An Iranian airline that signed a US$3b contract with Boeing is confident the deal won’t face a political backlash in Washington, days after the US Senate voted to advance a bill that could bring new sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Aseman Airlines, a private company whose largest owner is Iran’s National Pension Fund, signed a final purchase agreement with Boeing Saturday for 30 737 Max jets and an option for 30 more. Boeing will deliver the first jets in 2022. “We’re a commercial company, like Boeing is a commercial company, and we’re operating in an economic sphere, not a political one,” an Aseman spokesman said. “In this area, work is moving forward and things are getting under way." Boeing has applied to the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for a license to see the deal through. <br/>
unaligned
German authorities Sunday released without charge 3 British men detained in Germany late Saturday after their conversations on board an EasyJet flight from Slovenia to London prompted the pilot to divert to Cologne. "The criminal investigation against them has been halted. No evidence was found," a local police spokesman said. "We now believe that there was never any real danger." Nine people received medical treatment after all 151 passengers were evacuated from the Airbus 319 aircraft using emergency slides. It was not immediately clear when the men, who were returning to London after a business trip, would travel onto London. The pilot diverted the flight from Ljubljana to Cologne after fellow passengers reported the men were discussing "terrorist matters" and carried a book entitled "Kill" with a sniper rifle on its cover. <br/>
Hong Kong Airlines looks forward to the arrival of its first Airbus A350-900s this year, while a new batch of A330-300s due for delivery next year will help boost capacity on regional services. Assistant commercial director Michael Burke says that the A350s and new A330s will kick off a major fleet and network transition for the carrier. "The A350s will be deployed to major sectors around the world, but we will also grow in parallel with the [existing] A330 fleet, as we have done with Auckland and Vancouver," he says. HKA will receive 3 A350s that were originally destined for Azul, although the Brazilian carrier has said that those would be transferred to the HNA Group. HNA is a major shareholder in both Azul and HKA. Burke says that the A350s will launch a new long-haul destination in December, but gave no further details. <br/>
Etihad Aviation Group and Airberlin have confirmed the sale of Austrian subsidiary FlyNiki. The two companies said the sale will proceed at an agreed-upon time and in a manner compliant with EU regulations. Until the sale is completed, FlyNiki will continue to operate as a separate business unit within the Airberlin group with a focus on short- and medium-haul leisure destinations. “The FlyNiki flight schedule for winter 2017 has been published and all bookings remain valid,” a spokesperson confirmed. In Dec 2016, Airberlin said it had reached an agreement with Etihad Investment for the sale of the shares it indirectly held in NIK Luftfahrt. <br/>
China LCC Ruili Airlines has agreed to lease 3 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from AVIC International Leasing in an effort to facilitate its international expansion. No delivery dates have been announced. The carrier also signed an international routes cooperation agreement with Yunnan Kangxin International Travel Agency and Jiangxi Chamber of Commerce in Yunnan. Ruili chairman Ma Zhanwei said last month the carrier plans to open at least 2 international routes in October. The carrier received approval from CAAC to operate international routes in February. Ruili Airlines also has a cooperation in place with JC International Airlines, another subsidiary of Ruili parent Yunnan Jingcheng Group, to explore the international market. JC International is based at Phnom Penh International in Cambodia. <br/>
The CE of Gulf Air, Maher Salman Al Musallam has resigned, with the airline’s board accepting his decision. No reason was given for his decision. Al Musallam was previously deputy CE at Gulf Air, then had an extended period as acting CE following the 2012 departure of his predecessor, Samer Majali. He resigned as acting CE immediately following the Jan 2016 Bahrain International Air Show, only to be confirmed in the top position a few months later. Under his regime, the heavily loss-making carrier has been clawing its way back towards break-even, although the airline is still thought to be losing money. It lost BD196m (US$520m) in 2012; this had been reduced to BD24.1m in 2015. Its 2016 financial results are expected shortly. <br/>