flydubai finalizes order for 75+25 B737 MAX 8s, 11 B737-800NGs

The South Sudanese Parliament has given its consent to the proposed establishment of a new national carrier - South Sudan Airways.

According to Juba-based Eye Radio, SSP100 million South Sudanese pounds (USD768,000) has been allocated to fund studies into the project.

“The Ministry of Transport is directed to formulate policy and carry out a feasibility study for the establishment of the national carrier, South Sudan Airways, which will be a revenue-generating investment,” MP David Nailo said while presenting the 2019/2020 budget for its final reading on Wednesday, August 21.

Despite strong interest, South Sudan has lacked a de-facto national carrier since its cessation from Sudan in 2011 largely due to the unstable political and economic landscape brought on by an on/off civil war.

Following a tender process in 2012, AtlasGlobal (then Atlasjet Airlines) was selected as the preferred partner for a new South Sudanese carrier only to pull out of the project in early 2013. Thereafter, in 2014, Ethiopian Airlines was also linked to a 49% stake in a new South Sudanese...

flydubai (FZ, Dubai Int'l) has announced in a press release that it will launch a new service to Yangon and Krabi on December 10, 2019. The route will be the carrier's first South-East Asian service since the suspension of a route to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi in March 2018.

Flights will operate daily from Dubai Int'l via Yangon to the Thai beach resort.

The carrier said that its new services to Myanmar and Thailand will complement the existing Emirates (EK, Dubai Int'l) network in the area. According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Emirates currently operates 5x daily to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (including 4x daily onboard an A380-800) and daily to Phuket (growing to 2x daily during the winter season). Emirates also flies 4x weekly to Yangon but will give up the route on December 9 a day before flydubai's launch.

flydubai has currently scheduled the route with B737-800 equipment. The carrier said that despite having eleven grounded B737-8s and two B737-9s, it did not have to...

Nepal Airlines (RA, Kathmandu) has issued a Request for Proposals seeking a consultancy to conduct a due diligence audit of the carrier.

According to tender documents seen by ch-aviation, the stated goal of the audit is to "conduct a detailed and comprehensive examination of Nepal Airlines' financial and other related information with a view to assessing its condition and determine the potential business and various risks associated". The carrier also expects the auditor to carry out a market and asset valuation.

Separate technical and financial proposals are to be submitted in English. The selected consultancy is expected to commence the audit in early October 2019 and complete it within 90 days.

Nepal Airlines expects proposals by August 29, 2019.

According to online newspaper OnlineKhabar, the audit marks the relaunch of a search for a foreign partner for the struggling flag carrier.

In early July, the airline decided to formally employ international managers in an effort to improve its corporate governance which has been attributed to the airline's lengthy stay in the red. In...