Rwanda national airline, ex-boss in sh201m battle

The ex-boss of Rwanda Air Limited in Uganda Sheila Tendo and the carrier are battling over sh201.5m, purportedly owed to Tendo as damages for unfair dismissal.

On November 19, Tendo filed a suit at the High Court in Kampala through Barya, Byamugisha, and Company Advocates. Her services were terminated on September 22, 2008.

China's Spring Airlines signs up for 30 A320-200s

Spring Airlines has signed an agreement with Airbus Industrie for thirty additional A320-200s with plans to potentially acquire more in the future. According to Bloomberg, the Shanghai-based airline signed the agreement on November 22 with deliveries scheduled for 2015 onwards. 

The deal is still subject to Chinese government approval. With its current fleet standing at thirty-seven A320-200s and one A320-200 (sl), the carrier has plans to building a fleet of over 100 planes by 2020. Previous more ambitious plans were revised downwards following delays in obtaining Beijing's bureaucratic okay.

Source: CH-Aviation

Air Arabia turns 10; over 60 destinations served from Sharjah Airport

To celebrate its 10th anniversary of operations at the end of October, Air Arabia has created a special
livery for one of its 28 Sharjah-based A320s. From its base in the UAE Air Arabia now connects
to over 60 airports ranging from Lar in Iran (187 kilometres) to Chittagong in Bangladesh (3,720 kilometres).

Air Arabia began operations from its Sharjah base on 28 October 2003 with a flight to Bahrain. Beirut, Damascus, Kuwait and Muscat services were added almost immediately, as the airline sought to replicate the success of low-cost carriers in the US and Europe. 

City urged to delay Porter Airlines expansion decision

Toronto city staff is recommending that council delay a decision on Porter Airlines’ expansion plans until March 2015.

City staff made the recommendation in a new report released on Thursday and a news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. at city hall to discuss the findings.

Unions agree to 1'900 Air France job cuts

Air France trade unions have approved a voluntary staff-reduction plan aimed at removing 1'826 ground staff from the airline's payroll. In its report, France24 said three unions had approved the move, part of the second phase of the French carrier's long-term Transform 2015 initiative which will see its workforce reduced by 2'800 jobs in total.

Shaheen Air starts domestic flights from Peshawar

Shaheen Air has added Peshawar (PEW) in the north of Pakistan, to its domestic network from its main base at Karachi (KHI). The twice-weekly flights (Mondays and Sundays) started on 24 November, and will be operated using the airline’s 737-400s. 

The 1,090-kilometre route is already served by Air Indus (daily flights), airblue (daily flights) and PIA (four weekly flights). Shaheen Air already operates international flights from Peshawar to several destinations in the Middle East including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat, Riyadh and Sharjah.

Source: Anna.Aero

Small Jets, Used Jets, and New Jets: What They Mean for Airline Investors

One of the largest costs for airlines are the aircraft themselves. With new wide-body jets easily topping the $100 million mark and narrow-body and regional jets still costing in the tens of millions, it's easy to see why choosing the right planes is important. On top of that are other variables such as fuel, maintenance, and route capability. Here I'll look at the variety of fleet strategies and future plans employed by some airlines.

Single plane
The Boeing 737 is a highly popular plane and has earned the title of the best-selling commercial airliner in history. Among the buyers of the Boeing 737 areSouthwest Airlines and WestJet Airlines , and for both airlines, the 737 makes up the vast majority of their fleets.

Southwest Airlines boosting fee to fly pets

(Photo: Southwest Airlines)

It'll soon cost more to bring your pet with you when you fly on Southwest Airlines. The airline is citing higher costs in raising its pet fee to $95 per flight from $75 beginning with flights on Jan. 15.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport sold to Scottish government for £1

February 2011: Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, and an unknown airline executive opened
Ryanair’s €10 million maintenance facility at Prestwick. Since then the independently-minded Scottish
Government has bought the airport: “The strategic and economic importance of Prestwick Airport
 is such that we weren’t prepared to see Prestwick close.

It was confirmed earlier this week that Glasgow Prestwick Airport had been sold by its New Zealand-based owners Infratil to the Scottish Government for the grand sum of just £1 (this follows the announced sale of Infratil’s other UK airport, Manston, also for £1, in October). 

Arik Air Adds A330 Service to Accra from Nov 2013

Arik Air since mid-November 2013 has introduced Airbus A330-200 aircraft operations on Lagos – Accraroute, operating 6 of 14 weekly flights.

W3071 LOS0720 – 0720ACC 73G x135
W3087 LOS0720 – 0720ACC 73G 135
W3075 LOS1700 – 1700ACC 332 x6
W3075 LOS1700 – 1700ACC 738 6

W3072 ACC0805 – 1005LOS 73G x135
W3088 ACC1335 – 1535LOS 73G 135
W3076 ACC1830 – 2030LOS 332 x6
W3076 ACC1830 – 2030LOS 738 6

Currently, Arik Air A330 schedule to Accra is updated on weekly basis, therefore flights on/after December 2013 that shows 737 operation may be switched to A330 at a later date. Planned A330 operation remains subject to change.

