air freighter

INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Oman Air focuses on lagging freight ratios

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Oman Air said it aims to improve cargo performance to increase its contribution to the carrier’s total revenue. As part its ongoing expansion plan, Oman Air will boost its cargo business to account for at least 12 per cent of total airline revenues over the next five years, CEO Peter Hill said. The current ratio has freight accounting for only two per cent of total revenues, a poor figure by comparison with other regional carriers. Emirates’ cargo division accounted for … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Oman Air focuses on lagging freight ratios

INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Qatar, Saudi up aviation cooperation

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Qatar and Saudi Arabia have agreed to improve cooperation between the two countries’ aviation markets with a deal recently signed by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) andthe Qatar Authority for Civil Aviation. “By this agreement, we aim to develop rules and regulations and facilitate air transportation procedures between Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” said Ayman Bin Baker Naseef, supervisor of GACA’s central department for … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Qatar, Saudi up aviation cooperation

INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Gati ends B737 leases with Air India

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Indian warehousing and logistics firm Gati has said it has discontinued an agreement with Air India for using five Boeing 737-200 aircraft under an earlierwet lease agreement. Gati, in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, said that “the arrangement under wet lease agreement with Air India for five B737-200 has been discontinued with immediate effect”. Consequently, the freighters leased by Air India have also been withdrawn with immediate effect, it added. However, the … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Gati ends B737 leases with Air India

INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Support for Jet’s Star entry upsets govt

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India’s civil aviation ministry is upset with German carrier Lufthansa for its apparent backing of Jet Airways for inclusion into Star Alliance while state-run Air India (AI) is still waiting in the wings, according to a government official, The Economic Times of India reported. AI has operated codesharing flights with Lufthansa between Germany and India since 2004 and was a key backer for AI joining thealliance. Following instructions from the civil aviation ministry, the Indian … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Support for Jet’s Star entry upsets govt

INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Sri Lankan Air slashes India capacity

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Sri Lankan Airlines has slashed flights to India from 100 a week to 51, as part of a cost-cutting strategy and re-aligning of services to conserve cash and maximise yields, the carrier’s CEO Manoj Gunawardena said recently. Cochin, Calicut, Coimbatore and Hyderabad – which primarily carried traffi c between the Middle East and the Far East – were dropped from the carrier’s network while Indian destinations generating traffic to and from Sri Lanka … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Sri Lankan Air slashes India capacity

INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Security stepped up Indian airports

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Three international airports in India’s southern state of Kerala – Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode – have stepped up security after a 21 March threat of attacks by Sri Lankan rebel group, the Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE). Last month, two light aircraft of the LTTE bombed Sri Lanka’s main Revenue Department building near its Air Force headquarters killing at least two persons before the aircraft were brought down by the military. … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Security stepped up Indian airports