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222015

http://www.pbs.org
Hackers disrupt Polish airlines computers, grounding 1,400
Around 1,400 passengers of the Polish airline LOT were
grounded at Warsaws Frederic Chopin Airport Sunday after a
cyber attack temporarily disabled the computer systems that the
carrier uses to issue flight plans.
In a press release, the company emphasized that the attack only
affected LOTs ground-based computer systems, not those on
its planes, saying that planes that were already in the air would
fly to Warsaw as usual.

The hack affected 10 flights that had been bound for


destinations including Munich, Brussels, Krakow and
Copenhagen.
Although LOT reported that its systems were working again
Sunday evening, the attack could have broader implications for
airline cyber security.
Were using state-of-the-art computer systems, so this could
potentially be a threat to others in the industry, LOT
spokesman Adrian Kubicki told Reuters.
The attack is being investigated by authorities, and Kubicki said
a commission will investigate the attack, The Associated Press
reported.

http://www.news.com.au
The dangers of high-heels, why El Al flight attendants are right to protest
LAST week Israeli flight attendants from El Al Airlines began protesting
against plans to enforce the wearing of high heels for the duration of
flights.
The workers union of El Al instructed its female flight attendants to
ignore the proposed plans, stating that stance was aggressive and
would impact on the attendants health and safety and it turns out
theyre right.
A study published this month in The International Journal of Clinical
Practice revealed high-heel shoes may be damaging if worn in excess.
The study, conducted by researchers at Hanseo University in South
Korea tracked young women at the University studying to become airline
attendants who were required to wear stilettos to class.
It found that senior students who had been wearing high heels for many
years showed weakening of ankle muscles. In particular those on the
inside and outside of the joint and dramatically worse balance when
compared to first-year students just starting to consistently wear heels.
Professor of exercise physiology at Hanseo University, Jee Yong-Seok
stated that wearing high heels alters the ratio of strength between the
various muscles in the ankle, leading to ankle instability and balance
problems. This eventually decreased strength even if wearing high-heels
in the short-term may strengthen muscles, reports the New York Times.
Furthermore, a review looking at various research on the effects of high
heel shoes stated that they alter the natural position of the foot-ankle
complex, and thereby produce a chain reaction of mostly negative effects
that travels up the lower limb at least as far as the spine.
Another study published in 2012 in the Journal of Applied Physiology
looking at the long-term use of high-heeled shoes found they altered the
neuromechanics of human walking, with results suggesting long-term
high heel use may compromise muscle efficiency in walking and are
consistent with reports that high heel wearers often experience
discomfort and muscle fatigue. Adding, Long-term high heel use may
also increase the risk of strain injuries.
Lets hope El Al Airlines takes note.

http://ftnnews.com
Airbus beats Boeing at Paris Air Show 2015

During this weeks Paris Air Show, the total orders placed for
commercial jets between Boeing and Airbus stood at an impressive
$107 billion in orders and commitments. Airbus won $57 billion worth
of business for a total of 421 aircraft. The deals comprise firm orders
for 124 aircraft worth $16.3 billion and commitments for 297 aircraft
worth $40.7 billion.
On the other hand, customers announced orders and commitments
during the week for a total of 331 Boeing airplanes, valued at $50.2
billion at list prices.
Airbus secured a last-minute deal Thursday for 110 A320neo singleaisle jets from Central European discount carrier Wizz Air before its
closing news conference. That allowed it to defend its home turf and
best Boeing for the bragging rights of taking in the most commitments
for new planes.
Both aircraft makers have said the record pace of order bookings of
years past would start to moderate because bulging backlogs of jets
mean many airlines have to wait years to get new ones, hampering
their appetite to buy more. The strong U.S. dollar also is an
impediment to sales to airlines based in other markets, executives
said.
John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers said, The
orders and commitments at this years Paris Air Show demonstrate
three things; Asia is powering the growth, we are leading in singleaisle and widebody and our A321neo is the aircraft of choice in the
middle of the market.

