The Boeing 737 "Otef Israel" has officially joined El Al's fleet as a cargo plane. The aircraft, which was originally a passenger plane, can carry 20 tons of cargo. It will make two daily flights to different locations in Europe, and made its debut flight on Tuesday to Frankfurt. El Al has also removed the passenger seats from one of its Boeing 777 planes, for the same purpose. It will be able to carry between 25 and 50 tons of cargo per flight. As part of the increase in cargo flights to Israel, the "Jerusalem of Gold" Dreamliner landed in Mumbai, India on Tuesday, where it was loaded with cargo to return to Israel. It was the first time in four years that an El Al flight had landed in India. <br/>
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Kuwait Airways’ new chairman is not expecting any near-term revival of plans to privatise the airline, indicating it will remain a government-owned operator. Potential privatisation has been a drawn-out saga, dating back more than 15 years. The initiative to sell a large shareholding would intermittently gain momentum, only to be held up by political wrangling or deferred for strategic reasons. Chairman Abdulmohsen Alfagaan, speaking to FlightGlobal at the Arab Air Carriers Organization conference in Riyadh, said the “idea was good” at the time. But he believes the government has effectively shelved the notion, stating that Kuwait Airways serves a diplomatic function as a nationally-owned flag-carrier. He adds that, in state hands, it represents a “strong arm of the government during crises”. Alfagaan says that Kuwait Airways is not concerned by the expanding presence of budget airline Jazeera Airways, stating that the flag-carrier offers a “different concept” to passengers and that the two airlines should not be considered as competitors. He says his “biggest aim” for Kuwait Airways is “passenger experience”, stating that the carrier has “very loyal” passengers and wants them to feel the airline is a “home”, through enhancements to its products and services. The airline has been heavily loss-making, but is implementing re-organisation efforts to improve its efficiency – including modernising its fleet with new Airbus jets.<br/>
Air Peace has secured the required permits from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to initiate flights to the United Kingdom, but no launch date has been announced. A spokesperson for the UK CAA confirmed to ch-aviation that the Nigerian carrier has received both its foreign carrier operator permit and its third country operator permit. This follows a statement to Nigerian media by Chairman and CEO Allen Onyema: "We obtained these permits that qualify us to fly to the UK. Before you obtain these approvals, they will audit you very well. You have to go through a stringent audit, which we passed. We obtained the permit last week". Onyema has been demanding access to London Heathrow as the UK's primary airport, citing reciprocity principles. The 1988 bilateral air service agreement between the two countries authorises designated Nigerian carriers to fly to London - without specifying an airport - and Manchester International, while designated British carriers are allowed to fly to Abuja and Lagos. Meanwhile, Air Peace - which recently celebrated its ninth anniversary - on November 1 launched direct flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from Lagos and Kano, marking its ninth international route. Others include Antigua (Antigua & Barbuda), Mumbai International (India), Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (South Africa), Accra (Ghana), Banjul (Gambia), Dakar Blaise Diagne International (Senegal), Douala (Cameroon), Freetown (Sierra Leone), and Lomé (Togo).<br/>
India's biggest airline IndiGo said on Friday it would lease new planes and extend agreements on some older ones to offset the disruption from new problems with Pratt & Whitney engines. Pratt & Whitney parent RTX said in July a rare powder metal defect could lead to the cracking of some engine components in the twin-engined Airbus A320neo, and called for accelerated inspections. The checks are expected to lead to groundings of hundreds of Airbus jets between 2023 and 2026, prompting IndiGo to take early steps to sustain its growth in India's booming aviation market. "Looking ahead, demand remains robust. However we have been informed of aircraft grounding ... there's a mitigation plan under execution and we are confident of meeting our financial year 2024 capacity guidance," Pieter Elbers, IndiGo's CEO, said in a post-earnings call. IndiGo has retained 14 of its older Airbus A320ceo, extended leases on 36 other aircraft, and is taking 11 additional aircraft on lease starting November. It is also leasing 12 more A320ceos from the secondary market starting January, IndiGo's CFO Gaurav Negi said on the same call. With this, the airline is on track to meet its guidance to expand its current capacity of 334 planes by "north of the mid-teens" this fiscal year and to double in size by 2030, Negi said. The company is in talks with Pratt & Whitney for compensation over engine issues and expected payments to be staggered, he said. Close to 40 IndiGo planes are currently grounded due to older issues with Pratt & Whitney engines and the airline is yet to ascertain the number of groundings from the new problems.<br/>
A direct air route linking Myanmar's Yangon and China's Kunming was launched on Sunday, Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) said. A ceremony to mark the launch of the route was held at the Yangon International Airport on Sunday, MNA said. Myanmar National Airlines said that the route will be operated three times a week.<br/>