http://www.atn.aero/
Passenger traffic growth at Non-EU airports bounced back during July European airport trade body, ACI EUROPE today released its traffic report for July 2015. The report is the only air transport report which includes all types of civil aviation passenger flights: network, low cost, charter and others. During July, passenger traffic at Europe‟s airports grew by +6.7%, pointing to a strong peak summer season for air travel. At EU airports, the average passenger traffic growth was +6.4% with Slovenia, Ireland, Hungary, Romania and Luxembourg leading the region with double digit growth. Passenger traffic at Non-EU airports rebounded after several months of very weak growth, reporting a +7.6% increase – despite continued weakness in Russia. Meanwhile, freight traffic across the European airport network reported tepid growth of +0.5%. Finally, aircraft movements were up +2.6%, reflecting increased airline capacity. During July, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2), airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3) and airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported an average adjustment +5.7%, +8.4%, +6.6% and +6.3%. The airports which reported the highest increases in passenger traffic during the month of July (compared with July 2014) are as follows: GROUP 1: Istanbul IST (+16.9%), Madrid (+13.1%), Amsterdam (+8.4%), Frankfurt (+6.6%) and London LGW (+6.4%) GROUP 2: Istanbul SAW (+28.5%), Ankara (+25.7%), Athens (+20.6%), Tel Aviv (+18.9%) and Dublin (+16.9%) GROUP 3: Gothenburg (+30.0%), Porto (+15.0%), Budapest (+14.3%) Glasgow (+13.6%) and Stuttgart STR (+11.0%) GROUP 4: Turku (+752.9%), Ohrid (+70.1%), Bucharest BBU (+51.3%), Rome CIA (+44.7%) and Trabzon (+39.5%) The 'ACI EUROPE Airport Traffic Report – July 2015‟ includes 209 airports in total representing more than 88% of European air passenger traffic.
http://www.atn.aero/ South African Airways announces a new Code Share Agreement with Air China South African Airways (SAA) has announced a code share agreement with Air China (CA) that will enable SAA to jointly market Air China‟s newly inaugurated non-stop service between Johannesburg and Beijing as well as points beyond Beijing to Chengdu, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chongqing. Air China will in turn market SAA‟s services from Johannesburg to Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth. The code share arrangement is already open for sale, for travel effective 29 October 2015. Subsequent to the successful launch of the partnership between Air China and SAA in March 2012 when SAA launched its services to Beijing, the parties have looked into expanding the partnership on Air China‟s non-stop flights between Johannesburg and Beijing and onward destinations across China. With this codeshare agreement, travelers will be able to purchase flights from any South African Airways‟ destinations onwards to China on one ticket, making for a simpler and seamless journey. “The agreement will effectively enhance flight choices for customers, whether originating in Africa or China, through added connection opportunities, affordable fare options and convenience,” said Sylvain Bosc, SAA‟s Chief Commercial Officer. Both airlines are Star Alliance members, an alliance offering a network unlike any other; with 28 member airlines providing over 18,500 flights a day to over 1,330 destinations in more than 192 countries around the world. The deal signals a strategic move by Air China to inaugurate services to the African continent and for SAA to further increase its connectivity in its already extensive African footprint. With strategic partnerships such as this one, SAA is able to connect its passengers to even more destinations on the continent and across the globe. This partnership between the flag carriers strengthens historic commercial, political and cultural ties between the two countries. Currently China is South Africa‟s largest trade partner. “The enhancement of partnerships between airlines nurtures economic activity, with domestic and regional benefits within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as well as the international benefit which is realised through BRICS countries‟ initiatives, expected to pay dividends both in terms of trade and tourism,” added Bosc. “This code share agreement with Air China is meant to support those initiatives and benefit both the African and Chinese interests, and other BRICS countries, such as Brazil, who will now have easy and convenient access to China through Johannesburg.” “Being BRICS countries, China and South Africa are having much closer relationships in terms of economy and trade in recent years and China has become the largest trade partner of South Africa. The opening of Beijing-Johannesburg is part of Air China‟s important strategic initiatives for promoting exchanges between the two countries and further improve Air China‟s global route network with Beijing as its hub. The cooperation between the two flag carriers will help expand each other‟s global network so as to provide more convenience and more choices for passengers, and meanwhile, explore more opportunities in the exchange and development of trade and culture between China and South Africa, as well as enhance cooperative partnership between Asia and Africa,” said Wang Mingyuan, Air China‟s Senior Vice President.
