Aviation Updates from a Global Perspective!!!: September 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

(Video) Air Namibia takes delivery of first of two A330s from Airbus.

Air Namibia (SW), the Windhoek based national airline of Namibia, has taken delivery of its first A330-200 (MCN 1451 | V5-ANO) from Airbus at a ceremony in Toulouse, France. The aircraft is the first of two A330s being leased by Air Namibia from US lessor, Intrepid Aviation, on 12-year contracts.

The aircraft will replace two A340-300s used on flights to Frankfurt, Germany, that are currently being phased out from the fleet. The aircraft is due in Windhoek on October 3 with the second, (MCN 1466 | V5-ANP), due for delivery in November.

Nok Air is studying the possibility of launching medium/long haul flights using either Airbus A330s or Boeing 787s. According to a report by ATW, airline CEO Patee Sarasin said the Thai budget carrier sees strong potential in the medium haul market," with AirAsia X and Scoot being used as models.

While the studies are still in their initial stages, Mr Sarasin said flights of 6-8 hours duration, possibly also including destinations further away such as London, were of primary interest but did not expand on how any operation would fit into Nok's current business model which involves operating eleven B737-800s and four ATR72s on a largely domestic Thai network.

Source: CH-Aviation

DoT redtape forces Fastjet to suspend launch of Dar es Salaam - Johannesburg flights.

Fastjet (FN) has announced that its first international flight between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg,previously scheduled to take place on Friday 27 September 2013, has been temporarily postponed owing to what it claims are "unexpected administrative delays caused by a very late request for additional documentation by the South African Department of Transport".

The airline states that despite having delivered the requested documents, the South African DoT said it will take several days to process them, thus delaying the start of fastjet flights on this international route.

China Southern Suspends Maldives Service Dec 2013 / Jan 2014

China Southern from 16DEC13 to 15JAN14 is temporary suspending Guangzhou – Male service, as per 30SEP13 GDS timetbale/inventory display. The airline operates this route twice a week with Boeing 777.

CZ3083 CAN1630 – 1955MLE 777 47
CZ3084 MLE2110 – 0610+1CAN 777 47

Source: Airline Route

Air Arabia looks to West African market for expansion

Air Arabia CEO, Adel Ali, has pointed to the under-served, under exploited West African market as his airline's next point of focus. He made the announcement during the recent 2013 Dubai Airfinance Conference.

In its drive to expand its influence south of the Sahara, Air Arabia will likely position its Moroccan subsidiary, Air Arabia Maroc to leverage the Morocco/European Union Open Skies agreement to tap into the vast West-African Diaspora market which sees a strong presence in France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

FLEET UPDATE BULLETIN: Canadian Airways Congo, Sudan Airways, CEIBA Intercontinental, Westair Bénin, Kush Air, Petro Air.

The following is a fleet update bulletin for aircraft that are in use, have been in use or will be in use for these listed airlines: Canadian Airways Congo, Sudan Airways, CEIBA Intercontinental, Westair Bénin, Kush Air, Petro Air.

HiFly's A340-600 in service with CEIBA Intercontinental

Brazzaville-based Canadian Airways Congo has transferred its Ukrainian MD-82, (MSN 49278 | UR-WRE), operated for the airline by Ukraine's Bravo Air (BAY), onto the Congolese (Republic of) registry. According to reports at hand, the aircraft was re-registered as TN-AJL in the Congolese coastal city of Pointe Noire.

Air Choice One has ended a sales and distribution agreement signed with Pacific Wings in December 2012.

According to the ch-aviation database, the Missouri-based regional-commuter carrier is now once again selling all of its flights under its own code (3E) rather than that of Pacific Wings.

Air Choice One serves Burlington, IA, Decatur and Jonesboro from Chicago O'Hare and St. Louis Lambert Int'l with a fleet of Cessna Caravans.

Source: CH-Aviation

SA Express posts $65'000 profit for FY2012/13; plans fleet acquisition in 2H 2014.

