Sudan Airways made its first flight from Kassala in Sudan to the Eritrean capital Asmara. According to the Sudan Tribune, the airline chose the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the independence of Eritrea to launch the first flight.
Sudan Airways was formed in 1947 and began as a subsidiary operation of the Sudan Railways System. In 1954 the airline added its first international flights.
However, the airline had in the recent past some safety issues regarding accidents involving passenger fatalities. On 23 June 2008, the Sudanese CAA announced grounding of Sudan Airways citing the carrier’s failure to take corrective meassures following an audit of the airline.
In 2007 the company carried 500.000 passengers with a seat occupation of 50% and employed 1353 staff. Sudan Airways has a mixed fleet of 12 Aircraft consisting out of 4 Airbus, 1 Russian build Antonov, 2 Boeing and 7 smaller planes for regional operations (ATI).
The Airline has its major hub in Khartoum and is owned to 49% by the AREF Investment Group, 21 % by Faiha Holding Company and 30% by the Sudanese Government.
Last October, the managing director of Sudan Airways Ahmed Omer Abdelrahman announced big expansion planes and a fleet modernisation during the Arab Air Carriers Organisation conference in Tunis. The expansion plan was including the introduction of long-haul flights to India and China by 2010.
Source://capitaleritrea.com
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Foreign carriers look to India again
Some foreign carriers are once again looking at India as a destination, even as others continue to prune their connectivity to India. Air Arabia, the first low fare carrier in West Asia has added one flight each on Friday and Sunday from Delhi to Dubai, taking the total number of flights every week to nine.
SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, will commence operations to Hyderabad on 15 June 2009, taking over from Singapore Airlines which currently flies to this Indian city three times a week. However, Indian travel agents, who have been agitating against Singapore Airlines’ zero-commission policy, will extend their boycott to SilkAir.
For starters, SilkAir will offer five flights a week to Hyderabad against the current three being offered by Singapore Airlines. This will be increased to daily during the Northern Winter Schedule from 26 October 2009. The flights are subject to governmental approvals and slot availability.
A 20 April report from wire service Press Trust of India quoted Nordic airline Finnair as saying that would resume its Mumbai-Helsinki service starting 18 October, a sign of confidence that demand for business travel between Asia and Europe would increase.
The airline, which operates a daily flight between New Delhi and Helsinki, had suspended service to Mumbai in March citing unfavourable economic conditions and overcapacity on Mumbai-Europe routes.
Source://livemint.com
SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, will commence operations to Hyderabad on 15 June 2009, taking over from Singapore Airlines which currently flies to this Indian city three times a week. However, Indian travel agents, who have been agitating against Singapore Airlines’ zero-commission policy, will extend their boycott to SilkAir.
For starters, SilkAir will offer five flights a week to Hyderabad against the current three being offered by Singapore Airlines. This will be increased to daily during the Northern Winter Schedule from 26 October 2009. The flights are subject to governmental approvals and slot availability.
A 20 April report from wire service Press Trust of India quoted Nordic airline Finnair as saying that would resume its Mumbai-Helsinki service starting 18 October, a sign of confidence that demand for business travel between Asia and Europe would increase.
The airline, which operates a daily flight between New Delhi and Helsinki, had suspended service to Mumbai in March citing unfavourable economic conditions and overcapacity on Mumbai-Europe routes.
Source://livemint.com
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Paramount Air Plans To Buy Up To 15 Passenger Jets
India's Paramount Airways Pvt. Ltd. plans to order up to 15 passenger jets from Boeing Co. (BA) or Airbus - at an estimated total cost of $1.5 billion - after a delay of nearly a year.
Unlisted Paramount plans to use the planes to start flights to South East Asia and the Middle East from mid-2011, Managing Director M. Thiagarajan told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview.
"We will decide on the type of fleet in one or two months, latest by July," Thiagarajan said. "Talks with both Boeing and Airbus have progressed substantially."
Paramount is considering buying Boeing's 777 and 787 jets as well as the A330 and A350 planes from Europe's Airbus, Thiagarajan said.
Paramount, founded by a textile company in the southern Madurai city, began operations in October 2005.
Paramount, India's sole business-class only airline, now operates flights to south, west and east India using five planes from Brazil's Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA (ERJ), or Embraer, each with a capacity of 70 to 75 seats.
Paramount also plans to increase the size of its Embraer fleet to 20 by December 2010.
More orders for Airbus or Boeing will be a boost to the two aircraft makers who are facing a slowdown in new plane purchases as air traffic falls worldwide because of the financial turmoil.
Indian carriers ordered more than 410 commercial planes worth about $40 billion from Airbus and 164 planes worth about $25 billion from Boeing since 2004.
Paramount had planned to order the long-haul jets in the first-half of 2008, but deferred the plan until this year to gauge market conditions following the global economic slowdown.
The current slowdown in the global aviation industry was helping Paramount "negotiate for better deals," he said.
Thiagarajan said the new planes will be purchased from Paramount's cash flow and debt from either the U.S. Exim Bank or other overseas lending institutions.
"We may keep it (the planes) on the balance sheet as otherwise in a sale and leaseback you have to pay higher lease rental, which pushes up your monthly operating costs," Thiagarajan said.
Under a sale and leaseback arrangement, airlines sell their old or new planes to a leasing company and then rent the same aircraft for their fleet. This is popular with smaller and low-fare carriers as it allows them to avoid tying up large amounts of working capital.
"But, it is too early to tell if it will be a sale and leaseback," Thiagarajan said. "Most likely not."
Source://online.wsj.com
Unlisted Paramount plans to use the planes to start flights to South East Asia and the Middle East from mid-2011, Managing Director M. Thiagarajan told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview.
"We will decide on the type of fleet in one or two months, latest by July," Thiagarajan said. "Talks with both Boeing and Airbus have progressed substantially."
Paramount is considering buying Boeing's 777 and 787 jets as well as the A330 and A350 planes from Europe's Airbus, Thiagarajan said.
Paramount, founded by a textile company in the southern Madurai city, began operations in October 2005.
Paramount, India's sole business-class only airline, now operates flights to south, west and east India using five planes from Brazil's Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA (ERJ), or Embraer, each with a capacity of 70 to 75 seats.
Paramount also plans to increase the size of its Embraer fleet to 20 by December 2010.
More orders for Airbus or Boeing will be a boost to the two aircraft makers who are facing a slowdown in new plane purchases as air traffic falls worldwide because of the financial turmoil.
Indian carriers ordered more than 410 commercial planes worth about $40 billion from Airbus and 164 planes worth about $25 billion from Boeing since 2004.
Paramount had planned to order the long-haul jets in the first-half of 2008, but deferred the plan until this year to gauge market conditions following the global economic slowdown.
The current slowdown in the global aviation industry was helping Paramount "negotiate for better deals," he said.
Thiagarajan said the new planes will be purchased from Paramount's cash flow and debt from either the U.S. Exim Bank or other overseas lending institutions.
"We may keep it (the planes) on the balance sheet as otherwise in a sale and leaseback you have to pay higher lease rental, which pushes up your monthly operating costs," Thiagarajan said.
Under a sale and leaseback arrangement, airlines sell their old or new planes to a leasing company and then rent the same aircraft for their fleet. This is popular with smaller and low-fare carriers as it allows them to avoid tying up large amounts of working capital.
"But, it is too early to tell if it will be a sale and leaseback," Thiagarajan said. "Most likely not."
Source://online.wsj.com
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