http://www.albawaba.com/ Jazeera Airways reports July 2015 Operational Performance: 36% Growth in flown passengers Jazeera Airways today released its Operational Performance Report for the month of July 2015, which showed a 36% increase in total flown passengers from July 2014. The increase of flown passengers in July was driven by continued strong demand on all routes served by the airline, better flight schedules, and a constantly improving booking and check-in experience. Jazeera Airways serves 16 popular destinations in the Middle East from Kuwait, including high-demand business, leisure, family, and weekend destinations including Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut, Alexandria, Amman, Istanbul, Sharm El Sheikh, Luxor, Assiut, Sohag, Mashhad, Jeddah, Riyadh and Cairo. The report showed that on routes serving Istanbul, Beirut, and Amman, Jazeera Airways saw a total increase of 38% in flown passengers from July 2014. Specifically, passengers on the Istanbul route increased by 193%, whereas passengers on the Amman and Beirut increased by 21% and 35% respectively. This double and triple digit growth in passengers on these routes was primarily driven by the introduction of better flight schedules, in regards to Istanbul and Beirut, and more frequencies in general. For the 2015 summer season, Jazeera Airways had introduced morning and evening flights to Beirut, and six flights a week to Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Istanbul‟s primary airport. The 193% growth in passengers on the Istanbul route is a clear indication that the change in schedule was welcomed by Istanbul travelers. Jazeera Airways istanbul flights take off from Kuwait 940 am and arrive in Istanbul at 140 pm. On routes serving the Gulf cities of Dubai, Bahrain, Jeddah and Riyadh, Jazeera Airways saw a total increase of 48% in flown passengers, compared to July 2014. Jazeera Airways‟ routes to Egypt, where it served five primary cities in the month, saw a 26% increase in flown passengers compared to July 2014. Starting September, Jazeera Airways will resume operations to Egypt‟s Assiut International Airport, which was closed for renovations since June 2014, thus bringing back the number of cities served in Egypt to six cities in total. In addition to Assiut, Jazeera Airways serves Egypt‟s capital, Cairo, the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh, Alexandria, Sohag, and Luxor. Jazeera Airways issues the Operational Performance Report on a monthly basis. The report is based on official figures and statistics from Kuwait‟s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA).
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/ British Airways in Gatwick cabin crew dispute British Airways is being accused by a union of "holding a gun" to the heads of senior cabin crew at Gatwick. More than 300 cabin managers and pursers who refuse to accept a new working structure would lose their jobs by the end of next month, the Unite union warned. The restructuring meant that cabin managers would have to take pay cuts of up to ÂŁ9,000 a year if they agreed to become 'customer service managers' - the lead crew position across the rest of the BA fleet, Unite claimed. Some of those sent letters took to a campaign website named 'Be Fair BA' to anonymously complain about their treatment - with one correspondent describing the move as an "injustice" following years of loyal service. Another described the planned changes as being an attempt to feed the "BA greed machine." The airline told Sky News: "We have been consulting with the cabin crew trade union for 10 months on proposed changes to senior cabin crew roles at Gatwick so that we have an operation which is sustainable, competitive and crucially ensures we will deliver a great service to our customers." BA argued that pursers stood to benefit from the step-up in responsibility under the plans but Unite demanded the company hold further talks before imposing the changes. National officer, Oliver Richardson, reportedly said: "We've put forward a number of different options to BA, but instead they are ploughing on with changes which will result in some senior cabin crew at Gatwick receiving a significant pay cut or losing their job. "This is unacceptable. Our members play a central role in making BA one of the world's favourite airlines and feel increasingly betrayed. "Holding a gun to senior cabin crew by saying 'accept the new role and a pay cut, or be made redundant' is not the way you would expect such a well-respected airline to behave - especially when you consider their published profits."
http://www.marketwatch.com/ Lufthansa to operate some flights during strike
FRANKFURT--Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) said Monday it will operate more than half of its intercontinental flights on Tuesday, when its pilots are set to strike for the 13th time in 18 months in a dispute over cost cuts, pay and retirement benefits. The German airline said it has put up a special timetable for that day, which foresees the cancellation of 84 long-haul services from or to Frankfurt, Munich or Dusseldorf, while 90 such flights can be operated. Lufthansa Cargo will be able to carry out its full program, it said. Pilots are set to go on strike Tuesday after the German airline's executive board rejected a proposal from trade union Vereinigung Cockpit last week, the union said Monday. Vereinigung Cockpit called on pilots at the airlines and Lufthansa Cargo to strike Tuesday from 0600 GMT until 2200 GMT. The strike will affect all long-haul flights departing Germany. The union said the executive board rejected its offer for an "alliance for growth and employment." It offered cost cuts of 500 million euros ($563 million), the union said. It also required Lufthansa not to "flag out planes," a practice that implies relocation of jobs to companies that don't abide by agreements between the airline and the union, according to Vereinigung Cockpit. Lufthansa said VC's decision to call strikes was regrettable, adding that the company had put forward another offer to the union over the weekend. VC said the offer didn't constitute a basis for talks. Analyst Dirk Schlamp of DZ Bank said the cost of the strike should be below EUR10 million.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/ Lufthansa strike leaves passengers stranded at Denver International Airport
A strike half a world away is making an impact on Denver. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at DIA Monday after Lufthansa was forced to cancel a flight; it was one of 84 to be cancelled worldwide. Many stranded passengers had no clue they'd be stuck in the Mile High City. Some were notified as they boarded. others were told when they landed. The plane these passengers were supposed to take was parked right outside. Lufthansa's pilot union called a one-day strike Tuesday, the thirteenth strike in 18 months. Lufthansa's Flight LH447 was supposed to leave Denver for Frankfurt at 5:25 p.m. Flight LH446 had been scheduled to arrive Tuesday. Some passengers will leave Denver Tuesday after all with other arrangements. The rest of them may be here for days.
