Gambia's WestAF plans mid-2Q21 debut

India's SpiceJet mulls Goshawk, De Havilland settlements

SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int'l) is reportedly working towards settling a lawsuit filed by Irish lessor Goshawk and its trustee Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin), a subsidiary of the American holdco M&T Bank Corporation, and is also edging closer to an out-of-court settlement with De Havilland Aircraft of Canada over a separate court case.

Goshawk and Wilmington had allegedly tried to block the planned spin-off of the budget carrier's cargo and logistics business, SpiceXpress and Logistics Private Ltd, to a separate company, a source close to the matter told the Indian financial daily Mint. The agreement paves the way for the airline to complete the transfer by January 2022.

Goshawk leases three aircraft to SpiceJet, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, namely two B737-8s and one B737-800. But when the carrier announced the spin-off, the lessor approached the High Court of Delhi to halt the process until about USD16.2 million in outstanding leases had been paid, the sources explained. SpiceJet and Goshawk had already been embroiled in a...

UK's flybe. takes first Dash 8-Q400 for restart

flybe. (Birmingham Int'l) has taken delivery of its first DHC-8-Q400 ahead of its planned restart early next year.

G-JECX (msn 4155) was ferried from Maastricht to Exeter on November 5, 2021, already in the start-up's new livery and, after maintenance, onwards to the carrier's future base at Birmingham Int'l on November 25, 2021, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. Since then, the 14.8-year old turboprop has been operating test flights between Birmingham and Exeter.

The aircraft is owned by Nordic Aviation Capital and was operated by flybe. (2002) in its previous iteration through March 2020, the ch-aviation fleets history module shows.

flybe. initially secured its first Dash 8 in early 2021. However, G-CLXC (msn 4014) remained parked at Exeter airport from March to August 2021 and was subsequently ferried back to Canada. It was deregistered from the United Kingdom on September 10, 2021, and was inducted by PAL Airlines (Canada) in early October 2021.

The airline, now backed by Cyrus Capital, plans to launch...

Gambia resumes commercial passenger traffic

Several West African and European carriers have resumed commercial flights to Banjul, Gambia, after the airport reopened following a seven-month lockdown because of COVID-19.

According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul New) was the first to return on October 31 with weekly service from Istanbul New, via Dakar Blaise Diagne Int'l. Transair (Senegal) (R2, Dakar Blaise Diagne Int'l) has also resumed weekly flights from Dakar, while Air Sénégal (HC, Dakar Blaise Diagne Int'l) has returned with four flights a week scheduled as of November 1.

Togo’s ASKY Airlines (KP, Lomé) flight KP22 resumed four times weekly from Lomé, Accra, and Freetown and to Banjul on November 5. TUI Airways (BY, London Luton) has come back with weekly flights from London Gatwick and Manchester Int'l, while Spain’s Vueling Airlines (VY, Barcelona El Prat) on November 7 restarts weekly services with flight VY7574 from Barcelona El Prat.

The Gambia currently has no home-grown national...

Gambian start-up WestAf eyes low-fare niche using Q400(QC)s