Bombardier to Open First Authorized Service Facility in Africa

Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace has appointed South African Express Airways as the first authorized service facility for the company's commercial aircraft on the African continent.

Bombardier made the announcement on Sunday to coincide with the opening of the 44th annual general assembly of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) in Johannesburg.

"Our entire customer services team is firmly committed to expanding our presence in Africa at an accelerated pace to support operators of Bombardier commercial and business aircraft," Bombardier Aerospace customer services president Eric Martel said in a statement.

Johannesburg-based South African Express is a domestic and regional passenger and cargo carrier which, since its establishment in 1994, has become one of the fastest-growing regional airlines in Africa.

The airline employs a full-time staff of approximately 300 maintenance technicians performing both light and heavy maintenance work, and has repeatedly earned Bombardier's "airline reliability performance" award for the Middle East and Africa.

Bombardier already has a strong presence on the continent, with more than 160 of its Dash 8/Q-Series and CRJ aircraft either currently in service with, or on order by, 40 operators and leasing companies in over 20 African countries.

Raphael Haddad, Bombardier's vice-president for sales in the Middle East and Africa, who is leading the company's delegation at the AFRAA annual general assembly, said the continent was poised for growth, "and over the next 20 years, it is predicted that Africa will be one of the leaders in annual economic growth, second only to China.

"Our market forecast for the 2012-2031 timeframe predicts that African airlines will take delivery of 550 aircraft in the 20- to 149-seat segment industry-wide," Haddad said.

"We are excited by the potential opportunities for expanding commercial aviation in Africa and our role in that development."

Ramon Vahed, South African Express's general manager for aircraft maintenance and engineering and fleet development, said that achieving authorized service facility status with Bombardier "will prove to be a significant milestone for the airline and our shareholders and will provide operators in the region with improved access to a sustainable, cost-effective and high-quality local maintenance support service."

Etihad Airways eyes USA for expansion

James Hogan, president and chief executive officer, Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways is keen to expand its network in the US, chief executive James Hogan has said.

Hogan disclosed that the US specifically is among the highest performing regions across the airline’s global network, with an average 81 per cent load factor in 2012.

On existing routes – to New York and Chicago – a significant portion of premium bookings are for travel to/from Abu Dhabi, with 72 per cent of First Class passengers and 53 per cent of Business Class passengers starting or ending their journey in Abu Dhabi.

To date, Etihad Airways has flown nearly 1.5 million passengers to and from the US since commencing services to New York in 2006 and Chicago in 2009.

The airline will launch its third US route in on March 31st, 2013, with daily non-stop flights between Washington, D.C. and its home base of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The route will be operated by a three-class Airbus A340-500 aircraft.

Hogan is in Washington, D.C. to meet prominent local diplomats, travel industry executives, media and corporate representatives.

He hosted an intimate cocktail party for a delegation of VIPs and will deliver the keynote address at a US-UAE Business Council luncheon, where he will discuss the airline’s strategy for growth and the necessity of partnerships within the air travel industry.

The UAE is the single largest export market for US goods in the Middle East and the US is the fifth largest trade partner worldwide for the UAE, representing a total trade volume of US $18.3 billion in 2011.

Hogan said: “Particularly with increasing ties between the UAE and US, both government and private sector, we see a demand for premium services between the Washington, D.C. and Abu Dhabi.

“I am delighted to bring our award-winning Diamond First Class Suites and Pearl Business Class to the route.

“As we build our operations at Washington, D.C., we are also keen to expand further in the US and are examining a number of other destinations, particularly on the West Coast.

“The point-to-point market will be supplemented by strong traffic flows over Abu Dhabi onwards to destinations across Asia, particularly the Indian Subcontinent.

“With the addition of services to Ahmedabad this month, we now serve nine destinations across India.

“Building complementary networks to support business and passenger flows across the globe is a key part of Etihad Airways’ hub strategy – the growing number of connections between the US and India is a perfect example of this.”

