Middle East & North Africa

Qatar Airways has announced a schedule of five-star inflight entertainment for its passengers onboard its flights during February 2015 to celebrate The Oscars, which takes place in Los Angeles on Sunday 22 February.
Emerging Technologies

Honeywell has played a key role in refurbishing both the southern and northern runways at Dubai International (DXB) and installed one of the world's first complete LED airfield lighting systems.
Emerging Technologies

By Richard Maslen
The US airlines claim that the Gulf giants have received around $42 billion in subsidies and are able to use these to operate with lower loads and offering lower fares, enticing passengers onto their own services. Delta Air Lines has been the most vocal of the three US carriers and how they have skewed the competitive landscape in Europe and the US.
Airports & Networks

With the reducing cost of oil resulting in even lower aviation fuel prices, the overall airline direct operating cost breakdown is changing.
MRO

Effective security technologies and systems are still in demand among airport operators as increasing passenger volumes place new strains on existing infrastructure, said a report issued today.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Air Arabia signed a strategic partnership with the Ras Al Khaimah Department of Civil Aviation to become the Emirate’s designated carrier for passenger services from Ras Al Khaimah International Airport in spring 2014 following the collapse of RAK Airways.
Airports & Networks

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced that the Gulfstream G650ER has once again demonstrated its ability to go the distance by completing the farthest flight in its history.
Business Aviation

By Richard Maslen
The new flights from the Iraqi flag carrier will be the first non-stop scheduled links between Manchester and the country, although a previous charter series have linked the markets previously via a one-stop offering. Both routes will be flown using a new Boeing 737-800 configured with 162 seats.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Africa continues to play an important part in Qatar Airways’ global network expansion strategy and the airline currently operates 140 flights per week to 19 African gateways.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
The aircraft will help Arkia to expand its growing operations into long-haul business and leisure markets and will operate alongside the four A321neo aircraft ordered by the carrier at the Farnborough International Airshow in 2012.
Airports & Networks

Qatar Airways has announced a major expansion in South Africa with the launch of a new destination Durban while simultaneously increasing its weekly frequencies to Johannesburg - plus moving its weekly frequency to Cape Town up from five flights a week to a daily service in October.
Airports & Networks

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has announced that it has received Transport Canada type certification for its PurePower(R) PW814GA and PW815GA engines, which will power the new Gulfstream G500 (range of 5,000 nautical miles) and G600 (range of 6,200 nautical miles) business jets respectively.
MRO

Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) has announced the appointment of specialist South African travel representation agency Development Promotions to represent the destination in South Africa.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
The budget carrier plans to links its Dubai International Airport base with Ahwaz, Hamadan, Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz from March 2015, adding to its existing flights to Tehran and Mashhad, which were only launched in August 2014.
Airports & Networks

France's defence minister arrived in Cairo today to sign the formal documents with the Egyptian government for the purchase of 24 Dassault Rafale fighter jets.
Defense

By Poppy Marello
Over a twelve-month period, preliminary data shows a growth rate of 5.1 percent year over year, with both international and domestic traffic posting strong growth rates of 5.8 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
Airports & Networks

Abu Dhabi-headquartered Falcon Aviation Services (FAS) is re-evaluating its planned completion/MRO centre at Dubai South (formerly Dubai World Central) with a decision on its final make-up and format likely in the early part of next year, according to the company's Chief Operating Officer
MRO

Arab Wings and Emirates-CAE Flight Training (ECFT) have signed a five-year business aviation training agreement for Arab Wings to expand its training programme with ECFT from three to 11 aircraft types.
Maintenance & Training

The FAI World Air Games, conducted under the rules of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), has commenced in Dubai.
Aerospace

Qatar Airways has launched non-stop flights to Nagpur from Doha, taking the airline's total weekly passenger flights from 95 to 102 across 13 key cities in India.
Airports & Networks

Gulf Air is bringing the airline's passengers a new entertainment experience, as it becomes the first airline in the Middle East to launch BBC Worldwide's three newest genre brands onboard: BBC Brit, BBC Earth and BBC First.
Airports & Networks

Saudi Arabia's domestic and regional low cost operator Flynas, is evaluating plans to increase its fleet by more than 300% with orders for as many as 100 aircraft.
Air Transport

Oman Airports' has welcomed new Kish Airlines to Muscat International Airport, offering one direct weekly services between Kish Islands and Muscat/Muscat to Kish Islands using a Fokker 100 aircraft.
Airports & Networks

Dubai based flight support company, UAS, now has the freedom of direct ramp access and can therefore provide more personalised and customised supervision for its clients.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

Skydive Dubai has purchased a Twin Otter Series 400 from the aircraft manufacturer, Viking Air Limited, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Business Aviation