Aviation News in Brief 19 Feb 2020

Jetstar Asia flying to Colombo: Jetstar Asia will become the only low-cost carrier to fly direct from Singapore to Colombo, Sri Lanka when it launches the new service on 1 July 2020. Colombo becomes Jetstar Asia’s 25th destination from Singapore and the first airline in the Qantas Group to fly to the popular hotspot. The return service will operate four times a week. The new service will be operated by Jetstar Asia’s 180-seat A320. SD develops modular antenna portfolio: SD (Satcom Direct), the business, military, and government aviation solutions provider, is expanding its hardware portfolio with the launch of a new tail-mounted antenna series. The SD Plane Simple antenna portfolio, positions SD as a single source provider of end-to-end connectivity solutions for business jet and government operators worldwide. The new tail-mounted antenna system offers two variants for operation in Ku- or Ka-band frequencies. The Ku-band variant is expected to be available for STC in early 2021, followed by the Ka-band version later in the year. With only two line-replaceable units (LRUs) and a network agnostic design, the common form factor and wiring simplify the installation, which allows owners and operators to equip aircraft with a connectivity system compatible with future technological developments. Partnerships with Inmarsat for Jet ConneX service delivery and Intelsat for FlexExec connectivity have already been established. Bye Aerospace names son of Neil Armstrong to advisory board: Bye Aerospace, developer of the eFlyer family of FAA Part 23-certified all-electric aircraft, announced that Mark Armstrong has joined the company as a strategic advisor. Armstrong is a software engineer and entrepreneur, as well as a singer/songwriter and public speaker. He spent 25 years working in technology, writing software and delivering products and services for companies such as WebTV, Apple, Microsoft, Symantec and Electronic Arts. Currently, he is a corporate advisor to several hi-tech organisations and serves on numerous non-profit boards. Armstrong is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in physics and is the younger son of Neil and Janet Armstrong. Qatar Airways and Bulgaria Air sign codeshare: Qatar Airways said it has signed a codeshare agreement with Bulgaria Air with the first codeshare flights to operate from 2 March. The agreement will provide Bulgaria Air passengers with a connection to destinations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Qatar Airways’ passengers will benefit from access to two new destinations in Bulgaria: Varna and Burgas. Qatar Airways first launched services to Sofia, Bulgaria on 22 September 2011 beginning with a four-times weekly service. In the years since, due to the strong demand by travellers, the service has grown to 14 weekly flights. Lufthansa Technik renews and expands long-term contract with SAS: SAS Scandinavian Airlines has extended its existing component support contract with Lufthansa Technik AG and added further services. Under the new agreement running until December 2026, Lufthansa Technik will provide an integrated material supply (Total Component Support) for the airline’s entire Boeing and Airbus fleet, including the carrier’s new A350s. In addition, Lufthansa Technik will provide Airframe Related Components (ARC) services for the Boeing and Airbus fleets including LEAP-1A nacelle support. Travelport extends partnership with five airlines in the Pacific region: Travelport announced that it has signed new multi-year content agreements with five airlines in the Pacific region. These include: Regional Express (Australia), Solomon Airlines (Solomon Islands), Air Vanuatu (Vanuatu), Samoa Airways (Samoa) and Air Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia). Under the agreements, the airlines will continue to be supported by Travelport’s industry leading technologies and solutions, which enable more than 68,000 agencies worldwide serving hundreds of millions of people to search, book and sell their air content and inventory. ACI postpones finance conference due to virus fears: ACI has decided to postpone the 12th Annual Airport Economics & Finance Conference & Exhibition and the 6th ACI-World Bank Annual Aviation Symposium (the Event) scheduled for 24-26 March 2020 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The group said a new date for the event will be announced soon and is likely to be in the fourth quarter fo this year. “Our foremost priority is the health and well-being of delegates, speakers, exhibitors and staff and ACI Asia-Pacific, ACI EUROPE and ACI World (the organisers), together with the host Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), have been closely monitoring the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak as it has unfolded. As well, travel restrictions and limited connectivity within the region is making it challenging for some to travel to Kuala Lumpur. As a result, the organisers, together with the host, have made the difficult decision to postpone the event.” MIAT Mongolian Airlines selects Sabre: Sabre announced a new alliance with national carrier MIAT Mongolian Airlines. The long-term agreement will see the airline implement Sabre’s Market Intelligence Global Demand Data application. The adoption of Sabre’s Global Demand Data solution will connect the national carrier to market data while providing advanced data capabilities across numerous commercial planning areas including revenue management and sales. Etihad Cargo and dnata extend partnership: Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Aviation Group, has bolstered its global handling partnership agreements with dnata, one of the world’s largest air service providers. The new agreements align the two UAE-based companies until 2023, with dnata providing warehouse and cargo handling services to manage 180,000 tonnes of air cargo carried annually across 15 gateways in Etihad Cargo’s global network. For the first time, the Etihad Cargo-dnata alliance now extends to North America and South Asia Pacific, with dnata having commenced warehouse operations at Canada’s Toronto Pearson Airport from 5 February 2020, to be followed by Singapore’s Changi Airport on 1 May 2020. Vistara and United launch codeshare: India’s Vistara and United Airlines have implemented the codeshare agreement signed in June 2019 with effect from 14 February 2020. The agreement enables United Airlines to codeshare on Vistara-operated Indian domestic flights starting 28 February 2020. The codeshare agreement enables United Airlines to put its ‘UA’ designator code on 68 Vistara-operated flights to 26 destinations every day, including but not limited to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur, and Varanasi.