United, BOC Aviation sign lease for three 737s, single 787-9

BOC Aviation has entered into a lease transaction with long-time customer United Airlines, covering four Boeing aircraft. The deal, disclosed 7 October, covers three 737 Max 9s and a sole 787-9. All three aircraft are currently in operation with the North American carrier. The three 737 Max 9s are powered by CFM International Leap-1B engines, while the 787 is powered by GE Aerospace’s GEnx engines. According to Cirium fleets data, United has 82 737 Max 9s and 38 787-9s in service. BOC Aviation CEO Steven Townend notes: “The financing of these four latest generation Boeing aircraft provides us with an incremental investment opportunity as we continue to grow our business.”
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Dutch carrier KLM seeks EU measures to curb China competition

Dutch flag carrier KLM NV has called on the European Union to come up with measures to counter “unfair” competition from Chinese airlines that are cleared to fly over Russia’s airspace. “Europe can at least look at how we can prevent that unfair playing field by pricing it or looking at it in a different way,” KLM CEO Marjan Rintel said in an interview with the WNL television program on Sunday. The EU airlines have not been able to fly over Russia since the beginning of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022. Ukraine’s airspace has also been closed since then. That’s given Chinese rivals who have access to Russian airspace an advantage in terms of costs. Rintel said that avoiding Russian airspace adds between two to four hours of flying time, driving up its flight prices. Her comments come as some European airlines are considering to curb their flights to China. British Airways PLC said it will halt flights between London and Beijing from this month until November next year. Deutsche Lufthansa AG has also said it’s evaluating whether it should cut its daily flight from Frankfurt to Beijing, citing its inability to compete with Gulf airlines.
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Qantas flight forced to turn around due to ‘unusual smell’ before crew member taken to hospital

A Qantas flight was forced to turn back around an hour into its journey after reports of an “unusual smell” coming from the cabin, leading to one crew member being taken to hospital. Flight QF163 departed from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport around 6.45pm AEDT on Wednesday (2 October) on a journey to Wellington International Airport in New Zealand. Yet, around an hour into what was supposed to be a three-hour flight, the Boeing 737 plane turned around back to Sydney after there were reports of an “unusual smell” coming from the cabin. “A flight from Sydney to Wellington returned to Sydney after reports of an unusual smell in the cabin,” a Qantas spokesperson told The Independent. “The aircraft landed safely and will be checked by engineers before returning to service. They added that customers were provided with accommodation and were assisted in joining the next available flight.
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California women removed from Spirit Airlines flight due to wearing crop tops: Reports

Two Southern California women were removed from a Spirit Airlines flight before it could take off because they were wearing crop tops, according to the airline and reports. Tara Kehidi and Teresa Araujo were initially wearing sweaters when they boarded their flight from Los Angeles to New Orleans on Friday, the women told KABC during an interview. Due to the plane not having air conditioning before taking off, the women removed the sweaters, thus unveiling their crop tops. "We were wearing crop tops… just like a little bit of stomach showing," Tara Kehidi said, per KABC. At some point, the women were approached by a male flight attendant and told to "put something on" before walking away, the women told the Los Angeles-based TV station. "He's telling both of us (to) put our sweaters on," according to Kehidi, per KABC. "And then we're like 'Oh, can we see a dress code? Like, is there a policy that says we can't wear crop tops on the plane?" Araujo said the women were "kind of embarrassed" because they felt like they were being "treated like criminals," KABC reported. "Everyone in the plane was looking at us," Araujo said. In a statement obtained by USA TODAY, a Spirit Airline spokesperson said, "Our Contract of Carriage, a document all Guests agree to upon making a reservation with us, includes certain clothing standards for all Guests traveling with us."
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Several Florida airports to cease commercial operations ahead of Hurricane Milton

