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TAP Portugal Injects Heavy Investment Into Newly Branded TAP Express APEX Insight: TAP Portugal has announced the introduction of new regional aircraft and services. The airline’s CEO, Fernando Pinto, says the changes “will enable better service on the point-topoint connections and much better conditions for an optimized connectivity to the Lisbon hub operations.” Other improvements underway include a €60-million investment to retrofit the aircraft interiors of the fleet and installation of a €2-million digital reservations platform. TAP Portugal has announced a renewal of its regional fleet to harmonize with its mainline commercial identity, and a redesign of its products and services through new interiors and updated digital platforms. The airline will introduce a Porto-Lisbon shuttle and a rebranded regional TAP Express to replace the Portugália, PGA airline brand. A new fleet of eight ATR 72 and nine Embraer E190 aircraft will be added to the regional fleet. TAP expects to better its annual operating results by €60 million with these improvements. The airline touts these aircraft as more comfortable and silent, with 40 percent lower fuel consumption. These new aircraft will increase the airline‘s seating capacity by 47 percent and allow schedule improvements to hourly flights for TAP‘s Porto-Lisbon shuttle service. ―The launch of the Porto-Lisbon shuttle will enable better service on the point-to-point connections and much better conditions for an optimized connectivity to the Lisbon hub operations, providing customers with easy access to the whole TAP network,‖ says Fernando Pinto, TAP‘s CEO, in the company‘s official announcement.
http://apex.aero/2016/01/15
Total Philippine Airlines and Lufthansa Technik Sign Component Maintenance Contract Philippine Airlines and Lufthansa Technik AG have signed a five-year Total Component Maintenance (TCM) contract for the Airline's Airbus A320 and A340 Fleet. The services will be extended end of 2016 to support additional Airbus 320s operated by Philippine Airlines. Lufthansa Technik will support Philippine Airlines at its main base in Manila, the Component Service offices in Manila and Shenzhen will coordinate the customer support. Maintenance, repair and overhaul services will be carried out at Lufthansa Technik's component Centres in Hamburg, Germany and Shenzhen, China. "We were pleased with Lufthansa Technik's ability to customize its services to the individual needs of Philippine Airlines and ensuring 24/7 worldwide AOG services at locations such as JFK which are vital for our Flight operations," said William Tan, Vice President of Purchasing, Philippine Airlines. Jens Behrend, Sales Executive from Lufthansa Technik, said: "I want to thank Philippine Airlines for the trust they continuously place in the Lufthansa Technik Group. The signing of these contracts is a great success for us in this highly competitive market." Lufthansa Technik is committed to extend its partnership with Philippine Airlines and to support other Aircraft types in the future. Lufthansa Technik: The Lufthansa Technik Group, with more than 30 subsidiaries and associates and over 26,000 employees worldwide, is one of the leading providers of technical services for the aviation industry. Its portfolio encompasses the entire spectrum of services for commercial aircraft: maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification and conversion, engines and components.
http://apex.aero/2016/01/15
(Continue) ―The ‗Ponte Aérea‘ will offer very competitive prices to travel between Porto and Lisbon and an innovative product, with dedicated check-in counters and boarding gates along with fast and easy passenger boarding,‖ Pinto states. ―As of next March 27, TAP will increase the number of weekly flights to destinations already served in Europe, Brazil, the United States and Africa, reinforcing our product consistency.‖ Pinto adds, ―We are not only renewing our regional fleet, but also adding consistency to the TAP brand and product by reinforcing its commercial identity and redesigning our product and services as well.‖ Other improvements underway include orders for 53 new aircraft, a €60million investment to retrofit the aircraft interiors of the fleet, a €11-million investment to install sharklets on 12 A320-family aircraft for improved efficiency and the addition of a new €2-million digital reservations platform. ―The ‗Ponte Aérea‘ will offer very competitive prices to travel between Porto and Lisbon and an innovative product, with dedicated check-in counters and boarding gates along with fast and easy passenger boarding.‖ – Fernando Pinto, TAP Portugal CEO In 2015, the Portuguese government approved the sale of the national flagship carrier to the Atlantic Gateway consortium led by David Neeleman (CEO of Brazil‘s Azul and founder of JetBlue) and Humberto Pedrosa (owner of Barraqueiro Transports). The consortium made a €10-million cash payment and committed to injecting additional capital of €348 million into TAP. It also absorbed TAP‘s previous debt of €1.06 billion, and agreed to supply TAP with 53 new aircraft while ensuring the Portuguese government that it would keep TAP‘s main hub in Lisbon for at least 30 years. Pinto credits the new ownership for giving the airline ―the investment capacity to expand and turn into a more modern and competitive airline, one that is responsive to the needs of Customers and strongly
