A scene of horror is developing in Kyrgyzstan, where a Turkish Airlines Boeing 747 crashed into a residential neighborhood close to Manas Airport on Monday morning. Manas International Airport is the main international airport in Kyrgyzstan located 25 kilometers north-northwest of the capital Bishkek. A Turkish Airlines Boeing 747 freighter jet tried to land in dense fog, Kyrgyz officials said. The plane was operated by Turkish Airlines under flight number TK6491. The flight took off in...
The Emirates Group in collaboration with GE, and Etisalat Digital selected four start-up teams to become the first joiners of the newly-established Intelak incubator. The Intelak initiative, which means ‘take off’ in Arabic, was launched in September to give innovators, entrepreneurs and students from across the UAE the opportunity to enrol in a tailored incubator programme that will allow them to further develop their concepts. All submissions were focused on the travel and aviation sector...
Did the Egypt Air pilot party too much on New Years? A midair collision was narrowly avoided near the Belgian city of Ghent on New Year’s Day when two planes came close to colliding, according to local media reports. Two planes, one of them an Air France passenger plane, had a mid-air near miss in the Ghent region over Belgium on 1 January. The distance between the two aircraft was 90 meters in altitude and 1,370 meters (0.8 miles) horizontally. An Egyptian cargo plane is said to have ignored...
George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), issued the following statement regarding the announcement that Delta Air Lines will be launching daily nonstop flights between Seattle and Kauai beginning this December. “Delta’s expansion of service to Kauai from its Pacific Northwest hub speaks to the confidence the airline has in the Garden Isle to drive demand from travelers in the greater Seattle area and nationally. “Reliable air access extending throughout the...
Boeing and SpiceJet announced today a commitment for up to 205 airplanes during an event in New Delhi. Booked at the end of 2016, the announcement includes 100 new 737 MAX 8s, SpiceJet’s current order for 42 MAXs, 13 additional 737 MAXs which were previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing’s Orders & Deliveries website, as well as purchase rights for 50 additional airplanes. “The Boeing 737 class of aircraft has been the backbone of our fleet since...
An outstanding 19.2% increase in passenger traffic in December alone saw Budapest Airport continue its record-breaking trend, with the Hungarian gateway welcoming 11.4 million passengers by the end of 2016 – a figure never before reached at the airport. With six months of the year breaking the one million passenger barrier, Budapest celebrated 23 new routes in 2016, including 16 new destinations, meaning a total of 43 airlines connected the airport to 111 destinations across 38 countries last...
Embraer delivered 32 commercial and 43 executive jets, 25 of which are light jets and 18 are large, during the fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16). The Company ended the year with 108 aircraft delivered to the commercial aviation market and 117 to the executive aviation market, totaling 73 light and 44 large executive jets. These numbers are aligned with the estimates reported to the market throughout the year (105 to 110 commercial jets, 70 to 80 light executive jets and 35 to 45 large executive...
Passport Index, the real-time global ranking of the world’s passports has announced a new update to its web service. Germany takes the lead with a visa-free score of 157. Singapore overtakes South Korea and becomes the highest ranked Asian passport, with a visa free score of 156, coming second. South Korea fell to 6th place (152), while Japan, rose to 4th place, tied with European countries like Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, and others whose visa-free score is 154. Visa-free score...
Spring Airlines Japan, a budget airline headquartered in Kozunomori, Japan and 33%-owned by Chinese low-cost carrier Spring Airlines, announced that it will be launching a new service to China in late January. Beginning on January 28, 2017, Spring Airlines Japan will offer new Tokyo Narita, Japan – Tianjin, China flight that will operate 3 times a week. New service is subject to approval.
Carnival Corporation & plc recently launched the Seabourn Encore, the first of three new ships that will enter service in 2017 across three of its 10 global cruise brands. Carnival Corporation will also launch Majestic Princess from Princess Cruises in April, which will be the world’s first cruise ship built specifically for the Chinese market, and its Germany-based AIDA Cruises brand in July will launch AIDAperla, one of the world’s most environmentally friendly and...
