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Showing posts from January, 2015

MH370:Malaysia declares flight disappearance an accident

  Print Share Faceboo Relatives are still waiting for answers nearly a year after the crash Continue reading the main story MH370 mystery What we know Key points Search logistics Pain of not knowing The Malaysian government has officially declared the disappearance of Malaysian Airline flight MH370 an accident and says there were no survivors. No trace of the Beijing-bound aircraft has been found since it disappeared on 8 March 2014. Officials say that the recovery operation is ongoing but that the 239 people onboard are now presumed dead. The plane's whereabouts are still unknown despite a massive international search in the southern Indian Ocean. The declaration on Thursday should allow compensation payments to relatives of the victims. 'Deepest sorrow' Malaysian officials said that the recovery of the missing aircraft remained a priority and that they had pursued "every credible lead". Department of Civil Aviation

Dubai airport records over 70 million passengers in 2014

More international passengers travelled through Dubai International (DXB) than any other airport in 2014, according to provisional full-year statistics released by Dubai Airports on 27 January 2015. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Airports reported its busiest-ever year, further underlining the growing influence of the Middle East in global aviation. Full-year passenger volume of 70.47 million at DXB represented a 6.1% year-on-year (y/y) increase, and enabled Dubai to displace Heathrow as the busiest international hub. Dubai Airports reported fast growth in demand from Eastern Europe (up by 21%), North America (18.6%), and Asia (12.6%), while traffic from Western Europe grew by 1.19 million. Despite flight diversions as a result of an 80-day runway refurbishment project, and the continuing trend for airlines to operate larger passenger aircraft, takeoffs and landings only decreased by 3.4% to 357,339. Air freight activity dropped by 3.1% to 2.37 million tonnes, reflecting the shift in operati

Dubai Airport records over 70 million passengers I 2014.

More international passengers travelled through Dubai International (DXB) than any other airport in 2014, according to provisional full-year statistics released by Dubai Airports on 27 January 2015. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Airports reported its busiest-ever year, further underlining the growing influence of the Middle East in global aviation. Full-year passenger volume of 70.47 million at DXB represented a 6.1% year-on-year (y/y) increase, and enabled Dubai to displace Heathrow as the busiest international hub. Dubai Airports reported fast growth in demand from Eastern Europe (up by 21%), North America (18.6%), and Asia (12.6%), while traffic from Western Europe grew by 1.19 million. Despite flight diversions as a result of an 80-day runway refurbishment project, and the continuing trend for airlines to operate larger passenger aircraft, takeoffs and landings only decreased by 3.4% to 357,339. Air freight activity dropped by 3.1% to 2.37 million tonnes, reflecting the shift in operati

Cameron welcomes new 50 million pound airside investment at Edinburgh Airpoort

Source: Edinburgh Airport Prime Minister David Cameron visited Edinburgh Airport this afternoon (22 January) as it announced a new £50m airside investment programme. Work begins this week on an extensive redevelopment of the airport’s immigration and baggage reclaim facilities, a move that will triple capacity for bigger long-haul aircraft. The Prime Minister was met by Chairman, Sir John Elvidge, and CEO Gordon Dewar, who took him on a tour of the airport’s new airside construction site which will be phased over the next four years. With long-haul traffic up almost 90% in 2014, thanks to new routes with Qatar Airways, United Airlines and US Airways, and increased services from Turkish Airlines, Edinburgh Airport is embarking on this ambitious development plan which will see a second immigration hall and baggage reclaim area created and extensive construction of new aircraft stands and air bridges. In 2013, the Board of Edinburgh Airport committed to investing £150m in Sc

Malta International Airport forecasts 4.4 m passengers for 2015

Source: Malta International Airport 23/01/2015 • MIA welcomed a total of 4,290,304 passengers in 2014, a 6.4% increase over the previous year • The airport is forecasting 4.4 million passengers for 2015, a 2% growth over 2014 • 4 new airlines in 2015 - Aegean, Finnair, Jet2.com and Swiss. • Airport investing €4 million in runway, expansion of terminal building and further power generators. Malta International Airport expects to host some 4.4 million passengers this year, forecasting a two per cent growth over last year which was a record year for the airport. The growth is the result of further capacity being deployed to Malta from operating airlines and also due to a number of new airlines and routes which have already been announced, including Aegean, Finnair, Jet2.com and Swiss. Last year saw 4,290,304 million passengers, an increase of 6.4 per cent from 2013 which had seen just over 4 million passengers by the end of the year. There was also an increase

