Author: Anthony A Juma This month articles includes air news covering the entire world on airlines as below,
African Airline News
Planned expansion Johannesburg- Low cost airline, 1 time, is planning to sell a 25% stake in the carrier to a black economic –empowerment (BEE) CONSORTIUM TO RAISE R65, 1-million to expand its airline and related businesses.
The group entered into a subscription agreement with Mtha Aviation and the SKMT Sunrise Investment Group to become its strategic BEE partners. The parties have formed an investment holding company, Oakleaf Investments Holdings, to acquire and hold the 25% stake in the 1 time group.Mtha would own 83% of Oak leaf and Sunrise the balance.
The proceeds of the deal will be used to expand its airline fleet, to start airline operations at Lanseria International Airport and to introduce new routes into Africa.
The group will also invest in expanding the fleet of its charter business and in upgrading its aircraft maintenance facilities.
Landmark Ethiopian Boeing
Addis Ababa –Boeing delivered its 900th 777 aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines recently.
The airliner is the ultra-long-range Boeing 777-200LR and is the first of five such aircraft the airline ordered in 2009.
The carrier becomes the first African carrier to operate this ultra-long range variant of the 777 that will be used to open up several new destinations including Washington, DC and Beijing.
The carrier is also reported to be in negotiations with Boeing for the delivery of four 777 freighters.
The carrier recently introduced flights to Bangui that marks its 60th destination globally and 39th in Africa, with Kilimanjaro having been added earlier in December. Ethiopian also upgraded equipment on its daily flights to Mombasa using Boeing 737-800s in place of the Bombardier Q400.
In another move, Ethiopian Airlines has entered into a code share agreement with Air China. Under this agreement, the two carriers jointly provide fourteen weekly flights on the Addis Ababa-Guangzhou and Addis Ababa-Beijing routes.
Regional Acquisition
Nairobi-Jet link Express has acquired an additional Bombardier CRJ100LR from LeasAir.The deal was arranged by AMS Aircraft, UK.
Acquisition Completed
Johannesburg-The ASL Aviation Group has completed the previously announced acquisition of Safair Operations, Safair Lease Finance and three ATR72-500s from Aergo Capital.
ASL now has fleet of about 90 aircraft and euro 400-million annual turnover.
Carriers Banned
Brussels-The European Commission has updated its list of airlines banned from EU airspace for safety reasons.
The African airlines affected by the ban are all air carriers registered in Benin, Republic of Congo, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia which are now barred from entering the union's airspace.
MOU Signed
Casablanca- A|D|S and the Moroccan Aerospace Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase cooperation and form joint initiatives.
New Cargo Service
Johannesburg- Air cargo Germany (ACG) has inaugurated a twice-weekly Frankfurt Hahn-Johannesburg service using Boeing 747-40 freighters.
New Name
Nouakchott-Mauritania Airlines replaces Mauritania Airways as the country's national carrier and will operate a fleet of two Boeing 737-500s and a 737-700NG.
Burkina Faso Start-Up
Ouagadougou- Centralfrique Air Express has registered a single Boeing 747-300 in Burkina Faso to be operated on Hajji Flights.
Marsland Boeing
Khartoum-Vista Georgia is operating a Boeing 737-500, acquired from Luxair, on behalf of Sudanese carrier, Marsland Aviation.
World Air News Round Up
Gripen Support Contract
Johannesburg-Saab has been awarded an interim support and services contract from Armscor in South Africa involving the South African Air Forces growing fleet of Gripen C and D advanced fighter aircraft.
The agreement covers interim support services for the time until the fleet is fully operational. The contract is an on demand-based contract with a fixed part covering the framework for the 17 months period to end of March 2012.
On demand services are typically maintenance repair and overhaul, engineering support services in Sweden or on base in South Africa and resupply of spares.
Saab was also awarded a contract for delivering a multi-emitter environment simulator for Gripen .Saab in South Africa has been contracted to develop and test an interface between the Gripen mission support system and the SAAF current intelligence system.
French-Russian Joint Venture
Moscow- Rosoboronexport and Sagem (Safran group) signed an agreement to create a joint venture for inertial navigation systems, at the recent session of the French-Russian inter-governmental commission on bilateral cooperation.