http://en.starafrica.com
Nigeria: Lufthansa earmarks 1m for onboard products

The German airlines, Lufthansa has revealed that it is investing 1


million on its onboard products, including retrofitting over 100 long haul
aircraft some of which serve Nigeria.Mr Claus Becker, Managing
Director, Sub-Saharan Africa of the airline made this known on Saturday
in his office at Victoria Island, Lagos.
Becker noted that the airline has been a pillar in the economic
relationship between Germany, Nigeria as well as business in both
countries.
He said that Nigeria has always played a key role in Lufthansas
intercontinental network, which made the airline to designate Lagos as
the centre and regional headquarters of its Sub-Saharan office.
According to him, the airline has two long term projects among others
which were the voluntary donation to the home for parentless children
and support to specific hospitals.
He added that the security and safety in the aviation industry was
paramount to the operations of airlines in the country and across the
globe.
He applauded the various Nigerian aviation agencies for taking the issue
of security and safety seriously in their policies.
The Nigerian airspace is very safe and its aeronautical equipments
were working efficiently, thats why we can fly here he added.
Becker said the population of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria is
growing, matched by a burgeoning passenger traffic.

http://www.abudhabicityguide.com

Etihad Airways Awards Travel Agency


For Selling The Residence By Etihad In
Kuwait

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates,


recently hosted an award ceremony to thank and honour the top
performing travel agents in Kuwait.
A special award went to the first agency to sell The Residence by
Etihad in Kuwait. More 20 awards were also presented to winners in
Gold, Silver, Bronze and Remarkable growth categories.
The ceremony was attended by His Excellency Rahma Al Zaabi, the
UAE Ambassador to Kuwait and held last May at the JW Marriott
hotel in Kuwait City.
Nabil Matarweh, General Manager of Etihad Airways in Kuwait, said:
Our agency partners have performed extremely well, especially
when promoting the new Etihad Airways cabins and product
including The Residence.
Were delighted to honour these partners on this occasion and look
ahead to another successful 12 months in Kuwait.
The Etihad Airways A380 premium cabins offer unprecedented levels
of luxury, space and privacy. The upper deck of the A380 is allocated
for the premium cabins which include The Residence, First
Apartments, and Business Studios. The lower deck has the Economy
SmartSeat with the innovative wing headrest on each seat.
The Abu Dhabi based airline operates five daily flights between
Kuwait and Abu Dhabi with convenient connections onwards to more
than 100 destinations around the world.
This year, Etihad Airways has launched several new destinations
from its Abu Dhabi hub in 2015 including Kolkata, Madrid, Entebbe,
Edinburgh and Hong Kong.

http://www.tradearabia.com
Kuwait picks Thales in-flight entertainment system
Kuwait Aiways, the national airline of the country, has selected
Thales Avant in-flight entertainment system for its newest fleet of
A330-200.
The programme is part of a total order of five A330-200. This
represents the newest wide body fleet being delivered to Kuwait
Airways over the past 18 years.
Passengers on-board the airlines new A330 will have access to a
wide selection of on-demand entertainment and the latest generation
of applications on the market including the Thales acclaimed 3D
Maps. In Premium Class, Kuwait Airways selected the 15.4 inch video
monitor to compliment the award winning Touch passenger media
unit (PMU) handsets. In Economy Class, 10.6 inch video monitors are
available at each seat.
Avant Android system features a highly customisable passenger
experience. It has been selected by 19 airlines. More than 130 aircraft
are flying with the Avant system with total orders exceeding 500
aircraft. The system is offerable on all new generation Boeing and
Airbus platforms.

