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Portugal Injects Heavy Investment Into Newly TAP

Branded TAP ExpressAPEX Insight: TAP Portugal has announced the introduction of

new regional aircraft and services. The airline’s CEO, Fernando

Pinto, says the changes “will enable better service on the point-to-

point connections and much better conditions for an optimized

connectivity to the Lisbon hub operations.” Other improvements

underway include a €60-million investment to retrofit the aircraft

interiors of the fleet and installation of a €2-million digital

reservations platform.

TAP Portugal has announced a renewal of its regional fleet to

harmonize with its mainline commercial identity, and a redesign of its

products and services through new interiors and updated digital

platforms. The airline will introduce a Porto-Lisbon shuttle and a

rebranded regional TAP Express to replace the Portugália, PGA airline

brand. A new fleet of eight ATR 72 and nine Embraer E190 aircraft will

be added to the regional fleet. TAP expects to better its annual

operating results by €60 million with these improvements.

The airline touts these aircraft as more comfortable and silent, with 40

percent lower fuel consumption. These new aircraft will increase the

airline‘s seating capacity by 47 percent and allow schedule

improvements to hourly flights for TAP‘s Porto-Lisbon shuttle service.

―The launch of the Porto-Lisbon shuttle will enable better service on the

point-to-point connections and much better conditions for an optimized

connectivity to the Lisbon hub operations, providing customers with

easy access to the whole TAP network,‖ says Fernando Pinto, TAP‘s

.official announcementCEO, in the company‘s

http://apex.aero/2016/01/15

Sign TechnikPhilippine Airlines and Lufthansa Total

ContractMaintenance Component Philippine Airlines and Lufthansa Technik AG have signed a five-year

Total Component Maintenance (TCM) contract for the Airline's Airbus

A320 and A340 Fleet. The services will be extended end of 2016 to

support additional Airbus 320s operated by Philippine Airlines.

Lufthansa Technik will support Philippine Airlines at its main base in

Manila, the Component Service offices in Manila and Shenzhen will

coordinate the customer support. Maintenance, repair and overhaul

services will be carried out at Lufthansa Technik's component Centres

in Hamburg, Germany and Shenzhen, China.

"We were pleased with Lufthansa Technik's ability to customize its

services to the individual needs of Philippine Airlines and ensuring 24/7

worldwide AOG services at locations such as JFK which are vital for our

Flight operations," said William Tan, Vice President of Purchasing,

Philippine Airlines.

Jens Behrend, Sales Executive from Lufthansa Technik, said: "I want to

thank Philippine Airlines for the trust they continuously place in the

Lufthansa Technik Group. The signing of these contracts is a great

success for us in this highly competitive market."

Lufthansa Technik is committed to extend its partnership with Philippine

Airlines and to support other Aircraft types in the future.

Lufthansa Technik:

The Lufthansa Technik Group, with more than 30 subsidiaries and

associates and over 26,000 employees worldwide, is one of the leading

providers of technical services for the aviation industry. Its portfolio

encompasses the entire spectrum of services for commercial aircraft:

maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification and conversion, engines

and components.

http://apex.aero/2016/01/15

(Continue)―The ‗Ponte Aérea‘ will offer very competitive prices to travel between

Porto and Lisbon and an innovative product, with dedicated check-in

counters and boarding gates along with fast and easy passenger

boarding,‖ Pinto states. ―As of next March 27, TAP will increase the

number of weekly flights to destinations already served in Europe, Brazil,

the United States and Africa, reinforcing our product consistency.‖

Pinto adds, ―We are not only renewing our regional fleet, but also adding

consistency to the TAP brand and product by reinforcing its commercial

identity and redesigning our product and services as well.‖

Other improvements underway include orders for 53 new aircraft, a €60-

million investment to retrofit the aircraft interiors of the fleet, a €11-million

investment to install sharklets on 12 A320-family aircraft for improved

efficiency and the addition of a new €2-million digital reservations

platform.

―The ‗Ponte Aérea‘ will offer very competitive prices to travel between

Porto and Lisbon and an innovative product, with dedicated check-in

counters and boarding gates along with fast and easy passenger

boarding.‖ – Fernando Pinto, TAP Portugal CEO

the sale of the national the Portuguese government approved,2015In

flagship carrier to the Atlantic Gateway consortium led by David

Neeleman (CEO of Brazil‘s Azul and founder of JetBlue) and Humberto

Pedrosa (owner of Barraqueiro Transports).

and committed to million cash payment-10€The consortium made a

injecting additional capital of €348 million into TAP. It also absorbed TAP‘s

previous debt of €1.06 billion, and agreed to supply TAP with 53 new

aircraft while ensuring the Portuguese government that it would keep

TAP‘s main hub in Lisbon for at least 30 years.

