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*12 A350-1000s to become a key part of both leisure and mainline fleets UK flag carrier airline, Virgin Atlantic Airways has selected the A350-1000, the largest member of the A350 Family, to become the latest aircraft in its fleet, operating from both London Heathrow and Gatwick airports.  The airline is purchasing eight A350-1000s for deliveries commencing in 2019, and four new aircraft on long term leases from ALC from 2020, including a lease “option” for…

  *Over 500,000 new pilots required   Aircraft maker, Airbus in its Global Market Forecast said that in the next 20 years (2016-2035), passenger traffic will grow at an average 4.5 per cent a year, driving a need for over 33,000 new aircraft above 100 seats (32,425 passenger and 645 freighters greater than 10 tonnes) worth $5.2 trillion. By 2035, the world’s aircraft fleet will have doubled from today’s 19,500 aircraft to almost 40,000. Some…

*Air fares, charges product of deregulated market *Carriers rethink strategy The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it did not authorise airlines to increase air fares, just as the aviation regulatory body said air fares, add-ons, charges, tariffs and terms and condition of service are fully liberalised.   According to spokesman for NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, air fares and sundry charges have been statutorily deregulated and subjected to market forces. While foreign airlines had raised air…

Two persons were injured today at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos when a man, identified as an orderly of a Senator wanted to remove the magazine of his gun and there was accidental discharge that left him and a woman injured. The orderly who was to travel on Arik Air and wanted to lodge his gun, which is a standard practice on air travel, but the gun released a…

Fifty five years after direct flights from the United States to Havana, Cuba was embargoed as a result of political instability between US and Cuba, Delta Air Lines has concluded arrangement to resume flight services to Havana.   The carrier said it would service this route from New York-JFK, Atlanta and Miami. The disclosure was made by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This is coming as the American carrier lauded the DOT for awarding the airline…

All over the world, airports are regarded as economic and social infrastructure and expected to be catalyst for accelerated development of the areas they are sited. But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Aerodrome construction, more less, serves as conduit pipe for siphoning money, writes WOLE SHADARE The rate at which states are embarking on airport projects makes one to think that there is more to building airports than meets the eye. In the…

  African airlines’ traffic rose by 9.5 per cent, continuing the trend of strong growth that is linked to the expansion of long-haul networks by the region’s carriers, particularly Ethiopian Airlines. Capacity rose 10.4 per cent, and load factor slipped 0.5 percentage points to 64.5 per cent. The disclosure was made by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) adding that global passenger traffic results overall for May shows that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers,…

*Aviation contribution to GDP may drop to 2% *More airlines offer zero commission to travel agencies Nigeria is at the risk of declined air traffic following the withdrawal of airlines and the cut down of capacity on the lucrative Nigerian routes by foreign airlines. The implication of this situation is that the revenue expected to go to agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian…