Transportation Industry

Aircraft News - Africa / Middle East

AirGuide Business, Sept 1, 2008

Sep 1, 2008

Airbus

European aerospace group EADS denied on Friday that its Airbus jet making subsidiary is in negotiations to sell passenger jets to Syria. Speculation of a deal has risen prior to a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Damascus next week, but such a sale could anger the United States, which controls the export of many aircraft components. Reuters reported on Thursday that Airbus was discussing a deal that could secure a multi-billion dollar order from the Syrian government, according to sources familiar with the talks, but that US sanctions could torpedo the purchase. Sarkozy's visit will be the first by a Western head of state to Syria since the 2005 assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told France Inter Radio during a high-profile visit to Paris last month that Syria wanted to order Airbus jets. Aug 29, 2008

Lockheed

Saudi Arabia's civil aviation administration believes a failure to follow safety procedures during the disassembly of a Lockheed L-1011 aircraft resulted in an explosion which killed four workers. The accident occurred on 23 August at Taif, near Mecca in the southwest. Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Civil Aviation, claims the workers were using an electrical saw to separate wing components on the L-1011, but had not drained residual fuel from the tanks. The administration identifies shipping management firm Regency Projects, which is registered in the UK, as the company overseeing the work. Regency Projects' aviation division has a batch of ex-Saudi Arabian L-1011 aircraft stored at Taif, which it uses as a pool for spares. The company was not able to comment immediately on the accident or the Saudi authority's statements, reported Flight magazine. Aug 27, 2008

Sunair

Libya's Civil Aviation Authority said 95 passengers were on the hijacked Sunair Boeing 737-200 jet. The Jana agency said Libya granted permission for the plane to land after the pilot told the authorities the plane was running out of fuel. Three senior members of a former Darfur rebel movement which has signed a peace accord with the government were among the passengers, a spokesman for their group said. Mohammed Bashir of the Sudan Liberation Movement's Minni Arcua Minnawi faction identified them as an adviser to Minnawi, the movement's land commissioner, and one of the architects of the Darfur peace agreement of 2006. Minni Minnawi was the most influential Darfur rebel leader to sign the peace agreement, which most groups rejected. The SLM become a partner in Sudan's national government but Minnawi left Khartoum several months ago and has been distancing himself from the government, political sources say. Members of the Darfur regional government were also aboard the hijacked plane, the Egyptian state news agency MENA said. Egyptian authorities refused it permission to land in Egypt and the plane changed course towards Libya, Arabic TV channel Al Jazeera said. The Darfur region has been riven by conflict since a rebellion against Khartoum's rule broke out more than five years ago. International experts say more than 2.5 million Darfuris have been driven from their homes and 200,000 people killed. Sudan puts the death toll at about 10,000. The insurgents are split into more than dozen factions. Aug 27, 2008

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