NOV. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Tajik registered Antonov-12 cargo plane crashed in south Sudan, killing 40 people. The plane had been owned by a Tajik company called Asia Airways but operated by an Armenian company called Ala International. (See page 8 for more)
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Five Armenian crew members, including the pilot, were killed in plane crash in south Sudan. The Antonov-12 cargo plane, operated by Armenia’s Ala International, was carrying 40 people.
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(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
OCT. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US government has blocked Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) , a South Korean firm, from selling a dozen T-50 Golden Eagle training fighter jets to Uzbekistan for $400m, the Korea Times newspaper reported.
Washington was reportedly concerned that technology used in T50s, which was co-developed by KAI and the US’ Lockheed Martin a decade ago, could be handed over to Russia.
“KAI has been in negotiations with the Uzbek government to export the supersonic trainers, but the US government is opposing the deal, citing possible technology leakage and diplomatic policy,” the Korea Times source said.
Uzbekistan is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation but not the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Russia-dominated military bloc of former Soviet countries.
Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the US’ worries were understandable.
“The decision has nothing to do with Uzbekistan. But Uzbekistan is a country in the Russian sphere of influence,” he was quoted as saying.
If confirmed, the ban on the sale of the T-50s to Tashkent could overshadow a planned visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Samarkand on Nov. 1.
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(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)
OCT. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian airline company Transaero cancelled all flights from Moscow to destinations in Kazakhstan and Armenia after it declared bankruptcy. Russia’s Aeroflot will take over these flights. Transaero filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 1.
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(News report from Issue No. 253, published on Oct. 23 2015)
OCT. 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Meyrbek Moldabekov, deputy head of Kazakhstan’s space agency KazCosmos, said it has entered a joint venture with French aircraft manufacturer Airbus to build satellites. Airbus owns 27.5% of the venture and will be jointly responsible for operations at an assembly plant to be built in Kazakhstan by 2017.
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(News report from Issue No. 253, published on Oct. 23 2015)
OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — AerCap, a Netherlands-based aircraft leasing company, will provide four Airbus to Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flagship airline. Angus Kelly, AerCap’s CEO, said the new aircrafts will be mainly used for Air Astana’s long range flights between Asia and Europe. In June, Air Astana also agreed a deal with AerCap to lease seven Airbus aircrafts starting in 2016.
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
SEPT. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ukraine International Airlines postponed the resumption of flights to Ashgabat due to an ongoing row between the two countries’ aviation authorities. Flights were suspended in August and were due to resume on Sept. 21. Ukraine is also locked in a row with the aviation authorities in Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
SEPT. 21 2015, BISHKEK (The Conway Bulletin) — When the US military quit its airbase outside Bishkek in July 2014, ambitious officials dreamt of turning Manas airport in a Central Asian transport hub that would connect Europe and South-East Asia.
A year on and this dream is still very much that. There have been no major investments.
In an interview with the Bulletin at his office in central Bishkek, Nursultan Belekov, the 24-year-old deputy head of Manas Airport’s investment department, explained his frustration.
“We have worked hard to attract Russian, Turkish and Chinese partners, but no one has contributed yet,” he said.
Earlier this year Rosneft rowed back on an earlier promise to invest in the airport, perhaps making Manas a victim of a sharp economic downturn hitting the region.
Mr Belekov, who is standing for parliament in October’s election, had a different spin on Rosneft’s pull out from Manas.
“They offered to invest $1b dollars, but we were needed to refuse because Manas airport is a strategic object for Kyrgyzstan’s independence, and a 51% stake cannot go to a foreign company,” he said. Manas needs around $1.2b investment.
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(News report from Issue No. 249, published on Sept. 25 2015)
TBILISI, SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air passenger traffic from Tbilisi to Moscow grew by 92% in Jan.-Aug. 2015 compared to the same period last year, Georgia’s minister of economy Dmitri Kumsishvili said, highlighting the economic importance of the route.
Flights between Georgia and Russia were halted in 2006, due to diplomatic tension. Direct air connection timidly resumed in 2010 and was finally re-established in 2014. In 2008 Georgia and Russia fought a brief war.
“The number of passengers was particularly high from Tbilisi to Moscow,” media quoted Mr Kumsishvili as saying.
According to Mr Kumsishvili, the route will boost Georgia’s economy.
“Russian visitors spent over 750m lari ($3m) in Georgia over the past 8 months,” he said. The Tbilisi-Moscow route it currently serviced by three airlines. These are Georgian Airways, also called Airzena, Sibir, Aeroflot and Transaero.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)
SEPT. 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Czech Airlines said it will fly between Prague and Yerevan from Dec. 13 to Jan. 16. Jan Toth, the company’s director of marketing said the airline wanted to cover the busy Christmas and New Year period.
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(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)