A Express (XZ) has reported a small net profit of ZAR650'000 (USD64'930) on the back of a 14% rise in revenue for its 2012/13 Financial Year, airline CEO Inati Ntshanga announced at the airline's AGM on Wednesday, September 25, in Johannesburg. Turnover also rose by ZAR270million, from ZARR2.021billion in 2012 to ZAR2.295billion in 2013.

SA Express' Network

Mr Ntshanga said despite a decline in passenger numbers, revenue was boosted mainly through fare increases and higher load factors. Overall, the profit generated, though small, was a significant improvement on the airline's 2011/12 Financial Year in which it posted a net ZAR368million loss.

Among measures taken to improve the company's cash flow, SAX applied a stringent cost-compression programme that resulted in the operating costs remaining constant for the year. As a result, cost savings for 2012/13 totalled ZAR129.1million, far exceeding the target of ZAR70million. Additionally, three Bombardier Q400s were sold for ZAR30million.

Republic Airlines and Phoenix-based investment firm, Indigo Partners, have reportedly reached an impasse in their talks over the latter's acquisition of ailing.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, negotiations between Republic and Indigo have stalled over a complex dispute which centres on two core issues namely which trade union is to represent Frontier’s pilots and the validity of the agreement pertaining to the equity stakes in Frontier.

As announced previously, Republic has extended the deadline for a deal to be reached with Indigo to September 30.

Source: CH-Aviation

Delta takes delivery of first of 100 B737-900(ER)s

Delta Air Lines has taken delivery of its first of 100 B737-900(ER)s, N801DZ (msn 31912), on order from Boeing. The aircraft was ferried from Seattle Boeing Field to Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson on September 27, 2013.

Source: CH-Aviation

PSA Airlines, pilots ratify new deal; US Airways to place 30 jets

PSA Airlines management and its parent firm, US Airways, have ratified tentative agreements with its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association International, that guarantee the placement of a minimum of 30 large regional jets at PSA.

PSA pilots will also be granted seniority-based interviews and guaranteed additional job offers at US Airways. According to worldairlinenews.com, in exchange, PSA pilots agreed to pay-adjustments, changes to medical aid premiums, and an extension of their contract to 2023.

Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan has refuted media rumours that his airline is interested in investing in struggling Italian carrier, Alitalia.

During a Q&A session with the press at the ongoing FVW Kongress in Cologne, Germany, Mr Hogan said Etihad was open to further strategic partnerships, but only "if they add value".

In light of his airline's recent buy-ins of various loss-making airlines, Mr Hogan noted that his airline was "not a bank". Alitalia had been linked to talks with the Emiratis earlier in the year, raising hopes that Abu Dhabi and Rome would reach an agreement which would see the debt-ridden airline thrown a vital lifeline.

Source: CH-Aviation

Pakistan International to Resume Karachi – Delhi / Kathmandu from late-November 2013

Pakistan International Airlines from 25NOV13 is resuming Karachi – Delhi and Karachi – Kathmanduoperation. The airline will fly 1 weekly flight on both routes, on board Airbus A310.

Karachi – Delhi
PK272 KHI1500 – 1720DEL 310 1
PK273 DEL1900 – 2030KHI 310 1

PIA temporary suspended this route from 04SEP13

Karachi – Kathmandu
PK268 KHI0630 – 1000KTM 310 1
PK269 KTM1100 – 1320KHI 310 1

PIA suspended this route since late-March 2013.

Source: Airline Route

Ryanair holds "fruitful" talks with Boeing over B737 MAX

Ryanair Chief Financial Officer, Howard Millar, says his airline's view of the B737 MAX project is "positive" following fruitful talks with Boeing for a possible order for 200 of the type.

In June this year, the Irish LCC said while it would place an order before year end though it would not need the planes to enter service until 2018 or 2019. According to RTE, among the modifications Ryanair is pursuing the possibility of removing one of the Max's rear toilets in order to fit an extra 11 seats thereby allowing the airline to reach its ideal seating capacity of 200. Currently, the airline operates 303 B737-800s.

