NEWSWEEK I Incheon, Prague deal


ncheon International Airport and Vaclav Havel Prague Airport have signed a part- nership agreement that includes joint marketing activities and developing infra- structure and operational safety. The two airports want to expand regularly scheduled connections between the Czech Republic and Republic of Korea. The formal signing for the partnership took place at Prague Airport, which is a subsidiary of Czech Aeroholding.


The chairman and chief executive officer


(CEO) of Czech Aeroholding Miroslav Dvorak says: “Czech political scene considers the airport a strategic asset and supports its co-op- eration with the biggest business world leaders such as the Incheon International Airport.” The Korean delegation included Incheon’s


president and CEO Chang-Soo Jung, Korean Air’s manager for Czech, Ho Yoon Jeong, and the Korean Ambassador, Hayong Moon. In 2012 Incheon processed 2.48 million tonnes of cargo and was ranked fourth among the world’s cargo airports. Jiri Pos, Prague Airport chief executive officer and chairman of the board, says: “It’s a great honour for us to have the opportunity to col- laborate closely with the best in the business, to obtain important information and be able to tap the wealth of experience of the company running an airport, which handled 39 million passengers last year.” In the last month Prague has had airlines add


it to their routes, with Russia’s Yakutia planning flights to Sochi from 27 October and Romania’s Tarom to start a Bucharest route the same day.


Lithuania aims for Asia


Lithuania is promoting its Kaunas Airport for cargo traffic from Asia with a marketing push that has involved senior officials visiting the Far East region.


Kaunas is Lithuania’s second largest city,


located about 60 kilometres North West of the capital Vilnius, with its airport the second busiest after Vilnius Airport. Kaunas is a cargo and passenger hub that has been used by air- lines, including the now defunct Jade Cargo International.


Kaunas has plans to have a maintenance,


repair and overhaul (MRO) facility. Land will be leased through an auction for an MRO facility to serve Lithuania and Central and Eastern Europe. Kaunas Aiport is also one of three govern-


ment owned airports that are to be merged. The other two airports are Palanga Airport, located on Lithuania’s Baltic coast, and Vilnius Airport. Palanga was a Soviet air base until 1963 and then a civil aerodrome until 1991. Now airBaltic,


Norwegian Air Shuttle and SAS have scheduled flights there. “The merger is to be discussed by parlia-


ment,” a Vilnius spokesperson tells Air Cargo Week. The aim is to have the merger agreed by April 2014. The Lithuanian officials who have gone to the Far East, and Malayasia in particular, include Vilnius Airport’s chief executive officer Gediminas Almantas. His Airport has started to upgrade its facilities with the help of European Union funding. Vil- nius started construction of its new fire rescue station in June. In June 2012 the Airport announced that DHL had been in discussions to build a cargo ter- minal at Vilnius. Air Lituanica is to start flights from Vilnius to Prague and Munich. Prague is also increasing its links with the


Far East, signing an agreement with Korea’s Incheon International Airport (Incheon, Prague deal, 9 September Air Cargo Week).


Airbus chief takes A350 reigns


aircraft. “I am immensely proud to have flown onboard the A350 XWB, our latest technology marvel. The aircraft is a very smooth ride and I was particularly im- pressed by the maturity of the aircraft at such an early stage in its life,” says Bregier.


“The new cockpit layout with the large screens and head-up display are amazing and I am confident that pilots are going to love being behind the controls of this machine.”


AIRBUS president and chief executive offi- cer Fabrice Bregier participated in a 3h test flight of Airbus A350 eXtra Wide Body (XWB) model MSN1 over South Western France. According to Airbus, the MSN1 has com- pleted more than “150 flight hours” out of the test campaign’s total of 2,500h, which will be completed by five A350 test


The A350 cargo hold accommodates standard 96-inch pallets and LD3 con- tainers. The A350-1000 can transport 21 tonnes of volumetric cargo and 31.5 tonnes of structural cargo, while for the A350-800 it has a capacity for 16.6 tonnes and 24.5 tonnes, respectively. Airbus states on its website


that it A350 freighter. envisages producing an


Korea lands at Rockford


KOREA’S trade and investment promo- tion agency has signed an agreement with the Rockford Area Economic Develop- ment Council at Greater Rockford Airport Authority.


The agreement is for encouraging foreign direct investment and exports from Rock- ford’s Rock River Valley including local aerospace companies. Called a global partner search programme, businesses from Korea and the Rockford area will be matched together to encourage investment in both countries and exports. Attending the event was Korea’s ambassa- dor to the US, Ahn Ho-young, who visited


Chicago Rockford International Airport. Chi- cago Rockford’s difrector Mike Dunn says: “We are delighted to host world dignitaries such as ambassador Ahn. We appreciate the opportunity to facilitate today’s meet- ings and look forward to continuing our role in connecting valued partnerships around the world.”


The Airport is host to UPS’ second largest domestic sorting facility. Ho-young was given a tour of the Airport and its facilities. He also visited the local engineering ser- vices company Kaney Aerospace and UTC Aerospace Systems, which was previously Hamilton-Sunstrand.


ACW 9 SEPTEMBER 2013


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