Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and adapt to changing market conditions. Initially managing the weekly newsletter for respected aviation insurance loss adjuster Airclaims Limited, he later joined aviation media company Key Publishing where he spent almost nine years interviewing many of the industry’s senior players producing content for renowned titles such as Airliner World and Airports of the World. In 2011, he joined air service development specialist Routes (latterly part of UBM) where he developed a complete digital editorial content strategy for the business and has become well respected by the aviation community for his knowledge and insight. In April 2017, he left to establish his own business, Maslen Aviation Consultancy, providing storytelling content production, delivery and promotion support as well as consultancy services on aviation topics. He has already started working independently for a number of clients providing online content, event coverage, conference speaking, media appearances, advice on marketing and live event experience as well as project management on an exciting new content platform.
The US DOT formally instituted a slot assignment proceeding earlier this month to allocate a total of 28 slot pairs at the two airports. These are being released in a two phase process for operations from summer 2017 and summer 2018 and will be provided exclusively to low-cost carriers, which it believes exert the greatest competitive impact when entering slot-constrained markets.
The approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) allows AirAsia X to operate services to any destination within the US market and it will now formalise its development plans to serve the market to coincide with the future delivery of new widebodied equipment. The airline is known to have been considering flights to several US states including Hawaii as part of its route expansion plans.
The Iranian aviation industry is also undergoing significant change and earlier this month Iran Air took delivery of its first new Airbus A321. The airline has concluded deals with both Airbus and Boeing for more than 180 aircraft and is currently in the final stages of agreeing a deal with ATR for regional turboprops, albeit the first half dozen aircraft are already completed and ready for delivery.