committed to serve the markets where it operates.‖ -
http://www.cnbc.com/
Kuwait Airways Drops Flights to Avoid Israeli Passengers This picture taken in Tangerang on March 18, 2013 shows a Kuwait Airways plane preparing for landing over the Sukarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang. Kuwait Airways will operate its last flight between New York City and London on Saturday, deciding last month to drop the route after about 35 years of service rather than transport Israeli citizens between the two cities. The Transportation Department found in September that the airline's policy discriminated against Israeli citizens and ordered the practice to stop. Instead, the airline announced in December that it would drop the flights. The decision does not apply to the airline's three weekly nonstop flights between Kennedy International Airport in New York and Kuwait City. Those flights are not affected because Israelis are not allowed to visit Kuwait and are not granted visas. Passengers in transit through another country are another matter, according to the Transportation Department, which said that Kuwait Airways' refusal to carry Israeli citizens between New York City and London amounted to "unreasonable discrimination" because Israeli passport holders have the legal right to travel between the United States and Britain. "An airline does not have the right to refuse to sell tickets to and transport a person between the U.S. and any third country where they are allowed to disembark based on the laws of that country," said Namrata Kolachalam, a spokeswoman for the department. The Transportation Department said that it was also investigating two formal complaints with Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines. Kuwait Airways started flying to New York in 1980 three times a week, on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with flights stopping
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(Continue) in London before continuing on to Kuwait City, according to a reservation agent from Kuwait Airways. The unusual case stemmed from a complaint of an Israeli citizen, Eldad Gatt, who tried to book a flight in 2013 from New York to Heathrow Airport in London. When he tried to buy a ticket online, Kuwait Airways' booking system did not allow the transaction because of Mr. Gatt's citizenship. More from The New York Times Lawyers for Kuwait Airways said in a petition filed in November that the airline's policy was based on Kuwaiti law, which prohibits domestic companies from conducting business with Israeli citizens. The airline, the lawyers stressed, did not discriminate against passengers holding a valid passport from a nation recognized by Kuwait and did not discriminate based on race or religion. The lawyers say that courts in the United States have long accepted distinctions based on citizenship and that the United States also upholds similar restrictions on citizens of countries it does not recognize, like North Korea. But those arguments were not accepted by the Transportation Department, and the matter attracted the attention of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, who said that if the airline did not change course, the administration was "prepared to use all tools at its disposal to protect the civil rights of passengers." It is not the first time that geopolitics has gotten entangled with air travel policy. In 2013, when Bill de Blasio was running for mayor of New York City, he criticized Saudi Arabia's national carrier for refusing to sell tickets to Israelis flying from New York. At the time, officials with the Saudi airline said that since Saudi Arabia did not allow visitors from Israel, the carrier could not fly them there, even for connecting flights.
http://sputniknews.com/
Russian Security Experts Complete Inspection of Cairo Airport A group of Russian experts on flight safety and security have finished an inspection of security procedures at the international airport in Egyptian capital, Cairo, a source in Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation said Wednesday. CAIRO (Sputnik) — The four-men group arrived in Egypt on Monday to check on the newly established security measures at the Cairo airport as part of efforts to resume air travel between Russia and Egypt.
"The Russian specialists have completed their work at the Cairo airport. They have inspected all stages of security procedures in all terminals, including cargo. They will depart to Moscow tomorrow." Š AFP 2016/ MICHEL MOUTOT Russian Experts Begin Checks of Security Measures at Cairo Airport The delegation has not made any significant comments regarding the state of the airport's security, Egypt's Al Shorouk newspaper reported on its website, quoting an airport source. The inspection group's final report will concern the control of passenger and baggage movement inside the airport, the source added. Russian Deputy FM Arrives in Egypt to Discuss Mideast, Terrorism Russia imposed ban on flights to Egypt due to security concerns following the crash of a Russian-operated Airbus A321 over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in October, which killed all 224 people on board, after an explosive device detonated in the passenger compartment. Flights between Egypt and Russia may resume after a joint RussianEgyptian effort at increasing airport security in Egypt has concluded, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
ادارة العالقات العامة -الشركة القابضة لمصر للطيران