easyJet becomes a National Partner of the Eurovision Song Contest

easyJet, Europe’s leading airline, has been announced as a National sponsor of the Eurovision Song Contest. The airline offers more seats between the UK and Eurovision countries than any other airline.

The airline will fly thousands of visitors to Liverpool for the event which takes place on 9th, 11th and 13th May

easyJet flies to over 150 airports across Europe and offers more seats between the UK and Eurovision countries than any other airline

Over the course of this year’s contest, easyJet will be flying in thousands of visitors into Liverpool, a city with a rich musical heritage and one of the airline’s longest served airports, which is hosting live semi-final and final live events taking place in the UK on 9th 11th, and 13th May.

easyJet launched operations from Liverpool over 25 years ago in 1997, and since then has always had a strong presence in the host city, where it bases six aircraft and employs over 360 pilots and cabin crew.

Having since grown to become Liverpool’s largest airline, easyJet offers 26 routes across Europe, flew two million passengers last year and continues to strengthen its network at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. In October the airline relaunched daily flights to Paris and next month will launch a new weekly service to Corfu.

Robert Birge, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at easyJet, commented:  “This sponsorship is a perfect match as not only do we offer more seats between the UK and Eurovision countries than any other airline, but we also have a long history with the host city of Liverpool and are the city’s largest airline. Like this iconic competition, easyJet connects people, cultures and communities across Europe and beyond and so we are delighted to be a National Sponsor of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, in collaboration with BBC Studios.

We are incredibly excited to play a role in this year’s Eurovision, which celebrates the inclusive values easyJet shares, is much loved by our people as well as millions of our customers throughout Europe.”

In November 1995 easyJet changed the way people travelled, democratising flying for a new generation to enjoy Europe. offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe's primary airports, with great value fares and friendly service.

Today, easyJet flies on more of Europe’s most popular routes than any other airline and carried more than 69 million passengers in 2022 – with 9.5 million travelling for business. The airline has over 300 aircraft on nearly 1000 routes to more than 150 airports across 35 countries. Over 300 million Europeans live within one hour's drive of an easyJet airport.

easyJet’s sponsorship of the Eurovision Song Contest is in collaboration with BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, who are producing the Semi-finals and Final of the contest for broadcast from Liverpool. 

Budget airline Norwegian to improve onboard WiFi service

The European budget airline Norwegian is renewing its partnership with Anuvu making it the first airline outside of North America that will launch Anuvu’s cutting-edge high-speed WiFi technology. The partnership will pave the way for stable, fast and reliable WiFi onboard that will improve Norwegian’s customer experience in the years to come.

Norwegian has chosen Anuvu to provide new, award-winning WiFi technology onboard its fleet of aircraft. Norwegian will be the first airline in Europe to implement this cutting-edge technology which will allow customers to browse, stream, upload and download from the internet at speeds up to twenty times faster than what is currently available. In addition, the technology has extra bandwidth, allowing ten times as many customers to access the internet simultaneously without impacting performance.

“We are very excited about this renewed partnership with Anuvu. We expect to be able to start rolling out the new solution within the next year, significantly improving the WiFi solutions we offer our customers. We are constantly working on developing and improving our services on board and having a seamless, stable WiFi experience in the air is critical to many of our customers – making it one of our most important priorities,” said Christoffer Sundby, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Norwegian.

Air Canada to offer new benefits, expanded content and additional support as part of its new distribution capabilities (NDC)

Modernized product distribution strategy utilizes IATA NDC industry standards to offer Air Canada’s complete content at the best possible prices

Travel agencies will have their choice of flexible options to access Air Canada’s NDC program, including through Global Distribution Systems (GDS)

Air Canada taking steps to ensure continuity and a smooth transition for its global agency partners and collective customers

Air Canada has just announced its New Distribution Capabilities (NDC) program, which will feature new benefits, expanded content and additional trade support for agencies and travel buyers. The program will provide a competitive alternative to legacy distribution, giving agents access to Air Canada inventory, fares, ancillary services, ticketing, and digital products. For buyers and travellers, NDC technology means their preferred agencies can now offer a broader range of Air Canada travel options and services at the best possible prices, improving competitiveness and the customer experience.

