AAV News in Brief 26 December 2022

Avion Express signs deal with Sky Cana: Avion Express, a European narrowbody ACMI operator and member of the global aviation services group Avia Solutions Group, has just further strengthened its cooperation with Sky Cana, a start-up airline headquartered in Santo Domingo. The companies have been in partnership for a few years and now have signed a contract for two additional Airbus A320 aircraft, making it five aircraft in total. Under the agreement, Avion Express will operate the aircraft based in Puerto Plata Airport on behalf of the carrier for a period starting from December 2022. Sky Cana is a Dominican air carrier, using ACMI for its operations. Working with some of the best tourist destinations in the Caribbean, the airline offers transfer, freight, overflight, helicopter, advertising, air ambulance, and tour services to locations in the United States of America, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Air Marakanda joins ACI Europe: Air Marakanda, the operator of Samarkand International Airport (SKD), announced it received silver membership at the European branch of Airports Council International (ACI Europe), the only global membership organisation for airport operators and associations. ACI Europe currently represents over 500 airports in 55 countries. Its member airports serve 90 percent of commercial air traffic in Europe – 2.3 billion passengers, 18.4 million tons of cargo, and 21.2 million flights annually. Anton Khodzhajan, General Director of airport management company Air Marakanda LLC, said: “Silver membership in the International Council of Airports Europe is an important acknowledgement of Samarkand International Airport, and the next step towards a truly international profile for Air Marakanda. Here at our airport, in all areas of aviation business. I am convinced our cooperation will lead to improved service quality and an experience of international standards for travellers using SKD. Samarkand International is ready to be part of ACI Europe’s global community of excellence.” Magnetic Engines partners with GE Aerospace: Magnetic Engines, a member of Magnetic Group, has signed an agreement with GE Aerospace to support their customers with on-wing repairs for CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B engines. Providing on-wing support at this level provides flexibility and value for OEM customers to reduce Turn Around Time (TAT), save costs and returns engine back into operations. “We are pleased to work with Magnetic Engines and continue our mission to provide world class customer support around the globe,” said GE Aerospace On Wing Support General Manager Alex Henderson. “This agreement is another step intended to provide value to our customers and keep them flying longer.” According to Filip Stanisic, Head of Magnetic Engines, it is the latest development in Magnetic’s quest to provide the best engine support. “Magnetic Engines are elated to have GE Aerospace as a customer and we will do our best to justify their trust in our abilities and quality, we are looking forward to our cooperation.” David Pook named VP Customer Experience at Burrana: Burrana, a market leader in the inflight entertainment (IFE) and cabin technology industry, announced that David Pook has taken the role of VP Customer Experience, effective immediately. Pook joined Burrana in 2019 as VP Marketing and Sales Support leading the global marketing and sales operations team. Over the past three years Pook proved to be integral to the company’s journey of continuously innovating and designing customer-centric, cost-effective, and superior quality cabin technologies for airlines. As VP Customer Experience Pook broadens his remit to lead global sales, program management, marketing, OEM partnerships and contracts, centralizing management of all customer centric touchpoints across the business. “With an unwavering passion for bringing innovative customer experiences to life, coupled with a strong technical background and a rapport with the industry spanning 25 years, David is the perfect candidate to take on this new opportunity” added Graham Macdonald CEO Burrana. Saudia Cargo expands partnership with cargo.one: Saudia Cargo and cargo.one announced an expansion of their partnership to bring more of the airline’s capacity on board the leading marketplace for digital air cargo bookings. The growth builds upon a more than 1.5 year-collaboration in which cargo.one delivered Saudia Cargo’s first external digital sales channel and greatly enhanced both its market reach and quality of service to freight forwarders. cargo.one and Saudia teams will double down on initiatives to derive maximum value from the airline’s digital distribution. Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Cargo offers impressive global reach and is working hard to support the kingdom to become a global hub for connections between Africa, Asia, North America and Europe. The airline is contributing to Saudi Arabia’s expansion of the air cargo sector to offer more than 4.5 million tonnes per year by the end of the decade. Saudia Cargo is continuing to expand digital access to its air cargo capacity. Since Summer 2021, cargo.one has delivered customer-centric strategic digital sales, and helped Saudia Cargo to expand its global footprint and strengthen its position in the market. To date, freight forwarders using cargo.one have booked thousands of shipments across Saudia’s global network on its dedicated freighter and passenger fleets. Over 50 percent of bookings were to destinations outside Saudi Arabia, supporting the airline to grow in new markets and customer segments. Hahn Air expands network: Hahn Air added 14 new carriers to its leading network of more than 350 airlines throughout 2022. With Hahn Air’s solutions, the partners can sell their flights in 190 markets, including markets outside of their route network, where they are not available with their own distribution set-up. When the partners sign an interline agreement with Hahn Air, travel agents can book their flights in the GDSs and issue them on the insolvency-safe Hahn Air HR-169 ticket, even in markets where the airlines are not participating in the local payment system (e.g. BSP or ARC). With the products H1-Air and X1-Air, partner airlines with no or limited GDS presence benefit from being available in all major GDSs under the H1 or X1 code and can be ticketed with Hahn Air as the validating carrier. The five new interline partners are Fly Pelican from Australia, ITA Airways from Italy, Jordan Aviation from Jordan, Safarilink from Kenya, and Transair from Senegal. Nine partners opted to outsource GDS sales to Hahn Air, therefore Nauru Airlines from Australia and Nepal Airlines (on behalf of President Travel & Tours) are now available in GDSs under the H1 code while Animawings from Romania, As Salaam Air from Tanzania, Cabo Verde Airlines from Cabo Verde, EZ Air from Curacao, Fuji Dream Airlines from Japan and Jambojet from Kenya can be found in major GDSs under the X1 code. And finally, one carrier, World2Fly from Spain, came on board as a dual partner opting to combine an interline agreement with the X1-Air solution. AAR increases size and extends maturity of revolving credit facility: AAR, a leading provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, MROs, and OEMs, recently entered into a $620 million unsecured revolving credit facility. The credit facility is a $20 million increase from the prior facility and extends the maturity of the agreement from September 2024 to December 2027. “We are pleased to have both increased and extended our unsecured revolving credit facility, which recognizes the strength of our credit profile and provides us with significant liquidity and certainty,” said Dylan Wolin, Vice President, Strategic & Corporate Development and Treasurer of AAR CORP. “We would like to thank our lenders for their continued support.” CPaT signs deal with American Jet: CPaT Global, the world’s leading provider of distance learning for the airline and aviation industry, today announced they have been awarded a new contract with American Jet S.A. CPaT will be providing ERJ 145 Aircraft System courses and our General Subjects library for their pilot training. “CPaT is honored about this new partnership with American Jet S.A. for their pilot’s distance learning,” said Capt. Greg Darrow, Vice President of Sales. “CPaT is excited to support yet another Latin American airline with our industry-leading content.” American Jet S.A, a company founded in 1984, began its operations as an air taxi. Today it continues to offer this service nationally and internationally with bases in Jorge Newbery Airport, San Fernando, Neuquén and Mendoza. Currently, American Jet has achieved a considerably broad operational development offering corporate flights, charter with sports delegations, events, groups and mainly for the transfer of personnel from oil and mining companies. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]