Moscow Government Airline (Moskva) Stops Selling Regular and Charter Flights Airline Tickets

The Moskva airline (former Atlant Soyuz, the airline of the Moscow government) has stopped selling tickets to regular and charter flights, an airline representative at the Moscow Vnukovo Airport told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

“The Moskva airline has informed its partners and aviation authorities that it stops selling tickets to regular and charter flights on January 18, 2010. The decision was caused by large debts and inefficiency of operations,” he said.

The passengers “were informed about the cancellation of flights and would get full refunds,” he noted.

Measures are being taken to provide the passengers with seats in flights of other airlines, he said. Less than 800 passengers have tickets to Moskva flights after January 17.

Meanwhile, the Moscow Arbitration Court has scheduled for February 4, 2011, preliminary hearings on the lawsuit of the Rostekhnologii state corporation to the airline for the collection of 2.36 billion rubles in debts. Prime Tass said that the court had registered three lawsuits of the kind with the total sum of 3 billion rubles. The preliminary hearing for the collection of 169.4 million rubles is scheduled for February 3, while the collection of 493 million rubles in debts will be heard on February 3.

The Soglasiye insurer of the airline demanded earlier that the airline must stop flights abroad on December 30. Executive Director of the Russian unit of the Aon Rus international insurance broker Vladislav Ivanov told Prime Tass that the insurance policy of the airline had expired and it did not extend its validity.

Saudia Airline Cargo Sign Agreement 150 Charter Flights from UAE to West Africa

Saudi Airlines Cargo Company has signed an agreement with Fast Forward Cargo in the United Arab Emirates to operate 150 charter flights from Sharjah, UAE to West Africa in 2011. Under this agreement Saudia Cargo will operate three (3) weekly flights to Lagos, Nigeria (2) and to N’Djamena, Chad (1). The flights will be operated with B747 freighters.

“Sharjah Airport is our hub for freighter flights to West Africa. We selected Saudia Cargo as our main carrier for this charter program due to the strong partnership we have build up through the operation of 60 flights last year” said Al Ameen, managing director of Fast Forward.

Peter Scholten, VP Commercial of Saudia Cargo, said “this agreement fits in our growth strategy in which we targeted to develop the emerging sea-air business from Asia to West Africa”. Saudia Cargo sells the worldwide belly capacity of Saudi Arabian Airlines fleet of 125 passenger aircraft and operates a fleet of 9 freighters that spans a rapidly expanding global network of 85 destinations.

Fast Forward Cargo is a young, vibrant freight forwarder with offices in UAE and Nigeria. Fast Forward is the market leader in the UAE to West Africa air cargo lane.

Charter Flight Services : New Charter Airline Dynamic Airways Launches with MD-88

Long-established special-mission operator Dynamic Aviation is launching a charter airline called Dynamic Airways, which will start operations with a McDonnell Douglas MD-88 from Smith Reynolds Airport (INT) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Through parent Dynamic Aviation, Dynamic Airways has already taken delivery of its first MD-88, a former Midwest Airlines aircraft (with manufacturer’s serial number 49760) which is being unveiled to the media in the colors of the new airline at INT on October 28. Dynamic Airways began FAA proving flights in September.

Parent company Dynamic Aviation has hired Guy Cannady, a 35-year aviation veteran who began his career as a naval aviator, to run Dynamic Airways as its chief operating officer.

Over the past 20 years, Cannady developed and operated several successful commercial aviation service organizations from the ground up, including International Cargo Xpress in Arkansas, Prescott Support Co. in South Carolina, and Atlanta Air Services in Georgia. He later sold all of these companies.

The new airline expects to begin flying passengers on domestic and international charters in early November. A second aircraft is slated to be delivered in mid-December.

Dynamic Airways expects to bring business and jobs to the Piedmont Triad area by operating charter services for the federal government and a wide array of commercial customers, including corporate travel groups, tour operators, collegiate-athletic teams and other entities requiring customized, reliable jet charter services.

Parent company Dynamic Aviation, which operates its own airfield at Bridgewater, Virginia, provides customized aircraft and services to support a wide range of customers including national defense, military intelligence, federal agencies, state and local governments and private companies. The company operates in five specialist areas: intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance services; airborne data acquisition; fire management services: aerial application; and sterile insect technique.

Having bought the U.S. Army’s fleet of 124 non-pressurized Beech BE-90 King Airs (most of them were designated as U-21 Ute aircraft) in 1996 and expanding further in the latter half of the 1990s by moving into fire management and airborne data acquisition, Dynamic Aviation now owns more than 150 aircraft and maintains one of the world’s largest inventories of Beechcraft King Air parts.

Civil Aviation Board Reported Regular Passenger Flights Increase by 7 percent

President of Civil Aviation Board (JAC) reported regular passenger and charter flights in the first quarter increased 4.8% or about 126,042, in addition there are 2240 air operations from the same period in 2009.

Overall increase in regular passenger flights in the first quarter reached 473,000 or an increase to reach 7%.

The first new airline has been allowed to operate in the country, including the VRG, Linhas Aereas, SA with permission to fly from Brazil to Punta Cana and Santo Domingo; and British Airways, PLC, with flights from London to Punta Cana (east).

Jet Blue will also expand its service to include the routes New York-Punta Cana and Boston-Punta Cana.
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GOL Reactivate Boeing 767 Aircraft for Charter

GOL plans to reactivate two more Boeing 767s as the Brazilian carrier expands its new widebody charter operation to include flights to the US, Europe and South Africa.

The company stopped operating 767s in 2008 after dropping all long-haul services at its Varig division but at the end of last year reactivated one aircraft for charters to the Caribbean. ATI and Flightglobal reported last month the carrier was looking at re-activating additional 767s as part of a plan to expand its Caribbean charter operation, which was launched in July 2009 and now uses a mix of 767s and Boeing 737s.
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