“From local independent agencies to large corporate travel management companies, our travel trade partners were, are, and will always be crucial to Air Canada’s commercial success. As we continue to introduce new products and revenue management capabilities, it’s incumbent on us to provide the travel trade with better technology so that they are well prepared for the future,” said Mark Nasr, Senior Vice President, Products, Marketing & eCommerce at Air Canada. “The transition to modern distribution enables delivery of the full range of content and fares that Air Canada provides, as well as access to the many upcoming products and services that will improve travel.”

Air Canada conducted extensive third-party research to hear first-hand what agencies and customers want from airlines, and its program design addresses key requirements, including on inventory, revenue, functional capabilities, and transition costs. In addition to making available the most comprehensive Air Canada content, the airline’s improved NDC program offers an efficient shopping experience for retail fare products and the elimination of select debit memos. Continuous pricing, as well as the addition of Flight Pass, is planned for 2023. Upgraded service and support levels include dedicated business and IT teams​, 24/7 monitoring​ and near real-time system status. Additional servicing automation options and order change notifications​ are also slated for this year.  

New cargo eVTOL programme launched by former F1 technical director

Specialist consultancy company MGI Engineering has launched its cargo UAV technology demonstrator programme. MGI CEO and Founder Mike Gascoyne officially unveiled its fully functional technology demonstrator at the eVTOL Insights’ London Conference on Wednesday 19 April 2023.

This announcement will thrust the well-established specialist engineering consultancy firm into the newly-emerging cargo eVTOL industry and promises to bring a fresh viewpoint on how to develop the latest aerospace technology for these novel vehicles. MGI is applying Formula 1 development philosophies and mindset to the cargo eVTOL UAV market. Lightweight composite structures with a highly-efficient, fast-paced iterative design processes are key elements of the company’s approach to tackling the challenges that the cargo eVTOL industry presents and it aims to provide these consultancy services throughout the cargo eVTOL industry. MGI Engineering’s prowess stems from its decades of experience at the pinnacle of motorsport, F1 - a tenure that is reflected through its senior staff and its CEO, Mike Gascoyne - who has previously worked at McLaren, Tyrrell, Sauber, Renault, Toyota before setting up the Lotus F1 Team through MGI in 2009.

MGI Engineering was founded by Mike Gascoyne in 2003. Mike has worked in Senior Management and as a Technical Director level in Formula 1 for over 25 years. The company leverages its extensive and unrivalled experience of utilising cutting-edge technologies to offer complete engineering and project management solutions - in incumbent and newly emerging industries such as cargo eVTOL to maximise sustainability and future-proof viability with a mission-led engineering approach.

Airbus shareholders approve all resolutions at 2023 AGM

 Airbus shareholders approve all resolutions at 2023 AGM

Airbus SE shareholders approved all resolutions at the Company’s 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Amsterdam, including the renewal of Board mandates for non-executive directors.

The Board mandates of Ralph D. Crosby Jr., Mark Dunkerley and Stephan Gemkow were each renewed for three years. A three-year term was also approved for Antony Wood who replaced Lord Paul Drayson on the Board last December, bringing with him extensive experience of the aerospace industry and defence sector. Lord Drayson resigned from the Board on the day of the 2022 AGM.

Airbus Board mandates are renewed at each AGM, in blocks of four for three years, in order to ensure a smooth transition and that the appropriate skills are retained among the directors. This also avoids large block replacements of directors at any single AGM.

Shareholders also approved the proposed payment of a 2022 gross dividend of € 1.80 per share. This compares to the 2021 dividend payment of € 1.50 per share.

Further details on Airbus’ Annual General Meetings are available on the Company’s website at: https://www.airbus.com/en/investors/annual-general-meetings

Pakistan becomes key sponsor of Russian aggression in Ukraine with large oil order.