http://www.theguardian.com/ British Airways fire: pilots praised for textbook response to 'worst nightmare'
The fire aboard British Airways flight 2276 was “every pilot‟s worst nightmare”, an aviation expert has said, praising the plane‟s crew for their “by the book” handling of the emergency. Seconds before the Boeing 777 took off from Las Vegas on Tuesday its pilot would have received “a master warning, a big red light and bells”, alerting him to a problem, said Marcus Diamond, a safety and technical consultant at the Australian Federation of Air Pilots. Diamond reviewed an audio recording of chatter between the aircraft and a control tower, which captured the pilot‟s mayday call and request for “heavy fire services” at the scene. He said the distress call was made after the plane entered its “sterile cockpit” phase, in which pilots discuss only operational matters. It was unclear what the first sign of danger would have been. “If could have been that the catastrophic engine failure happened first, and then because it had failed, fuel and hydraulics were leaking everywhere, and it caught fire,” Diamond said. “If a fire had already been indicated, [the pilot] would have had a big red light that would have said, „master warning‟,” he said.
http://www.theguardian.com/
“That stimulates the crew to go into an emergency procedure, dictated by Boeing‟s quick reference handbook. And very clearly from those radio calls that‟s what he was doing.” “He called mayday, he called for the fire service. The pause between the stop, the mayday, and the evacuation, which was about 30 seconds ... That was the period of time that they were carrying out the checklist,” he said. The emergency checklist includes identifying the problem and then identifying the course of action in response. “It would take you down the track of shutting down the engine, securing it, and securing your passengers,” he said. The audio recordings revealed another potential danger: another aircraft preparing to land on the same strip, “lining up on final for approach”. “A pilot should always have in their minds a go-around situation, which there was in this case - he was instructed by the tower to go around the runway,” he said. Safety training around fires often draws on the tragedy of Saudia Flight 163, an aircraft that landed in Jeddah after a fire broke out but was not immediately evacuated. As a result, more than 300 people aboard died of smoke inhalation. “In the old days they used to have a think about whether or not to evacuate, but if you pause too long, that‟s what happens,” Diamond said, in reference to the Saudia flight. “Once you‟ve got a fire indication or think there may be a fire, you‟ve got to evacuate. It‟s a well practiced scenario in the simulators.” He praised the flight crew for their cool handling of the emergency. “I think they did it by the book, they did a good job. It‟s a pretty scary thing to have a fire in an airplane ... It‟s every pilot‟s worst nightmare.”
http://www.traveldailymedia.com/ Qatar Airways signs 10-year tech agreement with Irish firm Qatar Airways has signed a 10-year agreement with Dublin-based Arconics to implement an enterprise Corporate Document Management System (CDMS) for the global carrier. Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker and Arconics CEO Niall O‟Sullivan recently signed the deal in Doha. “Evolution 2”, the customised system based on the Arconics AeroDocs platform, will provide a single centralised repository to revise and track in real-time all operational and non-operational company manuals and documentation for operational readiness. The system will support all areas of the business that require access to documentation, including Flight Operations, Engineering, Ground Operations, Inflight Services, Cargo, Security, Human Resources, Finance, Commercial and a host of other areas. The centralisation and consolidation efforts of the company manuals stems from the airline‟s desire to ensure all operational, maintenance and security documents are managed and coordinated, to effectively implement a versatile and user-friendly corporate document management scheme, the airline said in a statement. The AeroDocs platform delivers simple, web-based authoring of XML documents, secure storage, controlled audited distribution, and smart sharing and reuse of data across the airline. The platform gives all users across the group, external partners and regulators access to documents, with fast search facilities and offline viewing capabilities. Qatar Airways administrators will have real-time visibility and control of the distribution process, ensuring that all devices are updated and that all staff have access to the latest version of documents. Arconics will integrate AeroDocs into existing Qatar Airways Group systems to minimise the operational overhead and assure accuracy of information and consistency across all systems. The requirements outlined by the airline included enhancements to the AeroDocs system, which will give the carrier unprecedented capabilities to ensure consistency across documents, notify document owners when regulations relevant to them are updated, and provide a unified enterprise-wide KPI dashboard for document compliance management. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: “The airline is very conscious that rapid expansion requires rigorous precision in how we manage growth. With the investment in enterprise technologies such as Arconics, we are addressing multiple needs of the business in one solution. “Effective communication and secure data exchanges are crucial when it comes to safeguarding our global operations. This highly-customised tool we have invested in supports our day-to-day operations, and further reinforces Qatar Airways‟ commitment to deploying the leading technologies in its business – both on the ground and in the air.”