Several major airports in Florida are planning to shut down operations in preparation for Hurricane Milton, which has rapidly intensified into a potentially catastrophic storm as it approaches the state’s Gulf Coast. Tampa International airport said it will suspend operations at 09:00 local time on 8 October and “reopen when safe to do so”. It urges air travellers to check directly with airlines for updates. Meanwhile, Orlando International airport plans to shut down commercial operations the following day at 08:00 local time. ”We’ll continue to monitor the hurricane’s path and we’ll post updates as they become available,” the airport says on social media. ”Please continue to work with your airline in regards to your flight.” ”For the next two days, we’ll have aircraft taking off and landing here,” Orlando International CE Kevin Thibault said during a 7 October press conference. “Once that stops, the group here will do things like… tie down all the boarding bridges to make sure we protect the assets we have here.” Southwest Florida International airport in Fort Myers plans to close 8-9 October. American Airlines says it is “closely monitoring” the storm’s progression. The carrier has scheduled “multiple additional flights with more than 2,000 seats” to Tampa International and Sarasota-Bradenton International airports late on 7 October and early on 8 October. It will suspend operations to those airports shortly after midnight on 8 October. American has also issued travel alerts for 12 airports in Florida. ”If an American flight has been cancelled or excessively delayed, customers may cancel their itinerary and request a refund by visiting our website,” it says.
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Japan’s ANA, JAL partner with major Indian airlines; code-sharing agreements reached between firms

Two major Japanese airline companies have recently announced partnerships with major Indian airlines amid an expected increase in passenger demand. All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Co. have agreed code-sharing flight operations with the Indian airlines to tap in to the Indian market. The country has a population of more than 1.4b and passenger numbers are expected to jump as the country is experiencing economic growth. JAL will begin code-sharing with IndiGo, the largest airline in India, on Oct. 27 on two routes, between Haneda Airport and Delhi and between Narita Airport and Bengaluru. Code-sharing allows multiple airlines to operate a single flight while each selling seats. Code sharing flights also allow airlines to consider routes operated by partners as their own, effectively increasing the number of destinations on offer. JAL also plans to operate code-sharing flights on domestic flights in India that are operated by IndiGo. This will allow for more convenient transfers for passengers traveling to major Indian cities such as Chennai which do not have direct services from Japan. Flyers will also be able to earn JAL mileage points. ANA in late May began joint operations with Air India, another major Indian airline. The code-sharing arrangement covers two ANA routes, between Haneda Airport and Delhi and between Narita Airport and Mumbai. A route operated by Air India between Narita Airport and Delhi is also included in the arrangement. ANA has said that from June to August, the number of passengers on their routes increased about 20% from a year ago because of the code-sharing agreement. Tsuneya Katagiri, ANA’s chief representative in India, said, “I want to expand the code-sharing also to domestic flights and capture demand of businesspersons from both countries as well as inbound tourists from India.”
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Kenya’s national airline seeks some control of biggest airport

Kenya Airways, the state-controlled national carrier, wants to gain some control of the capital’s biggest airport even as authorities discuss concessions with private players to run the regional aviation hub. The Kenyan government has received a privately initiated proposal from a unit of Adani Group to revamp the airport first built in precolonial Kenya, which critics of the deal say would grant it a 30-year concession for an investment of just $1.85b. Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta airport, or JKIA, requires “urgent” expansion due to increasing passenger and cargo traffic, with current numbers exceeding its design capacity, the carrier’s CEO Allan Kilavuka, said. “Right now, we don’t have control of that, it becomes very difficult for us, because we have to rely on others. So we would desire some sort of control,” he said. By 2054, JKIA is expected to handle 32m passengers and nearly 1m tons of cargo, compared to 8.6m passengers and 367,000 tons of cargo currently. The facility is designed to cater for 2m passengers and the government estimates development of a new passenger terminal, second runway and refurbishment of existing facilities is will cost $2b. Kenya’s running against time to stay ahead of competitors in the region. Ethiopia’s biggest airport has overtaken JKIA in passenger numbers and authorities there are planning on spending more than $5b for an even larger facility to support what’s now the biggest airline in Africa. Rwanda too is building a new airport outside Kigali with the help of Qatar, also with an eye on regional traffic.
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Thousands of passengers to be impacted by one-day easyJet pilot strike in October half-term

