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Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines Celebrate Delivery of First 787-9 Dreamliner

Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines

Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Ethiopian Airlines celebrated the delivery of the carrier’s first Boeing 787-9. Ethiopian is leasing the Dreamliner through an agreement with AerCap.

Ethiopian’s newest 787 touched down in Addis Ababa following a non-stop 8,354 mile (13,444 km) delivery flight from Boeing’s Everett, Wash., facility. Ethiopian becomes the first carrier in Africa to operate the 787-9 and extends a tradition of setting aviation milestones. Ethiopian became Africa’s first carrier to fly the 787-8 in 2012, and similarly introduced the 777-200LR (Longer Range), 777-300ER (Extended Range) and 777 Freighter.

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“We are proud to celebrate yet another first with the introduction of the cutting-edge 787-9 into our young and fast growing fleet,” said Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. “Today, the 787 is the core of our fleet with 20 aircraft in service. Our investment in the latest technology airplanes is part of our Vision 2025 strategy and our commitment to our esteemed customers to offer complete on-board comfort. We will continue to invest in the most advanced aircraft to give our customers the best possible travel experience.”

The 787 Dreamliner is the most innovative and efficient airplane family flying today. Since 2011, more than 600 Dreamliners have entered commercial services, flying almost 200 million people on more than 560 unique routes around the world, saving an estimated 19 billion pounds of fuel.

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Ethiopian Airlines conducted its 32nd Humanitarian Delivery Flight as part of the 787-9 delivery. In conjunction with the non-profit Seattle Alliance Outreach, Ethiopian transported goods donated by medical organizations in the U.S. to Black Lion Hospital and St. Paul Hospital in Ethiopia.

Courtesy ; Boeing

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Africa

IndiGo To Start 6 New Flights To Africa Central Asia

IndiGo To Start 6 New Flights To Africa Central Asia

IndiGo is getting ready to expand internationally by adding six additional locations in Asia and Africa.

From Mumbai, the airline will offer direct flights in late July or early August connecting Nairobi, Kenya, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Additionally, Delhi will have connections to Baku, Azerbaijan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, as well as Almaty, Kazakhstan, in September and Tbilisi, Georgia, in August.

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In order to meet the growing demand for international travel from, to, and via India, IndiGo will also add 174 additional weekly international flights between June and September of this year. These flights will include new destinations, routes, and frequencies.

Air India To Launch Non-Stop Flights From India To 6 Destinations In US, Europe(Opens in a new browser tab)

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In August, IndiGo will begin daily service from Delhi to Hong Kong, expanding passenger travel options. When Covid19 struck three years ago, this flight was put on hold; it will now resume.

The next few months will see the launch of more direct international services connecting Dammam to Lucknow, Chennai, and Kochi; Abu Dhabi to Goa, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad; Ras Al Khaimah to Hyderabad; Bahrain to Kochi; and Jeddah to Ahmedabad, bringing more Indian cities closer to Middle Eastern destinations.

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“We will be able to increase our footprint across four continents, including our initial expansion into Africa and Central Asia, and the addition of these exciting new destinations, new direct flight routes, increased aircraft frequencies, and strategic codeshare relationships.

IndiGo announces 32 new connecting flights to enhance connectivity between India and Europe(Opens in a new browser tab)

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In addition to our 78 domestic destinations, with this network extension, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers noted, “We will now directly touch 32 international destinations (up from 26).” Additionally, he claimed that the airline is carrying out its goal of “Towards New Heights and Across New Frontiers” and is prepared to build unmatched links between people and places.

The development coincides with the government’s initiatives to establish India as a global aviation centre as well as a period of increasing demand for international travel to, through, and from India.

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Air France-KLM is interested in a codeshare for IndiGo’s foreign flights.

France Implements Ban On Short Flights For Journeys Possible In Under 2.5 Hours By Train

A report by The Times of India (TOI) says that Air France-KLM wants to expand its codeshare partnership with a budget airline, IndiGo for some of its overseas flight network as well. Currently, many of IndiGo’s domestic destinations are part of its codeshare deal with Air France-KLM.

The majority of UK and European routes are already under consideration by Indigo with just one consumer channel through a codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines. Additionally, if the Turkish codeshare provides a gate for Indigo Airlines, it also looks into potential opportunities to extend to the US. If its international destinations generate excellent earnings for it in the near future, it will also be looking to purchase wide-body aircraft.

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Air France-KLM orders an additional 10 A350 XWBs(Opens in a new browser tab)

The European airline consortium is eager to expand the collaboration to include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal, three nations that border India. As a result, the airlines would be able to provide travelers with more options from their bases in Paris and Amsterdam. Claude Sarre, GM (Indian subcontinent) for Air France-KLM, is quoted by TOI as saying,

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Together, Air France and KLM offer more than 40 weekly flights to India, stopping in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai, which are all major destinations. The firm has 22% more flights to India than it had last summer, and Hyderabad is also a possibility.

Air France and KLM would also have open connections to Air India, but they already have agreements with Singapore Airlines. As a result, Indigo would be a good fit for helping India generate enough traffic to reach its European destinations.

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Air France-KLM orders four A350Fs to modernize the fleet of Martinair, part of KLM Group(Opens in a new browser tab)

Air France-KLM and IndiGo signed a codeshare arrangement last summer to give them access to some of the Indian major domestic destinations, including Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Hyderabad. This was done to take advantage of the developing Indian aviation market.

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Additionally, it will be subject to some restrictions based on the pre-existing routes that are currently connected to Turkish Airlines. Air France-KLM is attempting to expand into India in a number of ways, including through a codeshare with IndiGo.

It was previously speculated that the airline group would also partner with Air India to purchase the government-owned MRO firm AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL). Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Air France-KLM are all eager to participate in the bidding process.

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Boeing, China Announce Airplane Sales During Presidential Trade Mission

Boeing temporarily halts deliveries of 787 Dreamliner jets

BEIJINGNov. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Boeing (NYSE: BA) and China Aviation Suppliers Holding Company (CASC) today signed an agreement for 300 airplanes during a ceremony in Beijing. It was part of the United States trade mission to China, and was signed by Kevin McAllister, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, in the presence of US President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping.

The agreement includes orders and commitments for 300 Boeing single-aisle and twin-aisle airplanes. The airplanes are valued at more than $37 billion at list prices.

“China is a valued customer and key partner, and we’re proud that Boeing airplanes will be a part of its fleet growth for years to come,” said McAllister. “Boeing and China have a strong history of working together based on great mutual respect, and these orders build on that foundation.”

Boeing and China continue to work on mutually beneficial ways to grow and support the aviation market. These efforts include industrial cooperation, the development of technologies to reduce aviation’s environmental impact and enhance sustainability, and continued cooperation to support the safety, efficiency and capacity of China’s air transport system.

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