Civil Aviation

TEL AVIV, 10th FEB 2022: In a major milestone, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has completed the conversion of the 100th B767-300 aircraft, becoming the world leader in conversions of this model. This achievement highlights IAI’s leading role in the cargo conversion industry for over four decades, and is a testament to IAI’s advanced capabilities, robust pace, and expanding capacity to provide customers worldwide with the most optimal freighter solution. The 100th B767-300 freighter was converted at IAI’s cargo conversion facility in Tel Aviv, Israel, prior to being delivered to the customer. IAI began operating the B767-300 conversion line in Israel in 2007 together with M&B Conversions, a joint venture with Mitsui, and received the STC (Supplementary Type Certificate) in 2009. In 2017, IAI opened an additional B767-300 conversion facility in Mexico, increasing operations to meet global demand for the converted widebody aircraft. The converted B767-300 aircraft provides a competitive and cost-effective solution for customers seeking to increase their cargo fleet, and as air cargo traffic doubles in the next two decades and e-commerce continues rising, IAI will continue providing the best solution on the market.

London,18th January2022: Flypop Airlines, UK based LCC is gradually expanding its fleet size with addition of one more aircraft on Monday. The aircraft is currently pressed into service for cargo operations. Flypop has been partnering with Hi Fly airline for zero LOPA cargo operations over the past few months to meet the growing international demand for cargo flights. (Nino) Navdip Singh Judge, CEO & Principal of flypop, commented,“Fantastic to see our second flypop aircraft in the skies and especially here at our UK base at London Stansted Airport and flying over my house! flypop is now a revenue generating airline and we look forward to continuing to grow our fleet of aircraft throughout 2022 for both cargo and passenger operations.” Over the weekend the Airbus A330 flew into London Stansted Airport, flypop’s headquarters where the team celebrated the airline’s growing fleet with a party in theDiamond Hangar. Over the next few months flypop will bring two more of its fleet of aircraft into service for cargo duties and plan to launch passenger flights in the summer to meet the pent-up demand of the Indian diaspora communities living in the UK and their visiting friends and relatives. “We expect a surge in demand for low-cost flights to India from the UK from Q2 onwards.”added Nino. The flypop team are currently considering several destinations on the Indian subcontinent including Amritsar, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Chandigarh.

30 December 2021, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s ultra-low-fare national airline, the joint venture established between ADQ and Wizz Air Holdings plc, today announced its outstanding operational results for 2021. During its first operational year, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi launched more than 34 destinations including Alexandria (Egypt), Athens (Greece), Baku (Azerbaijan), Bahrain, Belgrade (Serbia), Kutaisi (Georgia), Kyiv (Ukraine), Muscat (Oman), Odesa (Ukraine), Sarajevo (Bosnia), Sohag (Egypt), Tel-Aviv (Israel), Tirana (Albania) and Yerevan (Armenia) among others. The airline has successfully operated more than 1,080 flights since its launch in January 2021, with 506 flights taking place in the fourth quarter of the year. Kees Van Schaick, Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi commented: “We are proud of what has been achieved since launching our operations in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Through collaboration with key stakeholders, we have been able to grow and expand our network to more than 34 destinations despite all the challenges we have faced. This has helped us play our role in attracting tourists into the emirate and build on our ambitions to expand our network to even many more destinations. Our aim is to serve a large segment of travellers and provide them with affordable packages with great memories and experiences to remember. We look forward to continuing our contribution to enhancing the development of the aviation and tourism sectors in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and achieving many more successful milestones in the coming years,” Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has introduced a new segment of travel in the UAE in line with its socio-economic vision. The launch of the airline highlighted the importance of bringing in a bold new frontier for ultra-low fare travel in the region. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has contributed to supporting the UAE and Abu Dhabi’s efforts towards the post-pandemic tourism recovery and driving the UAE capital’s ongoing economic diversification strategy. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi provides ultra-low fare, hassle-free and efficient travel options for people looking to explore a wide range of attractive destinations in the UAE and abroad. The airline has a young fleet composed of four brand new state-of-the-art Airbus A321neo aircraft, offering the lowest fuel burn, emissions and noise footprint. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has the lowest environmental footprint among its competitors in the region, supporting long-term sustainability.

