COMMERCIAL AIRLINE NEWS
Stephen Moon E-mail: [email protected]
A big apology for a short column this month, sadly work has got in the
way. Normal service will be restored next month.
General News
- Airline of Antioquia (Colombia) will place Caucasia airport for sale,
as a result of its financial crisis and the recent closure of operations. - ANAC (Brazil) has begun the immediate redistribution of slots
that are no longer operated by Avianca Brasil at Santos Dumont,
Sao Paulo Guarulhos and Recife airports. - The Angolan government says it has already paid off its entire
debt to TAP Air Portugal under the payment programme to
Portuguese companies. - Argentina and the US have signed an amendment to the
Agreement on Air Transport, adding the unlimited opening of
routes and frequencies between the two countries. - Argentina has lost an appeal from a 2017 case regarding the
expropriation of Aerolineas Argentinas, which condemned the
country to pay US$320.7 million. - In Argentina, San Juan Domingo Faustina Sarmiento airport
reopened on 03Jun19 following two months of runway renovation. - In Bahrain B747-200 TF-AAA (22447) is to become an artificial reef
at a new diving site off the Bahrain coast. - The Brussels Airlines/Lexus lounge The Loft has been named as
Europe’s Leading Airport Lounge 2019 in World Travel Awards. - Brazil and Australia will discuss direct flights from 1Q20, with the
first flights between Melbourne and Sao Paulo. - Brazil says three more foreign airlines are in talks with the the
government to start domestic flight operations in the country.
The companies are publicly traded, and will be revealed later. - Brazil’s antitrust regulator wants new rules for allocating slots at
Sao Paulo’s crowded domestic airport, saying they are too
concentrated among two main airlines. - The Brazilian federal government expects the domestic aviation
market to expand competition in the coming months, with the
entry of three or four new airlines in the country. - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed a bill into law
allowing foreign airlines to operate domestic flights in Latin
America’s largest air market, a move that could usher in new
competition or lead foreign carriers to buy up the local airlines. - British Virgin Islands premier Andrew Fahie has told the House of
Assembly that information on the botched BVI Airways deal is
“missing” or on a “deleted” hard drive and he is working on
retrieving the information. - Britten-Norman (UK) has signed an agreement to begin operating
from its newly allocated hangar at Malta International Airport,
with an eventual short sector passenger aircraft operation under
an International AOC. - Business Alliance of the Czech Republic has lodged an appeal
against the Tatarstan Commercial Court’s refusal to oblige an
administrative receiver of VIM Airlines (Russia) to complete an
inventory of the debtor’s assets. - The CAA of China and the EU have jointly signed an agreement on
civil aviation safety and on certain aspects of air services. - The CAA of China has issued the first “all-in-one” maintenance
permit, to Ameco (China). - The CAA of China says that all safety concerns, including defective
parts in their wings, must be resolved before the B737 MAX planes
resume operation. - In Canada, Longview Aviation capital is to revive the De Havilland
Canada name following its acquisition of the Dash 8 programme
including production of Q400 series. - Changi Airport Group (Singapore) and the City of Busan have
signed an MOU to increase the air transport volume between
Busan and Singapore.- Costa Rica has announced an agreement with the FAA (US) to
launch a joint programme that will allow Costa Rica to make
corrections and again obtain a Category 1 aviation safety rating. - Dubai International Airport (UAE) has reopened its southern
runway after 45 days of refurbishment. - EASA plans to grade aircraft according to carbon emissions and
pollution as passengers demand more information on the
environmental impact of flights. - Estonia is considering transferring its holding in Nordic Aviation
Group and aircraft lessor Transpordi Varahaldus. A decision is due
by the end of 2019. Estonia’s ruling party says it has yet to discuss
the privatisation of and it has not been considered either. - The EU has warned the US about meddling in the affairs of Air Italy
which it sees as a violation of the US-EU Open Skies agreement; the
repercussions could affect trans-Atlantic partnerships. - The EU will work with other regulators on the approval of new
software for the B737 MAX but reserves the right to take its own
decision as to when to return the grounded jet to service. - The European Commission has blacklisted Moldova and put
Belarus and the Dominican Republic under closer scrutiny in its
latest EU Air Safety List update. - The European Commission says applying a tax to jet fuel of US$370
per thousand litres for certain types of flights would increase ticket
prices across the bloc by 10%, to an average of $370. It would also
cut the yearly number of travellers by 11% to 613 million. - The FAA has disclosed a new problem involving the B737 MAX,
saying that more than 300 of that troubled aircraft and B737 NGs
may contain improperly manufactured parts and that the agency
will require these parts to be quickly replaced. It does not have a
specific timetable to approve the B737 MAX for flight, ahead of a
meeting with more than 30 international air regulators. The
Administration takes the view that airlines that have taken the
grounded B737 MAX out of their schedules through the summer
2019 currently don’t need to extend flight cancellations. - The FAA has removed three senior managers in the office
overseeing Southwest Airlines (US), amid allegations of lax safety
enforcement raised by agency whistleblowers and various
resulting government inquiries. - The FAA has issued an emergency order prohibiting US airlines
from flying in the overwater area of Iranian-controlled airspace
until further notice. US diplomats have warned that airliners
flying over the Persian Gulf may risk being “misidentified” amid
tensions between the US and Iran. - The FAA has proposed a US$715,438 civil penalty against Allegiant
Air for allegedly operating an aircraft on more than two dozen
flights following improper engine maintenance. - Filipino airlines have agreed to use the Sangley airport in Cavite
province for turboprop operations to alleviate congestion at
Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. - In Finland, Kuusama Airport will be closed from 12Aug19 to
30Aug19 for runway resurfacing – buses will take passengers from
Rovaniemi to Kuusama. - France’s aviation authorities have declined an application by Ural
Airlines (Russia) to operate flights to Paris and Nice from Moscow
Zhukovsky, claiming that its ‘regional airport’ status is unjustified. - France’s government wants new EU executives to push for an end
to the global tax exemption for jet fuel to reduce CO 2 emissions
but has dismissed opposition calls for a ban on some domestic
flights to encourage train travel. - The German government has placed a firm order for three
ACJ350-900s. Delivery of the first aircraft is planned for 2020, and
the other two in 2022. - German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer fears that the
construction of the new airport Berlin-Brandenburg will be
delayed even further. - Global airlines have urged regulators not to compete over setting
new safety rules after the two crashes that led to the grounding
- Costa Rica has announced an agreement with the FAA (US) to