Boeing Rolls Out 787-9 With First New Boeing Livery
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Friday, 26 July 2013
Air Arabia, Cambata Aviation Officials Busted For Gold Smuggling
AHMEDABAD, India - A team of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a gold smuggling racket on Wednesday when it arrested seven men, six of whom are aviation staff, carrying three kilograms of gold at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport. They were produced before the metropolitan magistrate's court later in the evening.
On the basis of intelligence inputs, the DRI had been keeping a watch on the airport for the past one month. In the intervening night of July 23 and 24, a DRI team arrested one Mayur Puchariya, who had come from Sharjah by an Air Arabia flight, along with Manvendra Singh and Jay Vaidya (both officials of Air Arabia) and Feroz Sheikh, Arpit Rawal, Dhawal Joshi and Sameer Mansuri (all Cambata Aviation officials). A total of three kg of gold jewelry and $10,000 were recovered from the accused.
This is the first case of gold smuggling at the city airport in which airline officials were also involved. Cambata Aviation manages the ground-handling work for Air Arabia at Ahmedabad airport. Airline officials aren't checked by customs while leaving or entering the airport. This security loophole was used by the accused to smuggle gold. The accused airline officials would ask the passenger carrying gold to stay back in the plane when others left. Then one of the officials would take the gold packet and leave through the departure area.
The passenger would escape scot-free and the gold would get out of the airport without a fuss. "We wanted to catch them red-handed. The seizure of 3 kg gold is not a big deal but hopefully it will put a brake on illegal gold imports," said R K Singh, additional director-general, DRI.
"The accused have successfully smuggled several times before. It is a big network of smugglers. With the ban on gold imports, these people try to get gold through passengers," said Singh. Import of gold has been capped by the Central government, so gold is being smuggled into the country by various means, especially as it is cheaper in Dubai and Sharjah.
Last month, the DRI had recovered 20 kg gold which was smuggled into the country from outside by regular courier service. The sender had hidden gold inside garments and sent it through the courier.
Source: indiatimes.com
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
The additional E190s are part of KLM Cityhopper’s plan to replace the oldest aircraft in its Fokker fleet. The first of the six E190s is scheduled to be delivered in H2 2013.
Consistent with its current E190s, the new E190s will be configured with 100 seats in a single-class layout.
After delivery of the last aircraft from this new acquisition, KLM Cityhopper will have more E190s in its fleet than any other aircraft type.
All of the E190s will be deployed across KLM’s European network from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
“It is a major endorsement for the E-Jets program to see KLM Cityhopper continuing its fleet modernization with additional E190s,” said Paulo Cesar Silva, President & CEO, Embraer Commercial Aviation. “Through its partnership with Air France, the combined group will operate more than 50 aircraft, the largest fleet of E-Jets in Europe. The participation of BOC Aviation was key in the success of this transaction and shows the role such an important lessor plays in the E-Jets program.”
KLM’s CEO Camiel Eurlings, added, “This deal is a perfect example of the investments that KLM is making ... Not only do these investments make travel more comfortable, they also contribute to a more sustainable operation and greater efficiency, all of which will help us achieve our ambitious aims to reduce noise and carbon emissions.”
BOC Aviation is an Asia-based aircraft leasing company with a portfolio of 225 owned and managed aircraft operated by 56 airlines worldwide. Its fleet has an average age of less than four years.
Source: http://www.asiatraveltips.com
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Federal Aviation Administration Wants Dreamliner Transmitters Inspected
Washington: Airlines should inspect the emergency locator transmitters of all Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the Federal Aviation Administration urged on Friday following a fire earlier in the week aboard one of the aircraft while parked at London’s Heathrow Airport.
British aviation authorities, who are investigating the fire on an Ethiopian Airlines 787, have said the transmitters should be disabled after finding that one of the squat orange boxes was the only thing with enough power to start a fire in the plane’s tail section, which was scorched.
The FAA made no mention on Friday of disabling the transmitters in a brief statement provided to the media. Instead, the agency said that after reviewing the British investigators’ recommendations, US officials have begun working with Boeing to develop instructions for how airlines should conduct the inspections.