Thousands of passengers across Europe are expected to experience disruptions to flights in late October as Italian pilots are planning a four-hour walkout. Pilots from the budget airline easyJet are set to go on strike on 27 October for four hours between 1pm and 5pm, and while the window is a short one, aviation experts say that this could have a knock-on effect on the rest of the flight timetable that weekend. The strike, organised by the Italian transport union UIL Trasporti who are representing the pilots, will affect flights coming in and out of three Italian cities, Milan, Naples and Venice. Anton Radchenko, aviation expert and founder of AirAdvisor, has warned that easyJet passengers should be prepared for flight disruptions on the Sunday before the October half-term starts for UK schoolchildren. “EasyJet is the UK’s biggest airline, especially in terms of passenger volume, so thousands of passengers across Europe will directly be impacted by these pilot strikes on 27th October," he told the Mirror. “Our message is: be prepared for disruption and understand your rights as a passenger,” he added to the Daily Express. EasyJet passengers have already been severely affected by strikes this year after 232 of 1,138 flights to and from Portugal were cancelled by the airline in August due to a three-day strike by its cabin crew in the country, causing chaos for holidaymakers travelling to its popular tourist destinations.
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Irish regulator: Dublin slot availability limited by legacy terminal planning condition

Dublin airport’s summer capacity next year will be capped at 25.2m seats, with the Irish civil aviation regulator warning that slot demand is likely to greatly exceed this limit. It points out that summer 2025 is the second scheduling season to take account of an Irish national planning body condition – dating from 2007 – which restricts the combined annual capacity of Dublin’s two terminals to just 32m. “This planning condition remains in existence, and is limiting the available slot capacity below the capacity of the physical infrastructure,” says the Irish Aviation Authority. Its summer seat capacity limit of 25.2m, plus a winter 2024 limit of 14.4m, gives a total of 39.6m seats – higher than the conditional passenger limit of 32m, because it adjusts for load factor as well as transfer passengers. The regulator says it expects demand for summer 2025 slots will “significantly exceed” the cap, and it will prioritise carriers according to slot usage in summer 2024. But it cautions that “not all slot series” from this year will be able to find accommodation next year. The regulator adds that the cap decision will result in “very little, if any” available capacity for new, or ad hoc, slot requests – a consequence of the planning condition which, it says, it has no power to amend or revoke. It points out that, if the planning condition did not impose the 32m-passenger restriction, it could declare a “significantly higher” airport capacity, providing slot opportunities for growth and new entrants.
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Investor in Cypriot carrier Tus Airways to take majority shareholding

Cypriot-based carrier Tus Airways will have a majority share controlled by its newest investor under an agreement between the company’s shareholders. The carrier’s ownership had already been split equally three ways between Israel’s Global Knafaim Leasing, US entrepreneur Kenneth Woolley, and two partners – Ami Cohen and Arnon Englander – from the Holiday Lines Group. Cohen and Englander had taken a one-third share in the carrier earlier this year, and this investment agreement included a call option. Global Knafaim states that Cohen and Englander will acquire equal shareholdings from itself and Woolley. This will take their interest in Tus Airways to 75% and leave Global Knafaim and Woolley with 12.5% each. Exercise of the option and the acquisition of the shareholdings will involve a total consideration of about $2.1m. Tus Airways uses a fleet of three Airbus A320 jets, two on services within its own network and the third for wet-lease operations.
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India: DGCA advisory to airlines over potential risk from jammed rudder control