The new company will be based in the Russian Federation, with the Russian partner holding 51% and the French partner 49% of the capital.
Aviation Security Innovation
Crawley-Thales UK recently showcased advances in aviation security technology as it delivered the INSTINCT Technology Demonstrator 2 (TD2) aviation security project on behalf of the British Home Office.
Technology demonstrated at the event included full-body scanners trailed at Manchester Airport and a walk-through explosive detection system trailed at Glasgow Airport.
These were showcased alongside more than 40 other exhibits at Thales UKs flagship Crawley site. The site has been transformed into a simulated airport experience, from ticketing through to boarding.
Since winning the contract to lead TD2 last July, Thales has received more than 300 expressions of interest, leading to 180 submissions from small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), academia and industry.
Sofia Airborne
Palmdale-A US-German infrared observatory mounted in a Boeing has flown its inaugural scientific flight, a mission to better understand how stars form.
The modified B747SP jetliner completed the flight recently, returning to its base in Palmdale, in the Mojave Desert, after 10 hours of cruising at high altitude.
The telescope, which is 100 inches in diameter, targeted the "star-making factory", Orion Nebula, and a young forming star cluster 3000 light-years from Earth.
The maiden flight as the first of three initial scientific flights planned and marked the start of a 20-year observing campaign.
The joint NASA and German Aerospace Centre project is called the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy or SOFIA for short.
Bar Coded Passes
Geneva-The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced an historic milestone in passenger travel with the 100% worldwide implementation of 2D bar coded boarding passes (BCBP) which replaces the previous generation of more expensive and less efficient magnetic stripe boarding passes.
"The magnetic stripe boarding passes are on their way to a history museum next to the paper ticket. After electronic ticketing in 2008, the conversion to BCBP in the next important step to provide passengers with more convenience and choice.
"Completing many tasks during the journey will now take seconds with the swipe of a bar code," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATAs Director General and CEO.
The completion of the industry project gives passengers greater choice in checking –in at home, at a kiosk, on a mobile device or at an airport check-in counter.
BCBP also allows airlines to issue a single, printed boarding pass for multiple flights, simplifying the journey for passengers with flight connections or those travelling on different airlines.
In addition, BCBP opens the door for automated access to premium services. For example, with a scan of a BCBP, eligible passengers can access fast-track security lanes or lounges.
Airlines issue over two-billion boarding passes every year. The conversion to printed 2D BCBP has been a five-year project and will save the industry up to US$ 1, 5-billion every year.
Avalon A320 Order
Toulouse-Ireland-based aircraft leasing group, Avolon, has announced a firm order for eight A320 aircraft from Airbus.
The aircraft will all be equipped with the new fuel-saving Shark lets option.Avolon will make an engine selection for the aircraft in the near future.
Air Australs B737-800s
Seattle- Boeing has delivered a Next-Generation 737-800 to Air Austral, as part of the airlines modernization plan for its medium-haul fleet.
The aircraft is the first of two the airline has ordered to replace one 737-300 and one 737-500 in its fleet.
Air Austral is headquartered int. Denis, Reunion, a French Department island located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
Corvalis Deliveries Stopped
Wichita-Cessna has suspended deliveries of the Corvalis line of high-performance singles after the composite structure of the wing of a newly built aircraft "unbounded" during the planes shakedown flight.
"During a production flight of a new Corvalis 400, a wing fuel leak was detected," Cessna spokesman Doug Oliver explained."Working closely with the FAA, we took immediate steps to understand the root cause. We now fully understand the cause and have a solution."
The FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive saying that seven feet (2, 1 metres) of skin had "unbounded" from the upper forward wing spar.
Cessna didn't say what the fix was but the effect is limited to eight aircraft, none of which is yet in service .It could, however, delay deliveries.
Ethiopian Eyes B777 Freighter
Addis Ababa- Ethiopian Airlines was contemplating acquiring Boeing 777 freighter aircraft, the outgoing Ethiopian CEO, Girma Wake, told our correspondent, Kaleyesus Bekele, in a recent interview.
