America restricts large electronic devices on all flights from the Arab world

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Passengers flying nonstop to America from anywhere in the Arab world are now banned from bringing large electronic devices in their carry-on luggage. The Associated Press, citing American government officials, says the restriction applies to eight countries: Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But the only other Middle Eastern or North African country with passenger flights to America is Israel (which is also the country in the region that American carriers fly to). That makes the measure, in effect, a pan-Arab ban. All devices larger than a mobile phone must be checked in under the new rules, including laptops, Kindles, cameras and portable DVD players...

Air Baltic gaining altitude

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Martin Gauss is a man who understands only too well the perils of running a state-owned airline. In 2012, shortly after he stepped down as chief executive of Malév Hungarian Airlines, the European Union ordered his former employer to repay €130 million of illegal state aid. Unable to do so, Malév, one of Europe’s oldest flag-carriers, ceased operations.

Its demise came just three months after Gauss had agreed to steer another troubled eastern European flag-carrier: Air Baltic. Within one year, history was repeating itself and Brussels was launching a new investigation into the Latvian airline.

The similarities, however, end there.

Whereas Malév relied on subsidies from its government owner to stay afloat – violating competition laws in the process – Air Baltic deployed private-sector efficiency and commercial sustainability to get its house in order. The EU’s two-year investigation failed to unearth any wrongdoing by the state-owned carrier, clearing the way for a bold new future in Latvia’s picturesque capital Riga...

Loganair's independence vote

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Loganair’s decision to end its franchise agreement with Flybe amounts to a dramatic vote for independence by the Scottish carrier, returning commercial decision-making to Glasgow after 24 years as a white-label operator.

The airline has promised to create a “bold new corporate identity” when it parts ways with Flybe in September, most noticeably by phasing in a Scottish livery with an eye-catching red and black tartan design. An in-house reservations system should also go live by March, enabling the company to take direct bookings through its website.

Independence will further allow Loganair to take back control of its product and pricing strategy, amid accusations of poor service standards and exorbitant inter-island fares under Flybe’s watch...

NG conversions struggle to take off

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Aviation consultancy Flight Ascend predicts global demand for 1,530 jet conversions over the next two decades – more than 70% of them narrowbodies – as passenger airlines switch to the latest generation of fuel-efficient planes, and older models are re-purposed for a new life flying cargo. The work is conducted by a handful of highly specialised companies that obtain Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for their designs from national regulators.

Aircraft valuations are the main factor in determining the viability of such projects, with cargo customers routinely shelling out $3.5 million for conversions and $1.5 million for maintenance on top of base prices for narrowbodies. Older, more affordable models like the Boeing 737 Classics (-400s and -300s) therefore dominate the conversion market. But as the availability of Classics dwindles, the industry is turning its attention to younger – and much pricier – 737NGs (-800s and -700s), the current generation of narrowbody passenger jets...

Middle East slowdown: Narrowing the gulf

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Last April, Etihad Airways, the flag-carrier of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, claimed that 2015 had been its fifth consecutive year in the black, with net profits of $103m. James Hogan, the firm’s chief executive, hailed the result as proof that Etihad is a “sustainably profitable airline”. Yet less than one year on, both Mr Hogan and his chief financial officer, James Rigney, have been eased out amid a “company-wide strategic review” to “improve cost efficiency, productivity and revenue”; reforms ill-befitting a healthy business. Just across the sand, Emirates, the flag-carrier of Dubai, has deferred orders for 12 double-decker Airbus A380s in response to a 75% drop in profits. Qatar Airways, the region’s other super-connector airline, has abandoned plans for a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia. After years of uninterrupted and speedy growth, the Gulf carriers are hitting turbulence...

Air Astana turns to transfer traffic

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The decision by Kazakhstan’s government to free float its currency in August 2015 had an immediate impact on Air Astana, driving up costs and dampening demand as the oil-producing nation adjusted to a new era of low commodity prices and high inflation.

Peter Foster, the flag-carrier’s president and chief executive, admits that the rapid devaluation of the Tenge was a “massive negative” for the 15-year-old company, which is jointly owned by sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna and BAE Systems. The airline’s revenues fell 20% over the course of 2016, with foreign investors thinking twice about the country and Kazakhs tightening their belts in response.

“Free float ought to have been called freefall, because the currency really went into meltdown this time last year,” he tells Asian Aviation.

“But thank goodness it did happen, because it would have been completely impossible to sustain the Tenge at the level that it was. And at least in terms of local salaries and local expenditure, that now is reflective of genuine economic conditions...

Bombardier CSeries: The comfort of strangers

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One statistic that never fails to amaze Gulliver is the oft-cited claim by Boeing that one of its 737s lands or takes off somewhere in the world every two seconds. Airbus, the American planemaker’s bitter European rival, makes the same claim for its A320-family model (perhaps surprisingly, given that fewer have been built). So ubiquitous are these mid-sized, short-haul aircraft that you are all but guaranteed to be on one of them when boarding a modern plane with 120-200 seats. That duopoly is nice for Boeing and Airbus, which have collectively delivered 16,800 of the two models. But, in Europe at least, passengers are getting a taste of what else might be...

Afriqiyah's flight to safety

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When Afriqiyah Airways Flight 209 touched down at Malta International Airport on 23 December 2016, its arrival was anything but the illustrious new beginning management had envisioned at the gateway. For more than a year, the state-owned Libyan airline has been laying the foundations for a new subsidiary, PanAfriqiyah, on the Mediterranean island – one that can bypass the lawlessness of its home nation and restore the company’s battered fortunes. Instead, Flight 209 was a product of that very lawlessness, targeted by hijackers with fake weapons and a promise to kill all aboard if the domestic Libyan flight was not diverted to Malta...

Interview: Yasser El Ramly, Air Cairo CEO

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Despite crisis after crisis paralysing the Egyptian market in recent years, Air Cairo is sticking by its growth plans and even stepping up activity in Europe as it evolves from a mixed charter/low-cost carrier into a hybrid scheduled operator.

The airline was launched in 1997 as a charter specialist, but gradually diversified with low-cost flying after EgyptAir, the state-owned flag-carrier, became a shareholder in 2003. Its brand name is somewhat misleading, with the majority of flights departing from secondary cities like Sohag and Asyut on the Nile River; Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada on the Red Sea; and Alexandria on the northern coast.

Although a good portion of the network caters for regional flows between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Air Cairo’s leisure bases have inevitably felt the impact of repeated aviation disasters and scares in the country...

Interview: Justin Kalumba Mwana Ngongo, Congolese Transport Minister

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By the time African Aerospace goes to press, it should be clear whether Joseph Kabila, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is clinging onto power beyond the expiration of his mandate on 19 December 2016.

The postponement of elections until April 2018 has created a political crisis in the country, with Kabila insisting – to the dismay of his opponents – that he should stay in charge until polling day. Repeated hints that DRC’s constitution may be rewritten to permit a third term in office are further inflaming the situation.

What all this means for Congo Airways, the country’s resurrected flag-carrier, is impossible to know. The airline has made impressive strides since its October 2015 launch, tackling DRC’s poor air-safety record with $100 million start-up capital from the government and support from Air France Consulting...