New Zealand Aviation NEWS

#NewZealand Flights #HongKong Airline Cathay Pacific's unique craft beer - brewed to taste better at 35,000 feet - is coming to a Flight near you. The Hong Kong Airline announced today that it plans to introduce its craft brew to Flights between Hong Kong and New Zealand, as wells on services to Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan, and Tel Aviv. Betsy Beer - named in honour of the Airline's first plane - was rolled out in March and April for business and first class passengers travelling between Hong Kong and Britain. Created in a partnership with Hong Kong Beer Co, the ingredients include a lychee-like fruit and Hong Kong honey. In November, Betsy Beer will be available for first and business class passengers on Flights between Hong Kong and New Zealand. "The inclusion of "Dragon Eye" fruit is a unique characteristic of the beverage. Known for its aromatic properties, the fruit adds to the round, rich, textural properties that ma...

QATAR CONSIDERS CUTTING AUCKLAND OVER LAPTOP RESTRICTIONS New Zealand Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l) has said it will consider cutting flights to New Zealand if the government implements plans to ban laptops on flights originating from the Middle East, reports Reuters.  New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English has said that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is assessing whether or not to ban large electronic devices on certain flights."With this particular proposition there’s a balance between inconvenience for passengers, many of whom live off their laptop on the one hand, but on the other hand it’s making sure that the flying is safe," English said. Responding to the potential ban, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said that a decision would need to be made on the viability of continuing flights from Doha Hamad Int'l to Auckland Int'l, which was commenced on February 6, 2017. "It's performing good but you know if we are impose...

TEXEL ORDERS PEMCO B737-700P2Fs New Zealand Texel Air (XLR, Bahrain Int'l) has been named the launch customer for PEMCO's B737-700 Passenger-to-FlexCombi and Passenger-to-Freighter conversion program. “We have also worked with PEMCO as the end customer for four previous B737-300 conversions including the current two aircraft in the Texel fleet," George Chisholm, the CEO of the Bahrain-based logistics specialist's parent firm, Chisholm Enterprises said in a statement. "We have benefited from the trouble-free PEMCO cargo system since 2009. We are very confident of a successful partnership with PEMCO on the B737-700FC.” PEMCO says it will induct the first aircraft for B737-700 Passenger-to-FlexCombi modification at its Tampa Int'l facilities later this quarter. It expects to receive a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) supplemental type certification (STC) by mid-2018. After the initial issuance, PEMCO plans to certify both B737-700 con...

MURRAY MCCULLY-MISTAKENLY SELECTED FOR A RANDOM SEARCH Auckland, New Zealand  Foreign Minister Murray McCully was mistakenly selected for a random search at Auckland Airport at the request of the United States, RNZ has learned. Mr McCully was on his way to Washington for a meeting on combating Islamic State, and was travelling as a VIP on a diplomatic passport.The trip was one of the last official visits for the long-serving foreign minister who is not contesting the next election and steps steps down officially from the role next week. Mr McCully's office and the Aviation Security Service, the official provider of aviation security in New Zealand, are describing it as a local administrative error.The Aviation Security Service said in a statement the search was a requirement of the US government and was carried out by Auckland firm Secureflight. The company's director, Peter Pilley, declined to be interviewed. In its statement, the service said the screeni...

A PARAGLIDER CRASH IN QUEENSTOWN Queenstown NewZealand Ben Letham, 26, was originally from Scotland but had been a full-time pilot with GForce Paragliding in the tourist resort of Queenstown.He lost control and came down in the grounds of Queenstown Primary School on Saturday, April 22nd  morning after taking off from the town's gondola.Mr Letham was also a member of the Queenstown Alpine Cliff Rescue team. Witnesses said that Mr Letham, from Lochgilphead, Argyll, went head over heels and fell before landing on his back. Gavin Taylor, co-director of GForce, said Mr Letham had been flying for around six years and it was not clear what had caused his death.Mr Taylor said: "Ben would have done thousands of flights at this site, both commercially and recreationally, but on this day he was flying with his own equipment using a single person wing." #Paraglider_crash #Tourist_resort #Queenstown SAMHITHA Marketing Intern Aerosoft ...

AIRPORTS WARN TRANSPORT MINISTER New Zealand Jet Services could end to some regions if a court ruling forces the Aviation watchdog to change its decision making, New Zealand's Airports are warning.The New Zealand Airports Association has written to Transport Minister Simon Bridges seeking an urgent law change to prevent a court decision from requiring the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to remove cost from its calculations of whether longer safety areas are practicable. In February the Court of Appeal ordered the director of Civil Aviation, Graeme Harris, to change the way he determines whether runway safety areas (RESA) are acceptable.   The order came after the Airline Pilots' Association challenged the CAA's finding for Wellington Airport's safety area in its proposed runway extension. The Court of Appeal said the CAA should not consider cost as a substantial factor in determining whether a longer RESA is practicable. In a letter to Bridges on  March 1...

NEW AIRLINE MRO FACILITY IN NEW ZEALAND New Zealand Air New Zealand has signed a Licensing agreement fro 8 years to Overhaul and Repair Auxiliary Power Unit (APUs) produced by Honeywell Aerospace at its Christchurch engineering and maintenance base. This will be the only certified Honeywell maintenance shop for the APU 131-9A model in the Asia Pacific region and will cover units in its own airliners as well as third-party customers. The agreement is expected to also create 45 new skilled engineering jobs in Christchurch.    “Honeywell Aerospace is a major player in the airline components industry, supplying APUs to around 75 percent of the world’s narrow-body jet fleets. This new agreement will allow us to continue to grow our component MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul] business in Christchurch and remain competitive within the region,”says an Air NZ spokesman The licensing agreement will give airlines in the region faster turnarounds by seeking supp...