Turkish Airlines will be launching its third South African route between Durban and Istanbul before 15 November this year. Flights to the destination will take-off four times a week via Johannesburg with plans to implement a daily flight in the near future, the airline announced on Monday, 21 September. From 26 October 2015, the airline will also start flying directly to Cap...
Finnair (Helsinki) will welcome its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft from Airbus in a delivery ceremony to be arranged on October 7, 2015. Finnair has 19 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft on order, to be received in 2015-2023. Finnair’s first Airbus A350-900 enters into long-haul service on November 21, 2015 when the aircraft flies from Helsinki to Shanghai. The next A350 long haul destinations...
Air cargo is clawing back lost pharmaceutical business to sea freight as investment in specialist services to handle the changing and complex needs of pharma shippers begins to pay dividends. Airfreight is going through challenging times due to the instability of the world economy and slowdown in Asia, but one of the bright performing markets in the industry is pharma. The shift ba...
Qatar Airways gathered its entire North and South American sales teams together for an Americas Commercial Sales Conference, hosted at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles Airport. Entitled "Ahead of the Curve – Creating Aviation History", the conference reflected Qatar Airways' dedication to innovation, including its role in developing the Airbus A350. The g...
Deutsche Telekom and Inmarsat today announced a strategic partnership bringing unprecedented passenger connectivity to Europe’s aviation industry and its customers. A new innovative, combined LTE-based ground network and satellite network delivers travelers in Europe the advantage of in-flight high-speed Internet access when in the air. Airlines will benefit from a cost efficient and future-...
Shipping and aviation, the two powerhouses of globalisation, bring trade, wealth and development to the remotest corners of the world. But in return they demand a hefty environmental price. Aviation currently accounts for about two per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to its regulatory body, the International Civil Aviation Organistation (ICAO). Left unchecked, the...
Etihad Airways has unveiled a new partnership with leading global aircraft charter specialist Chapman Freeborn, to complement its exclusive The Residence and First Apartment cabins, both available on the airline’s Airbus A380 fleet. The agreement with Chapman Freeborn is to promote and market the luxurious living spaces to its top-tier clientele, giving them the opportunity to recei...
Since Air China took delivery of its first B747-8I aircraft last year, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation, Beijing (Ameco Beijing) has been improving its maintenance capacity on this type of aircraft. Currently Ameco Beijing has reached a 5A maintenance rating on Air China's seven B747-8I aircraft. In the next phase, Ameco Beijing will upgrade the airframe overhaul rating...
A brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft officially joined the fleet of Hebei Airlines (NS) as it landed smoothly at Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport (SJW) at 12:42 p.m. on September 20. The arrival of new 737 aircraft, Registration B-5459 expands the Shijiazhuang-based carrier's fleet to 13, including six 737-800s, two B737-700s and five E190s. The 737-800 aircraft is configure...
It's learned from Shandong Airlines the first service linking Shandong Province with India is expected to be launched within this year, increasing the Jinan-based carrier's international and regional routes to 17 and expanding its outbound travel market. Shandong Airlines currently operates 16 international and strait-crossing routes (including 5 toward Japan and South Korea),...
Virgin Australia's short-haul cabin crew will receive generous annual pay rises ranging from 4 percent to nearly 10 percent over a four-year period, after voting in favour of an enterprise bargaining agreement the Transport Workers' Union says will make the airline better and more sustainable. The airline, which reported a AU$49 million pre-tax underlying loss in the last financial year...
Lufthansa has completed the renovation of its long-haul aircraft cabins, including the roll-out of a new business class product. The project, which Lufthansa called the "most extensive cabin renewal programme in the company's history", included the refitting of 106 Lufthansa long-haul aircraft with new business and economy class seats, plus a new first class cabin in 76 of th...
A private helicopter crashed in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday noon, killing two people onboard, local authorities said. At 10:59 a.m. on September 21, Liuzhou emergency center received an emergency call that a helicopter had crashed near Baiyun Mountain at Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County. The center dispatched an ambulance helicopter to the site and starte...
Scandinavian Airlines is the first European airline to receive the new A330-300 242-tonne Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) variant. The aircraft was delivered to SAS during a ceremony held at Airbus in Toulouse, France. SAS has selected Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines to power its new A330-300. Launched in 2012 as Airbus’ latest evolution to the twin-engine widebody A330 Family, the increased...
An air ambulance from the Air Wing Department at Abu Dhabi Police transported and cared for eight injured people on their way to hospital. The air ambulance operated on five humanitarian missions where the patients were transported to Al Mafraq Hospital. The missions saw the ambulance providing medical care and transporting three Emiratis injured in a traffic accident in Al Khatam....
Transavia Airlines (HV, Amsterdam) is in discussions with its unions about proposed plans to open a new base in Munich. According to a news report by La Tribune, the Air France-KLM low-cost subsidiary and pilot union VNV could reach agreement on a deal by the end of the month that would allow four or five B737-800s to be based in the Bavarian capital from 2016. According to...
Air India could soon be operating the world's longest nonstop commercial flight. The airline is planning to link the it hotspots of India and U.S. -- Bengaluru and San Francisco (SFO) -- which are almost 14,000 km apart. At present the longest nonstop commercial flight is operated by Australian airliner Qantas between Dallas Fort Worth in the U.S. and Sydney which is a 13,730 km journey....
Immigration and border force workers went on strike at Australian airports on Monday, creating chaos for thousands of international travelers and airlines. A dispute over pay and conditions between staff and the federal government has stretched back more than a year, but has now become more serious. The staff union has hit at the peak school holidays period, and for the next 1...
Flight safety is under threat as exhausted aircrews cope with increasing workloads, senior Cathay Pacific pilots have warned in a letter to the airline's management that is seen by the Sunday Morning Post. Cathay responded by saying safety was its top priority. The carrier confirmed having received the letter, which it said "expressed some concerns". According to the...
A Sichuan Airlines (3U) Airbus A321 with its special 100th aircraft livery was unveiled by a source familiar with the matter via Sina Weibo on Monday, a milestone reflecting the impressive scale of the airline across China. Sichuan Airlines took delivery of its 100th Airbus aircraft, Registration B-1663 on May 22, 2015, making the Chengdu-based carrier become the seventh airline in Ch...
Government is likely to do away with the 5/20 aviation rule that restricts airlines to fly abroad before it has flown domestic flight paths for five years and has a fleet of 20 aircraft, an ET report has said. Official known to the matter, has said that scrapping of 5/20 rule is final, however, some consultation is still needed. As per these norms, an air carrier cannot fly o...