Air Traffic Controllers in Nigeria shelve strike action

The Nigerian    Air Traffic Controllers under the aegis of Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) have called off their intended industrial action which was to begin from 0000 UTC on Monday, 19 th  January, 2015. The decision to shelve the planned strike followed a series of negotiations between NATCA/ATSSSAN    and the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and a communique signed at the end of the negotiations on Sunday, 18 th  January, 2015. As part of the communique, management of NAMA      agreed to address most of the issues which bordered on review of ATC rating allowances and    general welfare. A statement from the agency signed by Mrs Olajumoke Adetona ,Acting General Manager ,Public Affairs ,confirmed this latest development in  early hours today.     

Fleet regulation and not recapitalization

By olumide Ohunayo The committee set up by the honourable minister to look at charges, fares and other factors militating against the development of the industry have submitted its report, with the minister directing the agencies to ensure immediate implementation. The committee did a good job and brought to the fore some of the issues that has been raised in the past by industry watchers which includes but not limited to the dubious fuel surcharge hidden in our tickets by operators while also avoiding the tax regime.  Other recommendations among others include the unnecessary retention of agency funds by operators while the poor performance in quality, service and operations was hinged on poor capitalisation and a need to urgently recapitalise the airlines. I humbly disagree on the issue of recapitalisation as a panacea to the problem of our airlines. It will only ensure we once again progress in error and deceit, these airlines in-conjunction with their bankers will prefer to

NCAA WITHDRAWS DISCOVERY AIR AOC OVER SAFETY ISSUES

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of  Air Operators Certificate (AOC ) of Discovery Airlines. NCAA in a statement  said this was in line with its oversight responsibilities.According to  the Deputy  General Manager  ,Public Affairs,Mr Sam Adurogboye said Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority [NCAA] recently carried out a review of the operations of some Domestic Airlines after which letters of warning or suspension of Air Operator's Certificate[AOC] were served on defaulters. "A case in point is an Airline that failed to carry out certain corrective actions within one week from the 1st to 7th of January, 2015 as raised in an earlier letter to the operator" Adurogboye said consequent upon the inability to address the issues raised, the Authority in its 8th of January, 2015 letter to the operator decided to suspend its operation. Part of the letter reads "The Authority pursuant to Section 35[2] and [3][b] of t

AirAsia QZ8501: Plane crash blamed on weather

Bodies of the victims are being flown back to Surabaya after being recovered from the Java Sea Continue reading the main story AirAsia crash What we know so far Air France lessons Who were the victims? 'She was my best friend' Watch Bad weather was the biggest factor in the crash of AirAsia flight QZ8501, the Indonesian weather agency believes. The BMKG agency said initial analysis suggested icy conditions in the air had caused the engine to stall. The Airbus A320 vanished with 162 people aboard en route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore last Sunday. The discovery of four large objects believed to be plane debris has raised hopes of finding the fuselage, where most bodies are believed to be trapped. Just 30 bodies had been recovered from the Java Sea as of Saturday morning. The plane's black boxes, its flight data and cockpit voice recorders, have yet to be located. BMKG found conditions at the time of the plane's disappearance sugge

expert's opinion on crashed Air Asia

  AirAsia flight QZ8501, which crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday, behaved in ways “bordering on the edge of logic”, according to an Indonesian aviation expert. Comments from various experts come as France's crash investigation agency said its specialist black box search team and equipment would arrive early Friday at the search area for the AirAsia flight. The black box will reveal what happened in the final moments of the crash, as the truth behind the cause is still unknown. Only eight victims have been recovered from the Java Sea despite a a brief window of clear conditions on Thursday. Officials say 162 people died the plane crashed on route from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday. Indonesian aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman believes the aircraft rose up as fast as a fighter jet and then dropped back into the ocean almost vertically into the water. And the extreme weather which Airbus 320-200 encountered meant the pilots were helpless to save the passengers an