Middle East & North Africa

Egyptian carrier EgyptAir has signed an agreement with OnAir for its full suite of Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir services for its fleet of new Airbus A330-300.

A new era for budget air travel within the Middle East took a big step closer to realisation today when flydubai, Dubai's first low-cost airline, received its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) from the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

Corporatejets XXI, the Barcelona-based executive charter company has reached an agreement with a private company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to position its Falcon 900C with them for an indefinite term. Under the terms of the agreement the aircraft will be used for the Saudi company's corporate use, as well as being available for third party charter to clients based in the Middle East.

Turkish Airlines is in talks with India's Jet Airways about leasing a fourth Boeing 777-300ER from the Asian carrier. Jet has wet-leased three of the type to Turkish Airlines and four to Gulf Air, although as reported on Arabian Aerospace the Bahrain airline is not intending to retain them.

Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) has released the April 2009 traffic figures for Abu Dhabi International Airport. The figures show a 12 per cent increase in passengers travelling to, from, and through the airport compared to the same month in the previous year. Aircraft movements also increased by 5 per cent.

Abu Dhabi's Royal Jet is hosting a Healthcare Expansion Congress in the city this week to reinforce statistics issued by the luxury jet charter business that show a steady increase in demand for aero-medical evacuations and services.

The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority reported a 10.3% growth in UAE air traffic yesterday. It also reported profits of AED89.5 million on revenues of AED226.6m.

Saudi low-fare airline NAS Air has expanded its network from Jeddah to more cities throughout the region.

Royal Jordanian Airlines and UK cargo operator MK Airlines have signed an MOU to jointly develop freight services in the Middle East.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines which are to power the first Boeing 787 were fired up for the first time today at the Boeing Everett plant in Washington, USA.

Etihad Airways' first batch of Emirati graduate managers have completed the airline's graduate management development programme.

Expanding military airspace to accommodate commercial airlines and better air traffic control are key to maximising expected growth in passenger numbers at Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths reported the Khaleej Times.

Despite the downturn Emirates Group has posted a year-end profit of $406million (AED 1.49billion) although these figures are down 72% on the year before.

Bayanat Airports Engineering & Supplies has signed a distributor agreement with QinetiQ at the Airport Show 2009 in Dubai today.

Effective from June 1 EgyptAir and Singapore Airlines are expanding their codeshare agreement for flights between Singapore and Cairo.

Royal Jordanian and MK Airlines have signed an MoU to develop air-freight services throughout Jordan and the rest of the Levant.

Emirates has opened its third lounge in Germany at Dusseldorf International Airport yesterday. The dedicated lounge measures some 700 square metres and is its largest in the country.

More details are emerging around the launch of Syrian Pearl Airways (SPA) which is due to begin operations this month following the arrival of two BAE 146-300 aircraft leased from Spanish charter carrier Orion Air.

Kuwait's premium carrier, Wataniya Airways,is to start flights to Sharm El Sheikh with effect from June 5.

Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation has made large strides in implementing projects aimed at modernising Kuwait International Airport and has confirmed it is not planning on moving the airport to another site.

The Turkish Air Force has disbanded its first McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom squadron as it prepares for the introduction of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II, flightglobal.com has reported.

Cable manufacturer Nexans, reported at the Airport Show in Dubai today that is supplying Almabani with special airfield lighting cables for King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah.

"The ATM community should see the economic downturn as a chance and use the time wisely to plan ahead. This will enable us to be prepared when growth resumes," says Achim Baumann,DFS regional manager Middle East saids at the Airport Show, Dubai today.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has selected US-based Sensis for the deployment of its Advanced - Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) and Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) systems for King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah and King Fahd International Airport, Dammam.

Ruler and President of Abu Dhabi His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued an emiri decree to restructure the board of directors at Etihad Airways.