Source: CH-Aviation

LOT threatens Boeing with legal action if 787 claims not settled

LOT Polish Airlines has reportedly threatened to take Boeing to court should the US aircraft manufacturer fail to settle compensation claims pertaining to its fault-prone B787-8 before the end of the year. Reuters reports that LOT CEO, Sebastian Mikosz, said:

”We are holding negotiations because Boeing is our very important partner and we are ready to take any steps possible within the bounds of the law to defend the interests of the company.”

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority's (NCAA) decree that no Nigerian carrier, whether scheduled or charter, will be able to wet-lease foreign aircraft for the purposes of commercial operations for periods longer than six months is set to come into effect from October 1.

BusinessNews Nigeria reports that the development is part of the Federal Government’s move to reform the aviation sector after it became alarmed at the number of foreign-registered aircraft being for wet-leased (i.e the contract involves the aircraft, complete crew, maintenance, and insurance) for commercial operations in the country.

The Washington Post has revealed that the Governement of Djibouti has asked the U.S. to move its fleet of Reaper UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) away from Camp Lemonnier due to local population concerns regards their safety.

The Post revealed that there has been at least five crashes since January 2011 close to the base, which also serves as the country’s only International Airport.

Emirates has withdrawn two of its ten A340-500s from service with one now being broken up for spare parts, FlightGlobal reports. According to airline president, Tim Clark, the move is a big, if necessary, move given the high cost of fuel the world-over.

“We've taken a big hit to retire them, but [their poor economics means] there’s no point in flying them,” he said. Emirates intends to accelerate the retirement of its remaining A340-500 fleet with the primary objective being to sell them on to other willing buyers.

However, should that fail, then they will be scrapped. The aircraft were bought from Airbus Industrie in 2004 to service Emirates' long-haul flights to the West Coast of the US and to eastern Australia. Other operators of the type include Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, AZAL Azerbaijan Airlines, Hi Fly, Kuwait Airways, Forces Aériennes Algériennes and Qatar Airways Amiri Flight.

Source: CH-Aviation

Jeppesen launches Mobile FlightDeck 2.1

Jeppesen recently introduced version 2.1 of Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck for iPad and iPad mini.

New capabilities include the display of own-ship positioning on geo-referenced terminal procedures and an integrated distance measuring tool that minimizes the need for pilot interaction with the app, according to company officials.

Aviation Updates from a Global Perspective!!!: Emirates Planned May – July 2014 Service Reduction...

Aviation Updates from a Global Perspective!!!: Emirates Planned May – July 2014 Service Reduction...: Emirates has further revised planned network changes from 01MAY14 to 20JUL14, as a result of planned runway enhancement project. Latest a...

Emirates Planned May – July 2014 Service Reductions as of 21SEP13

Emirates has further revised planned network changes from 01MAY14 to 20JUL14, as a result of planned runway enhancement project. Latest adjustment as of 21SEP13 sees minimal adjustment to planned reductions, however certain routes will see operational aircraft and/or schedule changes from Dubai.

Further adjustment to planned operational schedule remains highly possible.

Revised service reduction:
Dubai – Kuwait City Reduce from 35 to 34 weekly (Day 7 service on EK871/872). EK853/854 continues operation from 01MAY14 to 20JUL14
Dubai – Vienna Reduce from 13 to 7 weekly (EK127/128). EK125/126 will also operates on Tuesdays (see separate entry below regarding schedule changes)

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has moved to clarify various misleading international media reports regarding its 787-fleet ambitions. According to Ethiopian Television, it has been widely reported that the airline has an additional eight aircraft on order on top of the thirteen 787s it has currently signed up for, of which five have now been delivered.

The Ethiopian national carrier says that the additional eight aircraft on order referenced by airline CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, during his recent announcement of the airline's annual fiscal results, are the remaining eight that have yet to be delivered and do not represent a new order for the type.

According to the authoritative nyc787 blog, Ethiopian's next batch of Dreamliners, (LN 164 | ET-AOT), (LN 167 | ET-AOU) and (LN 168 | ET-AOV), are scheduled to be assembled in either Everett or Charleston during the course of 2014.