The inspections would ask airlines to examine transmitters for proper wire routing and damaged or pinched wires, the statement said. The transmitter’s lithium battery compartment would be inspected for heat or moisture.
An order making the inspections mandatory for US operators is expected in the coming days, the FAA said.
FAA safety orders apply only to operators of US-registered planes, but aviation authorities in other countries are expected to follow with their own orders for inspecting or disabling the transmitters.
Boeing has delivered 68 of the planes worldwide so far, all with the same transmitter made by Honeywell International Inc. United Airlines is the only US operator of the planes, with six.
Britain’s Thomson Airways, which has six 787s, said on Thursday that it had already removed the emergency locator transmitters from its 787s. It said its 787 flights would still operate as planned. “This is not a Boeing 787 technical issue,” the airline said, but an issue with the transmitter made by Honeywell.
As Honeywell reported financial results on Friday, an analyst asked CEO David Cote how it would be possible for such a relatively small transmitter to cause a fire like the one in the 787 at Heathrow. Cote did not answer directly but said he wants to wait and see what the final investigation finds.
“We’ll just wait to find out what actuals are, and respond to it then,” he said. “There’s no significant financial impact to Honeywell in any way.”
British investigators have said it is not clear if the fire was caused by the transmitter’s lithium-manganese dioxide batteries or a short near or around the transmitter. A spokeswoman for the investigative branch said the easiest way to make the transmitter systems “inert” — as set out in their recommendations — would be to take out their batteries.
Honeywell has made 6,000 of these transmitters and they are used in a wide range of planes. The actions announced by the FAA, however, apply only to 787s.
The transmitters have logged 50 million hours of flight on planes other than the 787 with few reports of incidents, and none as serious as the London fire, an official familiar with the transmitters’ history said. The official, who was not authorised to speak publicly, asked not to be named.
The locators are activated in a crash and send a signal that satellites use to calculate the location of the plane. They are most helpful when a plane crashes in a remote area on land, making it difficult for rescuers to find the wreckage. They are of little value in accidents where a plane is underwater or where the location of the plane is clear, such as the crash landing of an Asiana Airlines plane at San Francisco International Airport two weeks ago.
The 787 is Boeing’s newest and most technologically advanced plane. It’s the first airliner with a skin made mostly of lightweight composite materials. It relies far more than other airliners on electrical systems to operate. And it is the first airliner to make extensive use of rechargeable lithium ion batteries.
The plane is key to Boeing’s future, but it has been plagued with problems. The entire 787 fleet was grounded for about three months earlier this year after a fire in a battery unrelated to the transmitter on a Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston’s Logan International Airport, and another smoking battery that led to an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways 787 in Japan.
US and Japanese authorities are still investigating the two incidents, but have reached no conclusion on the cause of the battery failures.
Source: GulfNews.com
Monday, 22 July 2013
Fiji Airways Names Stefan Pichler As MD and CEO
Pichler is currently Chief Executive Officer of Jazeera Airways and was recently awarded Business Aviation's “Personal Achievement of the Year Award 2012” for his turnaround of Jazeera Airways in the past four years which saw the carrier achieve the highest operating profit margins in the industry in 2011 and 2012.
Before Jazeera Airways, Pichler was responsible for Virgin Blue’s transformation from a low cost carrier to a network airline and served as its Chief Commercial Officer. He also launched Virgin Blue’s long haul carrier V Australia in 2008 as its Chairman.
Pichler has also been Chairman and CEO of Thomas Cook AG, and held senior and executive board roles with Lufthansa AG. “This is a remarkable confluence of the right person in the right place at the right time. Mr. Pichler’s distinctive career experience and outstanding accomplishments established him as the best possible fit for CEO of Fiji Airways.
We are confident that under his leadership Fiji Airways will continue to modernise, grow and prosper as we move forward into the future in this significant new chapter in the history of Fiji Airways,” said Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Fiji's Attorney-General and Minister for Civil Aviation.
Saturday, 20 July 2013
Results of 787 Fire Probe Relieve Boeing; Challenging Repairs Loom
July 19--The initial report from British investigators into the 787 Dreamliner fire at Heathrow Airport delivered good news for Boeing's trouble-plagued jet.