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today launched the “Stop! Trains Can’t” ad targeting young male motorists and encouraging them to act cautiously at railroad crossings. The campaign is the latest in a two-year effort by DOT to reduce accidents and fatalities at railroad crossings around the country. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have partnered in the nationwide effort. “The message is simple: Ignoring railroad...
In 2016, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) served a total of 60,792,308 passengers, thus surpassing the 60 million passenger mark once again and remaining almost at the previous year’s level (down 0.4 percent). Following a slowdown in the summer period of 2016 caused by geopolitical factors, passenger traffic clearly picked up again towards the end of the year. Without weather and strike-related flight cancellations, passenger numbers would have risen by approximately 0.4 percent during 2016...
The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $91,000 civil penalty against Amazon.com, Inc., for allegedly violating the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The FAA alleges that on May 7, 2016, Amazon offered an undeclared hazardous material shipment to FedEx for air transportation from Hebron, Kentucky to Marshall, Minnesota. The agency further alleges the shipment contained one 2.5 gallon plastic container of toxic Clear Diesel Fuel and Tank Cleaner...
Dublin based CityJet will join bmi Regional and Flybe in April this year to provide three additional wet leased single aisle jets to Brussels Airlines. These aircraft, three new Sukhoi SSJ100’s, will be deployed under an ACMI lease on lower density European routes similar to Flybe’s Bombardier Q440NG’s and bmi Regional’s ERJ145’s. Brussels Airlines had last year already given notice that their fleet of AVRO’s will be phased out and several have left service...
In 2018, the epic day at sea returns to Disney Cruise Line with 15 special Disney Fantasy sailings to the Caribbean from January through April. Star Wars Day at Sea transports guests to a galaxy far, far away to celebrate the legendary adventures and iconic characters from the Star Wars saga with Jedi, Wookiees, droids, Stormtroopers and others during the special day-long celebration. Star Wars Day at Sea summons the power of the Force, the magic of Disney and the excitement of cruising for an...
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is adding seven nonstop destinations from Seattle, making 2017 its fifth consecutive year of growth at its Pacific Northwest hub. The new destinations include: Austin, Texas; Eugene, Oregon; Lihue, Hawaii; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Redmond, Oregon. Flights will be for sale beginning Saturday, Jan. 14. With these additions, Delta will offer 160 peak-day flights to 49 destinations – including 16 of the top 20 destinations...
The Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) is partnering with the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) to urge President-elect Trump to reverse the decision to grant Norwegian Air International a foreign carrier permit. The two groups will meet in the nation’s capital for a Rally for U.S. Aviation Jobs on January 24. In the final days of his administration, President Obama granted Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign carrier permit, placing tens of...
Turismo Chile is pleased to announce that tourism data compiled by the Department of Statistics showed that international tourism arrivals to Chile last year were up 26% compared to 2015 with UK visitors showing an increase of 11%. European arrivals grew by 9% compared to the previous year with 449,667 visitors from Europe recorded in 2016 of which 51,611 were from the UK, up 11% from 2015. From the other primary European markets, Chile received 77,987 visitors from Spain (up 6.3%), 77,129 from...
The US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that US airlines’ systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service load factor – a measure of the use of airline capacity – rose to 83.8 percent in October, seasonally adjusted, rising for the second consecutive month. Seasonal adjustment allows the comparing of monthly load factors to all other months. Load factor is a measure of the use of aircraft capacity that compares the system use...
Global infrastructure services company AECOM has hired Richard Gammon as Managing Director – Aviation, Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMIA). Richard will be responsible for leading and growing AECOM’s aviation business across the region. Richard joins AECOM from HOK, where he was Global Director – Aviation and Transportation. A recognized industry expert and chartered architect, Richard has significant experience in the design and delivery of major aviation and transportation...
