The aviation sector in 2015 was extremely busy internationally and domestically, not least with the €1.36bn acquisition of Aer Lingus by IAG having been finalised during the year. There will be further major change too, with Dublin-based airline CityJet poised to come under new control in coming weeks, and UK transport group Stobart also eyeing up a possible sale of its regional air divisi...
Munich-based aviation finance arranger EMP structured assets GmbH (EMP), working in conjunction with senior and junior lenders in Germany and Dubai has arranged the purchase of an A380-800 operating lease to Emirates from Stellwagen Finance Company Limited, the holding company for Aviation Finance Company Limited (AFC). AFC initially arranged 100% of the financing for Stellwage...
China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited, the largest independent aircraft operating lessor in China, today announced that it has completed the delivery of the third and the fourth of six A320 aircraft to China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (“China Eastern Airlines” or “CEA”). These two aircraft were delivered on 23 and 24 December, at the facilities of Airbus i...
On December 26, 2016, the Latvian airline airBaltic launched two new routes Riga- Verona and Riga – Salzburg for winter holidaymakers. Wolfgang Reuss, SVP of Network Management of airBaltic: “Our customer was our focus, when Tez Tour and airBaltic teamed up for this winter season. We are delighted to offer Verona, Italy, and Salzburg, Austria, in cooperation with Tez Tour...
On December 27, 2015, Air China announced at a ceremony held at T3 of Beijing Capital International Airport that it would start China’s first route to Cuba. The inaugural flight will depart from Beijing for Havana, the capital of Cuba, with a stopover in Montreal. In attendance were distinguished guests from the Cuban Embassy in China, Beijing Capital International Airport and Air China....
Volga-Dnepr Gulf, a division of Volga-Dnepr Technics (an aircraft MRO branch of Volga-Dnepr Group in the Middle East region) completed the first C-check maintenance service for a B737-300 operated by Kyrgyzstan-based Avia Traffic Company, at its hangar facility in Sharjah, UAE. Avia Traffic aircraft was subjected to the full maintenance workscope including C2+C1, AD/SB + A1 + A2...
Hawaiian Airlines has announced the appointment of Jon Snook to the position of chief operations officer. Snook, who has served as Hawaiian’s interimCOO since October, oversees all flight operations, in-flight services, customer service, maintenance and engineering, and operations analytics. Hawaiian Airlines Appoints Jon Snook to Chief Operations Officer “In the short time Jo...
In the beginning there was a telephone by Alexander Bell, which was revolutionary, then phone became common and by the end of last century radiophones emerged, as well as ISDN system, advanced satellite units and a variety of mobile phones, followed by IP-phones and high speed internet. Throughout its whole history mankind is fighting to stay connected. In aviation, especially its business jets se...
Competition is heating up in aviation’s regional satellite connectivity market, with Abu Dhabi’s Yahsat gearing up to trial a Ka-band service on an Etihad Airbus A320. ViaSat is, of course, familiar with Yahsat after a 2011 deal fell through and the Emirati company teamed up with competitor Hughes. So is ViaSat worried about competitors emerging in regional pockets, given that it...
United Continental Holdings Inc. rose the most in two weeks after pilot leaders agreed to send a proposed contract extension to union members for approval. Ratification by rank-and-file aviators would help labor peace with a crucial work group at United Airlines. Executives are still seeking to unify employees more than five years after the carrier was created in a merger between former United...
Sherwin-Williams announced its new 2016 aerospace coatings training program schedule to further provide today’s aerospace coatings painting professionals with the continuous training required to stay current on the most up-to-date aviation coatings products and application methods available. Designed for both MRO and OEM instruction, this handson and classroom training includes applying new...
Mooney International Corp. has successfully completed the first flight of the M10T Proof of Concept (POC) aircraft. The first flight was performed by test pilot Len Fox on Wednesday, December 23rd in the vicinity of the Chino Airport in California. The flight lasted approximately 15 minutes, with Len Fox conducting basic flight maneuvers and verifying design data. At the conclusion of t...
Passenger traffic through Abu Dhabi International Airport last month rose nearly 16 per cent compared to the same period last year. The increase comes on the back of Etihad Airways increasing its capacity to London. The use of the Airbus A380 aircraft has lifted capacity between Abu Dhabi and the UK capital by 53 per cent, Abu Dhabi Airports said on Sunday. Approximately 1.78 million passeng...
Tianjin Airlines has taken delivery of two Embraer 195s, the first of the type in China. The carrier took delivery of the aircraft, registered B-3100 and B-3108 on 24 December. The regional jets, equipped with General Electric CF34-10E powerplants, are configured with 122 seats in an all-economy layout. The airline plans to deploy the regional jets on the Tianjin-Qingdao-Wenzhou and Tia...
Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has taken delivery of its 100thAirbus A320 aircraft. The company celebrated the event with a ceremony at New DelhiInternational Airport, says IndiGo in a statement. The aircraft bears registration VT-IDR. Flightglobal’s Fleet Analyzer shows that IndiGo’s fleet of 100 A320s has an average age of just 3.6 years. It has...
Germany plans legislation requiring random drug and alcohol testing of pilots, hoping to reduce the risk of a repeat of the Germanwings crash in March. The plans follow the recommendation of a task-force set up by the Transport Ministry, after a pilot barricaded himself inside the cockpit of a plane operated by Germanwings and crashed it in the Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Prosecut...
Kiwi Regional Airlines (KRL, Hamilton) shareholder 2 Cheap Cars is looking to dispose of its 10.4% stake in the airline. Eugene Williams, the CEO of the used car importer and retailer, told New Zealand's Business Desk news that the firm had "never intended to be a long-term investor" in the carrier which launched domestic operations in October this year. "When we first got in...
AtlasGlobal UA (UH, Lvov) managing director Sergei Podgorodetsky says that after a full due diligence of the type, his airline has formally abandoned plans to acquire An-148-100s from local Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov Design Bureau (Gostomel). Speaking to Russian business daily Delo, Podgorodetsky attributed the decision to the type's overinflated price. "We considered the possib...
Air Malta (KM, Malta) is close to finalizing a strategic partnership agreement with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi Int'l) aviation sources in the Maltese capital, Valletta, have revealed. Speaking to The Times of Malta newspaper on condition of anonymity, the sources said airline chairwoman Maria Micallef and senior officials from the Office of the Prime Minister had conducted the negotiatio...
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has appealed to domestic airlines to liquidate all outstanding debts to the authority and other aviation agencies in the country. The NCAA made the appeal in a statement issued by its Acting General Manager, Public Relations, Sam Adurogboye, on Sunday in Lagos. “Safety is a collective responsibility and we appreciate the cooperation from all...
Russia’s emergencies ministry on Sunday opened an unmanned aviation center at the ministry’s Moscow region department. The ceremony was attended by Minister Vladimir Puchkov. "The unmanned aviation center will help improve the quality of monitoring and raise the level of crisis response," he said. The minister said drones would be used for aerial surveying to establish pre...