*Carriers today announce that they have plans to further extend their Joint Business to offer customers a greater choice of destinations and routing options *News follows British Airways’ return to Doha, with its first flight from Gatwick since the start of the pandemic *This winter, the two airlines are operating up to six daily flights to Doha from London Heathrow and London Gatwick New Delhi,16th December: British Airways and Qatar Airways mark the next milestone in their Joint Business Partnership, as they announce their intent to extend their Joint Business. The news follows British Airways’ relaunch of daily services to Doha, with the airline’s first flight taking off from Gatwick last week, giving customers access to Qatar Airways’ expansive global network with connections from Doha to over 100 destinations across the world. The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft featuring three cabins – Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy). This winter, the airlines will jointly operate up to six daily flights between London and Doha – five from London Heathrow and one from London Gatwick. Following on from this milestone in their partnership, the two airlines announce that they intend to further expand their joint business and offer customers access to more destinations on their respective networks. The proposed expansion will give customers enhanced access from Europe to popular destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australasia, such as Singapore, Sydney, Colombo and Nairobi. It will also improve access to destinations across Europe such as Amsterdam, Madrid or Dublin. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Expanding our Joint Business with our strategic airline partner, British Airways, is an important milestone in our ambition of providing customers access to the most extensive route network and unrivalled product.” Sean Doyle, British Airways’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The launch of our first flight from Gatwick to Doha was an important milestone in our existing joint business with Qatar Airways. The proposed expansion of the joint business will be great news for customers, offering them access to more destinations across the world with seamless connections. We know customers are always looking for more options to connect onto popular holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Seychelles, and this expansion will allow them to do just that.” The airlines expect to receive news of any relevant regulatory approvals of their expanded Joint Business proposition in the first half of 2022”

November 25, New Delhi: SriLankan Airlines assured to Indian travellers that the Airline is committed to increase the flights to destinations that were temporarily halted due to the pandemic, restore operations to pre-COVID-19 levels, and offer Indian travelers a wide range of connections to Sri Lanka.SriLankan Airlines’ Chairman, Ashok Pathirage, said “India is our biggest market, and we are dedicated to re-establish operations to full scale where the Indian market is concerned. We continued to operate both passenger and cargo flights to and from India even during periods of lockdown and despite many global travel restrictions. . “ It is an ideal time to create awareness about SriLankan Airlines’ operations in the Indian market and build confidence among travelers to book with the Airline as lockdowns are being lifted and global travel restrictions are eased, added Mr. Pathirage. “The inflow of tourists from India to Sri Lanka has increased considerably in the last few months, with Sri Lanka being one of the first few countries to open borders and welcome fully vaccinated Indian travelers including those who have taken Covaxin. India continues to be one of Sri Lanka’s most significant source markets for international travelers, “he said. “The Airline was able to adapt to meet the changing needs of the industry as the pandemic raged on and played a key role in bridging countries and facilitating the movement of people and critical supplies, including between India and Sri Lanka,” stated Richard Nuttall, Chief Commercial Officer of SriLankan Airlines. Accordingly, Cargo operations emerged as a key activity in the Airline’s business model, and SriLankan plans to introduce more dedicated Cargo flights to its operation. SriLankan Airlines’ Head of Worldwide Sales and Distribution, Dimuthu Tennakoon, said that the Airline is now forging ahead with plans and investments to reestablish its presence in the Indian market. “Recently, the Airline flew down a group of Indian media personnel for a familiarization (FAM) tour of Sri Lanka, so that they could be updated on the current environment in the country for Indian tourists in terms of facilities to ensure a COVID-Safe holiday. He added, “Likewise, we conducted several media FAM tours including a recently concluded major FAM tour for fifty top brand influencers from India who go to experience the diverse culture and heritage of Sri Lanka, which in turn they would promote to their audiences in India. Additionally, there is a pan-India brand campaign in progress at the moment.” When global aviation was at its lowest point, SriLankan Airlines continued to launch flights to new destinations including to Nairobi; Korea; Moscow; Frankfurt; Sydney; Kathmandu; and Paris during 2020 and 2021, with more destination in the pipeline. SriLankan Airlines’ global network expanded significantly, and all new destinations were introduced after thorough studies of factors such as demand, frequency and response. The new routes are indicative of the Airline’s continuous commitment to enhance its network and the travel options available to its passengers worldwide. SriLankan currently operates out of the following Indian cities: Chennai; Tiruchirappalli; Madurai; Bangalore; Hyderabad; Trivandrum; Kochi; Delhi and Mumbai. The Airline introduced a special “buy one and get one free” offer to Indian travelers in the past four months to entice them to travel to Colombo and beyond on SriLankan Airlines. The offer was timed along with the Sri Lankan Government’s announcement to reopen the island to fully vaccinated Indian tourists and was very successful. Furthermore, the Airline increased its frequency of flights from and to India to bring about greater convenience and choice to Indian passengers. Currently, SriLankan Airlines operates flights from 9 cities in India with 54 weekly flights.

