Oman Air has appointed Abdul Aziz Al Raisi, as Chief Officer, Management Affairs.

Gulf Air has appointed Maher Salman Al Musallam to the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Director General of the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), has been elected Chairman of the Executive Council of the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC).

Lufthansa Technik signed a "long-term" Total Component Support contract with China Airlines covering its fleet of 18 A330-300s and six A430-300s. LHT will supply maintenance, repair and overhaul, consignment stock optimization, supply chain management and home base stock allocation, reliability enhancement programs, documentation and warranty management.

Bahrain Airport Company has appointed Gordon Dewar - currently Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport - as its CEO. He will be taking up his new post at the beginning of July.

Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA) has been awarded the highly-accredited and internationally recognised European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part-147, to provide Aircraft Engineering Type training, and to conduct examinations in conformance with global aviation benchmarks. The Academy successfully completed the rigorous accreditation process - which typically takes up to one year - in a record four months.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has announced the appointment of Khawla Salem Al Badi as the airline's Head of Business Strategy Development in its Information Technology (IT) department.

TAM, which yesterday officially became a member of Star Alliance, said it will make a decision by the second half of this year on whether to spin off its MRO subsidiary. "We've already talked to eight to ten possible" buyers, VP-Operations and MRO Ruy Amparo told ATWOnline this week in San Carlos, Brazil. "In about two months from now, we will decide if our MRO subsidiary will become a spinoff. We are ready to spin off [MRO]."