Photo by Natalya Letunova on Unsplash

Pakistan has placed its first order for discounted Russian crude oil under a deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow, the country's petroleum minister said, with one cargo to dock at the port of Karachi in May, reports Reuters.

Pakistan's purchase gives Russia a new outlet, adding to Moscow's growing sales to India and China, as it redirects oil from Western markets because of the Ukraine conflict.

As a long-standing Western ally and the arch-rival of neighbouring India, which historically is closer to Moscow, analysts say the crude deal would have been difficult for Pakistan to accept, but its financing needs are great.

As part of sanctions on Moscow, Western nations have imposed a $60 a barrel price cap on purchases of Russian oil to try to limit Russia's revenues for fighting in Ukraine.  India and China, however, have paid prices above the cap, according to traders and Reuters calculations.

Under the deal, Pakistan will buy only crude, not refined fuels, Minister Musadik Malik told Reuters late on Wednesday. Imports are expected to reach 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) if the first transaction goes through smoothly, he said. "Our orders are in, we have placed that already," he said. 

India, Pakistan and China are now the lead purchasers of Russian oil along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and UAE, thus becoming key sponsors of the Russian military in the war in Ukraine, following the illegal Russian invasion over 420 days ago. 

Reporting by Asif Shahzad

Alaska Air Group reports first quarter 2023 results

Alaska Air Group has issued its financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2023.

"This quarter we returned to pre-pandemic levels of flying and our roadmap to profitable growth is on track,” said Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci. “As we progress through the year, we have taken deliberate steps to build momentum and we are well prepared for peak summer flying. Thank you to our 23,000 employees who are the backbone of our success – I’m proud of their work to deliver operational excellence and show care for the people who fly with us each day. We are well-positioned to deliver on our full-year financial targets, including a 9% to 12% adjusted pretax margin.” 

Air Canada Cargo’s First Freighter Flight to Basel Touches Down

Air Canada Cargo’s First Freighter Flight to Basel Touches Down

Air Canada and Air Canada Cargo mark the start of freighter operations to Basel, Switzerland, connecting one of Europe's premier pharmaceutical hubs to the carrier’s extensive network through its Toronto global hub.

“We are excited to be returning to Basel, this time with our freighters, to serve a key market in Europe for pharmaceuticals. The capability of our freighters, combined with our temperature-controlled containers and cool chain facility at our Toronto global hub position us to serve this critical market with reliable, year-round service, and ensure these important shipments can move safely and in a timely manner throughout our global network,” said Matthieu Casey, Managing Director, Commercial at Air Canada Cargo.

Air Canada Cargo’s Basel service is the latest addition to its worldwide freighter network, following recently launched freighter services to Liege, Belgium; Dallas, Atlanta and Bogota.

Air Canada Cargo is an award-winning provider of air cargo services. It is Canada's largest air cargo provider as measured by cargo capacity, with a presence in over 50 countries and self-handled hubs in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, London, and Frankfurt. As the dedicated air freight division of Air Canada, Air Canada Cargo offers reliable air freight lift and connectivity across six continents using Air Canada’s domestic and international passenger and freighter flights, and trucking services. 

Ashland Place completes financing of two Boeing 737-800s jets or World Star Aviation

Ashland Place Finance, a commercial aviation financing platform, announced this week, the completion of a new financing facility involving two 737-800s for World Star Aviation, a leading full-service aircraft management company.

"We are thrilled to welcome World Star to Ashland Place's growing platform," said Jennifer Villa, Ashland Place's Executive Director and Group Head. "Our understanding of the unique needs of this customer allowed us to provide them a comprehensive and innovative solution."

Ashland Place Finance LLC is an institutional financing platform offering innovative capital solutions to the global commercial aerospace industry. Ashland Place is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP.   Allen & Overy LLP served as legal counsel for Ashland Place and Pillsbury Winthrop represented World Star on this transaction.

World Star Aviation is a full-service aircraft management company with headquarters in London with key expertise in mid-to-late life model, high quality commercial and freighter aircraft.  World Star currently owns and/or manages a fleet of 109 aircraft and engines with 45 lessees in 28 countries globally.

