Ryanair has announced it will begin serving Montenegro from June – its 29th country.

Flights will launch 4x weekly from Brussels Charleroi to Podgorica from 20th June using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

It is unknown at the moment whether further routes will be added to the country from other Ryanair bases.

Transaero Airlines has singed a deal to lease 12 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The airline already operates a number of the type, and plans to start taking delivery of the new aircraft from 2015. Transaero plans to operate these jetliners both on domestic and international routes.

In 1998 Transaero Airlines became the first in Europe and the second air carrier in the world to receive Boeing 737-700.

Dubai World Central Airport has announced that it will open to passengers on 27 October, 2013.

Construction of Dubai World Central’s passenger terminal building was completed in 2012. Upon opening, the new facility will offer full retail amenities. It is serviced by one A380 capable runway, 64 remote aircraft stands and has capacity for up to 7 million passengers per year. The terminal will undergo a full testing and trial programme over the coming months to ensure a seamless opening.

The first carriers to operate to the airport have been announced as nasair and Wizz Air. These will link Dubai World Central to Saudi Arabia and Eastern Europe respectively, and will likely offer a much cheaper alternative to reach Dubai from Europe than existing options through Emirates and other full service airlines.

József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said: “I am honoured to announce Wizz Air as a launch customer and first international low fares airline operating at Dubai World Central. For us this is a hugely significant milestone, with our 10 year European success story now crossing borders far beyond Europe.”

Dubai World Central first opened for cargo operations in June 2010 and has quickly established itself as an emerging cargo airport in the region with 36 airlines (scheduled and chartered) handling 219,092 tonnes of air freight on 16,317 aircraft movements during 2012.

Armavia, the struggling national airline of Armenia, has suspended operations. It will file for bankruptcy on Monday.

The airline has been struggling financially for a number of months. It is not known whether a return to service will be sought for the airline, which operates Airbus A320, Boeing 737-500, and Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft.

The last Tupolev TU-154 aircraft to be built will be handed over today, following a production run which started in 1970.

The Russian airliner, which closely resembled the Boeing 727, was designed in the late 1960s and went on to operate with airlines across the former Soviet Union, Middle East, and Far East. Around 1,000 examples were built over the for decades since production started.

Now, the Aviakor aircraft factory in Samara will deliver the final Tupolev Tu-154 airliner to the Defense Ministry in a ceremony attended by representatives of the Defense Ministry, the Tupolev aircraft design bureau and the Aviakor aviation plant.

The Aviakor factory, and numerous others around Russia, will continue to service and repair TU-154 aircraft for a number of years to come.

Have you flown on a TU-154? Why not share your stories below. If you still want to fly on one, why not find out which airlines are still operating passenger variants and where they fly in our Last Chance to Fly ebook? Download here.

Transaero Airlines has announced a further mutual partnership with Moscow Vnukovo Airport.

The airport recently opened its new Terminal A, which is one of the most modern and advanced terminals in Russia.

Transaero already operates to 11 destinations from Vnukovo, and will add 17 new routes from the airport this year, including Miami, New York, Frankfurt, London, and Tel Aviv.

A maintenance facility was opened by Transaero for its Boeing 747 and 777 aircraft at Vnukovo last year, and it plans a new transfer centre for its passengers to connect between flights.

Vnukovo claims to be one of the easiest of the city’s airports to get to due to its close proximity to the main ring road and railway system.

I’m always fascinated by reminders of the past, and by knowing the former purpose of a historic site. Over the years many airports have been superseded by newer sites and closed down, and naturally many are redeveloped and lost for good.

But it’s surprising how many little hints of these airports you can still see if you look hard enough. Here are five examples in Europe:

Croydon Airport
Formerly the main airport for London, UK. Croydon is a town to the south of the city, and in the early days of air travel it became a busy hub for some of the classic airlines and their early aircraft. But space became a problem, and pretty soon the new London Airport (what we know today as Heathrow) was opened. With other London airports also at Blackbushe, Gatwick and Northolt, Croydon closed in 1959.