Source: African Aviation Tribune

Zest Air becomes AirAsia Zest, rebrands itself into AirAsia colours

Zest Air has rebranded itself to "AirAsia Zest" and has officially unveiled its proposed new hybrid corporate image which incorporates AirAsia colours.

As part of its plans to help Zest Air recover its financial footing following a four-day grounding by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in August,Philippines AirAsia recently announced it would discontinue its remaining loss-making Clark services with effect from October and concentrate all of its efforts on operations from Manila.

Air Asia owns a 49% stake in Zest Air and reportedly plans to increase its shareholding further.

Source: CH-Aviation

Farewell to the Queen of the Skies

On its final day in service, a Royal Air Force VC10 refuels two Tornado combat jets. The type is retiring after 47 years military service in the UK. (Photo: Chris Pocock)

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has bid a fond farewell to the VC10 air refueling tanker, a type that has been in British military service for 47 years. The majestic T-tailed, four-engine jet airliner may not have been a commercial success, but the RAF extracted great value from a fleet that numbered 28 at its peak, performing also in the passenger and cargo transport roles, and aeromedical airlift.

Singapore Airlines and Mumbai-based conglomerate, Tata Sons, have signed a memorandum of understanding and applied for Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to establish a new airline in India.

This marks the second attempt that both partners together have made to enter the Indian market. In the mid-90s, a similar venture to start a domestic Indian airline failed after the Indian government rejected Tata's proposal.

PIA - Pakistan International Airlines will be privatized as part of the new Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif's, plans to remove the financial millstone from around his government's neck.

The AFP reports that the plans include the sale of a 26% stake in the ailing national carrier with managerial control to be handed over to private investors.

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announced today that Missouri congressman, outspoken general aviation advocate and House GA Caucus co-chair Sam Graves will serve as a keynote speaker for the Oct. 22 Opening General Session at the 2013 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA2013) in Las Vegas.

A life-long aviation enthusiast, Graves is a member of the House Transportation Committee and the House Aviation Subcommittee who has represented Missouri’s sixth congressional district since 2000.

Air Canada says it plans to continue flying its fleet of thirty-six A319-100s, forty-one A320-200s and ten A321-200s "for as long as possible" before considering a replacement order.

Responding to questions on the topic at the recent the CIBC World Markets Eastern Institutional Investor Conference in Montreal, airline chief financial officer, Michael Rousseau, said any commitments would not begin until later in the decade adding that Air Canada would "push" the aircraft to their full limit before considering a new order.

Canadian market analysts had pipped the national carrier as a strong potential customer for the latest Bombardier offering, the recently airborne CS100.

Source: CH-Aviation

Air France confirms heavy job cuts across the board

Air France has confirmed previous speculative reports that an additional 2'800 jobs are to be shed as part of Air France-KLM's ongoing struggle to cut costs ahead of a possible sixth consecutive annual operating loss.

The French carrier said negotiations with union representatives over proposed voluntary-retirement packages would begin on October 4. Air France is already in the process of removing 5'120 out of 49'300 staff on French contracts by the end of 2013 as part of plans unveiled in June last year.

Cebu Pacific makes overtures to the EU, US over possible flights

Cebu Pacific Air is to make a series of presentations to the European authorities in November in a bid to extricate itself from the bloc's Banned Operators List. Airline's CEO, Lance Gokongwei, said the move is intended to open up Europe to Cebu where rival Philippine Airlines will resume services to London Heathrow this December.

Arik Air (W3) flight W3101 from Lagos, Nigeria to London Heathrow, Untied Kingdom, was on Sunday, September 15, forced to divert to Palma Mallorca Airport, Spain, after a pregnant passenger required urgent medical attention while onboard.

Air India says it is also considering joining Oneworld should a 2008 application with Star Alliance not be approved by month-end. "We cannot wait endlessly for induction into Star Alliance.

