Air Arabia's Egyptian unit disposes of $3.3mn of equity

Air Arabia disposed of 590,000 shares to an unspecified party/parties a filing with the Egyptian Stock Exchange (ESX) on October 11, reports ch-aviation.

The transaction was valued at EGP59 million Egyptian pounds (USD3.347 million).

It is recalled that in November last year, Travco Group, one of Egypt's largest travel and hospitality groups, disposed of its 51% stake in Air Arabia Egypt as part of a larger bid to divest itself of non-core assets.

Airbus A330neo takes to the skies

Airbus' A330neo has made its maiden departing from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southwestern France last week. The no. 1 A330neo was put through its paces during a four hour and 13 minute airborne evaluation.

Performing the maiden flight was an A330-900. When entering airline service by mid-2018, this aircraft version will become the lowest seat-mile-cost jetliner in the 300-passenger widebody category, continuing the success of Airbus’ A330-300 variant (the best-selling midsize widebody ever).

It will be joined by the smaller A330-800 – the longest-range 250-seater, and the follow-on to today’s A330-200 (which has the largest operator base, composed of nearly 100 carriers). Airworthiness certification of the A330-800 is planned for 2019. 

Both A330-800 and A330-900 are powered by Rolls-Royce’s latest Trent 7000 turbofan powerplants, and incorporate high-span wings featuring 3D-optimised aerodynamics, new onboard systems, a connected cockpit, and the “Airspace by Airbus” cabin interior.

Fastjet set for Mozambican and South African market entries

South Africa-based ACMI/charter specialist, Solenta Aviation Group, has increased its stake in fastjet plc ahead of the low-cost airline's push into the South African and Mozambican markets, reports ch-aviation.

fastjet has said that in order to support its growth initiatives, it had held an accelerated book build and a subscription which raised gross cash proceeds of not less than USD44 million. Aside from existing major shareholders such as easyGroup Holdings, support came from Solenta Aviation Group which increased its stake in the firm from 28% to 29.9%.

It is recalled that as part of the original buy-in deal between fastjet and Solenta announced this year, fastjet will be able to deploy Solenta aircraft on any one of Solenta's AOCs on the African continent under the fastjet brand in exchange for a cost contribution/revenue share, depending on use.

As such, fastjet has confirmed it will enter the Mozambican market through Solenta Aviation Mozambique (Maputo) which, as recently reported, was granted scheduled domestic passenger route authorities covering Maputo to each of Beira, Tete, Nampula, and Lichinga. Operations are expected to commence later this month. 

In tandem to the Mozambican market, fastjet will also make its South African market debut under a branding agreement with Federal Air (7V, Durban Virginia).

"Its established network comprising 10 tourism and business destinations provides a viable South African market brand entry for fastjet and a platform from which to grow through adding more destinations within this country," fastjet said.

Entry into the Mozambican and South African markets will be undertaken by a trio of ATR72-600s - - which will be secured on ten-year contracts. The firm said it had signed a letter of intent with ACIA, a member of the ACIA Aero Capital group, for the aircraft which are due to be deployed over the next six months in South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, and possibly Zimbabwe. 

"With the expansion into the new markets, these aircraft will assist fastjet in equipping itself with the appropriate aircraft capacity," it said. "The 70 seater ATR planes, which are turboprops, accommodate shorter runways and deliver better fuel efficiency and per seat passenger costs, on sub 1-hour route flights."

FlySafair begins preparations for international debut

South Africa's FlySafair is preparing to go international with the launch of regional Central and Southern African flights, reports ch-aviation.

Parent firm Safair has applied for rights to a 5x weekly Johannesburg O.R. Tambo-Entebbe/Kampala, Uganda, return service.

Safair chief executive Elmar Conradie said the application was only the "first step in a very lengthy process". Though Conradie declined to specify exact timeframes for the launch of flights abroad, it is presumed additional foreign route authorities will be applied for in future.

Four die as cargo plane crashes into sea off Abidjan

A cargo aircraft has crashed into the sea off Ivory Coast shortly after taking off from Abidjan's international airport.

“What we can say for the time being is that this morning around 8:30 (0830 GMT), an Antonov plane crashed…with 10 on board including the crew members,” said Ivory Coast’s Security Minister Sidiki Diakite.

The French military operates a logistics base next to the airport in support of its Barkhane operation, combatting Islamist militants in West Africa’s Sahel region.

Global airport industry climate action surpasses 200 airports

At this year's ACI World & Africa Annual General Assembly (WAGA) hosted by Airports of Mauritius Co, the global airport industry issued an update on the progress it has been making in addressing its CO2 emissions, through the independent and voluntary global certification programme, Airport Carbon Accreditation, with Townsville Airport in Queensland, Australia, becoming the 200th airport to enter the programme, certified at Level 1 Mapping, earlier this week.