Today, the original art deco terminal building and control tower survive in the middle of an urban landscape. Outside, a preserved DH Heron aircraft is a reminder of its former purpose.

Oslo Fornebu
Formerly the main gateway to Norway’s capital, Oslo. Fornebu was located much closer to the city than the current Gardemoen airport which replaced it in 1998. Fornebu was built on an area of land surrounded by water. It had two runways and a single terminal with three satellites. Due to constraints in expansion, it was decided to close Fornebu. Today the site has been redeveloped, but there are a couple of buildings remaining from the old airport.

Munich Riem
The main airport at Munich, Germany, was opened near the village of Riem in 1939. It had one main runway and a shorter runway for smaller aircraft; its single passenger terminal had been extended to cope with growth. Riem was also the location of the famous Munich Air Disaster in 1958 which claimed the lives of a number of Manchester United’s players when their Airspeed Ambassador crashed on takeoff.

In 1992, Riem was replaced by the much larger new Munich Airport, which has grown to become Germany’s second largest. The old airport was gradually transformed into a Convention City Riem development. Today, the control tower, original terminal building, and a small section of runway are all that remain.

Berlin Tempelhof
Another example in Germany, Tempelhof is the most recent airport in our list to have closed, with its final flights on 30 October 2008. It is also one of Europe’s most significant airports, with its unique Nazi-era design, and the part it played in the Berlin Airlift.

The airport still exists pretty much intact, with its huge terminal and hangars building which allowed aircraft to park under cover. The runways have been turned into public spaces which you’re able to walk along. There are also a few aircraft still present on the site, used in various memorials and training roles.

Nicosia
The capital of Cyprus had the island’s main international airport, handling flights from all over Europe and the Middle East, until its dramatic closure in July 1974. Following years of tension between Turkey and Greece, Turkish troops invaded the island and focussed on the airport as one of its targets, bombing it heavily. A number of aircraft were caught on the ground, including Cyprus Airways’ fleet of Tridents. One was destroyed, another later repaired and flown to the UK, and another is still on the ground today.

Nicosia is a fascinating ghost of an airport trapped in time. Today it sits in the UN exclusion zone which divides the island. Its runway, hangars and terminal building still standing – with slowly decaying interiors – as a testament to the past.

Work is to begin on a new airport to serve Istanbul which will grow to accommodate up to 150 million passengers per year.

Despite already being served by Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airport, the infrastructure at both is not capable of expanding meeting future demand, and so it has been decided to build the new facility on a former mine site on the Black Sea coast near the city.

The airport will initially open in 2017, capable of handling 90 million passengers.

By the time all phases are complete, it will have six runways, and be capable of handling 150 million passengers, putting it ahead of Atlanta Airport, which is currently the world’s largest in terms of passengers.

Istanbul is expecting huge demand in its airport services as national carrier Turkish Airlines expands at a great pace, turning the city into an east-west transfer point. The city is also due to host the Summer Olympics in 2020.

Aegean Airlines continue to expand, and have announced six new routes that they will be starting from Summer 2013.

These routes include:

Athens – Baku from 28 May
Athens – Berlin Tegel from 30 April
Athens – Lyon from 20 June – 13 September
Athens – Manchester from 25 May
Athens – St. Petersburg from 29 May
Athens – Warsaw from 2 April

All flights operate with Airbus A320 aircraft.

Air Canada‘s new leisure airline has been announced, and it’s called ‘Rouge’.

The national carrier of Canada announced a few months ago that it was seeking to set up a new carrier to handle lower cost flights to Europe and the Caribbean using Boeing 767 and Airbus A320 aircraft in 2013.

Rouge will initially fly from Montreal and Toronto, and will launch operations on 1 July, 2013. It features a new colour scheme on its two A319s and two 767-300s.

For enthusiasts, look out for some new destinations, including Edinburgh. The full list of flights are:

Toronto to:
Athens
Cayo Coco
Edinburgh
Holguin
Kingston
Liberia
Puerto Plata
Punta Cana
Samara
San José
Santa Clara
Varadero
Venice

Montreal to:
Athens

All flights will have introductory low fares to take advantage of.