Source: Airline Route

Amaszonas launches its longest route so far to Asuncion

Amaszonas of Bolivia has added another international route to its network with the addition of thrice-weekly flights between Santa Cruz (VVI) and Asuncion (ASU) in Paraguay. 

Low-cost airlines booming in Middle East

A new analytical report released by Amadeus air traffic system revealed that low-cost airlines, also known as "economic airlines" in the Middle East, show great confidence in their ability to grow, having seen an overall absorptive capacity increase from 11.5 million seats in the first half of 2012 to 13.5 million seats during the same period in 2013.

Alexander Gore, an economic airlines specialist at Amadeus, said: “We are seeing a boom in the capacity of low-cost airlines throughout Asia as the air travel sector is suffering from a big gap. However, the capacity across developed markets in Europe and North America is restricted.” Such factors, he explained, explain the desire of low-cost airlines to find new approaches to secure future growth.

Allegiant to operate twice-weekly seasonal flights between Portsmouth and Punta Gorda

Allegiant Air will add new seasonal, nonstop jet service between Portsmouth and Punta Gorda Airport beginning on February 12, 2014. The new flights will operate twice weekly between Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (PSM) and Punta Gorda Airport (PGD).

Source: World Airline News

Airline pilot spots astronauts returning to Earth

Update after we confirmed the image below shows the Soyuz spacecraft returning to Earth Captain Wijker sent us this message:

Just reflecting on what I saw; watched like millions of others many times animated footage of space capsules returning to earth and this is almost routine and you can take this in without too much emotion. Now having seen this fire ball shooting across the sky knowing there are actually 3 people inside that fire ball that are back safe on earth 20 minutes later is breathtaking.

Very privileged that I was lucky enough to see this.

British Airways pilot Captain Simon Wijker caught this image of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft, shortly before it landed in Kazakhstan. Inside the spacecraft were ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, NASA’s Karen Nyberg, Russian commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and the Olympic torch.

Credit: Simon Wijker

Captain Wijker contacted ESA, thinking that this might have been ESA’s Earth-monitoring satellite GOCE that was predicted to fall back to Earth around the same time.

Africa Airline Association brings airlines to Kenya for General Assembly

The African Airline Association, in short AFRAA, which is based in Nairobi, Kenya, will this weekend start their annual general assembly and most member airlines are expected to attend, not just for the meetings in the conference room but also for the scenic setting along the famous Diani Beach south of Mombasa.

The Leisure Lodge Resort will be the main venue for the meetings, although participants are also accommodated at the nearby Leopard Beach Resort & Spa.

The organizers have prepared an extensive agenda for the meeting and in particular the confirmed panelists are promising to generated animated discussions with the audience. 

All eyes will be on Kenya Airways’ Dr. Titus Naikuni and his counterpart from Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Mariam to hear what they will have to say while on the same panel discussing ‘How can African airlines regain leadership of African skies’, especially in the light of comments made earlier this year on the sidelines of the IATA meeting in South Africa, where Dr. Naikuni suggested that the key players in Africa, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways, come together and form an African airline cooperation, if not outright alliance, to create the critical mass needed to effectively compete with the giants from the Gulf and the European legacy carriers.

Boeing: 15 airlines warned over high-altitude ice

Boeing plans to raise production of the 787 Dreamliner to 12 per month by 2016

Fifteen airlines have been warned about the risk of ice forming on Boeing's new 747-8 and 787 Dreamliner planes. The issue - affecting some types of engines made by General Electric when planes fly near high-level thunderstorms - prompted Japan Airlines to cancel two international routes.

There have been six incidents since April when aircraft powered by GE engines lost power at high altitude.
These are the latest technical issues to hit the Dreamliner. They saw the entire fleet being grounded earlier this year following battery problems.

Ryanair's Better Customer Service Might Not Be Enough to Save Discount Airline

Ryanair Holdings , the Irish low-fares airline, regularly courts controversy and CEO Michael O'Leary often appears to revel in it. They may offer some of the lowest fares in Europe, but there's still a price to pay; notably high charges for baggage or a reprint of your boarding pass, uncomfortable seating, and poor customer service. 

Kingfisher Finvest India further withdraws from Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines shareholder, Kingfisher Finvest India, has further reduced its stake in the defunct carrier by 16 million shares to just 0.29%. The sell-off is the second such transaction in two months following a INR230million (USD3.67million) trade which saw it reduce its previous 7.94% stake in Kingfisher by 4.94%.

Source: CH-Aviation

Venezuelan airline for inaugural flight tomorrow

Venezuela’s CONVIASA Airline will be operating a non-commercial inaugural flight into the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri tomorrow, to signal the beginning of their once weekly commercial flight on the Puerto Ordaz/Georgetown route.

