In early July Emirates kicked off its daily non-stop passenger service to Prague, Czech Republic using an A330- 200 aircraft with 16 tonnes of available belly capacity. Trade between the Czech Republic and the UAE has leapt from under US$26 million in 1993 to US$678 million in 2008, according to the Czech Foreign Ministry. Nearly 30 per cent of exports to the UAE are glass products including Czech-made Bohemian glass, which can be seen in chandeliers and other decorative features in … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Emirates daily to Prague with belly capacity

Chapman Freeborn Airchartering has announced that it has coordinated the first ever charter on Qatar Airways Cargo’s latest addition to their fleet — a new Boeing 777 Freighter, recently delivered to the Doha-based airline. The global aircraft charter specialist coordinated the movement of 87 tonnes of telecommunications equipment from Stockholm-Arlanda (ARN) to Dhaka (DAC) for the inaugural charter flight on behalf of its client Heavyweight Sweden AB. “We are … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: First charter on Qatar B777F for C-F

Dubai’s Emirates Airline has placed an order with Boeing for an additional 30 777-300ER aircraft, worth approximately US$9.1 billion at list prices. The new order adds to the fleet of 71 777-300ERs previously ordered, of which 53 aircraft are currently in service. The 777-300ER offers an additional cargo payload of 20.1 tonnes. The order adds to an already substantial order book that is set to soon place Emirates as the largest airline in the world by fleet size. In addition to … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Emirates marches on with $9B in new orders

The US and Switzerland have signed an enhanced Open Skies Air Transport Agreement, replacing the previous agreement signed in 1995. The new agreement includes all of the essential elements of Open Skies and adds 7th freedom rights for carriers of both countries to operate all-cargo flights to third countries without a connection to the home country. The new agreement also permits Swiss airlines to be owned and controlled by nationals of any Member State of the European Union. … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: New open skies for US/Switzerland

Continental Airlines said it would take foreign exchange losses of about US$10 million in the second quarter from the decline of the Euro and the British pound against the US dollar. Continental, which is seeking to merge with United Airlines also said domestic advanced bookings for its mainline flights for the next six weeks are down four to five percentage points compared with last year. Transatlantic early bookings, on the other hand, are up one to two percentage points, while Pacific … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: Continental sees US$10 million forex loss