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Ethiopian Airlines upgrades Addis Ababa infrastructure

Ethiopian Airlines is upgrading the infrastructure at Addis Ababa Bole International for maintenance, cargo and flight simulators as the carrier continues to grow. Nearing completion is a widebody maintenance hangar and a new cargo terminal. The maintenance hangar, which is 97% complete, has 2 bays for paint and maintenance. It can accommodate 2 Boeing 747-8s at a time, or more of other aircraft types. A new cargo terminal, which is 82% complete, is expected to open around April 2017. The new terminal will have an annual storage of 1.2m tons and a capacity to handle 8 747-8 freighters at a time. Construction of the first phase will cost approximately US$150m. Upon completion, Ethiopian said its uplifting capability “will be equivalent to the cargo terminals at Amsterdam Schiphol, Singapore Changi or Hong Kong.” <br/>

Less than 80% of Air NZ flights on time - OAG study

Less than 80% of Air NZ's flights were on-schedule in 2016, according to a study by air travel intelligence company OAG. The carrier came in as the eighth most punctual airline in the Asia Pacific region with an on-time performance (OTP) of 79.2%. That compares with first-placed Qantas Airways' 87.6%. The study was based on some 54m flight records using full-year data from 2016. Air NZ said it was proud to rank in the top 10 airlines in Asia-Pacific for OTP and to again be the leader on this measure for domestic air services in this country. "OTP is affected by many factors, with the most significant being environmental, so no two years are the same for an airline. Weather events like significant winter storms or high wind conditions plus natural events, such as earthquakes, have a significant impact on OTP." <br/>