Though how the July 12 fire started and why it was so severe remain mysterious, the investigators definitively fingered a small electronic device that's found on lots of other airplanes as the source of the fire.
"It doesn't look like this fire had anything to do with the unique attributes of the 787," said Hans Weber, a respected technical expert in the aviation world and president of consulting firm Tecops International.
The incident, not long after two battery fires grounded the 787 for three months, appears to be "incredible bad luck" for the Dreamliner program, he said.
The report from the U.K.'s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) also revealed that, despite how it looked on TV footage, the fire did not burn through the roof of the Dreamliner.
Still, repairing the damaged Ethiopian Airlines jet will clearly be a major challenge for Boeing's engineers.
The AAIB interim report, released Thursday, confirmed the fire centered on an electronic device weighing less than 7 pounds, an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), which transmits location data to satellites in the event of a crash.
Investigators recommended the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) order the devices disabled on all 787s pending further investigation and recommended the U.S. agency also review the devices' performance in other planes.
Boeing said it supports those recommendations, calling them "reasonable precautionary measures to take as the investigation proceeds."
The focus on a rare malfunction of this electronic beacon damped fears that the fire was the result of some broader problem with the 787's electrical systems.
The report points to the ELT, which sits in the fuselage ceiling just in front of the tail fin, as the sole source of the fire, either due to the lithium batteries inside it or from a short in a connecting wire.
It did not explain how such a relatively small energy source -- an inactive battery with five 3-volt cells carrying just 55 amp-hours of charge -- could severely damage a substantial area of the jet's carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic skin.
For comparison, the 787's main batteries that proved so problematic earlier this year each weighed 63 pounds and had eight 32-volt cells. Each of those two batteries generates 150 amps on power-up; the total charge isn't clear.
In addition, the emergency beacon's batteries use a lithium-manganese chemistry that is relatively stable compared with the more volatile lithium-cobalt chemistry of the main batteries.
The AAIB report says Honeywell, which supplies the ELT, has produced some 6,000 units of the same design. They are on a wide range of aircraft, and the 787 fire has been "the only significant thermal event" to date.
Yet firefighters initially struggled to put out the fire, according to the report.
After the control tower noticed smoke from the plane, firefighters rushed to the jet, entering through a passenger door, and "encountered thick smoke" that became denser as they moved to the rear, where they saw signs of fire "above the ceiling panels."
They initially tried to extinguish the fire with a handheld halon fire extinguisher. When this proved ineffective, they ripped out a ceiling panel and doused the fire with water from hoses.
Because airliners have neither fire detection or suppression systems above the cabin ceilings, the report says, "had this event occurred in flight it could pose a significant safety concern and raise challenges for the cabin crew in tackling the resulting fire."
Source: Aviationpros.com
Friday, 19 July 2013
Air India Suspends 2 Pilots For Allowing Actress Into Cockpit
Two Air India pilots have been suspended after they allowed a South Indian actress to sit inside the cockpit mid-air on a Bangalore-Hyderabad flight in flagrant violation of safety norms.
"Both pilots have been suspended and taken off the roster. An inquiry is going on," airline officials said, adding that the matter came to light after a passenger lodged a complaint with the airline. The pilots have been identified as Jagan M. Reddy and S. Kiran.
In his complaint, the passenger said the actress was allowed into the cockpit when the plane was mid-air. She occupied the observer's seat during the flight, which is reserved for examiners and observers authorized by the DGCA.
Source: PTI/Indiawest
"Both pilots have been suspended and taken off the roster. An inquiry is going on," airline officials said, adding that the matter came to light after a passenger lodged a complaint with the airline. The pilots have been identified as Jagan M. Reddy and S. Kiran.
In his complaint, the passenger said the actress was allowed into the cockpit when the plane was mid-air. She occupied the observer's seat during the flight, which is reserved for examiners and observers authorized by the DGCA.
Source: PTI/Indiawest
Asiana Boeing 777 Crash Puts Air Safety innovations To The Test
July 16--In an era when U.S. airline accidents are rare, the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 has given two decades of safety improvements a chance to demonstrate its worth.
