Etihad expands ‘green’ loyalty programme: Etihad Airways has launched its dedicated sustainability-focused corporate rewards programme, designed to facilitate and deliver corporate partner sustainability goals through carbon offsetting, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) investments and green surcharge fares. Corporate Conscious Choices is designed specifically for organisations committed to reducing emissions and operating sustainably, with rewards and incentives designed to proactively support pro-environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and employee behaviour. The programme provides benefits across four core sustainability pillars: SAF Investment, Green Surcharges, Corporate Conscious Miles and Carbon Offsets. Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Sustainability has been at the top of Etihad’s agenda as the most significant long-term priority of our business for a long time now; but it is more than just a business priority. It’s a social responsibility, as the influence organisations have on society as leaders, helping consumers make sustainable choices in their everyday lives, is a duty and obligation of doing business.”
Travelport adds tools to Travelport+: Travelport announced it has introduced the latest update to its next-generation platform, Travelport+. “As part of our mission to revolutionize the travel industry’s retail experience, we continue to evolve, simplify, and automate the most critical technology tools. Today’s enhanced features empower travel agents to offer more choice, enable greater self-service capabilities for travellers, and simplify the most complex servicing processes,” said Jen Catto, Chief Marketing Officer at Travelport. “All Travelport+ customers enjoy a more modern, digital-first retail experience when connecting through our platform. That includes our desktop customers, who have said that the latest version of Smartpoint has managed to transform mundane travel management tasks into superior servicing opportunities.” The evolution of Travelport+ tools and agency capabilities continues with simplified access to enriched travel content from multiple sources, including New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard content. Travelport is the first and only global distribution system (GDS) to sign NDC content distribution deals with all three major European airline groups (Air France-KLM, International Airlines Group (IAG), and Lufthansa Group). The company continues to expand its NDC connections with more than 16 airlines worldwide, including American Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, and Singapore Airlines.
Skyport handles first Bamboo Airways charter: Central-European cargo handler Skyport has handled the freight carried on board Bamboo Airways’ first charter flight of the year, operating from Hanoi International Airport in Vietnam to Vaclav Havel Prague Airport (PRG) in the Czech Republic. The Boeing 787-900 passenger aircraft flew from Hanoi to Prague on the 18th of January, carrying approximately 15 tonnes of general cargo in the hold. The aircraft was offloaded throughout the night by Skyport staff and reloaded with approximately seven tonnes of export cargo before departing the following day. Skyport has been the contracted partner for Bamboo Airways at Prague Airport since 2019 when the pair signed a contract to co-operate on scheduled services.
Almost 20 million pax at Mumbai’s CSMIA airport in 2021: Being one of the busiest airports in the country, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has registered nearly 20 million passenger movements in 2021. Working tirelessly through the pandemic, the airport has been constantly striving to provide uninterrupted connectivity to travellers and witnessed passenger traffic slowly inching towards pre-covid times in 2021. The increase in passenger traffic signals a tip of the hat to CSMIA’s efforts in this regard as well as the passenger confidence in the safety initiatives and protocols adopted by the airport. In 2021, CSMIA has played host to a total of approximately 19.8 million passengers with approximately 1.6 million flights across domestic and international destinations. During this time, the airport has catered to approximately 17.4 million domestic passengers across 1,40,000 flights and over 2.43 million international passengers across 17,290 flights, thus witnessing domestic passenger traffic representing around 88 percent of the overall passenger movement from CSMIA. This was driven by the recovery in domestic air travel, which also saw the airport registering an increase of over 117 percent passenger traffic during July to December 2021 with around 10.9 million passengers as against approx. 5 million passengers in the same period in 2020. In terms of international load, the last three quarters of CY 2021 cumulatively witnessed around 1.9 million passengers, which is approximately 174 percent more than that of 2020 where over 0.7 million passenger footfalls were registered.