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/ POOR UPKEEP CAUSED AIâ€&#x;S EMERGENCY LANDING Aircraft, over two decades old, had a hydraulic hose rupture. A preliminary probe into Monday's emergency landing of an Air India flight in Delhi has pointed towards maintenance issues of the 21-year-old Airbus 320 aircraft, which had 146 passengers - including about a dozen from Mumbai onboard. Ironically, Air India is in the midst of the International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), which is assessing the operational management and control systems of the airline. This audit is conducted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) once every two years. Senior officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) who carried out the aircraft's inspection found that the hydraulic hose connected to the landing gear had ruptured. "Such damage is likely to happen over a period of time," one of the officials who examined the aircraft said indicating that the damage was a maintenance issue. DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy said a probe had been ordered into the incident. Praveen Keerthi, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) general secretary, central committee, said: "We have already raised our concerns with the management." ICPA pilots told Mirror that the fact that the rubber did not catch fire was providence. "We hear of one hydraulic leak a month. Air India is the only airline flying such an old aircraft," the pilot said. Author William Dalrymple speaking to Mirror from Delhi said: "There were murmurs of the aircraft having a problem at Varanasi. In fact, I had a copassenger who was incidentally an aircraft engineer. He kept praying throughout." Om Prakash, a passenger who was administered first aid for bruised arms at the airport, said: "The moment the aircraft came to a halt, cabin crew rushed out shouting the words 'may day' aloud. They got us all out within minutes." According to an Air India spokesperson, passengers were being evacuated via emergency chutes or slides because of a hydraulic problem that impacted how the plane would brake on the runway. Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for civil aviation, said: "It would be wrong to link the aircraft's age to a fault. All aircraft, two months old or twenty years old are flown only after certification." "There is no question of flying a faulty plane. The pilot got to know of the problem just before landing," said Sharma. He said it's incorrect to say the veteran A-320s are dangerous.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/ Lufthansa pilots' union calls strike for Tuesday on long-distance, cargo flights
BERLIN -- A union representing Lufthansa pilots has called a one-day strike at the German airline's long-distance and cargo operations on Tuesday -- the latest in a string of walkouts. The Vereinigung Cockpit union has hit various Lufthansa units with more than a dozen short-term walkouts over recent months. The dispute centres on the airline's plans to cut transition payments for pilots wanting to retire early, which the union wants to see maintained. The union announced the latest strike on Monday, saying that previous talks made no progress. Traditional national carriers such as Germany's biggest airline are being squeezed both by European budget carriers and major Gulf airlines. Lufthansa has announced plans to launch budget long-haul services.
http://www.africanreview.com/ Nigerian airports to get new terminals by 2016
Aviation ministry officials are confident that the terminals will be completed by Q1 2016. (Image source: Hans/Pixabay) According to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) managing director Saleh Dunoma, the airports – namely at Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu – will improve passenger comfort, increase capacity and generally improve facilitation after the terminals are constructed. The terminals are being constructed in accordance to the globally recognised aviation standards of safety and regulation. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has listed criteria that include state-of-the-art airport and air navigation facilities, adequate fire cover, airport safety and security, perimeter fencing, airport certification, transit facilities as well as accelerated passenger facilitation. The new terminals are being constructed with a US$500mn loan secured from a China-based bank, in addition to a counterpart funding of US$100mn from the Nigerian government on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The terminals are likely to be completed by Q1 2016, confirmed the aviation ministry permanent secretary Hajia Binta Bello.
http://www.wilx.com/ Airplane Fire at Las Vegas Airport
Fourteen people are being treated for minor injuries after an engine of a British Airways jet caught fire Tuesday while getting ready to take off from a Las Vegas airport. Billowing black smoke and orange flames poured from under the plane's wings, sending passengers fleeing. A spokesman at McCarran International Airport says all 159 passengers and 13 crew members were able to get off the plane. It was supposed to fly to London.
ادارة العالقات العامة -الشركة القابضة لمصر للطيران