Through its agreement with American Airlines, in place since September 2009, Etihad Airways will also codeshare on connecting flights between Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Etihad Airways currently has 41 codeshare partnerships with airlines around the globe, resulting in a combined network of 327 destinations, more than any other Middle Eastern airline.

Etihad is considered the World’s Leading Airline by the World Travel Awards.

Virgin Atlantic moves into short-haul with Heathrow slots

Virgin Atlantic has announced it has been offered all of the Heathrow short-haul remedy slots available following International Airline Group’s acquisition of bmi.

Sir Richard Branson’s airline stated that its business case was based on one airline operating a package of remedy slots so it could mount a credible challenge to BA’s short-haul flying to Heathrow.
Without the remedy slots, BA would continue to fly from Scotland to Heathrow uncontested but Virgin Atlantic said today that domestic flyers would now have a compelling alternative.
Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive, Steve Ridgway said: “We have fought hard for the right to fly short haul and take a strong challenge to British Airways within these shores.
“For 28 years both airlines have battled for customers all over the world and it has meant that British consumers have ultimately had some of the world’s best flying and lowest fares.
“This is the beginning of an exciting new era in Virgin Atlantic history and we now feel a responsibility to everyone that has supported us in this challenge.
”Passengers can look forward to a great short-haul service with us but most importantly reap the benefits from the re-injection of vital competition we can provide on these routes.”
Over the next two weeks, Virgin Atlantic will work to finalise its plans for utilisation of the available remedy slots and to confirm a flying timetable.
The airline will primarily focus on its flying between Scotland and Heathrow running multiple daily flights from Edinburgh and Aberdeen to London Heathrow.
Flights will commence around March 31st 2013 and complement the new Heathrow to Manchester route the airline is also introducing next year.
Virgin Atlantic will be working with a wet lease partner to provide narrow body Airbus A320 aircraft to operate these short haul flights.

Emirates adds Windows 8 Business App to boost inflight experience

Emirates, one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world, has announced the development of a line-of-business application for Window 8 called Knowledge Driven Inflight Service (KIS).
An in-flight communication and customer relationship management device first introduced by Emirates for its pursers in 2004, the KIS application will now run on the soon-to-be-launched HP ElitePad 900 business tablets and will enable Emirates to continue to deliver extraordinary customer service and experiences.


“At Emirates, we strive to deliver the world’s best in-flight experience,” said Khalid Bel Jaflah, Vice President for East Africa Region. “We constantly invest in the best aircraft, products and service. To support our crew, we have created an application on Windows 8 that delivers a unique, personalised experience with the necessary information for our cabin crew to better serve the needs of customers. The Windows 8 platform running on HP ElitePad 900 devices gave us this option, allowing us to create the KIS app that enables our crew to offer an experience not available on other airlines.”
Pursers on the flight use the KIS application to brief the cabin crew before every flight and understand how to best meet the personal preferences and needs of passengers. The crew can also use the application to easily conduct in-flight upgrades to business class or first class for Emirates Skywards members, as well as customer feedback that is immediately routed to headquarters upon landing.
As the first global customer of the HP ElitePad 900, Emirates is creating a new KIS tablet that is light, attractive and has a long battery life, ideal for nonstop flights. The device, announced by HP in October and available to customers in January 2013, is built specifically for business users, offering Windows 8 optimization and a beautiful lightweight design. Combined with Windows 8’s touch-optimized user interface, which quickly shows the most important information via Live Tiles, the crew can spend more time interacting with customers in a unique and efficient way.
When deployment across its fleet is complete, Emirates will have 1,000 HP ElitePad 900 devices running the KIS application on Windows 8. More information on the KIS application running on Windows 8 is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qghgj2mNXN8&feature=youtu.be

Ethiopian Airlines, ASKY Airlines To Take Delivery Of New Q400 Aircraft

First NexGen Q440s On The Bombardier Assembly Line To Offer New Dual-Class Seating Configuration

Bombardier announced today that Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Airlines is the first airline to take delivery of Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners outfitted with a dual-class configuration on the production line. The two airliners delivered so far, have already entered service with Ethiopian Airlines and its affiliate ASKY Airlines of Togo. The new configuration – featuring seven business class and 60 economy seats; fore and aft lavatories; and a galley outfitted to provide cold and hot meals – demonstrates the flexibility of the Q400 NextGen aircraft’s passenger cabin. The new configuration has also provided the airlines with increased cargo capacity. ASKY Airlines will operate three of the five dual-class Q400 NextGen aircraft ordered by Ethiopian Airlines in February 2012.