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday issued interim safety recommendations to Indian carriers operating Boeing 737 aircraft and asked them to conduct a safety risk assessment to evaluate and mitigate the risk associated with the rudder control system. The aviation regulator’s advisory comes days after the US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) on September 26 warned that a faulty component in some Boeing 737 aircraft could jam the plane’s rudder control system used by pilots to steer the jetliners on runways. NTSB was investigating a February 6, 2024, incident in which the rudder pedals on a United Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX were stuck in their neutral position while landing at Newark Liberty International Airport. According to NTSB, a sealed bearing was incorrectly assembled on actuators for rudders that pilots adjust to stay in the centre of the runway after landing. As a result, moisture could leak into a rudder assembly and freeze. In its interim safety recommendations on Monday, DGCA asked airlines to issue advisories and circulars to all its flight crew members regarding the possibility of a jammed or restricted rudder control system. “Appropriate mitigations must be communicated to help crews identify and handle such a situation,” the regulator told the airlines.
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Air Serbia expands widebody fleet with arrival of latest A330

Air Serbia has introduced a third Airbus A330-200, expanding its widebody fleet, during a ceremony at Belgrade. It is also expecting a fourth to arrive by the end of this year. The carrier’s latest A330 – originally delivered to Etihad Airways in 2014 – was previously operated by Air Belgium. It was flown from an airfield on the Belgian-Dutch border to the Serbian capital on 4 October. Air Serbia says it carries a special livery to promote Expo 2027 which will be held in Belgrade – and that the next A330 will also feature the scheme. “From Chicago and New York in the West, to Tianjin and Guangzhou in the East, the national airline’s aircraft will present Serbia and Expo 2027 to a global audience,” says CE Jiri Marek.
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Striking union says negotiations with Boeing to continue on Tuesday

Boeing's largest union said it would continue negotiations with the planemaker on Tuesday, as both sides seek an agreement to end a strike by around 33,000 U.S. West Coast factory workers. The company and the union, whose members have been on strike for 25 days, had resumed contract talks on Monday in the presence of federal mediators. "Although we met with Boeing and federal mediators all day, there was no meaningful movement to report. We will be back at it tomorrow," The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said late on Monday. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The union is seeking a 40% pay rise over four years and the restoration of a defined-benefit pension that was taken away in the contract a decade ago. Boeing made an improved offer last month that it described as its "best and final", which would give workers a 30% raise and restore a performance bonus, but the union said a survey of its members found that was not enough. The strike has halted production of Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX jet, along with its 777 and 767 widebody planes. The MAX is a key revenue-driver for the company at a time when it is struggling with weak margins in its defense business.
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Aeroflot Group unifies crew training to provide single pilot source for carriers

Russian operator Aeroflot Group is to create a single training entity which will supply pilots for all airlines within the company. Aeroflot will select graduates and students from civil aviation education institutions as part of the project. Along with the main Aeroflot operation – which carried 25m passengers last year – the group includes Rossiya and Pobeda, which took the total to 47m. It states that crews will undergo training on Airbus A320-family and Boeing 737 jets, as well as Yakovlev Superjet 100s. “A single human resource of young flight personnel will emerge, which will be distributed between the Aeroflot Group airlines depending on the crew needs for each carrier,” it adds. Aeroflot previously provided initial training for up to 60 flight-school graduates per year. It says that, through the “large-scale” unification project, it will increase its training and flight detachment to 300.
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Airbus, Philippines kick off SAF feasibility study

Airbus and the Philippine government have begun feasibility studies on sustainable aviation fuels in the country. The study – announced at the annual Philippines Aviation Summit in Manila on 3 October – comes as the Philippines establishes a SAF committee to oversee the development of a roadmap towards SAF production and the reduction of carbon emissions. Airbus says it will contribute to the feasibility study, by “analysing country specific macroeconomic data, evaluating SAF feedstocks and production pathways, assessing relevant implementation support, financing and policies, as well as drafting an action plan”. The European airframer adds: “This study will serve as a critical reference to springboard further development of relevant policies, and at the same time encourage industry stakeholders to advance economically viable SAF production in the Philippines”. The announcement is the latest sustainability-related partnership Airbus has announced in recent weeks. In September, AirAsia and Airbus entered into a memorandum of understanding to explore initiatives that will reduce aviation’s carbon emissions in Southeast Asia. The two companies will work together to explore SAF production using alternative feedstocks.
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Gulf Air CEO teases US launch as expansion plans gather pace