GetJet Airlines operates to Australia: GetJet Airlines Airbus A330-302, under Lithuanian registration LY-LEO, landed at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) on Sunday (13:07 local time) after an almost nine-hour flight from Hong Kong (HKG). “LY-LEO was the first wide-body aircraft registered in the Baltic countries in 2019. It led us to reach another milestone for our company and Lithuanian aviation – GetJet Airlines became the first Lithuanian airline company that operated a commercial flight to Australia,” said Darius Viltrakis, GetJet Airlines CEO. During the pandemic, this widebody aircraft was modified from passenger to freighter with 0 LOPA configuration allowing the airline to operate cargo in-cabin flights. The flight (GW734) to Sydney was not an exception – the aircraft carried tons of Rapid Antigen Tests. GetJet Airlines is a Lithuanian airline company, providing ACMI and charter services since 2016. GetJet Airlines operates a fleet of young Airbus A320, A319 and A330 type aircraft. The company flies to more than 170 airports in more than 50 countries worldwide and provides services to Wizz Air, Teztour, LOT, Finnair, Spice Jet and others.
Hahn Air appoints Kirsten Rehmann as new CEO: Hahn Air announced the appointment of Kirsten Rehmann as the new CEO. Rehmann has been part of the corporate management since 2012 alongside the owners and founders of Hahn Air, Hans Nolte and Nico Gormsen. She is now taking sole responsibility for the company’s affairs while Nolte and Gormsen remain closely connected to Hahn Air in their role as owners. In the future, Rehmann will direct Hahn Air’s global business, all corporate affairs as well as operational and strategic planning. Rehmann joined Hahn Air in 2003 when the company was four years into its existence. Starting as a Sales and Marketing Executive, she quickly advanced within the company and became instrumental in driving the successful expansion of the Hahn Air ticketing business. Over the years, she held various roles in different departments of Hahn Air and acted first as Director of Airlines Business Group and later as Chief Commercial Officer.
AVIAN signs parts inventory deal with Embraer: AVIAN Inventory Management together with York Aerospace Solutions III (YAS) as the sole capital partner, has signed an agreement with Embraer for exclusive purchasing, marketing and distribution rights of surplus Embraer commercial and business jet airplane parts. Designed to promote accessibility and speed to market, AVIAN’s focused distribution centre will deliver unparalleled product availability to all aircraft operators and maintenance and repair stations around the world providing a one-stop, go-to access point. Established from the ground up specifically to accommodate Embraer’s long-term spare parts strategy, AVIAN will consolidate all of Embraer’s worldwide surplus spare part inventory in their new facility in Orlando, FL. Operations and sales are expected to commence in Q1 2022. In addition to Embraer, AVIAN has physically embedded Sales Channel Partners (“SCPs”) into its operation to act as the customer-facing entities. DASI, UNICAL Aviation, and Regional Airline Support Group (RASG) have been named from a wide range of interested parties as each brought extensive market reach, years of product experience, and most importantly a demonstrated desire to support Embraer customers.
Tamarack adds ASG Aerospace to global network: Tamarack Aerospace Group announced the addition of ASG Aerospace (ASG) of Miami, Florida to its network of Tamarack Authorised Service Centre Partners. The Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) centre offers sales and service of the Tamarack Active Winglet System for the Citation Jet 525, 525A, and 525B series in all eight variants. This new Authorised Service Centre joins 12 others in the United States, and seven in countries including Brazil, the Channel Islands, Sweden, Serbia, and The United Kingdom. In addition to the now 20 Authorised Service Centres, Tamarack has two Transformation Centres in Aiken, South Carolina and Oxford, England, respectively. Transformation Centres and the Tamarack Headquarters in Sandpoint, ID are installing Active Winglet modifications and can also service the installed technology.
Magnetic Group expands to USA: Magnetic Group is launching their new representative office and hub in Miami, Florida. Magnetic Trading and EngineStands24 are the first group brands to establish a presence in the region. A significant part of Magnetic Group sales originates from the Americas. Over the past years, the company has been trading large assets within the region, and Magnetic Leasing, a brand which provides asset management and leasing solutions, is born from a Joint Venture with a US based investment fund. Therefore, it is logical next step for Magnetic Group to also have a physical presence in America. The Miami-based team will focus on the introduction of Magnetic Trading services in the local market, including spare parts and components solutions, a total asset management program and repair management, while providing local airlines with scheduled and AOG spare parts supply. Additionally, airlines and asset owners will be able to lease engine stands from the Miami hub using the recently launched EngineStands24 platform – currently, engine stands for CFM56-7B, CFM56-5A/B and V2500 engines will be available for lease from USA with the company is planning to expand the portfolio throughout the year.