In response to passenger demand, Qatar Airways has proudly announced it will commence four times weekly, non-stop service to Las Vegas, Nevada, starting 8 January 2018. The new route will be the airline’s 11th to the United States, connecting McCarran International Airport to Hamad International Airport in Doha, making Qatar Airways the first Gulf carrier to provide regular scheduled service to Las Vegas. “Las Vegas is a thriving leisure destination and adding the city to our route map has been...
Ethiopian Airlines is getting ever closer to reaching 100 worldwide destinations, when on the 28th of March this year Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, will become the carrier’s 95th destination. Initially will the world’s largest island, located in the Indian Ocean, be served three times a week with a Boeing B737-800NG, leaving Addis Ababa every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and returning directly to the Ethiopian capital. Said Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian...
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (L.A. Tourism) President & CEO Ernest Wooden Jr. today announced Los Angeles welcomed 47.3 million visitors in 2016, surpassing mid-year forecasts and breaking visitation records for the sixth consecutive year. The new record is 1.7 million visitors higher than 2015’s total, an increase of 3.8% from the previous year. New tourism records were set for overall domestic and international visitation. Total domestic...
The Rickshaw Run, with over 80 teams taking part, which started from Cochin-Kochi in Kerala on January 2 is set to end in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India, on January 15. The adventure cum charity event draws much national and international attention each year, as much for the cause as for the mode of travel – the three-wheeler. New Years 2017 saw the launch of the January Rickshaw Run with 84 teams thundering along the Indian subcontinent from Cochin to Jaisalmer with only two weeks to make...
Iran took delivery of the first aircraft purchased from the European airspace giant Airbus, following a landmark nuclear deal reached between Tehran and the six world powers. Iran Air Chairman Farhad Parvaresh took delivery of the new A321 in Colomiers near the French city of Toulouse on Wednesday. The 189-seat plane, painted in Iran Air’s livery, is the first of 100 planes purchased under a December deal worth $18 billion. “Today marks a great day for this company as well as the...
The rapid growth of the global airline industry has been offset by falling cargo revenues and passenger yields, prompting airline companies to focus on enhancing their ancillary revenues. While they have tried to achieve cost and operational efficiencies by employing digital solutions, typically part of a larger digital transformation programme, revenue growth has mostly been a result of the innovative marketing of attractive ancillary products. “Digital transformation is emerging as a...
Passengers should be able to count on TSA and local and state law enforcement authorities to protect them. The principal lessons from Lockerbie, the 9/11 attacks, and the Brussels, Istanbul and now Fort Lauderdale airport massacres are that air transportation continues to be a prime target for terrorism and mass murder. Airports are now clearly the No. 1 soft target, and are naked and totally unprotected. No act of terrorism and mass murder in history has not been repeated without effective...
As United’s Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport continues its $120 million re-imagination, new concepts helmed by chefs including Alex Stupak, Mario Carbone, Alex Guarnaschelli and Dale Talde have debuted. Now Chef Amanda Cohen, feted for her beloved Lower East Side restaurant Dirt Candy, joins those ranks with the opening of Thyme, a hot new all-vegetarian restaurant inside Terminal C. Ms. Cohen is the chef and owner of Dirt Candy, the award-winning vegetarian restaurant on New...
Executives from Genting Hong Kong and Meyer Werft shipyard celebrated the keel laying of World Dream, the second new ship for Asian luxury cruise line, Dream Cruises, during a special event held in Papenburg, Germany. A significant milestone in a vessel’s timeline, this traditional ceremony mark’s the formal recognition of the start of a new ship’s construction. “After the successful debut of Genting Dream last November and the wonderful reception the ship has experienced from our guests...
Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair has overtaken German powerhouse Lufthansa as Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers after the German carrier on Tuesday reported a meager 1.8 percent rise in the number of people it flew in 2016. Lufthansa’s 109.7 million passengers last year fell short of the 117 million passengers reported by low-cost carrier Ryanair last week, a 15 percent increase on the previous year, as Ryanair pulled in passengers with low prices. Lufthansa is expanding...