Wake said that the surge in the amount of cargo the airline was hauling had prompted the management to acquire Boeing 777 freighters. Talks were currently being held with Boeing and the outcome of these negotiations together with a study its officials were making, would determine how many of the aircraft the airline would order, he said.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian airlines' flight training academy has signed an order with Diamond Simulator GmbH & Co. for its first DA40 flight simulator in the AE300 Austro diesel engine configuration.
The simulator is scheduled for delivery at the end of this month.
More Routes for EgytAir
Cairo- EgyptAir, is to open more routes in Africa, according to Hussein Massoud, the carriers CEO who told World Air news that his company would inaugurate the new routes to Lusaka and Accra soon.
Egypt Air has also increased its frequencies to Paris, Rome and London and is planning to launch a new flight to Toronto in the near future.
Precision Air Seeks More Capital
Daresaalam- Precision Air Limited has announced that it was going to sell shares with the view of raising its capital.
Alphonse Kioko, CEO of Precision, told World Air news that his company would float shares to the public for sale in order to raise the company's capital and buy more aircraft.
Established in 1991, Precision Air is based in Daresalam, Tanzania .Kenya Airways has a 49% stake in the company, the remaining shares being owned by a private investor, Michael Ngaleku Shirima.
The airline serves 10 domestic and three international destinations. It operates one B737-300 and four ATR42s and five ATR72s.
World Record Order for A320 Airliners
What is believed to be the largest commercial jet airliner order in aviation history was announced last month immediately after India's biggest low-cost carrier, IndiGo, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 180 Airbus A320 aircraft of which 150 will be the new re-engined A320neo model and 30 will be standard A320s.
Apart from being the largest single firm order number for large jets in commercial aviation history, it also makes IndiGo a launch Customer for the A320neo.Engine selection will be announced by the airline at a later date.
The A320neo, available from 2016, incorporates new more efficient engines and large wing tip devices called Shark lets delivering significant fuel savings of up to 15%, which represents a cut-back of up to 3600 tones of CO2 annually per aircraft .In addition, the A320neo provides a double-digit reduction in NOx emissions and reduced engine noise.
"This order for industry-leading fuel efficient aircraft will allow IndiGo to continue to offer low fares," said Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, co-founders of Indigo."Ordering more A320s was the natural choice to meet India's growing flying needs. The opportunity to reduce costs and to further improve our environmental performance through the A320neo, were key to our decision."
Fokker Joins MEBAA
Amsterdam-In response to its rapidly expanding Middle East and North African customer base, Fokker Aircraft Services (FAS) has become one of the newest members of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA).
In recent years FAS hangars have seen increasingly more Boeing and Airbus aircraft being received for a range of VIP completion, conversion and refurbishment programmes, in addition to maintenance, repair and overhaul services.
FAS recently delivered of a VIP Airbus –A318 completed for a Middle-East –based customer based in the Middle East and is at present is completing the conversion of African customers A320.
Korea Selects C-130J
Marietta, Ga- Lockheed Martin has signed a contract with the Republic of Korea to provide four C-130J Super Hercules aircraft for its transport fleet.
Koreas new Super Hercules will be the longer fuselage or "stretched" combat delivery variant. Deliveries will be in 2014.
New Cargo Manager
Johannesburg-Dr. Ruediger Munzert has been named Lufthansa Cargos new general manager for Southern Arica and Senegal.
Dr. Munzert will manage outside as well as inside sales functions and ensure quality ground handling at Lufthansa Cargos largest African hub in Johannesburg, as well as in Cape Town, Luanda and Dakar.
He took up his new position in Johannesburg last month and will report to Herman Zunker, Lufthansa Cargo's Director for Africa, who is also based in Johannesburg.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/flight-news-on-african-airlines-world-air-news-round-up-4301085.html
About the Author Anthony Juma is the Editor and Senior Aviation Director at Wings Over Africa Aviation.
This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Scheduled Cargo & Passengers flights Kenya,Uganda,Tanzania,Rwanda,Burundi,East Africa & Globally. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http:// / www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/our-rates.html
