FedEx Express and ATR have signed a contract for the firm purchase of 30 ATR 72-600 aircraft, with options for 20 more. These aircraft will be the first to be directly delivered from the factory in a freighter configuration. The fleet of the world’s largest all-cargo airline currently includes 45 planes from the ATR family, all of which have been converted from passenger aircraft to freighters.
After Qatar Airways had acquired a 49% stake in Italian regional carrier Meridiana earlier this year, it was now announced that a rebranding of the airline as Air Italy is considered. Air Italy was bought by Meridiana in 2011 and has not been operating under its own name since 2013.
As a result of Monarch Airlines going into administration and cancelling all flights, the British government has tasked the CAA with repatriating over 110,000 holidaymakers, in one of the biggest peacetime operations ever, costing an estimated £60m.
We will be providing you with live updates over the next few weeks on the aircraft operating these ‘rescue’ flights and their movements in helping to bring home stranded Monarch customers.
Ryanair said that it will add 34 new services from Frankfurt am Main starting next summer, according to FlightGlobal.
On the 3rd of June, the UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus was held at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. In order to transport thousands of fans to the game, the Welsh FA chartered hundreds of flights into airports around the South West of the United Kingdom.
Iberia, Alitalia, Vueling, Air Europa, Sprint Air and many others, including private charters, flew into airports in the region. On the day, I headed to my local airport, Gloucestershire Staverton Airport, to catch some of the action! All photos are mine, taken with a Canon EOS 700D & EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens.
Alitalia has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the US to be able to keep its terminal lease at JFK International airport in New York.
The italian airline, which is currently surviving thanks to a loan of €600 million from the Italian government, has been granted a restraining order until June 23rd, offering it a short period of protection from creditors’ claims.
After an absence of 9 years, Alitalia will once again be returning to India. From October the airline will operate flights between Rome and New Delhi, every day of the week. The new route will be flown with their Airbus A330.
On the last day of May, Norwegian announced that they will be opening their first long-haul base in Italy. The aircraft will now fly to three destinations in the US from Rome-Fiumicino airport outside of the Italian capital.
The Air France-KLM group announced this week their plans for a new, low-cost carrier. The new carrier, currently referred to as the Boost project, will launch using 5 Airbus A320s in the last quarter of 2017.
Air France is currently waiting on an agreement to be signed with their pilots, but has been positive towards the project and release more plans recently.
After several WordPress users commented on our earlier report requesting information, I thought it would be best to summarise all the facts about Jet2’s A330 operations in the coming months.
On the 18th of May, Airbus A330-243 G-VYGL (MSN 1555) arrived at Manchester Airport (MAN/EGCC) in Jet2 colours to mark the start of a five month lease from AirTanker. The 327 seat airliner will allow Jet2 to add extra seats and capacity during the Summer 2017 season, in order to support their biggest ever Summer holidays and flights programme.
The World of Aviation 