Travel & Business News

Malaysia Airlines' A350-900 During November, the order book for Airbus’ best-selling A320 Family increased by 45 jetliners, while 74 aircraft were delivered to international customers from all of the company’s current-production single-aisle and widebody product lines. The new business in November involved 30 single-aisle A320neo and 15 A321neo aircraft for CDB Aviation Lease Finance (CDB Aviation), adding to this lessor’s previous bookings of 45 A320 Family’s NEO versions. Taking the month’s order from CDB Aviation into account, Airbus’ overall net orders for the first 11 months of 2017 totalled 333 jetliners. November’s deliveries were for  37  customers, composed of 54  single-aisle  A320 Family aircraft (including 22 A320neo/A321neo versions), along with 20 widebody jetliners: five A330-300s, 11 A350-900s and four A380s.  Deliveries underscored Airbus’ continued production ramp-up for the A350 XWB, which is to reach a monthly rate of 10 ...

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (nahco aviance), Mr. Idris Yakubu, has promised to lead the attitudinal change and a fresh drive for excellence that the Company requires to move it to the next level. Speaking when he held his maiden meeting with staff at the Head Office of the Company, Yakubu said the Company requires a new and strongerservice culture, and he was prepared to lead that change. Mr. Idris Yakubu, MD, NAHCO He said, “We are looking forward to a positive change. You need to improve the areas that you can improve, and we must work together to effect the change. Some of the things required are little but they are very important.” Yakubu told the staff, “It is important to understand that we have a lot of work to do to reposition the Company and I cannot do it alone. We have to win back our customers and reinforce the positive perception that our stakeholders have of NAHCO. The Management of the Comp...

  Mr. Idris Yakubu, MD, NAHCo Aviance Mr. Idris Yakubu has been announced as the new Managing Director of NAHCo Aviance. His appointment took effect on November 20, 2017 having taken over from Mrs. Folashade Ode, who until recently served as Acting Managing Director of the company since August 31, 2017 following the exit of Mr. Norbert Bielderman . Following her handing over, Mrs. Ode now reverts to her portfolio of Acting MD/CEO of NAHCO EPI. Yakubu joins NAHCO with a vast wealth of experience, spanning 28 years in financial management, leadership, strategy, business development, organizational change and business renewal.Mr. Idris most recent appointment was Executive Director Skye Bank Plc. Plc. He has extensive experience in delivering agreed Strategic Business imperatives.  A consummate professional, Yakubu is expected to take nacho to greater heights. A consummate Relationship Manager, Team Builder and Turnaround Specialist, Idris was a key member of the Fid...

The MD/CEO, SAHCOL, Rizwan Kadri; Basil Agboarumi, General Manager, Corporate Communications & IT(3rd & 4th from Left), Eseosa Oviawe, Special Assistant to MD/CEO, SAHCOL (1st Right), Ike Abiagom, National Public Relations Officer GNPN, (2nd Left), Maduike Ifeoma, (5th Left), and other Executive Members of the GNPN. The Skyway Aviation Handling Company limited, SAHCOL has been honoured with the Grassroots Newspapers Publishers Network Award, as “Best Aviation Handling Company of the year 2017.” The award was presented to the Managing Director of SAHCOL, RizwanKadri, in his office, by Comrade Ike Abiagom, National Public Relations Officer of the Grassroots Newspaper Publishers Network (GNPN), who represented the National President, Dr. Dan Awana. In a brief speech read on behalf of the National President of the Grassroots Publishers Network, in the presence of the Executive Members of GNPN, Southern Council, andManagement staff of SAHCOL, the Publishers disclosed that...

Philippe Bohn, CEO Air Sénégal / Maimouna Ndoye Seck, Minister of Air Transport and Development of Airport Infrastructure, Senegal / Fouad Attar, Head of Airbus Commercial Aircraft Africa Middle East . Air Senegal, the national carrier of Senegal has  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for two A330neo aircraft, which is the new re-engined version of the best-selling A330 widebody airliner.  The agreement was announced during a signing ceremony at the 2017 Dubai Airshow in the presence of Maimouna Ndoye Seck, Minister of Air Transport and Development of Airport Infrastructure, Senegal.  By this order, Air Senegal becomes  the f irst airline in Africa to purchase the latest fuel-efficient widebody aircraft. The A330neo will benefit the airline’s growth and business expansion in the future.  Air Senegal is set to launch operations in 2018 and the airline plans to use the A330neo to develop its medium and long-haul network with the air...

Dublin based CDB Aviation Lease Finance DAC (CDB Aviation) has announced a firm order for 90 A320neo Family aircraft during the Dubai Airshow 2017. The agreement was reached in two steps: an original purchase agreement signed in 2014 for 45 A320neo Family aircraft, which remained undisclosed to date, and the firming up of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) announced at the 2017 Le Bourget Paris Airshow in June 2017 for an additional 30 A320neo and 15 A321neo aircraft. “By confirming today’s order for 90 A320neos, we have doubled our overall order position for the aircraft family. CDB Aviation is now well positioned with a leading order book for the latest technology narrow-body aircraft to realize our aggressive fleet growth plan and further strengthen our ability to serve airline customers around the world with narrow-body fleet requirements,” said CDB Aviation President and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Chang. “Our business model is grounded in our unmatched access to co...