Dominique Giannoni, vice president and CEO, Thales InFlyt


experience, said: "We are pleased that Kuwait Airways has selected
our Android Avant system for their new A330 fleet. Kuwait Airways is
undertaking significant investments to modernise and develop their
fleet and their choice of equipping their newest planes with the latest
generation Avant signals their commitment to their passengers
cabin experience." TradeArabia News Service

http://jewishbusinessnews.com

German Efromovich May Call a Foul Over Sale of Portuguese Airline TAP

Columbian entrepreneur businessman German Efromovich may


contest the the recently announced result of a privatization tender for
the Portuguese national airline TAP Air Portugal, according to
local Portuguese media reports. If he does proceed this will likely be
before the European Commission, and possibly local courts in
Portugal as well.
Efromovich owns, through his privately held Synergy group, the
Columbian national airline Avianca, which he had rescued from
bankruptcy as well as a private airline in Brazil, Avianca Brazil. He had
previously made an earlier expression of interest for the 61% stake in
TAP which the Portuguese Government is now putting up for sale to
meet its commitments under a US$110 billion financial bail-out
package from the European Union and the IMF, which was agreed to in
2011.

http://jewishbusinessnews.com

However ten days ago, the Portuguese government announced that the
winning bidder is actually a consortium led by American-Brazilian
investor David Neeleman Neeleman is the original founder of
American budget airline JetBlue. The consortium will be paying about
US$400 million to acquire the heavily indebted airline, with
bonus payments on top if the airlines performance improves. A formal
signing ceremony for the deal is expected to be held at the Portuguese
Ministry of Finance next week.
This is now the second time Efromovich has been spurned by the
owners of TAP, after the earlier expression of interest he made was
rejected in 2012. This time it seems he may contest the outcome by
asking whether European Community standards have been met with
the implication that perhaps instead some form of favouritism may
have been enjoyed by the winners.
German Efromovich is 63, was born in Bolivia and was brought up in
Brazil and in Chile. Today his Brazilian based company, the Synergy
Group, of which he is the Chairman and CEO, owns extensive energy
and industrial interests, as well as Columbias national airline Avianca,
and a number of smaller affiliated regional airlines.
The company also owns a Brazilian-Ecuadorian private airline as well
which today has the same name, Avianca Brasil. Germans brother
Jos, five years his junior, is his partner in Synergy and CEO of the
Brazilian airline.

http://jewishbusinessnews.com

German and Joss parents came from Poland after the Second World
War. They settled first in Bolivia, where German was born, then in Chile
where German went to school and then moved finally to Sao Paulo in
Brazil in 1964.
German Efromovich earned his degree in mechanical engineering from
FEI University in Brazil. He got started in business selling
encyclopedias, and later helped to dub movies into Portuguese. At one
point he even ran a school where he taught a union leader by the name
of Lula da Silva, who went on to later serve as one of the most popular
Presidents of that country.
A citizen of Brazil, he was granted honorary citizenship of Columbia as
well in 2005 by a grateful government there for saving the domestic
airline industry after it had gone bankrupt. In 2012 he also became a
Polish citizen, in a clear nod to his familys roots, though nominally
primarily in order to qualify as an EU citizen to qualify to bid for TAP
and surmount ownership restrictions.
In an interview several years ago when German Efromovich was asked
where he got his business skills from he credited his father, but also
his grandmother too, saying: My father was a good negotiator, but
even better than him was my grandmother. Despite the fact that she
was illiterate and had never set foot in a school, she bought and
sold and did the most complex calculations in her head.
The Columbian Avianca airline has been a member of the Star
Alliance of international airlines since 2009, which shares codes and
cooperates on international marketing issues and includes some of the
worlds largest airlines. In December 2013 the Alliance voted to add
Avianca Brasil to the Alliance as well.

http://www.albawaba.com
Singer Amal Maher turns air hostess for the day!

Egyptian singer Amal Maher turned air hostess this


week on a trip from Cairo to Beirut with her son Omar.
The starlet's adorable boy accompanied his famous
mama to the Lebanese capital to watch her in the
recording studio with Lebanese singer Wael Jassar.
Amal and Wael are working on a duet together titled
"Live It." The duo will perform the single at Coke Studio
at the end of Ramadan.
The singer wanted to spice things up so she posed for a
few snapshots in the red Egypt Air uniform, all complete
with its hat, and asked her fans, "What do you think of
me as an air hostess?"
If it were up to us, Amal, we'd have you wear this every
day!

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