For travel insurance....

China Eastern Airlines now operates 844 international and regional flights per week

China Eastern Airlines (CEA) has resumed 70 international and regional routes by mid-April, with an average of 844 flights a week, up 60 percent from March.

Between April 10 and 16, international and regional flights of the Chinese airline carried a total of 103,300 passengers.

It is learned that CEA will launch multiple new international and regional routes this month in Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Kunming and Nanjing, including routes from Kunming Changshui (KMG) to Singapore Changi (SIN), from Xi'an Xianyang (XIY) and Beijing Daxing (PKX) to Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO), from Nanjing Lukou (NKG) to Taiwan Taoyuan (TPE), and from Shanghai Pudong (PVG) to Yangon (RGN). About 44 new flights are expected to be opened each week.

Since March 26, the CEA flights from Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) and Yantai Penglai (YNT) to Incheon (ICN) will be both increased to seven times a week from the previously two and one.

Besides, a new flight will be launched between Qingdao Liuting (TAO) and Kansai (KIX) three times a week. The flights between Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) will be increased to three times a week and those from Shanghai Pudong (PVG) to Jeju (CJU) seven times a week.

In addition, CEA will open new routes to meet passengers' travel demand in the summer vacation, including two from Nanjing Lukou (NKG) and Xi'an Xianyang (XIY) to Phuket (HKT).

Lufthansa Technical Training joins edX partner network with launch of professional certificate programme for aviation technicians

Lufthansa Technical Training (LTT), the education arm of the top international airline and aircraft maintenance provider, today announced a new partnership with edX, a leading global online learning platform from 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU), to offer a professional certificate program designed to help aviation maintenance professionals accelerate their careers.

LTT's professional certificate program, entitled Math and Physics Fundamentals for Aviation Technicians, will be available on edX.org in the coming months. The new program, designed by LTT's experienced practitioners, will meet European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and many National Aviation Authorities requirements. LTT already works with over 600 companies in the aviation industry to provide training content. These new offerings add to edX's catalog of more than 4,000 online learning experiences developed in partnership with the world's top universities and corporations, ranging from free courses to full degrees.

Lifetime ban and hefty bill for Jet2 passenger who urinated in the cabin......

The third largest airline in the UK, Jet2 has banned Eric Forrest, 55, from Beith from flying with the airline for life over a catalogue of disgraceful behaviour on the Glasgow to Tenerife flight last week, which included urinating in the cabin and intimidating other passengers including children

His disruptive appalling behaviour on Thursday 13th April meant the flight had to be diverted to Faro, Portugal so Forrest could be off-loaded and detained by police. After the 55-year-old was offloaded, the other customers had to disembark the aircraft in Faro so it could be cleaned before departing to Tenerife.

As well as causing a delay to customers looking forward to their well-deserved holidays in Tenerife, this also meant customers due to travel back to Glasgow from Tenerife had to spend another night in their destination due to the late arrival of the aircraft.

Jet2 and Jet2holidays arranged overnight hotel accommodation and refreshments for these customers, however this obviously caused considerable inconvenience for customers and families on their journey home after their holidays. The customers were flown back to Glasgow on Friday.

The company has confirmed it will now vigorously pursue Forrest for the full recovery of all costs incurred by this diversion, which is likely to be in excess of £25,000. These costs include hotel accommodation for all customers and crew in Tenerife, airport charges, fuel costs, and cleaning costs. The airline has also confirmed that it will assist the authorities with any legal action they wish to take.

 

Jet2 gets its first Airbus A321neo.

A few weeks ago UK holiday airline Jet2  welcomed its first new Airbus  A321neo, registration G-SUNB, which can carry up to 232 passengers.  

The latest addition left the Airbus factory in blue and white livery and after gaining our Jet2holidays colours in East Midlands flew on to Manchester where the jet's entry in service will be completed, this includes the installation of our latest Acro seats. The aircraft is set to join revenue service for the carrier early next month from Manchester and will be the first of many A321s to join the fleet in the coming years.  

