The daily flights will operate as an evening departure from Doha, arriv...
One of the largest French tour operators, FRAM group, announced Tuesday that it received a "firm offer for the acquisition of its shares" made by the Chinese group HNA and its French partner Selectour Afat. This is another big case of investment by Chinese business in France in the tourism sector, following the acquisition of Club Med by Fosun, and Louvre Hotels by Jin Jiang. FRAM...
AVIC Aircraft Company Limited expects to suffer a loss of up to 61.67 million yuan in the third quarter, compared with the net profit of 123.34 million yuan in the same period last year, the Chinese aircraft manufacturer said on Tuesday night in its third-quarter earnings forecast. Net loss for the nine months ended September 30 will be 116-140 million yuan, compared with the net profit of...
China's Spring Airlines is deepening its footprint over Thailand-China skies with the introduction of additionalroutes to tap soaring traffic between the two countries. The fledgling Shanghai-based no-frills carrier is set to commence its eighth route to Thailand, from Changchun, capital of Jilin province, to Bangkok, on Nov. 3. It also plans to serve the two northeastern provi...
A chronic shortage of controllers has reached a crisis that will lead to widespread flight delays if left unchecked, officials for the union that represents air traffic controllers said Tuesday. The Federal Aviation Administration has failed to meet its hiring goals for controllers for five consecutive years, leaving the number of air traffic controllers at its lowest level in 27 years at a tim...
