Bestfly based in Angola has been awarded an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) by the Angola Civil Aviation Authority. The certificate, which was issued in October 2015, enables Bestfly to offer third party charters out of Angola with its managed fleet of seven Angolan-registered aircraft – all of which have been inducted under the AOC. The AOC took two years to achieve and required Bestfl...
Jetstar will add flights from Avalon to Hobart and Adelaide from March 2016 as part of its commitment to increase flying from Melbourne’s second airport. The low-cost carrier will fly four times a week to Hobart and three times a week to Adelaide from Avalon, Jetstar said on Tuesday. Starting new routes from Avalon, located to Melbourne’s west near Geelong, was a condition of the...
Air New Zealand plans to boost its sales presence in Australia with a new regional general manager role as the airline seeks to carry more long-haul passengers from this side on the Tasman through its Auckland hub. The Star Alliance member plans to grow its international capacity 14-15 per cent in 2015/16 – the bulk of which will be on two new routes to Buenos Aires and Houston, respectiv...
Regional Express (Rex) says it has signed contracts with the West Australian government to operate the Perth-Esperance and Perth-Albany routes. The airline, which was named as the prefered tenderer for the two government-regulated routes in November, will replace Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) on the two services. ”Rex has today entered into a Deed with the WA Departmen...
Graphene planes could be a step closer to reality as a result of a partnership between The University of Manchester and a leading Chinese aviation company. Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials (BIAM) has become the latest partner of the National Graphene Institute (NGI), based at the University, to promote the research and development in graphene reinforced aluminium matrix composites ar...
A Chinese aircraft manufacturer has closed a 450-550 million yuan deal to sell 15 Y-12E aircraft to Russia for transportation and geological exploration. Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG), a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), announced Monday that it signed a contract with Russian company Fly AVIA FZE, which provides aviation equipment, repairs and after-s...
China Southern Airlines (CZ) canceled 39 flights at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) on Monday evening due to that another freezing fog hit the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The lingering freezing fog shut down Urumqi airport from 9:00 p.m. of Dec. 7. Consequent flights were either canceled or diverted. News from China Southern said that the heavy...
Lufthansa subsidiary Air Dolomiti is evaluating being a part of the Eurowings concept. The Italian regional carrier provides point-to-point service and operates as a Munich hub feeder for Lufthansa. "We want to change and we are studying being a part of the Lufthansa Wings concept; we will hopefully find a solution before Christmas," CEO Jörg Eberhart told ATW. "This coul...
Airbus Group SE is exploring a sale of Vector Aerospace Corp, a unit that services and maintains aircraft, in a deal that could be valued at more than US$800 million, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. Airbus, Europe's largest aerospace group, is currently selling several businesses to focus its defense division on warplanes, missiles, launchers and satellites. Airbus has hi...
This week at the United Nations Climate Summit in Paris, Solar Impulse founders Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard announced the Solar Impulse 2 (SI2) will resume its around the world mission next April, after receiving additional funding and repairs. SI2 began its journey in March, taking off from Abu Dhabi, and making stops in Oman, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Mandalay, Chongqing, Nanjing, Nagoya...
Hungarian police say a flight from Berlin to the Egyptian beach resort of Hurghada has made an unscheduled landing in Hungary and is being checked for explosives after police received information about a bomb threat. Police spokeswoman Viktoria Csiszer-Kovacs said Monday that explosives experts are inspecting the unidentified airplane, its passengers and luggage. She would not identify the sour...
A British tourist was arrested after he tried to board airplane with a toy bomb and sparked a security scare, according to officials. The man told officers he had bought the item with the intentions of taking it to a New Year's Eve party. After initially declaring the toy, which featured a timer and imitation sticks of dynamite, at security he asked if he could take it on board the...
The number of Muslims deemed to be a security risk and refused entry through Cork Aurport has almost doubled in the past two months. Further armed gardaí are expected to be posted to the airport as concerns heighten about the continuing threat of Islamic extremist terrorist attacks in Western Europe. Gardaí are also liaising closely with the Muslim community in Cork and mo...
Media reports claim the UK government is putting off a final decision on expanding Heathrow Airport for another six months until the gateway can prove its ability to meet pollution targets. This follows a meeting last week by a committee of MP’s who said the airports should be barred from building a third runway until it can reach the appropriate air quality standards. UK Prime Ministe...
Emirates strongly supports open, fair and liberal air transport policy as it is the best way to ensure the interests of consumers, businesses and economies. Competition related issues are already covered under existing sovereign bilateral air service agreements, as well as existing EU regulation. Therefore we find it interesting that rather than use these tools to address specific grievances, t...
Russia’s Kogalymavia airline plans to demand compensation from Egypt’s authorities over the crash of its Airbus A321 passenger jet over the Sinai Peninsula caused by a terrorist attack in late October, the Forbes magazine reported on Monday. Businessman Ismail Lepiyev, who owns the TH&C tourist holding that includes Kogalymavia (brand name Metrojet), said in the interview the ai...
In a December 4 decision on a Part 16 complaint filed by pro-airport interests for the Santa Monica (Calif.) Airport (SMO), the FAA determined that the city of Santa Monica is obligated by grant assurances until August 27, 2023. Essentially, this means that the city must comply with statutory and regulatory obligations in its running of SMO, according to visiting professor at U...
Saudi Arabian business aviation services group Arabasco launched new Elite Service packages promising improved value for aircraft maintenance customers. Its new Platinum, Gold and Silver packages offer fixed pricing covering different levels of support. Arabasco—an FAA Part 145 approved operation specializing in support for Bombardier, Hawker, King Air, Gulfstream and Dassa...
Today the European Commission adopted an Aviation Strategy for Europe, a milestone initiative to boost Europe’s economy, strengthen its industrial base and reinforce its global leadership position. These are three core priorities of President Jean-Claude Juncker, on which the Strategy will deliver, by ensuring that the European aviation sector remains competitive and reaps the benefits of a...
Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (7 Dec) rejected claims made by eDreams that Ryanair was preventing online travel agencies (OTA) from providing consumers with the lowest fares, and re-iterated that it will continue with legal proceedings launched against eDreams and Google in the Irish High Courts last week. Ryanair confirmed that it has a number of agreements in place with OTA...
January 14 2016, Air France offers its customers a unique experience - to board an exceptional tribute flight around France and its iconic sites! More than 45 years after the first flight between Paris and New York was made on June 3 1970 on the plane, known as the "Jumbo Jet", the Company organizes an emotional goodbye to this aircraft,recognizable among...