“We are very happy with this unique turboprop configuration. In addition to the enhanced, comfortable interiors that the Q400 NextGen turboprop are known for, adding the dual-class seating enables us to provide the best possible service on domestic and regional routes,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines. “Now our Cloud Nine customers can enjoy a full business class service and our connecting passengers from Ethiopian and the Star Alliance network will benefit from a greatly improved product in line with our continuous effort to provide a seamless travel experience.” Mr. Gebremariam also said that the airline’s original Q400 NextGen aircraft will be retrofitted with the new interiors.

“On the performance side, the Q400 NextGen aircraft’s ability in hot weather and high altitude conditions is extremely important to our operations,” said Mr. Gebremariam. “Overall, our experience with this excellent aircraft in a wide range of weather and other conditions proves that it is ideally suited for operations in Africa.”

 

“As a repeat Q400 aircraft customer, Ethiopian Airlines has grown to become one of Africa’s leading airlines and together with ASKY, they are taking full advantage of the Q400 NextGen aircraft’s cabin and operational flexibility,” said Raphael Haddad, Vice-president, Sales, Middle East and Africa, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “Add in the aircraft’s high speed and low operating costs – and you have a new-generation turboprop that can’t be beat.”

(Pictured: Bombardier Q400 business class seats)

Lufthansa sells stake in Amadeus

Lufthansa Group has revealed that it has sold 16.2 million shares of Amadeus, reducing its stake in Amadeus from 7.61 per cent to four per cent.
With the sale of the shares, which represents 3.61 per cent of the shares in Amadeus, Lufthansa Group raised gross proceeds of EUR 307m.
Lufthansa Group said in a statement that it is ‘further pursuing its active portfolio management’. Through the sale Lufthansa Group is further ‘strengthening its liquidity position’.
Lufthansa, Iberia and Air France-KLM, all of which are major shareholders of Amadeus IT Holding, S.A., have each agreed to a lock-up period of 90 days for their respective remaining holdings.

Malaysia Airlines welcomes new Airbus A380s to fleet

Malaysia Airlines will add two new A380 aircraft to its fleet by the in the coming days as the carrier prepares to launch a new double daily A380 services between London Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The service will take off from on November 24th 2012.

Malaysia Airlines’ third Airbus A380 arrived at KLIA yesterday from Toulouse and the fourth new aircraft will join the fleet on November 23rd 2012.

Malaysia Airlines will use these two 494-seater aircraft to commence daytime A380 flights from KLIA to London Heathrow starting from 24 November 2012.

Flight MH4 will depart KLIA at 1045 daily to arrive London Heathrow the same day at 16:15.

The return flight MH1 departs London daily at 22:00 and arrives KLIA the next day at 18:20.

This day service will complement Malaysia Airlines’ current daily A380 night service to the UK capital, where MH2 departs KLIA at 11:45 and arrives in London at 05:25 the following day with the return flight MH3 departing London at 10:50am and arriving KLIA at 7:10 the next day.

Malaysia Airlines is the only carrier to offer direct non-stop services between UK and Malaysia.

With the introduction of the double daily A380 services, Malaysia Airlines will cease the 359-seater B747-400 flight operations between London and KLIA while improving weekly seat capacity by 37 per cent in both directions of the route.

The A380 services will offer 6916 seats weekly compared to 5,026 seats offered through the earlier double daily B747-400 operations, allowing more passengers to travel on the latest super jumbo aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines is the eighth operator of this new aircraft and will receive its remaining two A380 is by the first quarter of 2013.