On December 25, the opening of a new airport terminal took place in Shymkent. In the initial period, the terminal will serve daytime domestic flights of SCAT Airlines, and in the near future it is planned to transfer flights of Air Astana and Fly Arystan Airlines.
German company Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), which specializes in the conversion of Airbus passenger aircraft into freighters, celebrated an important milestone: the completion of the 100th freighter conversion in its history. The jubilee aircraft, an Airbus A330P2F, was delivered to a customer in Asia, just like the first aircraft of this model in 2017. Over the seven years of work, the joint project of EFW, Airbus and ST Engineering has added 49 Airbus A330P2F, 47 A321P2F and 4 A320P2F to the global freighter fleet.
South Korea’s national carrier Korean Air has completed its acquisition of rival privately held Asiana Airlines, which will now be a subsidiary of Korean Air. The US$1.05 billion deal includes a 63.88% stake in Asiana. Full integration of the two companies, including the unification of their route networks and loyalty programs, will take about two years.
Dublin-based Avia Solutions Group (ASG), the world’s largest ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) services provider, has announced the opening of its first Global Services Centre in Manila, Philippines. Scheduled to open in January 2025, the centre will support the technical and flight operations of the group’s airlines, as well as MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) activities. In addition, the centre will house corporate functions including IT, finance, payroll and administration.
International logistics provider Rhenus has joined Air France KLM Martinair Cargo’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) program, taking a step towards reducing its carbon footprint in aviation. The initiative aims to support sustainable solutions in air transport and offers Rhenus customers the opportunity to reduce their emissions.
Aviator Airport Alliance, a member of Avia Solutions Group and a provider of services at 15 airports in Northern Europe, has signed a three-year contract with Danish airline Jettime. Aviator will now provide ground handling services at Copenhagen Airport (CPH) and Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN), expanding its existing cooperation, which includes Gothenburg Airport (GOT) and Malmö Airport (MMX), as well as de-icing services in Copenhagen.
Avia Solutions Group, the world’s largest ACMI provider, announced a 25% increase in revenue for the first nine months of 2024 to €2.06 billion, and an increase in net profit to €83.3 million. The main revenue sources were Europe (55.1%) and Asia (27.9%), while the Americas, Africa and Australia contributed 15.7% of total revenue. The Group continues its aggressive expansion, launching Thai SmartLynx in Thailand in 2024, acquiring Australia’s Skytrans and planning new operating certificates in Malaysia, the Philippines and Brazil by 2025.
Latvian airline AirBaltic and German Lufthansa have announced the expansion of their codeshare agreement. Thus, AirBaltic is adding its code (BT) to six Lufthansa routes from Munich: to Bremen, Cologne/Bonn, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover and Stuttgart. Lufthansa, in turn, continues to use its code (LH) on AirBaltic flights to Munich from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.
DHL Express has partnered with energy company Shell to supply 25,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Brussels Airport. Under the one-year contract, the SAF will be delivered via pipeline and used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80,000 tonnes of CO₂e compared to conventional aviation fuel. The fuel is produced by replacing fossil oil with renewable feedstocks and is ISCC Plus certified.
Estonian state-owned airline Nordic Aviation Group (NAG), which includes Nordica and Xfly, is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy. The reason was the unsuccessful attempts to find an investor as part of the privatization initiated by the Estonian government in late 2023. The authorities had no strategic reasons to preserve Nordica, as the company provided exclusively outsourcing services.
