Page 78 - World Airnews Magazine January 2020 Edition

NEWS DIGITAL

EGYPT'S FASTEST

GROWING

AIRPORT

Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport’s growth comes as the
gypt's Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport has topped the destination continues to recover from the slump in tourism that
E list of the fastest-growing major airports in Africa by capacity, followed the crash of Metrojet flight 9268 in the Sinai desert after
a new study by Routesonline has found, as airlines continue to take-off from Sharm El-Sheikh airport on 31 October 2015.
return to the Egyptian Red Sea resort. All 224 passengers and crew on the charter flight to St Petersburg
The latest figures revealed that the airport, the third busiest died, according to the study.
in Egypt, has increased its capacity by 28.9 percent in 2019 to Since the crash, which was more than likely caused by a bomb
1.49 million available departure seats, compared to 1.16 million on board the Airbus A321 aircraft, security procedures have been
departure seats in 2018. tightened at the Egyptian airport.
Number three on the top 10 list is Hurghada airport, which In October last year, the UK government lifted its four-year ban
recorded a growth rate of 11.9 percent in 2019. on air travel to the Red Sea resort, paving the way for direct air
At number two is the international airport in Marrakech, western services to resume.
Morocco. A total of 3.91 million departure seats are on offer this Routesonline is focused entirely on aviation route development
year at Marrakech airport, with a rise of 22.6 percent from the and the company's portfolio includes events, media and online
previous 12 months, the study said. businesses. Q

AIRLINERS

BOEING SUSPENDS 737 MAX

PRODUCTION

Statement released by Boeing Communications

this process. It is our duty to We believe this decision is that affected employees will
ensure that every requirement least disruptive to maintaining continue 737-related work,
Safely returning the 737 is fulfilled, and every question long-term production system or be temporarily assigned to
MAX to service is our top from our regulators answered. and supply chain health. This other teams in Puget Sound. As
priority. Throughout the grounding of decision is driven by a number we have throughout the 737
We know that the process of the 737 MAX, Boeing has con- of factors, including the MAX grounding, we will keep
approving the 737 MAX's return tinued to build new airplanes extension of certification into our customers, employees, and
to service, and of determining and there are now approxi- 2020, the uncertainty about the supply chain top of mind as we
appropriate training require- mately 400 airplanes in storage. timing and conditions of return continue to assess appropriate
ments, must be extraordinarily We have previously stated that to service and global training actions. This will include
thorough and robust, to ensure we would continually evaluate approvals, and the importance efforts to sustain the gains in
that our regulators, customers, our production plans should the of ensuring that we can production system and supply
and the flying public have MAX grounding continue longer prioritize the delivery of stored chain quality and health made
confidence in the 737 MAX than we expected. As a result aircraft. We will continue to over the last many months.
updates. As we have previously of this ongoing evaluation, assess our progress towards We will provide financial
said, the FAA and global regula- we have decided to prioritize return to service milestones information regarding the
tory authorities determine the the delivery of stored aircraft and make determinations production suspension in
timeline for certification and and temporarily suspend about resuming production and connection with our 4Q19
return to service. We remain production on the 737 program deliveries accordingly. earnings release in late January.
fully committed to supporting beginning next month. During this time, it is our plan Q

World Airnews | January Extra 2020
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