Southwest order keeps 737 MAX program on track - AviTrader

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OTHER NEWS
Gulfstream International Airlines announced
its adoption of a new name and
brand: Silver Airways. VPAA Co. dba/Gulfstream
International Airlines was founded in
May 2011, when Victory Park Capital, a Chicago-based
investment firm, acquired select
assets from the former Gulfstream International
Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in
November 2010. Silver Airways continues the
evolution of the carrier under Victory Park.
Aviation training centre Baltic Aviation
Academy signed a contract with Austrian
company Air X Executive Jets. According to
the newly signed agreement the academy will
provide the Austrian carrier with type rating
training services. It is the first Baltic Aviation
Academy‘s contract with the business and private
jet charter flight provider.
On December 15th the official opening ceremony
for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 Training
Center was held in Zhukovsky. The Training
Center offers the complete cycle of training
for flight and technical staff of the SSJ100 customers
and has a range of the most advanced
training equipment and simulators including
Computer Based Training (CBT), Flight Procedure
Training Device (FPTD), Flight Training
Device (FTD LV), Full Flight Simulator (FFS) and
Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainer (CEET).
The Training Center is able to train up to 180
pilots and 250 technicians annually starting
from 2012.
VAS Aero Services will open a sales and
marketing office in Singapore in early 2012
to support its growing customer base in Asia.
The Singapore office will serve as VAS’ gateway
to the Asian market enabling the company
to expand its presence and be closer to
our customers’. VAS Aero Services, an H.I.G.
Capital portfolio company, is a provider of aftermarket
services in the aviation industry. VAS
Aero Services sources, warehouses, and markets
aftermarket components across a broad
range of aircraft and engine platforms and
provides related services to airlines, OEM’s,
and MRO providers around the world.
Delta Air Lines and US Airways announced
the closing of their agreement to transfer
takeoff and landing rights at New York ‘s La-
Guardia and Washington D.C .’s Reagan National
airports. The agreement was approved
on Oct. 10 , 2011, by the U.S. Department
of Transportation, which concluded that the
transaction is in the public interest because of
the service benefits and efficiencies that would
result in both New York and Washington, D.C.
Under the agreement, Delta acquired 132 slot
pairs at LaGuardia from US Airways and US
Airways acquired from Delta 42 slot pairs at
Reagan National, as well as the rights to operate
additional daily service to Sao Paulo, Brazil
in 2015. In addition, the airlines divested 16
slot pairs at LaGuardia and eight slot pairs at
Reagan National to airlines with limited or no
service at those airports.
Aviation spare parts platform Locatory.com
signed a cooperation agreement at the Dubai
Air Show with the Russian State Research Institute
of Civil Aviation (GosNIIGA). According
to the agreement, both parties will work
closely together in their attempt to ensure the
authenticity of aviation parts within the Russian
market. A successful implementation of
the agreement terms will enable Locatory.com
to offer its clients new prospects in Eastern Europe,
Russia and the CIS. In close cooperation
with GosNIIGA Locatory.com will continuously
modify the aircraft parts platform based on the
recommendations and guidelines provided by
the institute.
Embraer’s large Legacy 650 executive jet has
been type certified by the Civil Aviation Administration
of China (CAAC) with the revised
Validation Type Certificate Data Sheet. This
paves the way for customers to register and
operate the Legacy 650 in China. The jet has
been certified by other major aviation regu-
IFEs & CONNECTIVITY
latory authorities, including Brazil’s National
Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), European Aviation
Safety Authority (EASA) and United States
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In 2011
alone, Embraer received many <strong>order</strong>s for the
Legacy 650 from Chinese customers, including
13 for Minsheng Financial Leasing Co.
Ethiopian Airlines became Star Alliance’s
28th member airline on December 13th and
the third African airline in the alliance. The
joining ceremony was held at Addis Ababa’s
Bole International Airport, where the Star Alliance
Chief Executive Board (CEB) welcomed
Ethiopian Airlines into the alliance.
LAN Airlines released that during November,
system passenger traffic increased 13.4% as
capacity rose 15.1%. As a result, the Company’s
load factor for the month decreased 1.3
points to 80.3%. International passenger traffic
accounted for approximately 65.6% of total
passenger traffic. Starting in January 2011,
these figures include AIRES’ domestic and international
operations.
The Revisa group announced the acquisition
of CLTOP (TCL Up Air Services Ltd.), a company
with strong presence in the general aviation
segment, recognized for high quality services
on maintenance, repair and overhaul of
Virgin Australia is collaborating with Lufthansa Systems to develop a state-of-the art
inflight entertainment system (IFE) using Wi-Fi technology delivered to personal, handheld
devices on its aircraft. The
two companies signed a letter
of intent to produce and install
the initial systems, known as
BoardConnect, from mid-2012.
“This system, considered to be
at the leading edge of IFE technology,
provides guests with a
wide range of products including
video and audio streaming
delivered on demand to personal
entertainment devices (PEDs)
or Wi-Fi enabled laptops,” said
Martin Daley of Virgin Australia
Group Executive Product and
Guest Services. Features of
BoardConnect include the ability
to control and view content
from PEDs and Wi-Fi enable laptops,
extensive range of movies,
television and audio content; on
demand controls to start, stop,
rewind, fast forward and pause
content’ selection of games for
adults and children; service and
product information including
destination/airport guides, travel
offers and Velocity information.
Virgin Australia and Lufthansa Systems will install the BoardConnect service
from mid-2012 Lufthansa Systems
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December 19, 2011 / Vol. 319