Etihad Airways chief executive James Hogan has won the prestigious title of “Aviation CEO of the Year” at the CEO Middle East Awards 2008. Hogan, who joined Etihad in September 2006 and has more than 25 years of experience in the aviation and travel industries, received the award at a glittering ceremony at the Raffles Hotel in Dubai. More than 300 companies from all sectors of business across the region were reviewed for the various awards, with three nominations … [Read more...] about Etihad Airways
Carriers
Amerer Air & BAe Systems
Austrian freighter airline Amerer Air has cancelled a deal with BAe Systems to take the first converted BAe 146, after technical issues delayed the plane’s delivery. “Following some initial delays to the delivery program of the first BAe 146QT freighter, the launch customer – Amerer Air – has decided not to take delivery of the aircraft,” BAe said. “The delivery delays meant Amerer Air could not utilise the aircraft as it had planned.” The … [Read more...] about Amerer Air & BAe Systems
British Airways
UK carrier British Airways will increase weekly London Heathrow-Dubai UAE flights to 20 from the current 14 from 29 March 2009. The carrier also is increasing weekly services from Heathrow to Johannesburg, South Africa from 14 to19 from 1 May 2009. … [Read more...] about British Airways
Spanair
A Spanish court appears to be takingsteps to launch an official criminalinvestigation into the August 20 crashof a Spanair MD-82 at Madrid-BarajasAirport that killed 154 people. Reportshave suggested that a maintenance chiefand two technicians are being questionedon suspicion of manslaughter on 154counts. … [Read more...] about Spanair
Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana and British Airways
The share swap ratio for the merger between Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana and British Airways hasn’t yet been agreed upon, according to a Caja Madridofficial, Dow Jones reported. The UK and Spanish carriers announced a US$5.1billion all-share merger in July, but theterms haven’t yet been worked out. Aslumping share price and a wideningpensions deficit at British Airways havefuelled speculation Iberia can get a betterdeal in the negotiations. … [Read more...] about Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana and British Airways
Airbus
Airbus, owned by Franco German EADS, is to double the amount of vendor financing it offers to about US$2.64 billion next year, the Financial Times reported. The financing is aimed at supporting commercial aircraft sales and maintaining deliveries as its customers struggle to obtain funding from traditional sources. The paper quotes an unnamed aviation banker who says the number of institutions off ering finance for new commercial jet deliveries had fallen by between a half and two thirds from … [Read more...] about Airbus