PayCargo sees growth, names VP for sales: PayCargo has announced that it processed more than US$10 billion f freight-related payments in 2021, a 250 percent increase from 2020. The fintech leader has also announced the appointment of Todd Pigeon as Vice President Sales over the North American East Coast Region further accelerating the growth of the company’s online payment platform. Pigeon will be based at PayCargo’s global headquarters in Coral Gables, Florida, from where he will lead a regional team focused on both payer and vendor business development in the North American East Coast Region. He will also be responsible for leading PayCargo’s Miami-based Inside Sales Team and involved in furthering PayCargo’s salesforce evolution. Pigeon brings global experience within the AP Moller Maersk Group, spanning commercial leadership roles throughout Latin America, China, Europe, and, most recently, the United States, including the role of Chief Commercial Officer at Sealand, a Maersk Company.
Japan Airlines licences GE’s 360 Foam Wash: GE Aviation has awarded Japan Airlines a technical license to use GE’s 360 Foam Wash system on its CF34-8E aircraft engines. This makes Japan Airlines the first global CF34 engine operator — and first regional jet operator — to be licensed for the patented engine cleaning system. GE Aviation has awarded the license following technology testing and equipment training. Japan Airlines aircraft technicians can now perform 360 Foam Wash on their own to maintain the airline’s fleet of CF34-8E engines powering Embraer 170 aircraft and operated by Japan Airlines subsidiary J-Air. GE’s 360 Foam Wash is an alternative to the water wash method. It can help restore engine performance leading to reduced fuel consumption and improved time on wing. The process involves injecting a specially-formulated, proprietary solution that reduces build-up of deposits in the engine, which can lower engine exhaust temperatures and improve engine compressor efficiency. Estimates are that 360 Foam Wash has the potential to save Japan Airlines up to 82,000 liters of fuel and save up to 285 metric tons of carbon emissions a year by replacing some water washes with foam wash for CF34 engine cleaning.
RED aircraft launches MRO training programme: RED aircraft has announced its intention to provide training programmes for maintenance repair and overhaul centres, owing to the continued successful growth and utilisation of the RED A03 piston engine. It will be a requirement to provide safe and efficient maintenance on the engine, repairs, and inspections can only be carried out by RED authorised organisations. By completing the course, MRO’s can be officially registered as an Authorised Service Centre. With the number of aircraft operators set to realize the growing advantages of the RED A03 and ever-increasing sales, this certification could be highly beneficial and profitable for MROs looking to provide solutions for clients looking interested to use the engine.
Ontic signs deal with AMETEK: Ontic has signed a new exclusive license agreement with AMETEK Sensors and Fluid Management Systems for select motor-driven fuel flow meter products fitted to various military engine derivatives including F100 and F108 series. The fuel flow meter products are currently supported out of AMETEK’s Wilmington, Massachusetts and Reynosa, Mexico facilities and will be transitioned into Ontic’s Chatsworth, California facility throughout 2022. Gareth Blackbird, COO of Ontic, said “Ontic is pleased to sign its first license agreement with a new OEM partner in AMETEK. AMETEK has an established presence and reputation in the aerospace industry, and we are pleased that they understand the value of Ontic’s licensing business to ensure these parts will continue to be well supported through their remaining life. This particular license expands our product offering within military engine components.”
MHIRJ expands MRO network: MHI RJ Aviation Group (MHIRJ) announced that it is expanding its MRO network with the opening of a new facility in Macon, Georgia. The new facility will be located at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport and is part of MHIRJ’s growing footprint in North America servicing the CRJ Series fleet. The lease has been signed for two additional lines of maintenance, with the potential to grow that number to four, which would bring the total up to 40 lines of maintenance within the MHIRJ network. With facilities in Macon, Georgia; Bridgeport, West Virginia and Tucson, Arizona, MHIRJ is the world’s largest Regional MRO. The new facility will add around 200 jobs in the local community at full capacity, for which MHIRJ will kickstart the hiring efforts immediately.
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