As tragic as the loss of three young lives in the crash is, 304 people lived -- a 99 percent survival rate.
"The tremendous safety enhancements that have been made over the past 30 years were put into play in this tragic event," said Larry Rooney, executive vice president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA), a trade association of professional pilots. "It was a tragic loss of life but nowhere near what you would have anticipated."
Among the safety features that helped so many passengers survive: stronger, fireproof seats; fire retardant materials inside the cabin and around the cargo areas; illuminated strips on the floor leading to the exits, and training of flight attendants to speak up -- and pilots to pay attention -- when they notice something wrong.
The Boeing 777 that crashed July 6 has a record "of being one of the safest airliners in the sky," said Kevin Hiatt, president and chief executive officer of the Flight Safety Foundation.
"The good news story about this particular accident is about the passenger survivability of this aircraft and other new modern aircraft with same type of design features," he said.
That said, there are problems to study: some escape slides deployed inside the aircraft, momentarily trapping two
flight attendants; evacuation was delayed for 90 seconds; and the lap seat belts in most of the seats injured some passengers, even as they also helped save their lives.
"Accidents are very rare, and this one will be closely looked at," said Todd Curtis, who worked on safety features of the 777 at Boeing and who now operates AirSafe.com, a web site that provides information for travelers on safety and security. "There may be industry regulatory changes coming out of it."
The airplane that struck the seawall at San Francisco International Airport, breaking off its tail, had its maiden flight on Feb 5, 2006, according to a database of the Flight Safety Foundation, so it was manufactured when safety features developed in the late 1980s and 1990s were being incorporated into new airliners. Among them:
STRONGER SEATS: The seats on the Asiana aircraft were "16G" -- able to withstand 16 times the force of gravity, in accordance with a Federal Aviation Administration regulation. Firefighters entering the aircraft found the seats toward the front of the aircraft "almost pristine, like you could fluff the pillows and almost go out," National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said in a press briefing. Toward the rear, the damage was more severe, and seats were "jumbled," she said.
Hiatt said passengers may have climbed over the seats, pushing them forward.
ESCAPE: The escape path lighting on the floor worked -- a feature added to aircraft built in 1986 and later -- and the public address system was still active so a vital evacuation order could be announced. FAA rules say passengers should be able to evacuate the aircraft in 90 seconds, even if some exits are blocked.
SAFER MATERIALS: Although the aircraft burned, passengers had time to escape. In the 1980s, the FAA issued regulations requiring fire-resistant materials inside the cabin and insulation around cargo compartments. Improvements continue today.
"In a fire that burns through the top of the aircraft, the heat is extremely intense," said Hiatt of the Flight Safety Foundation, "but if you can slow that down to a point where you can get the aircraft evacuated, it makes all the difference in the world."
Also, materials inside the passenger compartment are designed not to crack and create sharp surfaces. "Everything in the airplane is engineered for the ultimate design of safety," said Thomas Anthony, director of the University of Southern California's Aviation Safety and Security program.
Source: Aviationpros.com
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Emirates Denies Any Interest In Philippine Airlines
Emirates has refuted media reports that it is interested in acquiring part of Lucio Tan's 51% shareholding in Philippine Airlines.
In a statement, the Dubai-based carrier said "there have been no talks with PAL regarding any form of strategic investment."
PAL's minority shareholder, San Miguel Corporation, also confirmed that there were no discussions with Emirates but however, did acknowledge that preliminary discussions have taken place with ANA - All Nippon Airways. The Filipino carrier's president, Ramon Ang, said it would prefer "a profitable and well known airline as its strategic partner" once Lucio Tan's withdrawal from the airline has been completed.
Source: .ch-aviation
In a statement, the Dubai-based carrier said "there have been no talks with PAL regarding any form of strategic investment."
PAL's minority shareholder, San Miguel Corporation, also confirmed that there were no discussions with Emirates but however, did acknowledge that preliminary discussions have taken place with ANA - All Nippon Airways. The Filipino carrier's president, Ramon Ang, said it would prefer "a profitable and well known airline as its strategic partner" once Lucio Tan's withdrawal from the airline has been completed.