The members are scheduled to meet and vote at the end of this month. If we do not receive a positive response, we will proceed with our talks with Qatar Airways for membership in oneworld," said a senior Air India official.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, Capital City Airport (FFT) will welcome the public to its annual Aviation Day. Many local aviation groups will be represented at this family-oriented event. Admission is free and activities will take place from 9 am until 2 pm.

The Institute for Aerospace Education will have several student volunteers helping with operations.

FLEET UPDATE BULLETIN: Overland Airways, Aero, Blue Bird Aviation (Kenya), Swazi Airlink

The following is a fleet update bulletin for aircraft that are in use, have been in use or will be in use for these listed airlines: Overland Airways, Aero, Blue Bird Aviation (Kenya), Swazi Airlink.

Overland's ATR72 5N-BPG (Flox Papa)

Emirates from 04DEC13 is introducing service on Dubai – Kabul route, where it plans to offer daily operation on board Airbus A340-500 aircraft.

Reservation for this route is currently available until 29MAR14 inclusive.

EK640 DXB0955 – 1315KBL 345 D
EK641 KBL1530 – 1800DXB 345 D

Source: AirlineRoute

Royal Air Maroc, Gabon to resurrect Air Gabon International?

Royal Air Maroc and the Government of Gabon are reportedly set to proceed with the establishment of a new Gabonese national carrier, Air Gabon International, seven years after its original proposal.

The development comes after Morocco and Gabon earlier this month signed five cooperation agreements dealing mainly with customs services, country planning and people's movement. According to Xinhua, the partnership will see Royal Air Maroc (RAM) retaining a 51% stake with Libreville holding the remaining 49% but offered no further details.

External tanks are extremely important for military aircraft as they provide fuel to integrate internal tanks and extend fighters and bombers endurance.

Garuda Indonesia has confirmed that it will lease twenty-five ATR72-600s from Nordic Aviation Capital with delivery of the first two aircraft due in November of this year.

In a statement, the Indonesian national carrier said that it had signed an aircraft lease agreement with Avions de Transport Régional, as well as an aircraft lease term and commitment letter with Nordic Aviation Capital A/S at a ceremony held on September 6.

To be deployed on the airline's short-haul and remote routes, Garuda had previously planned to purchase the twin engine turboprop aircraft but later moved to lease them in order to alleviate the airline's financial burden. This arrangement replaces earlier announcements that the ATRs would be operated by Garuda's LCC,Citilink.

Source: CH-Aviation

Arik Air now eyes a November launch for São Paulo flights; in talks with Embraer over possible deal for 15 jets.

Nigeria's Arik Air (W3) says it hopes to launch its vaunted Lagos - São Paulo, Brazil flights in November of this year, though this is still dependent on the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil - ANAC) issuing it convenient landing slots at Guarulhos International Airport.

Arik's planned B747-8s (Boeing)

In an interview with The Leadership, Arik's Acting Vice President Operations/Deputy Managing Director, Captain Ado Sanusi, said while initial operations will focus on Sao Paulo, flights to the city of Recife and Rio de Janeiro are also a possibility.

"The initial city we are looking at is Sao Paulo. But it might change because our business plan is always undergoing review. We might go to Recife, and we might go to Rio de Janeiro. But the initial one we have chosen now is to go to Sao Paulo."

Sao Paulo is the biggest city in the Southern hemisphere, and the airport is very busy, so you need a slot to go into that airport, especially if you are going to land there and also make sure that your passengers have connecting flights. So you must have a particular time to land to enable your passengers connect easily with other flights so that they can get to other countries or cities.

Once flights commence, Arik will have to contend with Royal Air Maroc (AT), which are set to resume their operations between the two continents, now set for a December 9 launch. Brazil's GOL Transportes Aéreos (G3) is also due to commence Recife to Lagos (with a potential sector to Luanda, Angola) flights before year end.

With the route established, Arik will then investigate potential interline & codeshare deals with either TAM Linhas Aéreas (JJ) or GOL in order to expand its Brazilian footprint.

