AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, aviation briefs

Source: AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesAug.迷你倉 26--IRAQ SEEKING BIDS FOR NEW AIRPORT: Iraq's civil aviation authority has invited UAE contractors to bid for the construction of a $2.5bn airport in the country, The National has reported. The airport will be "strategically located within a 40 kilometre vicinity of the provinces of Karbala, Najaf and Hilla. We chose this location because we are seeing a surge in tourists coming here ... and that's putting a lot of pressure on the airports of Baghdad and Najaf," said the director-general of authority, Nasser Hussein. The new airport is expected to manage 20 million passengers a year, making it the country's biggest and serving as a hub for the country's expanding national fleet.ETIHAD, ALITALIA IN TALKS ON COMMERCIAL DEAL: Italian daily il Sole 24 Ore has said Alitalia is in talks with Etihad Airways on a commercial deal that may even lead to the Abu Dhabi-based carrier taking a stake in the money-losing Italian company, Reuters has reported. Citing unnamed sources, the paper said there had been several meetings in recent weeks between managers at both companies, including recently appointed Alitalia chief executive Gabriele del Torchio. The two airlines were mentioned in the context of a possible tie-up earlier this year, but Etihad said at the time there were no talks between the two firms beyond those on code sharing.EGYPTAIR EXPRESS STARTS SOHAG - KUWAIT SERVICE: EgyptAir has said its regional subsidiary, EgyptAir Express, has started its new operation between Sohag and Kuwait starting from August 24, 2013. EgyptAir Express will offer three flights a week, on Saturday, Monday and Thursday.BOEING TO DELIVER FIRST 787-9 DREAMLINER IN MID-2014: Boeing Co has announced the completion of the first 787-9 Dreamliner. At 20 feet longer than the 787-8, the second member of the super-efficient 787 family will extend the 787 family in both capacity and range, carrying 40 more passengers an additional 300 nautical miles (555 km), said Boeing. First delivery to launch customer Air New Zealand is set for mid-2014, it added.EGYPT LOOKING TO EXPAND EGYPTAIR FLEET: Abdul Aziz Fadel, Egyptian civil aviation minister has said he's seeking expand the size of EgyptAir's to 150 aircraft by 2020, and 200 by 2050, despite the considerable losses the carrier incurred as a result of recent decline in tourism, Daily News Egypt has reported. Fadel also said he hoped to increase the capacity of Egypt's airports to accommodate 35 million passengers, in addition to developing the Cairo airport's second passenger reception building.BEIRUT RAFIK HARIRI SAW 10 percent FALL IN PASSENGER NUMBERS IN JULY: Lebanese aviation authorities have said the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport witnessed a 10 percent drop in the number of passengers in July, The Daily Star has reported. However, cumulative figures for the first seven months of the year show a 5 percent year-on-year increase in the total number of passengers. The number of flights in July declined more than 22 percent year-on-year, the report said.GULF AIR SECURES OPERATING RIGHTS TO FIVE PAKISTAN DESTINATIONS: Pakistan has granted Gulf Air flight operating rights to five major airports including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Sialkot, Gulf Daily News has reported. This came after a meeting between Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs acting under-secretary Ahmed Nemat Ali and a visiting delegation from Pakistan's civil aviation authority, the daily said.GACA AWARDS AL QAHTANI GRUOP DOMESTIC SERVICES LICENCE: Bahraini carrier, Gulf Air has said it's only acting as consultant to the Al Qahtani Group, which was recently awarded two licences by Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to Al Qahtani to operate domestic services within the kingdom. "Gulf Air did not bid and has not been awarded domestic traffic rights to operate in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," the Manama. "Gulf Air has been operating to Saudi Arabia for over 63 years, amassing extensive operational and logistical knowledge of the Kingdom. As such, the national carrier is in a position to support Al Qahtani obtain its Air Operator's Certificate and further facilitate its entrance into the market," the airline said.QATAR AIRWAYS SEEKING STAKE IN INDIAN LCC: Qatar Airways is eyeing a minority stake in Indian low-cost airline GoAir, CNBC-TV18 has reported, citing unnamed sources. The Doha-based carrier has valued GoAir at $550m, and if the deal goes through, promoters of the Mumbai-based no frills carrier will continue to hold majority stake, said the sources. However, Qatar Air will have right to hike stake if the deal concludes, they added.AIR ARABIA RE-LAUNCHES YEREVAN SERVICE: UAE-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia has restarted its service connecting Sharjah to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on August 16. The airline previously operated the route between November 2006 and March 2009. The route is Air Arabia's only destination in Armenia and is its 63rd destination served from Sharjah.EMIRATES TO BOOST CAPACITY TO MANCHESTER IN LATE SEPTEMBER: Emirates Airline is set increase capacity on its route from Dubai to Manchester between