Air Mauritius has become the first A350 operator based in the Indian Ocean by taking delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft, opening a new chapter for the Indian Ocean carrier. The aircraft, leased from AerCap, was delivered during a ceremony held in Mauritius on October 20, 2017. The Mauritian airline based airline has chosen a very comfortable two class layout with a total of 326 seats comprising 28 in Business Class and 298 in Economy Class. The A350-900 equipped with Air Mauritius’ latest cabin products including new seats, an all-new inflight entertainment system and inflight connectivity will offer passengers unparalleled levels of comfort and convenience. This A350-900 is the first of  six to be delivered to  Air Mauritius. Four will be purchased  directly from Airbus and two leased from AerCap.  The carrier will deploy the aircraft on its expanding route network connecting Mauritius with Asia, Africa and Europe. Air Mauritius  alre...

Good morning. I am pleased to be here among over 500 aviation professionals and I would like to express gratitude to Airports of Mauritius, for hosting and our sponsors and exhibitors for contributing to this important event. It is only with such platforms, that we can adequately exchange knowledge and together—as ACI’s Chair elaborated on—chart a roadmap for a safer and more secure aviation industry: Collaboration is truly key. Engr. Saleh Dunoma, MD FAAN We all heard the good news: air traffic demand in the region for 2017 is looking up. A young population, growing labour force, accelerating adoption of new technology and urbanization are all factors that favour future economic growth, and subsequently aviation development, across Africa. However we are also aware that Africa is a region that faces many challenges including political strife, security and safety concerns, lack of volume, protectionism, currency complications and sluggish growth in income levels in some key ...

In a bid to entrench the values of patriotism, love for humanity, selflessness, tolerance and honesty in the lives of young Nigerians as well as to expose them to the life and legacy of Mandela, South African Airways (SAA) in conjunction with Travel & Business News (TBN) hereby announces the 1 st edition of the South African Airways Essay Competition (SAAEC 2017) for Secondary Schools.  This is part of the South African Airways Give Back Initiative (SAAGBI) aimed at giving back to society in the spirit of the legend of Africa and in commemoration of his life.   The competition is open to secondary school students of all ages in Nigeria. The topic chosen for SAAEC 2017 is:   “Patriotism: Making A Difference As A Youth.” Entries for SAAEC 2017 are open from October 9, 2017 and close on November 17, 2017 . Entries are hereby invited  from interested students to take part in the contest.  Participants are to complete an Entry Form herew...

Air Cote d'Ivoire:   Delivering Connectivity And Reliability Mr. Rene Decurey is the Managing Director of Air Cote d’Ivoire, one of Africa’s fastest growing Regional Carriers based in Abidjan. He spoke with Ewos IRORO onboard the delivery flight of the first of the airline’s brand new A320 aircraft from the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse, France to Cote d’Ivoire. He also shares some insight on how African airlines can effectively cooperate in order to ensure their survival and competitiveness in a constantly changing business environment. Enjoy. Mr. Rene Decurey, MD, Air Cote d'Ivoire Q. Your brand new A320 is equipped with onboard Wi-Fi, laptop charging ports and USB points. What suggested your choosing these facilities onboard this particular aircraft? As you know, we have defined our network through a hub in Abidjan which means that you can connect from all over the points to all the other points via the hub of Abidjan. Most of the flights are not direct...

As part of Qatar Airways’ and QTA’s combined efforts to boost tourism in the country, the award-winning airline has accelerated its global expansion plans, and recently announced the launch of a number of new destinations that it is adding to its network by the end of August including Kiev, Ukraine and Prague, Czech Republic. Yesterday, the airline launched Sohar, in the Sultanate of Oman. Qatar Airways also recently launched a direct service to Dublin, Republic of Ireland; Nice, France and Skopje, connecting even more people to more places, and making it easier than ever for passengers to visit Qatar as part of their journey. In November 2016, Qatar introduced a free transit visa, which allows passengers of all nationalities transiting in Qatar for a minimum of five hours to stay in Qatar for up to 96 hours (four days). In May 2017, QTA launched +Qatar, an initiative to promote the country as a stopover destination, with the national carrier, Qatar Airways. These measures, alo...

Below are details of the new Qatar visa waiver eligibility for citizens of the 80 countries. A) Nationals of the following 33 countries will not require prior visa arrangements and can obtain a visa waiver upon arrival in Qatar. The waiver will be valid for 180 days from the date of issuance and entitle its holder to spend up to 90 days in Qatar, during either a single trip or on multiple trips. 1.   Austria 2.  Bahamas 3.  Belgium 4.  Bulgaria 5.  Croatia 6.  Cyprus 7.  Czech Republic 8. Denmark 9.  Estonia 10.  Finland 11.   France 12.  Germany 13.  Greece 14.  Hungary 15.   Iceland 16.  Italy 17.   Latvia 18.  Liechtenstein 19.  Lithuania 20. Luxembourg 21.  Malta 22. Netherlands 23. Norway 24. Poland 25.  Portugal 26. Romania 27.  Seychelles 28.  Slovakia 29.  Slovenia 30.  Spain ...