Carriers which had passed the IATA operational safety audit were involved in five hull-loss accidents last year, but the accident rate for these operators was nevertheless three times better than for those outside of the scheme. The accident rate was 1.14 per million flights for IOSA-registered airlines compared with 3.23 for non-IOSA operators. IATA says that, over the five-year span from 2...
Despite challenges in the Chinese economy, Asia-Pacific will account for 12 percent of worldwide business aircraft deliveries through 2024 with South East Asia helping bolster the market, according to the Jetcraft brokerage group. In its recent 10-year Market Outlook, Jetcraft (Stand U63) predicted a global market for 8,755 business aircraft valued at $271.1 billion through 2024. Nort...
Sky Valet has opened a new FBO in Malaga, Spain. Sky Valet launched in 2015. It offers ground handling services to passengers, crew members and aircraft at Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Valencia, La Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza airports. These FBOs are all coordinated from an operations centre in Madrid. Sky Valet is committed to the IS-BAH standa...
Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services recently signed a heavy maintenance agreement with Thomas Cook Airlines for supporting the UK carrier’s Boeing 767 fleet. Two Thomas Cook 767s have already gone to Boeing Shanghai’s facilities at Pudong International Airport to undergo extensive C-checks and another aircraft is due to arrive in the next few weeks. The maintenance prov...
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft announced today that its all-new, recently-certified CS100 aircraft in the livery of first operator SWISS has kicked off demonstration tours and that its first stop will be Manama, in the Kingdom of Bahrain. In addition to stops in the Middle East, the aircraft – which is en route to the Singapore Airshow 2016 - is expected to make stops in a number of Asia-Pac...
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is looking at an incentive-based scheme to attract commercial airlines and general aviation companies to adopt India’s “GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation” (Gagan)–which is equivalent to Europe’s EGNOS and the U.S. WAAS system, but for the Indian subcontinent. As such, Gagan will be the firs...
Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, will no longer cut its network capacity in 2016. Malaysia Airlines will now focus on expanding its network to emerging markets in the region instead, as the carrier sets its eyes on being profitable by 2018. Christoph Mueller, newly appointed chief executive of Malays...
Alliance Aviation Services and Virgin Australia have announced a partnership agreement that will see them cooperate in the fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) resource charter market. “Both airlines will benefit from the ability to leverage each other’s strengths, particularly in terms of network, brand, product and service offering, and technical expertise,” the two companies said in a joi...
The nation’s two top flight attendant unions are divided on the value of pending legislation to increase the amount of required rest for flight attendants. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 60,000 flight attendants at United and 18 other airlines, is backing the legislation. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents the 25,000 flight attendan...
Europe’s airline sector is on course for further consolidation, while the region offers “massive opportunities” for growth, according to Carolyn McCall, chief executive of British budget airline EasyJet. “I definitely think there will be consolidation in Europe,” McCall said in a recent interview held in EasyJet’s headquarters at Luton airport, north of Londo...
Record plane orders placed by ambitious Southeast Asian airlines could be at risk in an environment of intense competition, low profitability and turmoil in financial markets, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Sunday. "The budget carriers have captured a lot of market share but one has to ask how profitable are they and are the growth plans that some of...
Plane was a few minutes into flight to New York when it reported a medical issue and asked for permission to return before landing safely. A Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to return to Heathrow on Sunday night after its first officer reported being dazzled by a laser outside London. The Airbus A340 was a few minutes into its journey to New York's JFK airport when it reported the incid...