Gulf Air is gearing up for significant expansion as it grows its network and strengthens its position in the hyper-competitive Middle East market. Speaking to Skift, Group CEO Jeffrey Goh confirmed that the airline is considering additional widebody planes to support ambitious growth, with the United States firmly in its sights. The carrier was one of the first commercial airlines in the Middle East and will celebrate its 75th anniversary next year. However, in recent decades, Gulf Air has been overshadowed by its larger neighbors in Qatar and the UAE. The fresh management team, led by Goh, is aiming to put Bahrain back on the global radar. “In the case of the United States, we are looking at it very keenly. But flying to the U.S., you have to address many regulatory hurdles,” Goh said. “We are doing that. We have connectivity ambitions, I have a list. The U.S. is one of many destinations on our list.” The CEO added that he had his “fingers crossed” that a North American route could be launched in 2025. Bahrain’s aviation market is relatively small but strategically important. The Kingdom is positioned at a crossroads of global air routes and is well-placed to tap into Europe-Asia traffic flows. For example, a stopover in Bahrain can add just 90 minutes to the typical flying time between London and Bangkok. Despite its east-meets-west location, Gulf Air has faced financial challenges in recent years. The company struggled to achieve profitability amid competition from regional giants including Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad.
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Mentor or rival? China takes notes from Brazilian giant Embraer as C919 soars ahead

When China set off on its long-haul endeavour to build and fly a modern commercial airliner, it aimed high, with the long-term aspiration of taking on Western competitors Boeing and Airbus. Now, with its home-grown C919 being used commercially by three domestic airlines and hopes that it will be used overseas, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) will need to take a detour to learn from another foreign manufacturer to achieve its lofty goal, with Brazilian giant Embraer on its radar. “Comac needs to compare notes with Embraer, whose rise from scratch to becoming a global aviation powerhouse is a source of inspiration,” said Paulo Filho, a former colonel and strategic studies expert with the Brazilian army. Embraer’s technology and sales prowess are much sought after, analysts said, with Comac aiming to increase the pace it can produce the C919, as well as future models, while also cramming normally decades worth of certification and overseas marketing into about 10 years.
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Oman Air launches direct flight from Muscat to Rome

Oman Air will offer travellers in the sultanate four weekly flights from Muscat to Rome – their first-ever direct connection to the ‘Eternal City’, starting December 20, 2024 – one of the most important announcements of a new route in five years. “Our new direct flights to Rome represent an exciting step in our transformation. Marking our second destination in Italy, this key route not only enhances our European offerings, but also marks the start of our strategy to maximise the utilisation of our narrow-body fleet,” said Con Korfiatis, CEO of Oman Air. “As one of the most visited cities in the world, Rome is a perfect addition to our network. We are thrilled to offer our guests seamless and convenient access to the destinations they want to go to, while continuing to set new standards for service and hospitality.”
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Cebu Pacific buys regional carrier AirSWIFT in Ps1.75b deal

Cebu Pacific has acquired regional compatriot AirSWIFT in a deal worth Ps1.75b ($30.8m). The acquisition – the subject of speculation in recent months – will see Cebu Pacific enter into a share purchase agreement with AirSWIFT parent company Ayala Land for 100% shareholding of the regional operator. Cebu Pacific did not disclose a timeline for the acquisition, but notes that there will no changes to AirSWIFT’s operating schedules once the deal is completed. AirSWIFT is a “boutique carrier that caters to the domestic leisure travel market”. It operates a fleet of four ATR turboprops – comprising two ATR 72-600s and two ATR 42-600s – to tourist spots like El Nido, Boracay and Bohol. “Following its purchase, Cebu Pacific will eventually add El Nido to its routes, widening its network which will contribute to growth opportunities, and leveraging its operational expertise to be able to offer more cost-effective options for its growing customer base,” says Cebu Pacific. The airline in July confirmed reports it was in discussion with Ayala Land over a possible acquisition, but stressed there was nothing firm yet.
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