United opens a new wide body maintenance hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport

United Airlines officially opened its new wide body aircraft maintenance hangar yesterday at Washington Dulles International Airport, a major United hub and the airline’s principal gateway to the Middle East.

United invested nearly $45 million to construct the facility, which will enable the airline to perform maintenance on two wide body or several narrow body aircraft simultaneously. United employs approximately 300 technical operations employees at Dulles, and has nearly 6,000 employees throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

UAE Special Ops Aircraft Come Out Of The Shadows

The Air Tractor AT-802i operated by the UAE Special Operations Command made its public debut
 at the Dubai Airshow. Also shown (inset) was a Cessna AC-208 Caravan armed with Hellfire missiles.
 (Photos: Chris Pocock)

This week’s Dubai Airshow was the first time that a UAE Air Tractor AT-802i has been shown in public. The UAE purchased 24 of these highly modified agricultural aircraft, and took delivery of the first in late 2010. Media reports suggest that six of the aircraft are being donated to Jordan but probably with armament capability removed.

Workforce wage disputes discouraging investors in Air Zimbabwe

Air Zimbabwe  is scaring potential foreign investors away with its legacy of unresolved employee salary disputes. During a Parliamentary Portfolio Inquest, Zimbabwe's NewsDay quotes Transport and Infrastructural Development ministry secretary Munesushe Munodawafa as saying investors had shown keen interest in the struggling national carrier: 

JetBlue now flies as far south as Lima, Peru (are Airbus A330s coming?)

JetBlue Airways is stretching its route map further south in Latin America suggesting the rumored Airbus A330s could be ordered in the future. Yesterday the fast-growing company began daily nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood to Lima, Peru. 

Bangkok Don Mueang Airport grows 35% in a year; ‘old’ airport turns into Bangkok’s new low-cost hub

Nok Air, Thailand’s domestic low-cost carrier, and Bangkok Don Mueang’s second-largest airline customer,
commenced operations on its first international route – to Yangon – earlier this month.

Considered to be one of the world’s oldest international airports, Bangkok Don Mueang was officially opened as a Royal Thai Air Force facility in March 1914; the first commercial service was inaugurated here by KLM as early as 1924. Following the opening of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Don Mueang closed down for business and was only reopened in 2012 after years of renovation. 

Boliviana de Aviación to acquire four MA-60s for domestic operations

Boliviana de Aviación is set to acquire four MA-60s from Xian Aircraft Company with the first of the turboprops due for delivery in the early half of next year. 

Lawmakers Urge Bidding for Gates in Airline Merger

Four key members of Congress say that all airlines — not just low-fare carriers — should be able to bid on gates and landing rights that American Airlines and US Airways will give up after their merger.

The leaders of the House and Senate transportation committees say they're worried that unless the big airlines can bid, service between Washington and some smaller cities may be lost.

The lawmakers made their concerns public Friday as consumer advocates prepared to ask a federal judge to force the airlines into deeper concessions in exchange for approving a merger that will create the world's biggest airline.

Pakistani airline pilot was four times over the limit after drinking a BOTTLE of whisky ... but believed he was legal under 12-hour 'bottle to throttle' rule

An airline pilot has been jailed for nine months for being drunk in his cockpit before a flight.

The judge said it was 'astonishing' that foreign pilots flying out of UK airports were unaware of the law here and believed it was legal to fly if there was a 12 hour gap 'from bottle to throttle.'

Captain Irfan Faiz, 55, was more than four times the drink-fly limit when he was breathalysed after being spotted 'staggering' and 'not walking straight' on the way to the plane, a court heard. He was arrested and taken to a police station for questioning.

Wreckless: Irfan Faiz was arrested fter being spotted 'staggering' around the
 airport minutes before he was due to fly a plane

Get ready for Middle East airline domination

The record-smashing number of aircraft orders announced this week at the Dubai Air Show by the big three Persian Gulf airlines could spell big trouble for the U.S. airline industry. The 355 wide-body jets ordered by Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad to the tune of some $160 billion, arms the Gulf carriers with a huge fleet of aircraft, crushing their U.S. and European counterparts in terms of efficiency, comfort, and luxury.

Ryanair to add 12 new routes from the London Stansted hub

Ryanair announced it will open 12 new routes from London Stansted in April 2014 as well as adding frequencies on 17 existing routes, which will deliver an additional 1,300,000 passengers per year.

SpiceJet ‘networth a negative Rs 630 cr’, airline in urgent need of funds

Mounting losses and an unstable cost environment could make further funding of SpiceJet’s operations difficult. The airline seems to have improved its domestic performance in October over peers, leaving Air India behind to claim the second slot in market share and yields will surely have improved too over the second quarter because of price hikes announced in September by all domestic airlines.