"We don’t intend to have only point-to-point flight to Brazil, that is fly to Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. We intend to offer our passengers the ability to fly all over South America. What we will do is to try and see the best network as offered to us either by TAM or by GOL, then we will have interlining agreement or code sharing and have a good partnership and they are very willing."

Talks are also reportedly underway with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, regarding a potential order of between ten and fifteen "Executive" E-Jets and the possibility of Embraer setting up an MRO facility in the country. Whether these will see onward placement in Arik's domestic & regional scheduled passenger fleet or its Executive Charter division remains uncertain.

Source: African Aviation Tribune

Monday, September 16, 2013

Royal Air Maroc, Libreville to resurrect Air Gabon International venture?

Royal Air Maroc (AT) and the Government of Gabon are reportedly set to proceed with the establishment of a new Gabonese national carrier, Air Gabon International, seven years after its original proposal. The development comes after Morocco and Gabon earlier this month signed five cooperation agreements dealing mainly with customs services, country planning and people's movement.

Air Gabon 747 (Albo Bidini)

According to Xinhua, the partnership will see Royal Air Maroc (RAM) retaining a 51% stake with Libreville holding the remaining 49% but offered no further details.

Caribbean Airlines will no longer receive subsidized jet fuel after the Trinidadian government bowed to strong pressure from LIAT and Delta Air Lines as well as fellow Caribbean trade-bloc partners to cease the practice on the grounds it gave the local carrier an unfair competitive advantage.

The Mayotte Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI Mayotte) along with Air Austral (UU) and the Yland Investment consortium officially signed an investment contract last week effectively breathing life into the new Dzaoudzi-based regional carrier, Ewa Airlines.
The vote for the creation of the new airline was reportedly unanimous.

"The company will launch with EUR4million in capital and will be 52.3 % owned by Air Austral and 47.7% by other partners including CCI Mayotte (22.7%) and Ylang Invest (25%). A dedicated team will be set up, with the appointment and empowerment of a Chief Operating Officer."

Philippine Airlines to resume European flights from early November

Philippine Airlines has set November 4 as the tentative date on which it plans to resume European flights. AirlineRoute states that Manila to London Heathrow flights will operate 5x weekly onboard the airline's B777-300(ER)s.

Rome Fiumicino and Paris CDG are expected to resume early next year. The Filipino national carrier was banned from Europe in 2010 after various safety concerns were found with the EU banning all Filipino operators; these concerns have since been rectified.

Source: CH-Aviation

“Poland’s air defense capability is critically weak” local TV station says. But it’s just misinformation!

Polish media outlets seem to be a bit too inaccurate about what is happening in the Polish Air Force. This time, the lack of fact checking deals with the fleet of the Polish F-16 Block 52+ Vipers.

The Polish TV station, TVN, in its main news service has claimed the following things: runway in the 31 AB in Krzesiny is damaged, the F-16s cannot fly due to the fact that the runway is damaged, and finally – the country’s air defense capability is critically weak.

As per 16SEP13 GDS Inventory display, EGYPTAIR from 24OCT13 once again cancels Cairo – Osaka Kansai service, where it currently operates twice weekly flights on board Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

MS962 CAI2315 – 1745+1KIX 330 46
MS963 KIX2315 – 0615+1CAI 330 57

In addition, EGYPTAIR is also extending planned service suspension on Cairo – Tokyo Narita route, on/after 27OCT13. It previously planned to resume operation with 3 weekly Boeing 777 service. Reservation for flights on/after 27OCT13 is now closed.

MS964 CAI2320 – 1800+1NRT 777 257
MS965 NRT2050 – 0350+1CAI 777 136

Further changes to planned Japan operation remains highly possible.

Source: Airline Route

Cathay Pacific eyeing Nigeria, Algeria as part of African expansion plans.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific (CX) has mentioned Africa as being part of its longterm expansion plans with the intention being to exploit the growing Africa - China market; Nigeria and Algeria in particular.

Cathay Pacific B747-400 (Arpingstone)

Monday, September 30, 2013

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Monday, September 16, 2013