Aviation

 Air Asia and Airbus have entered a multi-billion dollar deal for an additional 12 A330-900 and 30 A321XLR aircraft. The contract was signed by Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Chairman, AirAsia X Berhad and Guillaume Faury, Chief Executive Officer, Airbus in Kuala Lumpur today, in the presence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.  Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia Group, who was present at the signing, said: “This order reaffirms our…

Twenty years after its collapse, Uganda has launched a national airline, restoring its status as latest African country to revive its national airline.   Commercial services resumed on Tuesday with a flight from Entebbe to Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya that the airline hoped will usher in a profitable new era for the formerly debt-ridden brand. Uganda Airline said its fleet of twin-engined Bombardier CRJ-900 regional jet airliners will soon connect to destinations including Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania,…

  The return of Hadi Sirika to Aviation as a Minister has opened a vista of what he did and did not do in his first term. WOLE SHADARE writes that now is the opportunity to set aviation on perfect path Second coming Not a few believe that newly appointed Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika would be given the nod to complete what he started when he served for four years as Minister of State, Aviation. Sirika’s appointment…

Crisis to cost airline £120m  Nigerians are bracing up for planned British Airways strike that is expected to disrupt flights in and out of Nigeria. As a result, travellers and travel agents are working round the clock to see how they can reschedule or cancel their clients’ flights within that period in what may cost the British carrier around £120 million. The airline operates services to Lagos and Abuja with daily flights to the two…

AJet2 flight had to make an emergency landing on its way from Manchester after the pilot fainted.  The flight, which was on its way to Maderia, had to divert to Porto in Portugal due to an ‘on-board medical situation’, according to the airline. The pilot is understood to have been taken to hospital on arrival.  The alarm is said to have been sounded around 10.20am local time today and a runway was closed for half…

Except urgent solutions are found, the health of Nigerian airlines has created concern for stakeholders and other aviation watchers. Managing Director, Centurion Aviation Security Limited, Group Captain John Okikutu (Rtd), told Woleshadarenews that many of the operating private airlines of today were not financially healthy and are substantially not compliant with the economic regulations of the Nig. CARs. He hinted that most of them were probably recycling the business plans of defunct airlines, stressing that airlines like…

  The Board of Directors of Omni-Blu Aviation Limited (OBA) has appointed Captain James Ayodele Daniel as the airline’s Accountable Manager/Managing Director to oversee the affairs of the firm.  Capt. Daniel took over from Captain Sunny Adegbuyi from the company with effect from August 15th 2019  Executive Director, Corporate, Legal & Admin Services Omni-Blu Aviation Limited, Joy Duncan in a statement to announce the exit of Agbeluyi said,  “While we are happy to welcome Captain…

A 20-year-old programme of the United States to assist African countries to maintain high safety standards has come to an end with obvious implications. WOLE SHADARE reports US draws curtain The Safe Skies for Africa programme established by former President Clinton on April 1, 1998, which aimed to improve safety and security in aviation on the continent, has finally come to an end. Speaking nostalgically about the impact of the programme to high safety record in Africa, Commissioner,…

Despite over 1,000 pilots that are currently not engaged and roaming the streets, the aviation industry in Nigeria has been hit by shortage of pilots. Aside Nigeria, the global aviation industry is facing similar problem. A widespread deficit of pilots across all continents has affected the sector, particularly in recent years, with cases of pilot shortages regularly occurring.  A top official with the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), at the close of a…