As is customary at this time of year, Airports Council International also released the annual report for Airport Carbon Accreditation (covering the period May 2016 to May 2017), showing how the global airport industry is delivering on its commitment to lower its own CO2 emissions, made in 2007. 

Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World commented “This past year has seen continued engagement from airports - with 36 new applications to Airport Carbon Accreditation and more airports reaching a higher level of certification within the programme. As a result, we are able to announce that we now have 201 airports participating in Airport Carbon Accreditation. These airports welcome over 39.6% of global air passenger traffic. To put that into context, that means more than 2.8 billion passengers now travel through airports certified at one of the four levels of the programme.

“From May 2016 to May 2017, accredited airports succeeded in collectively reducing the CO2 emissions under their direct control by 202,184 tonnes of CO2 - that’s equivalent to the CO2 emitted during the lifecycle of over 2.1 million iPhones.”

Niclas Svenningsen, who heads the Climate Neutral Now initiative at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat in Bonn, Germany commented: “People are aware of the public conversation about Climate Change between governments and the work underway to forge and implement policies that support a sustainable future, but effective climate action also relies enormously on an innovative and proactive private sector – and Airport Carbon Accreditation is a really good example of that. By providing a clear, yet ambitious framework that accommodates the multi-speed nature of airports’ efforts across the world, this is actively encouraging and stimulating a collective effort by the Global airport industry – one that is also engaging other aviation stakeholders to get involved as well. Something other industries and sectors would do well to try to foster.”

More African Airports on Board
Participation growth in the African continent has been particularly remarkable – going from three airports in the programme a year ago, to now 10 accredited airports. These airports welcome 28% of African air passenger traffic. An additional six US airports also became certified for the first time and US airports were also major contributors to the overall reduction of CO2 emissions achieved last year – with Dallas Fort Worth becoming the first airport in the Americas reaching carbon neutral status. These achievements reflect the continued commitment of US airports to addressing climate change, despite the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement. 

A number of airports received their certificates at a dedicated Airport Carbon Accreditation ceremony during this year’s WAGA in Mauritius:
•         ACSA (Airports Company of South Africa) received four certificates – each at Level 1 Mapping for Cape Town International (Cape Town), King Shaka International (Durban), O.R. Tambo International (Johannesburg) and Port Elizabeth International (Port Elizabeth) airports. 

•         ONDA (Moroccan Airports Authority) collected two Level 1 Mapping certificates for two of its airports: Casablanca Mohammed V International and Marrakech Menara Airport.

•         From Latin America there were also Level 1 Mapping certificates presented to Guayaquil International Airport and Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo 

•         The final airport to be certified at Level 1 Mapping was Sir Seewosagur Ramgoolan International Airport in Mauritius – the host of this year’s WAGA.

•         Meanwhile, at Level 2 Reduction, there were 2 certifications: Libreville Leon Mba International Airport and Quito International Airport.  

-          Aeria’s Felix Houphouet Boigny Airport – the airport of Abidjan – also received its Level 3+ Neutrality certificate, distinguishing itself as the very first African airport to achieve carbon neutral status.

With four different levels of accreditation covering all stages of carbon management (Mapping, Reduction, Optimisation and Neutrality), Airport Carbon Accreditation is independently administered, institutionally-endorsed and has the support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Commission (EC).

Germania flight lands in Sharm El Sheikh

Germania flight took off from Berlin-Schönefeld headed for Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt with 201 passengers on board. With a second aircraft now based at Schönefeld, Germania is flying this route, among others, once a week during the winter season, thereby reviving a service between the German capital and the Red Sea beach resort that has not been available for four and a half years.

Additional new features in Germania's winter flight schedule from SXF include Hurghada, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. The service to Hurghada is being increased from once a week to three times per week. Travellers can now also escape the cold winter temperatures by flying to the Canary Islands Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. As in the last winter season, there will also be flights to Tenerife and Paphos in Cyprus. Among the scheduled routes to the Middle East, Germania will continue operating several weekly flights to Teheran and Beirut this winter, thereby establishing itself as a firm partner for intercultural flights.

The airline with the green and white livery is committed to a policy for growth at this base, which also covers Berlin-Tegel airport. From 1 November 2017 Germania will be basing an aircraft there, offering flights to the Canary islands of Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife, in conjunction with tour operators. The plan is to further increase the fleet in May 2018, when Germania will be operating two additional aircraft from Berlin-Tegel.

"Germania will achieve 400% growth in Berlin," commented Clauspeter Schwarz, Germania's Chief Operating Officer, on Friday, when the first of the new flights took off. "This is our response to market changes and a greater presence in the capital."

"We are very pleased with the increased commitment of Germania to Berlin," remarked Prof. Dr.-Ing. Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, CEO of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH. "The wider range of flight offerings, the development of its bases at our two locations, Schönefeld and Tegel, as well as the maintenance operations at SXF make the airline a key partner for us."