Tag: national (Page 1 of 18)

Etihad Airways expands schedule with two new destinations

February 29, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

Abu Dhabi, UAE – In the latest significant boost to its global network, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has announced substantial updates to its summer schedule.

This strategic expansion includes the addition of new flights and increased frequencies to existing routes, reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s position as a global connector and enhancing travel options.

The airline is set to broaden its reach by launching flights to two new fantastic and sought-after destinations: Beginning 15 June, Etihad will operate three seasonal weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Antalya (AYT), Turkey. Operations to Jaipur (JAI), India will start 16 June with four weekly flights.

More, more, more

Starting 15 June, Etihad is increasing its service frequency to a number of key destinations:

The weekly flights to Thiruvananthapuram and Amman will be increased by three, totalling 10 and 14 respectively. Additional services include three more flights to Cairo for a total of 24, Karachi increasing to 17, and Colombo to 20 weekly flights.

The latest expansion contributes to an overall 33 per cent increase in Etihad’s total weekly flights, growing from 635 last summer to 847 in 2024, and extends Etihad’s reach from 65 to 75 destinations, significantly enhancing worldwide connectivity.

Manchester City 787 | Etihad Airways

LATAM group presents special collection of aircraft in South American colors

January 14, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

Santiago, Chile, January 12, 2024 – With the aim of celebrating the local pride of the leading airline group in Latin America, LATAM group unveiled its latest project, which involves adorning five aircraft with the respective national flag colors of the countries where the affiliates operate domestic flights.

The idea, extending throughout 2024, is to gradually introduce the five painted aircraft into the domestic flights of the affiliates. It will begin on January 11 with LATAM Airlines Brasil, debuting an Airbus A320neo in green and yellow colors, followed by planes representing the colors of the affiliates in Colombia, Chile, Peru, and finally, Ecuador.

The special paint scheme, applied by 30 workers from the Brazilian affiliate, maintains the characteristics of the LATAM logo already present on its aircraft, with only the colors being modified. The design of the LATAM Airlines Brasil A320neo started this Monday at the São Carlos facility in Sao Paulo, the largest maintenance center of the LATAM group.

Currently, the airline group has 332 aircraft, including 56 Boeing passenger planes (models 767, 777, and 787) and 256 Airbus planes (models A319, A320, A320neo, A321, and A321neo).

Additionally, LATAM Cargo has 20 cargo planes.

Alstom to build two infrastructure sections on Florence tramway Line 4

January 12, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

January 12, 2024 – Alstom SA (Paris: ALSO), a global leader in smart and sustainable mobility, has been awarded a contract by the Municipality of Florence, valued at € 50 million for the construction of track, catenary, substations, and lighting system for Line 4.2 of the city’s tram system, with an option for Line 4.1, worth €49 million.

The tender was awarded to a temporary consortium of companies composed by the mandated company CMB together with Alstom, Hitachi Rail and ComNet, and covers operations spanning across a distance of 5.3 kilometres (11 stops) of Line 4.2 Campi Bisenzio-Piagge. The Line 4.2 will connect Le Piagge station to San Donnino and from there to the centre of Campi Bisenzio.

The contract includes an option, for the second lot, which will cover the 6.3 kilometres of Line 4.1 Piagge-Leopolda (13 stops) will connect Line 4.2 with the city centre.

The project is financed by National Recovery and Resilience Plan funds.

The works will be carried out by the System & Infrastructure team in Rome and the components for the electric traction will be designed and supplied by the Alstom site in Valmadrera, Lecco.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rex Airlines wins APEX Award for best cabin service in the South Pacific

November 12, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Rex Airlines has been recognised as having the South Pacific’s Best Cabin Service in the 2024 Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Awards. The award was presented in Singapore last night where Rex’s Executive Chairman, Lim Kim Hai, accepted it on behalf of the airline.

The award ceremony was part of the FTE APEX Asia Expo, the air transport industry’s largest passenger experience and business performance event. APEX said nearly one million flights were anonymously rated by passengers across more than 600 airlines from around the world using a five-star scale.

Rex is Australia’s largest independent regional and domestic airline operating a fleet of 58 Saab 340 and 9 Boeing 737-800NG aircraft to 56 destinations throughout all states in Australia. In addition to the airline Rex, the Rex Group comprises wholly owned subsidiaries Pel-Air Aviation (air freight, aeromedical and charter operator), the Australian Airline Pilot Academy with campuses in Wagga Wagga and Ballarat, and propeller maintenance organisation, Australian Aerospace Propeller Maintenance. Rex is also a 50% shareholder of National Jet Express (NJE), a premier Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO), charter and freight operator.

Air Niugini orders 6 Airbus A220 aircraft

November 3, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Toulouse, France, November 3, 2023 – Air Niugini, the national flag carrier of Papua New Guinea, has signed a firm order with Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) for six latest generation single aisle A220-100’s under its fleet modernisation program. In addition, the carrier will acquire three A220-300s and another two A220-100’s from third party lessors.

The order was announced at a special event in Port Moresby by Gary Seddon, Acting Chief Executive Officer Air Niugini and Anand Stanley, President Airbus Asia-Pacific, in the presence of the Honorable James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Honorable William Duma, Minister for State Enterprises.

Air Niugini also announced that it has selected a flight planning support system from Airbus subsidiary NAVBLUE for its fleet. Called N-Flight Planning (N-FP), the solution will help the airline optimise on fuel, time and cost to meet operational needs, while ensuring overall safety and compliance.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Qantas says bonjour with direct flights from Perth, Australia to Paris, France

October 30, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Qantas Airways Ltd (Sydney: QAN) is adding another direct service between Australia and Europe with the launch of a new route between Perth and Paris, just in time for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and European summer.

