The Kuwaiti government has approved an order from state-owned carrier Kuwait Airways for 25 new Airbus aircraft options on 10 more and the airline has signed a letter of acceptance with Airbus.

The 25 aircraft ordered include 15 A320neos and 10 A350-XWB. Delivery is expected in 2019.

An Air Zimbabwe flight from Harare to Johannesburg on Wednesday reportedly flew with only 12 passengers on board the Boeing 737. Critics have stated that this is demonstrative of the airline’s difficulties in attracting customers due to its damaged reputation.

Air Zimbabwe makes flights to Johannesburg daily. It only resumed flights to South Africa last month after abandoning the route following threats of plane seizures by creditors.

Avtrade, a component support expert with UK headquarters and operations in Dubai, Moscow and Singapore specializing in tailor-made aircraft support solutions, has contracted DB Schenker to store, manage and provide local logistics services to support their Dubai and Singapore operations.

This will endorse Avtrade’s commitment to offer enhanced support to the Gulf and Asian carriers, contracted clients and local operators, plus provide all Avtrade customers in the regions with an exceptional level of service. Benefits include the ability to hold increased inventory of A320, A330, B737, B757 and B767 aircraft components, local storage with 24/7 availability, same time-zone support plus reduced transit and customs clearance times.

Jamie Brooks, Regional Sales Director, Avtrade says “I am delighted to announce Avtrade’s collaboration with DB Schenker for our logistics requirements in the Middle East and Asia. We have been extremely happy with their service and professional approach to managing Avtrade’s B737, B757, B767, A320 and A330 rotable inventory pool. With Avtrade’s components and DB Schenker’s AOG logistics capabilities we are well positioned to service our clients in the Gulf and Asia regions”.

David Harrison, Commercial Director, Schenker Limited, says, “having an established global operation for the aeroparts industry enabled us to offer a bespoke solution to Avtrade in the form of a ‘virtual warehouse’ all controlled from the UK for their worldwide distribution. Our Aerohub concept enables us to act as an extension of Avtrade’s business.”

PAKAfrica Aviation, a Pakistan-based aviation group with Middle Eastern interests in aerospace and aviation, has made an offer to buy a R15 million controlling stake in the holding company that owns 1time Airline and Jetworx, the aircraft maintenance unit.

A letter of intent was sent to 1time’s provisional liquidators on Monday night, the day before a meeting to update shareholders about the stricken airline’s prospects for avoiding final liquidation, set for October 3.

The most attractive assets that 1time still holds are its operating licences and its listing on the JSE, however, 1time’s debt of more than R450m had proved to be too high for some.

Brisbane is set to become Emirates’ third Australian destination to welcome the airline’s flagship Airbus A380, with the announcement that Emirates will operate the A380 on the Dubai to Brisbane and Auckland route from 1 October 2013.

Adding the A380 to one of Emirates’ two daily Brisbane services will see an increase in capacity of 135 seats for sale per flight and 1,890 week. The double-daily service is currently operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

“On the back of growing passenger demand on the route as well as demand for our flagship aircraft, we will become the first airline to bring the state-of-the-art A380 to Brisbane, offering Queenslanders the chance to experience this revolutionary aircraft and the best service in the sky first-hand,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial Operations, Far East and Australasia.

“The Dubai-Brisbane-Auckland route is a popular choice among business and leisure travellers alike and the new Emirates A380 service will be instrumental in helping Emirates meet its passenger demand as well as deliver considerable economic benefits through inbound seats and travel connections,” he continued.

“Australia represents an important market for Emirates and ranks in the top three countries on Emirates’ global network. Central to this relationship is the ongoing support for tourism and trade provided by adding larger capacity aircraft between our two countries, and this fourth A380 for Australia will further complement our partnership with Qantas,” Mr Obaidalla concluded.

Together with Qantas, from October a total of six daily A380 services will operate to Dubai.

Commenting on the April statistics Ed Winter, CEO said: “Fastjet continues to grow in popularity with Tanzanian travellers and is now the dominant carrier on both key routes from Dar-es-Salaam to Kilimanjaro and to Mwanza.  Operational performance, a key differentiator in the African market, remains excellent with an April achievement of 96 % of flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule and a cancellation rate of less than 1%.”

The company, consisting of fastJet Tanzania, Fly540Kenya, Fly540Ghana and Fly540 Angola, carried 83, 067 passengers in April and increase of 49.9% compared to the same month last year. On a 12 month rolling basis, the airline carried 814, 368 passengers, representing an increase of 48.8%.

For fastJet Tanzania only, the airline carried 32, 854 passengers in April and 146, 389 on a 12 months rolling basis. The airline’s load factor stands at 66%.

Qatar Airways has sought more traffic routes and seats from India to serve two-tier cities since it has exhausted all the traffic routes allotted by the Government of India.

Speaking to local media, Akbar-Al-Baker, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways, said: “We hope Indian Civil Aviation authorities will give additional access to other Gulf carriers in India and if that happens we would like to operate more flights. We would like to operate more flights out of India to cater to the demands of global traffic.”

“We would love to serve more Indians in their travel needs. I am willing to take any number of seats offered to Qatar Airways. Sky is the limit,” he said.

India’s annual airline passengers, both domestic and international, number only 160 million.

The Center for Aviation predicts that number will nearly triple to 450 million by 2020.

Royal Air Maroc could tie up with a major carrier in the Gulf ahead of privatisation, according to the country’s tourism minister.
The airline, which received a $193m bailout from the Moroccan government recently, has faced increased competition from European based LCCs following the introduction of Morocco’s open-skies policy in 2007. The government also handed Air Maroc $900m with which to upgrade itself by 2016 which to date is being burned on operating expenses. “There will be privatisation, but I think there will probably be some kind of strategic alliance with a good carrier,” Lahcen told Arabian Business
Air Maroc posted €518m of losses last year, and with France back in recession and Spanish output still falling it is likely that bookings in its two core markets will continue to fall – the airline needs a partner to survive and a good deal would be given to any taker – that is the message from the government here, a message that Etihad might well consider.

From June 10, Kenya Airways will add an additional flight from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to Maputo in Mozambique to meet rising demand on the route.
The airline now operates four flights to Mozambique.
Kenya Airways will operate the additional flight under two flight codes – KQ740 and KQ741. KQ740 departs from Nairobi on Mondays at 1050hrs to arrive in Maputo at 1355hrs, and KQ741 departing from Maputo at 1445hrs to arrive in Nairobi at 1950hrs.
Kenya Airways’ Chief Executive Officer Dr. Titus Naikuni said: “There is increasing demand for air travel in the continent which makes Africa the new growth frontier in the aviation industry. It is, therefore, important for us to continue to grow our presence across the continent to meet this demand.”

Air Arabia is planning to secured a loan of between $400 million to $450 million to finance aircraft delivering from next year until the end of 2015.
The airline will receive 10 planes next year and is planning to order more in the next 18 months.
Air Arabia’s net income rose 56 percent to 419.5 million dirhams ($114 million) in 2012.