27.09.2023 - 18:43 UTC
The ruling military junta in Niger (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie - CNSP) has banned all French airlines and France-registered aircraft from operating in its airspace as a dispute with its former coloniser escalates. France has since pulled its ambassador from the Sahel state.
NOTAM A1096/23, issued on September 23, 2023, bans "French aircraft or aircraft chartered by France, including those of the airline of Air France (AF, Paris CDG)" from entering Nigerien airspace, including for overflights. All other commercial flights are permitted, while military and special flights need prior authorisation.
Air France suspended service to Niamey in early August, shortly after the coup d'êtat in Niger. It simultaneously halted flights to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali, two countries which support the Nigerien junta. All three routes remain on hold.
Nigerien airspace was closed to all airlines until September 3. Air France confirmed that its flights to Accra and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo will be most affected by the need to, once again,...
27.09.2023 - 00:14 UTC
Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) has accepted most of the conditions imposed by European Commission regulators to secure approval for its proposed merger with Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon), and it will formally submit an amended application to Brussels on September 27 accepting those conditions, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The conditions include selling Asiana's profitable cargo arm, exiting certain routes between South Korea and the European Union, and giving up slots at some EU airports. The routes that Korean Air or Asiana have proposed dropping include Seoul Incheon - Rome Fiumicino; Seoul Incheon - Paris CDG; Seoul Incheon - Frankfurt International; and Seoul Incheon - Barcelona El Prat.
ch-aviation capacities data reveals Korean Air and Asiana have a combined 60.06% market share (measured by seat capacity) on the Frankfurt route, which they share with Air Premia (YP, Seoul Incheon) and Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International). They have a combined 67.01% market share on the Paris route with Air France (AF, Paris CDG) taking...
26.09.2023 - 08:11 UTC
Air France-KLM has announced its intention to order fifty A350s directly from Airbus with a further forty purchase rights. Deliveries of the firm-ordered jets are expected between 2026 and 2030. The aircraft will allow the holding to replace its previous-generation A330 and B777 types, rendering the Franco-Dutch holding the world's largest A350 Family operator.
The holding said the order would include both A350-900s and A350-1000s but did not provide an exact split. The widebodies will be operated by both Air France (AF, Paris CDG) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) but did not disclose any exact details, saying only that it would have the "flexibility to allocate aircraft within its portfolio of airlines, according to market dynamics and local regulatory conditions".
The new order will come on top of an existing commitment for forty-one A350-900s for Air France (of which 22 are currently in service) and eight A350Fs for Air France and Martinair (Netherlands) (MP, Amsterdam Schiphol) (none in service yet). Seven A350-900s were...