Pinto credits the new ownership for giving the airline ―the investment

capacity to expand and turn into a more modern and competitive airline,

one that is responsive to the needs of Customers and strongly

committed to serve the markets where it operates.‖

-

http://www.cnbc.com/

Kuwait Airways Drops Flights to Avoid Israeli

PassengersThis picture taken in Tangerang on March 18, 2013 shows a Kuwait

Airways plane preparing for landing over the Sukarno-Hatta airport in

Tangerang.

Kuwait Airways will operate its last flight between New York City and

London on Saturday, deciding last month to drop the route after

about 35 years of service rather than transport Israeli citizens

between the two cities.

that the airline's found in SeptemberThe Transportation Department

policy discriminated against Israeli citizens and ordered the practice

to stop. Instead, the airline announced in December that it would

drop the flights.

The decision does not apply to the airline's three weekly nonstop

flights between Kennedy International Airport in New York and

Kuwait City. Those flights are not affected because Israelis are not

allowed to visit Kuwait and are not granted visas.

Passengers in transit through another country are another matter,

according to the Transportation Department, which said that Kuwait

Airways' refusal to carry Israeli citizens between New York City and

London amounted to "unreasonable discrimination" because Israeli

passport holders have the legal right to travel between the United

States and Britain.

"An airline does not have the right to refuse to sell tickets to and

transport a person between the U.S. and any third country where

they are allowed to disembark based on the laws of that country,"

said Namrata Kolachalam, a spokeswoman for the department.

The Transportation Department said that it was also investigating

two formal complaints with Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines.

Kuwait Airways started flying to New York in 1980 three times a

week, on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with flights stopping

http://www.cnbc.com/

(Continue)in London before continuing on to Kuwait City, according to a

reservation agent from Kuwait Airways.

The unusual case stemmed from a complaint of an Israeli citizen,

Eldad Gatt, who tried to book a flight in 2013 from New York to

Heathrow Airport in London. When he tried to buy a ticket online,

Kuwait Airways' booking system did not allow the transaction

because of Mr. Gatt's citizenship.

More from The New York Times

that petition filed in NovemberLawyers for Kuwait Airways said in a

the airline's policy was based on Kuwaiti law, which prohibits

domestic companies from conducting business with Israeli citizens.

The airline, the lawyers stressed, did not discriminate against

passengers holding a valid passport from a nation recognized by

Kuwait and did not discriminate based on race or religion.

The lawyers say that courts in the United States have long accepted

distinctions based on citizenship and that the United States also

upholds similar restrictions on citizens of countries it does not

recognize, like North Korea.

But those arguments were not accepted by the Transportation

Department, and the matter attracted the attention of Transportation

Secretary Anthony Foxx, who said that if the airline did not change

course, the administration was "prepared to use all tools at its

disposal to protect the civil rights of passengers."

It is not the first time that geopolitics has gotten entangled with air

travel policy. In 2013, when Bill de Blasio was running for mayor of

New York City, he criticized Saudi Arabia's national carrier for

refusing to sell tickets to Israelis flying from New York. At the time,

officials with the Saudi airline said that since Saudi Arabia did not

allow visitors from Israel, the carrier could not fly them there, even

for connecting flights.

http://sputniknews.com/

ofInspectionCompleteExpertsSecurityRussian

AirportCairoA group of Russian experts on flight safety and security have

finished an inspection of security procedures at the international

airport in Egyptian capital, Cairo, a source in Egypt's Ministry of

Civil Aviation said Wednesday.

CAIRO (Sputnik) — The four-men group arrived in Egypt on Monday

to check on the newly established security measures at the Cairo airport

as part of efforts to resume air travel between Russia and Egypt.

"The Russian specialists have completed their work at the Cairo airport. They have inspected all stages of security procedures in all terminals, including cargo. They will depart to Moscow tomorrow."

/ MICHEL MOUTOT2016© AFP

Russian Experts Begin Checks of Security Measures at Cairo

Airport

The delegation has not made any significant comments regarding the

state of the airport's security, Egypt's Al Shorouk newspaper reported

on its website, quoting an airport source.

The inspection group's final report will concern the control of passenger

and baggage movement inside the airport, the source added.

Russian Deputy FM Arrives in Egypt to Discuss Mideast, Terrorism

Russia imposed ban on flights to Egypt due to security concerns

following the crash of a Russian-operated Airbus A321 over Egypt's Sinai

Peninsula in October, which killed all 224 people on board, after an

explosive device detonated in the passenger compartment.

Flights between Egypt and Russia may resume after a joint Russian-

Egyptian effort at increasing airport security in Egypt has concluded,

according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

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