Following the success of the national carrier’s unique direct flights from Perth to London and Rome, the new year-round route will see Qantas operate to the French capital for the first time in nearly two decades, cutting around three hours off the current fastest travel time from Perth to Paris.

From 12 July 2024, the 17-hour Perth-Paris flights will initially operate four days per week during the peak European summer with the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Services will move to three per week from mid-August 2024.

Boeing Business Jets unveils premium cabin options for VIP jets

October 16, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Las Vegas, Nevada, October 16, 2023, PRNewswire – Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) Business Jets (BBJ) customers have a new way to customize cabin interiors for the BBJ 737-7, reducing costs and accelerating delivery of new VIP jets, the company announced today. With BBJ Select, Boeing is offering a wide range of pre-designed cabin layouts and configurations to expedite installation, while lowering the total purchase price of the airplane. The company shared its new BBJ Select premium interiors at the National Business Aviation Association & Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas.

From guest rooms and private offices to family rooms and VIP passenger seating configurations, customers select modules for each section of the airplane. In all, BBJ Select offers 144 unique modular cabin combinations in three different color palettes, covering the spectrum of personal, business and head-of-state airplane requirements.

Designed in collaboration with award-winning business jet completion centers Aloft AeroArchitects and Greenpoint Technologies, BBJ Select layouts eliminate costs for one-time engineering and related work for the installation of a clean sheet cabin design. To simplify the purchase experience, customers sign one contract with Boeing and the company oversees the design, build and delivery of the fully outfitted VIP aircraft.

BBJ Select cabins are exclusively available for the BBJ 737-7, the newest member of the BBJ 737 MAX family. With an unmatched combination of globe-spanning range, superior cabin space and best-in-class operating economics, the BBJ 737-7 can fly passengers over 15 hours non-stop while reducing fuel use and emissions compared to previous generation business jets. Built for daily flights, BBJs provide far higher reliability and retain more residual value compared to competitors.

Airbus and Republic of Singapore successfully complete air to air refuelling flight test

October 11, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Getafe, Madrid, Spain, October 11, 2023 – Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) and the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) worked together to successfully complete the automatic air-to-air refuelling (A3R) flight test campaign with the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and F-15 fighter, ahead of its certification in the first half of 2024.

Over the course of three weeks in August, a RSAF A330 MRTT made more than 500 automated wet and dry contacts with the air force’s full fleet of receiver aircraft, including the F-15SG aircraft, a customised variant of the US-built F-15E Strike Eagle air-to-ground fighter jet.

The flight tests with F-15SG were conducted in Singapore, covering the whole operational AAR envelope in different weather conditions under the supervision of the Spanish certifying authority, called INTA (National Institute for Aerospace Technology).

THEOS-2 satellite for Thailand successfully launched

October 9, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

The Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) THEOS-2 Earth observation satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) selected Airbus as partner for its next-generation national geo-information system in 2018.

THEOS-2 follows the Airbus-built THEOS-1 satellite launched in 2008, which still continues to deliver imagery well beyond its 10-year operational lifetime. In the frame of THEOS-2 programme, GISTDA’s geo-information system benefits from satellite imagery collected by the Airbus constellation of optical and radar Earth observation satellites such as Pléiades and TerraSAR-X.

The contract also includes a second Earth observation satellite – THEOS-2 SmallSAT – from Airbus’ subsidiary SSTL, combined with a comprehensive capacity building programme involving Thai engineers in the development of applications, ground segment and the SmallSAT spacecraft itself. THEOS-2 SmallSAT is based on SSTL’s CARBONITE series of Earth observation spacecraft and has been delivered to Thailand.

THEOS-2 satellite in anechoic chamber – Copyright Airbus

Maersk & Kodiak Robotics launch commercial autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Oklahoma City

October 6, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Florham Park, New Jersey/Mountain View, California — A.P. Moller – Maersk AS (OTC: AMKBY) and Kodiak Robotics, Inc., have launched the first commercial autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Oklahoma City. The freight lane marks an expansion of the collaboration between Kodiak and Maersk, which began with their first autonomous freight deliveries together in November 2022 as part of Maersk’s Global Innovation Center Program. Kodiak has been delivering eight loads per week, with a safety driver behind the wheel, for Maersk customers since August.

Kodiak and Maersk are completing four round trips per week on a 24-hour-a-day, four-day-a-week basis between a Houston facility, where consumer products are loaded onto 53-foot trailers, to a distribution center in Oklahoma City. Operational learnings gained from the activity are captured and documented as part of the Kodiak Partner Deployment Program, which is designed to help companies learn how Kodiak’s self-driving trucks can become an integral part of their overall logistics strategy and offerings.

Autonomous trucking solutions have the potential to address long-term challenges faced by the trucking industry. According to the American Trucking Association, the trucking industry faces a shortage of roughly 78,000 drivers. The ATA estimates that, based on current driver demographic trends, as well as projected growth in freight demand, the shortage could swell to more than 160,000 over the next decade.

Safety continues to be a perennial challenge for the trucking industry as well. U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research also estimates that 94% of crashes occur due to human error. For Kodiak, safety and performance are foundational to its autonomous trucking solution. Each vehicle is equipped with 18 different sensors, including cameras, radar, and lidar, that provide the platform with a 360-degree view around the truck. Every tenth of a second, the truck evaluates the performance of more than 1,000 safety-critical processes and components in both the self-driving stack and the underlying truck platform. The trucks learn in parallel, with system upgrades shared to the entire fleet simultaneously, and are not subject to environmental distractions.

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