Jet2 is the UK's third largest airline, flying from ten UK airports to more than 65 destinations across Europe and beyond. Since its first flight in 2003, the carrier has grown a fleet of 34 Boeing 737-800NG planes and has an order of 60 new Airbus A321neo planes. 

Former F1 Technical Director launches cargo eVTOL programme

Specialist consultancy company MGI Engineering has launched its cargo UAV technology demonstrator programme. MGI CEO and Founder Mike Gascoyne officially unveiled its fully functional technology demonstrator at the eVTOL Insights’ London Conference on Wednesday 19 April 2023.

This announcement will thrust the well-established specialist engineering consultancy firm into the newly-emerging cargo eVTOL industry and promises to bring a fresh viewpoint on how to develop the latest aerospace technology for these novel vehicles. MGI is applying Formula 1 development philosophies and mindset to the cargo eVTOL UAV market. Lightweight composite structures with a highly-efficient, fast-paced iterative design processes are key elements of the company’s approach to tackling the challenges that the cargo eVTOL industry presents and it aims to provide these consultancy services throughout the cargo eVTOL industry. MGI Engineering’s prowess stems from its decades of experience at the pinnacle of motorsport, F1 - a tenure that is reflected through its senior staff and its CEO, Mike Gascoyne - who has previously worked at McLaren, Tyrrell, Sauber, Renault, Toyota before setting up the Lotus F1 Team through MGI in 2009.

MGI Engineering was founded by Mike Gascoyne in 2003. Mike has worked in Senior Management and as a Technical Director level in Formula 1 for over 25 years. The company leverages its extensive and unrivalled experience of utilising cutting-edge technologies to offer complete engineering and project management solutions - in incumbent and newly emerging industries such as cargo eVTOL to maximise sustainability and future-proof viability with a mission-led engineering approach.

RAF Voyager refuels mid-air with Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Voyager aircraft powered by 43% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) flies over the North Sea.

The aircraft used a blend of traditional fossil fuels and SAF such as cooking oil.

The flight marks the launch of a new aviation Net Zero Carbon roadmap for commercial aviation.

 

The Royal Air Force has successfully completed a Voyager air-to-air refuelling flight, powered by an approximately 43% blend of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

Flying from RAF Brize Norton, over the North Sea and via Farnborough on its return home, the Voyager aircraft also undertook air-to-air refuelling with Typhoons, as part of planned training.

Made from waste-based sustainable feedstocks, such as used cooking oil, SAF reduces lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to traditional jet fuel and will be key to reducing the RAF’s reliance on global supply chains and fossil fuels, while improving operational resilience.

This significant moment follows a series of recent milestones achieved by the RAF towards a sustainable aviation future, including the world first RAF Voyager flight fuelled by 100% SAF.

Defence Minister, Baroness Goldie said: “Greater use of alternative and sustainable fuel can only lead to positive outcomes for Defence, the United Kingdom, and our collective endeavour against climate change.

“This is not an easy undertaking by the RAF, but time and again we see that by working collaboratively with our partners across industry we can achieve crucial transformation.”

Part of a two-day industry led conference – Sustainable Skies World Summit - the flight marks the UK aviation industry publishing its updated aviation Net Zero Carbon roadmap outlining how commercial aviation will become more sustainable and commercially viable.

The annual event, hosted at Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre, brings together various partners from industry to showcase the latest developments in sustainable aviation technology and support efforts moving towards the implementation phase of meeting its net zero commitment.

Supporting the RAF’s ambitions to be Net Zero by 2040, the Voyager flight was part of an existing task from the Chief of the Air Staff to gather the required data to inform the longer-term transition away from fossil fuels.

The RAF has identified that using SAF and alternative aviation fuels will be critical for the future operational capability of the RAF and wider military aviation.

The UK's SAF programme is already one of the most comprehensive in the world and supports our vision to set the UK up to be a global leader in the development, production, and use of SAF.

Supporting the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy, new aviation technologies and fuels provide huge opportunities for economic growth, delivering jobs and prosperity across the country.