Source: .ch-aviation
Monday, 15 July 2013
Saudi Arabian Airlines Reportedly Refuses Israeli Passport Holders To Purchase Tickets
Saudi Arabian Airlines reportedly is discriminating against Israeli citizens by refusing to let them fly from U.S. airports.
The New York Post reported that for customers booking on online, the airline’s website has no drop-down menu options for anyone holding an Israeli passport, even though, as the Post pointed out, there is a drop-down menu option for Antarctica citizens. The airline appears to prevent passengers simply looking to transfer in Saudi Arabia to another country, as well.
“No city in the world has closer ties to Israel than we do, and yet Israeli citizens are being discriminated against right here at JFK. It’s not only illegal; it’s an affront to who we are,” said public advocate, and mayoral candidate, Bill de Blasio, who conducted a recent telephone sting on the Mideast nation’s airline.
When a member of de Blasio called the airline --trying to book a ticket from JFK to Mumbai, India -- identifying themselves as an Israeli passport holder, the caller was told by an agent that they would not be able to fly.
“Since you have Israeli nationality, you will not be allowed to go on Saudi Airlines,” the agent said, after consulting a supervisor.
Federal law says an “air carrier or foreign air carrier may not subject a person in air transportation to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or ancestry.”
Source: FoxNews
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Government Denies Further Privatization In Turkish Airlines
Turkey's privatization board denied reports on Friday that the government was preparing to sell part of its 49.12 percent stake in Turkish Airlines (THY), Europe's fourth-largest carrier.
In a written statement to Bourse İstanbul (BIST), the Privatization Board (ÖİB) said they "have no plans or studies under way to privatize state shares in THY."
Reports earlier in the day said the ÖİB had decided to assign McKinsey & Company as a consultant in an alleged privatization. A consortium of the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB), UniCredit Group and Yapı Kredi Yatırım Menkul Değerler AŞ provided consultancy for THY on privatization until March 3, when their contract with the board expired. Turkey held a public offering of 25 percent of the airline in May 2006, when the government's ownership fell below 50 percent. The remaining 50.8 percent is traded publicly on BIST.
Shares in Turkish Airlines traded up 0.25 percent at 8 lira, underperforming BIST, which traded up 1.25 percent on Friday.
Friday, 12 July 2013
Gulf Could Handle Up To 4 More Low Cost Carriers - Analyst
As Oman considers launching up to two new airlines, a leading aviation analyst said the region’s market could accommodate up to four more low cost carriers.
Oman’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) said last week the licence may be awarded to a local Omani private company or a subsidiary of state-owned carrier Oman Air.
"Over the next two to three years, the aviation business in Oman will change completely, I'm absolutely certain," PACA chief executive officer Salim Al Aufi told the Times of Oman newspaper.
"Our own study will determine if we need one or two licences, depending on the market. We don't want to flood it, but we don't want to starve it."
Low-cost carriers currently represent up to seven percent of Oman's aviation market, led by foreign carriers such as Dubai-based Flydubai, Air Arabia and India's Indigo, according to Al Aufi.
Source:Arabian Business
Monday, 8 July 2013
Air India Boieng 787
Air India to increase 787 operations on regional and domestic services in Jul-2013:
Air India plans to increase Boeing 787 operations on regional and domestic services in Jul-2013, as per a 04-Jul-2013 as follows:
•Delhi–Dubai: From 01-Jul-2013 to 31-Jul-2013, one of two daily services operated by 787 aircraft. On 05-Jul-2013, service will operate with A320 aircraft;
•Delhi–Kolkata: From 06-Jul-2013 to 31-Jul-2013, 787 operation increases to twice daily.
Source: Airline Route
Air India plans to increase Boeing 787 operations on regional and domestic services in Jul-2013, as per a 04-Jul-2013 as follows:
•Delhi–Dubai: From 01-Jul-2013 to 31-Jul-2013, one of two daily services operated by 787 aircraft. On 05-Jul-2013, service will operate with A320 aircraft;
•Delhi–Kolkata: From 06-Jul-2013 to 31-Jul-2013, 787 operation increases to twice daily.
Source: Airline Route
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