New Delhi, 18 Nov 2021: Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minster of Civil Aviation inaugurated a curtain raiser event about Wings India, 2022 which is Asia’s largest event on Civil Aviation (Commercial, General and Business Aviation). Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri V K Singh and Secretary, Civil Aviation Shri Rajiv Bansal and senior officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation were among those present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Scindia said that the Indian Civil Aviation industry has witnessed robust growth over the years and contributes significantly to the economic development of the country. India’s civil aviation industry is the pride of the nation as it is playing a key role in connecting Indians to the remotest corners of the country and to the world. It is bringing people from across the world to discover the huge business and tourism opportunities in India, he added. The Minister said that Indian aviation industry has flown many miles, set numerous milestones, and overcome many challenges to become one of the world’s most lucrative aviation markets. The industry has grown by leaps and bounds and has become the third largest domestic aviation market in the world. India today handles the third largest domestic traffic after the USA and China. He said that with a steady increase in the passenger volume, Indian airlines are charting new territories. “We all know that in this densely globalized economy, air transport is a key element in the country’s transport infrastructure and plays an important role in the Country’s economic growth”, he said. The Minister said that across all the sectors, one cannot undermine the fact that the support of Aviation industry in combating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic was great, by carrying enzymes, PPE kits, masks, medicines, and cargoes which states and union territories required. He said that the overall freight handled by the country’s airports during the first two quarters of FY-22 (combined) has recovered to more than 80% (15.36 Lakh MT during April-September, FY22) of the pre-pandemic level, despite the country being hit by a second wave in the first quarter. The Minister said that Civil Aviation is emerging as one of the major pillars providing fillip to economic growth. To bring the benefits of the Civil Aviation to the common people and provide affordable air connectivity, Government of India had announced Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (UdeDesh Ka Aam Nagrik) on 21st October 2016. As on date, 387 routes connecting 62 Airports including 6 Heliports and 2 Water Aerodromes have been made operational under RCS-UDAN Scheme. The minister appreciated the efforts the Civil Aviation Ministry, AAI and FICCI with the support of MEA and states government in organising this important event i.e. Wings India 2022, Hyderabad with the apt theme India@75: “New Horizon for Aviation Industry”. It aims to bring together the key stakeholders of the Global Aviation market, International regulators, States Governments and business associations as a group representing airlines, to facilitate direct interaction with various airlines, airport operators, cargo operators and other players at a common platform. Courtesy: PIB

Mumbai, August 11, 2021: GO FIRST recived its 49th Airbus A320 Neo at New Delhi as part of it fleet expansion.Earlier, it has inducted two Airbus A320neo aircraft in the 1st week of May 2021. GO FIRST has placed firm orders for delivery of 144 Airbus A320neo aircraft as part of its growth plan and the aircarft received was part of the same. Kaushik Khona, Chief Executive Officer, GO FIRST, said, “GO FIRST welcomes 49th A320neos to its fleet. We at GO FIRST, believe that the airline is uniquely placed with its ultra-low cost structure that has always stood us in good stead. GO FIRST has one of the youngest fleet globally – average fleet age of 3.7 years as of February 2021. Besides as of February 10, 2021, 82% of our fleet is predominantly fuel efficient A320neos – which are 17% to 20% more fuel-efficient than A320CEO aircraft with the lightest configuration .” As an ULCC, GO FIRST is focused towards maintaining low unit costs & operational efficiency and reliability to deliver a superior customer experience in comparison to other ULCCs and Low Cost Carriers (LCCs). As per CAPA Report on Indian Aviation Market Overview dated April 26, 2021,GO FIRST had a high aircraft utilization during the fiscal 2020, with an average utilization of 12.9 hours per day with a high load factor of 88.9%*. GO FIRST achieved the best on-time performance among the airlines in India for 15 consecutive months between the period September 2018 to November 2019. GO FIRST also had the least number of cancellations at 0.3% during the fiscal 2021 (as of January 31, 2021). It also had the lowest number of customer complaints at 0.3 per 10,000 customers (as against the industry average of 1.0 per 10,000 customers) during the fiscal 2021 (for the period up to January 31, 2021)*.