Business

From January 8, 2018, South African Airways (SAA) disclosed that it would operate wide-body aircraft on its Johannesburg-Mauritius route. According to the carrier, the Airbus A330 generation aircraft will offer a two-class cabin configuration, with increased seat availability. Business class will range from 36 to 46 seats and economy class from 186 to 203. The A340-300 has 38 seats in business class and 215 in economy class. SAA currently serves the Johannesburg-Mauritius route with an…

2017 traffic projected to be slightly lower than 2017 There are indications that the country may record lower passenger traffic in 2017 compared to 2016. This is reflected in a report presented by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) that a total of 9.2 million passengers passed through Nigerian airports in 140,552 aircraft movements between Jan. and Sept. 2017. In 2015, a total of 15,232, 597 passengers travelled through Nigeria’s airports in 2016. Although, last…

Medview, others kick Pact signed in 2010 The decision by the Federal Government through the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON) to award majority of Hajj traffic to foreign airlines has come under serious scrutiny with airlines condemning the action. The Managing Director of Medview Airlines Plc, Muneer Bankole’s call is coming on heels of NAHCON awarding the lion share of the pilgrims to be airlifted to foreign operators over the years. Bankole made the call in…

 Airbus and Williams Advanced Engineering, the innovative engineering and technology business of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, are to explore potential areas of technological collaboration. Under the terms of a newly signed MoU, the two companies will examine in particular applications that may combine Williams’ innovation culture, lightweight composites and battery expertise with Airbus‘ Zephyr High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) programme. Zephyr is a record-breaking, solar-powered, unmanned aerial system (UAS), or drone, with unique communications and surveillance capabilities. It…

Nigeria’s flag carrier airline, Air Peace has assured air travellers of smooth flight operations in the run-up to, during and after the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. In a related development, the airline has said it will operate all its daily flights into and out of the Enugu Airport between the hours of 7am and 2pm during the partial closure of the facility’s runway to traffic by the Federal Government. Meanwhile, Air Peace has regretted…

Nigeria’s flag carrier airline, Medview, last week commenced flight services to Dubai, United Arab Emirates in what is likely to be a strong challenge to Emirates Airlines on the lucrative Lagos-Dubai route. For ‘daring’ to throw its hat into the ring, it appears the airline has studied factors that made two other Nigerian carriers, Virgin Nigeria and Arik Air, to fail on the route. The two Nigerian carriers never lasted one year on the route…

Lufthansa German Airline has received five-star certification from British aviation consulting specialist Skytrax. This puts Lufthansa in the select group of now ten airlines that have been given this coveted rating.   The Skytrax jury has already been awarding five stars to Lufthansa First Class for years – now the entire airline has received the same certification.   “The award is a well-deserved recognition of our major efforts to make Lufthansa one of the world’s…

 China Airlines of Taiwan has become the second airline to join a programme to use a blend of traditional and sustainable biofuels to power aircraft for delivery flights from Airbus. The aircraft involved is the tenth A350-900 for China Airlines, which left the manufacturer’s delivery centre in Toulouse today for its new home in Taipei with a 10 percent blend of sustainable jet fuel in its tanks.  The sustainable fuel option for delivery flights has been developed by Airbus in association…

 Final assembly of the newest member of the A330neo Family, the A330-800, has started and is on track for the first flight planned in mid-2018.  The A330-800 complements the A330-900, the largest member of the A330neo Family. With its 242-tonne Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) as base variant, the A330-800 can operate routes of up to 7,500nm and with the recently launched 251-tonne MTOW variant the aircraft can operate ultra-long-range routes of up to 8,150nm. Together,…

 Airbus, Rolls-Royce, and Siemens have formed a partnership which aims at developing a near-term flight demonstrator which will be a significant step forward in hybrid-electric propulsion for commercial aircraft.  The three companies together announced the ground-breaking collaboration, bringing together some of the world’s foremost experts in electrical and propulsion technologies, at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.  The E-Fan X hybrid-electric technology demonstrator is anticipated to fly in 2020 following a comprehensive ground test campaign,…