Air Canada has fired back in a lawsuit by security firm Brink's, saying the airline bears no responsibility for the daring theft of $23.8m in gold and cash from its facilities at Toronto's Pearson airport earlier this year. A thief walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a phoney document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17, according to the Brink's filing last month. In a Nov. 8 statement of defence, Air Canada rejected "each and every allegation" in the Brink's suit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or "careless" conduct. The country's largest airline goes on to say that Brink's failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details of the shipment — and that if Brink's did suffer losses, a multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention would cap Air Canada's liability. "Brink's Switzerland Ltd. elected for its own reasons not to declare a value for carriage and to pay the standard rate for the AC Secure services product and, to Air Canada's knowledge, elected not to insure these shipments," the Air Canada filing reads, adding that Brink's was "fully aware of the consequences." In Federal Court filings last month that claim breach of contract and millions of dollars in damages, Brink's said an "unidentified individual" gained access to the airline's cargo warehouse and presented a "fraudulent" waybill shortly after an Air Canada flight from Zurich landed at Pearson.<br/>
star
Turkish Airlines aims to expand its fleet to have a total of 810 aircraft by 2033, says Ahmet Bolat, chairman of the board and the executive committee. The carrier announced last week that discussions with Airbus for the purchase of 355 aircraft — 240 firm and 115 optional — to be delivered between 2026-2036 were ongoing. “THY will become one of the top seven airlines in the world,” Bolat told a group of journalists. "There are three major airlines in the US — United, American and Delta… There are also three large carriers in Asia and all of them are Chinese… Lufthansa and Air France are behind us.” The number of aircraft in THY’s fleet will increase to 500 in 2025 and further up to 600 in 2028, according to the company’s executive. “The current orders to make sure that we achieve those targets.” He noted that THY is carrying out a joint project with the Tourism Ministry under which they identified 10 target markets, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and Taiwan, to lure tourists from those destinations to Türkiye. “We aim to bring 10m tourists from those countries.”<br/>
The aircraft orders by Ethiopian Airlines at the Dubai Airshow gives a glimpse of the carrier’s growth plans, anchored around a two-pronged strategy to consolidate its position as Africa’s biggest airline. Weighed against actions by Emirates and other airlines at the airshow, the orders of new planes reflect the race to make the most of the post-Covid-19 pandemic market and the rush to migrate to more efficient fleets as the industry braces for deep cuts in emissions starting 2035. Ethiopian and Boeing made news Tuesday, when they announced an agreement for the purchase of 67 aircraft, comprising 36 firm orders and 41 options across the 737 and 787 families. The carrier also signed an MoU with Airbus for the purchase of 11 additional A350-900, which will take the European airplane makers portfolio at Ethiopian to 35 aircraft. Combined, the orders in Dubai will grow the fleet to 222 aircraft over the next eight years, leaving a deficit of just 49 units short of the 271 aircraft it intends to have in operation by 2035. Although details such as price, engine selection and finance structure are yet to be revealed, the orders represent both replacement and growth aircraft. Ethiopian’s CE Mesfin Tasew outlined the carrier’s Vision 2035 growth strategy, under which the airline plans to expand its network from the current 134 destinations to 209. Tasew says they will need 271 aircraft with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, making the core of the widebody fleet while the 737 Max and the Bombardier Q400 plug the lower end of the fleet.<br/>