With 4.9% average gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the past two years in the sub-Saharan region, it is no surprise that Africa is forecast to become one of the fastest growing areas for aviation. David Adebiyi explains how aviation infrastructure is a key enabler. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts that by 2034 Africa will see an extra 177 million passengers...
Emirates has announced its plans for a second gateway in Istanbul with the launch of a daily service to Sabiha Gokcen Airport, beginning December 15, 2015. The new service complements Emirates’ existing 11 weekly flights to Ataturk Airport, offering even more convenience for both inbound and outbound travellers. Located on the Asian side of Istanbul, Sabiha Gokcen doesn’t o...
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft is in discussions with Abu Dhabi Aviation with the aim of establishing an authorised service facility (ASF) for Bombardier's Q Series turboprop regional airliners. The facility was announced at the Dubai Airshow yesterday. The two parties have signed a memorandum of understanding on the ASF, with final agreement subject to acceptance of commercial terms and...
There is growing speculation Qantas and American Airlines will launch new nonstop service from the New Zealand to the United States. The two carriers have called a media conference to be held in Wellington on Wednesday morning, where Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and his counterpart at American Doug Parker will “make an important announcement for the New Zealand market”. Amer...
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will begin flights to Dusseldorf from July 2016, giving Australians a new one-stop option to Germany. Dusseldorf will be served with SIA’s new Airbus A350-900s featuring business, premium economy and economy three times a week as red-eye from Singapore and afternoon departure from Germany. SIA also flies to Munich and Frankfurt from its Singapore hub. It also o...
Next time you're stuck on a long-haul flight in a packed, economy-class cabin, being ignored by a frazzled flight attendant, spare a thought for the passengers on a recent flight from Melbourne to Chongqing in China. They were cows. Crated up and loaded onto the main deck of a Boeing Co. 747cargo plane by hydraulic lift, the 150 beasts were on Australia's first live cattle flight t...
A London-based start-up described as the Uber for private jets is looking to open its regional headquarters in Hong Kong. The service is an online and mobile booking system called Victor that aims to get more bums on seats of privately chartered planes. Its target market is not for your average Joe Blow, but nor is it just for the super-rich, according to founder and chief executive Clive Ja...
Shandong Airlines will launch its first ever flights to India this week. Commencing on November 11, the airline will fly direct between Delhi and Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan province. The new service will run four times a week (Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays), with the Monday and Friday flights continuing onwards between Kunming and Jinan - the cap...
German cabin crew union UFO rejected a sweetened Lufthansa pay offer late on Monday that was aimed at ending the airline's longest ever strike action that it said was costing it at least EUR10 million (US$10.8 million) a day. Lufthansa tried to win over striking cabin crew staff by increasing a one-off payment offer by EUR1,000 to EUR3,000 and promising a 1.7 percent pay rise next year...
Inmarsat, the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, will showcase its ground-breaking new Global Xpress (GX) inflight connectivity service at two of Asia's leading aviation trade shows this month. The Asia Pacific region is a strategically important market for GX, which is set to enter global commercial services later this year as the first high-speed broadban...
Air Serbia plans resume flights between Belgrade and the United States by June next year more than two decades after they were halted due to an embargo because of the war in former Yugoslavia. Air Serbia, which emerged from the now-defunct Yugoslav-era JAT Airways in 2013 and is now 49 percent owned by the United Arab Emirates airline Etihad Airways, said it would operate five weekly fligh...
Officials say an American Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Chicago landed safely after a bird strike forced it to return to the Sin City airport. Linda Healey, a spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, said early Monday that none of the 160 passengers and crew members was injured. She says the airport got the alert about the bird strike at 5:31 a.m. and Flight 334...