September 21 and September 31, Routes Online has reported. The service is to be operated by a 489新蒲崗迷你倉seater Airbus A380 during this period, instead of 777-300ER. With this change, the airline operates two daily A380 and one daily 777-300ER.FIVE FIRMS BID FOR BAHRAIN AIRPORT'S BD20M FACELIFT: Bahrain Airport Co (BAC) has received tenders from at least five companies to design a multi-million dinar expansion of Bahrain International Airport, Gulf Daily News has reported. The first phase of the $1bn project will include a new terminal that could cost between BD10m and BD20m. Talks about the scheme have been underway since 2011, but were pushed back due to several issues, including Gulf Air's three-year restructuring programme. The airport currently serves a maximum of nine million passengers annually, which could increase to 13.5 million under the new plans.IRAN CONSIDERS IRAQ'S INSPECTION OF IRANIAN AIRCRAFT 'UNFRIENDLY': Iranian foreign ministry has criticised Iraqi officials for inspecting Iranian planes flying to Damascus, and called on Baghdad to "stand against foreign pressures and revise its policy and behaviour," Fars news has reported. "The forced landing of Iranian planes by Iraq is an unfriendly move and against the neighbourly relations and we have objected to our friends in Iraq in this regard," said ministry spokesman, Seyed Abbas Araqchi. Iran understands the foreign pressures on the Iraqi government, "but their forced landing of Iranian planes was unfriendly," he said.BOEING INCREASES AIRCRAFT PRICES: Boeing Co has decided from last week to increase the prices of most of its commercial aircraft, the Wichita Business Journal has reported. The cost of a 787-8 Dreamliner went up 2.3 percent to $211.8m, while aircraft from the 737 MAX family went up between 2.4 percent and 3.8 percent, the report said.QATAR AIRWAYS TO DEPLOY B787 AIRCRAFT ON TWO INDIAN ROUTES: Qatar Airways is set to launch of services from Doha and to Delhi and Bangalore on September 1, as part of a plan to extend its Boeing 787 Dreamliner route network to India, Business Standard has reported. The Doha-based carrier operates daily services from Doha to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Trivandrum, Chennai and Bangalore, together with 11-flights-a-week to Cochin and double daily flights to Delhi.EMIRATES HAS NO PLANS TO JOIN ANY ALLIANCE: Emirates Airline has ruled out plans to join an alliance, saying that customers' interests and our own are best served by remaining independent, The East African has reported. "We believe that free competition is the greatest catalyst for better customer service, and it keeps us on our toes." Khalid Bel Jaflah, Emirates vice president for East Africa, told the daily. "We prefer the flexibility that we currently enjoy, to make codeshare and interline agreements where these are mutually beneficial. It's a policy that has served us and our customers well, as demonstrated by our growth and profitability," he said.SAUDI ARABIA TO SEIZE AIRCRAFT CARRYING PILGRIM WITHOUT PERMIT: The Saudi General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) has introduced a set of penalties, in line with the directives regulating the transport of Haj pilgrims, for airlines violating regulations, Saudi Gazette has reported. The penalties include impounding of planes that land at Saudi airports without obtaining prior permits. Penalties will also be imposed on aircraft that do not comply with arrival and departure schedules, said the GACA.DCAA EXPECTS 416,650 AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS BY 2015: Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) has said Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central (DWC) is projected to witness 375,000 aircraft movement this year, up from 344,656 in 2012, Khaleej Times has reported. In the first half of 2013, the aircraft movement increased by 7.4 percent, compared with the same period last year. The DCAA aims to see passenger aircraft movement reaching 355,000 this year and 385,000 and 416,650, respectively in 2014 and 2015. The target for cargo aircraft movement has been fixed at 28,250 this year and 31,500 in 2014 and 35,000 in 2015.BOEING TO PROBE FIRE-EXTINGUISHER WIRING DEFECT IN DREAMLINERS : Japan's ANA Holdings Inc., the biggest operator of Boeing Co's B787, has it has discovered wiring defects in the fire-suppression system on three aircraft, Bloomberg has reported. The fault, first detected on a 787 due to depart Tokyo's Haneda airport today, would trigger the wrong extinguisher in the event of a blaze in one of the two engines, ANA said. Japan Airlines Co. recalled a 787 flying to Helsinki from Tokyo as a precaution, and Boeing said it was investigating the flaw.SAUDIA'S OUTSTANDING DEBTS TO GACA REACHED SR11BN: Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) is owed SR11bn by Saudi Arabian Airlines, Arab News has reported, citing an unnamed source. The debts comprise SR1.41bn in international aviation fees, SR309.4m for domestic flights and SR420.7m in transit fees. Delays in repayment led GACA to fine the airliner an additional SR1.5bn, and later SR1.3bn following the reorganisation of the authority, bringing the debts of company from SR8.5bn to more than SR11bn.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at .ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage