NewsAccidents/Incidents
Air India Express Boeing 737 Crash: Here's What We Know So Far
The tragic story of the Air India Express 737 flying from Dubai to Kozhikode yesterday, is one that is still unfolding. Landing in rainy weather, the aircraft overshot the runway and fell 35 feet into a gorge, breaking the fuselage in two. Rescue operations are still underway and the number of injuries and fatalities is yet to be determined.
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Atlas Air Boeing 747 slams three engines into ground in Shanghai
An Atlas Air Boeing 747 suffered pod strikes to three out of its four engines, as the Jumbo attempted to land in Shanghai, China.
The Atlas Air 747, operated for DHL (registered N408MC) attempted to land at Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) on August 5, 2020, when the number one, two, and four engines suffered engine pod strikes during the landing phase.
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LOT Polish Embraer E195 Suffers 2 Bird Strikes Causing Diversion
A LOT Polish Airlines Embraer E195 suffered two birdstrikes while trying to take off from Poznan in western Poland on Tuesday, August 4. The aircraft was performing flight number LO-8625 from Poznań–Ławica Henryk Wieniawski Airport (POZ) to Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) in Spain when the incidents occurred.
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Man Stopped At Orlando TSA Checkpoint With 1,290 Firecrackers
On August 7th, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) posted a photo to their Twitter account, reminding travelers that fireworks are not allowed in baggage (neither as carry-on nor checked). The post was prompted by an individual who thought it was okay to do so, attempting to fly from Orlando to Chicago with 1,290 firecrackers.
LinkCommercial
Long Haul, Narrow Body - How Far Can The Airbus A321LR Actually Fly?
Long-haul narrowbody aircraft routes are on the rise, and the Airbus A321LR fits that demand. Offering 15% additional nautical miles in comparison to the A321neo, it allows airlines to provide a diverse range of flights to more low demand destinations. So, what is its range?
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3800mph Hypersonic Airliners Could Be Around Sooner Than You Think
There has been a recent buzz about the revival of supersonic travel. Several companies are entering a new race to deliver high-speed aircraft. However, along with these exciting prospects, hypersonic flying could also soon be on the cards.
LinkAirlines
ALC: almost 60% of airlines got lease payment deferrals
Air Lease Corporation (ALC), a United States-based aircraft leasing company indicated that it granted 59% of its customers’ lease payment deferrals, as the COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of pressure on airline finances.
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How the pandemic highlighted Ryanair’s major weakness
Most recently, Ryanair hit the headlines over the fact that the Italian civil aviation authority (Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile, ENAC) threatened the low-cost carrier with a ban from Italy, as it failed to comply with COVID-19 preventative procedures. But the relationship between Ryanair and Italy became problematic as soon as the pandemic hit. Spain, meanwhile, was the shocked girl as the Irish airline turned its head around to take a sneak peek at Italy.
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Qantas’ 787s to be stored for no less than 12 months
With resizing and restructuring to ensue, Australia based airline Qantas is preparing its Boeing 787-9 fleet for storage.
It’s been almost two months since Qantas announced its ‘rightsize, restructure and recapitalize’ plan back in June 2020, planning to store 100 of its aircraft for up 12 months or longer. The pandemic lead the carrier to ‘rightsize’ its fleet and reduce expenses.
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British Airways job cuts: 6,000 leave; 6,000 more to be axed
British Airways (BA) reported that by August 7, 2020, more than 6,000 employees took voluntary redundancy which indicates that the company reached a halfway mark through its planned furloughs.
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How Korean Air used pandemic to generate profit
Korean Air, the flag carrier of South Korea, became the first airline to disclose that it managed to achieve a net profit in Q2 2020, a rare sight in the industry ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Brussels Airlines Posts €182m Loss In The First Half Of 2020
Earlier this week, Brussels Airlines posted a multi-million euro loss for the first half of 2020. On August 6th, the airline said that it had lost €182m ($214.5m) as a direct result of the pandemic and is now working on reducing costs further to improve its financial standing.
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What Happened To Virgin Sun Airlines?
With Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic in the news lately following its filing for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the United States, we thought we would look at a previous Virgin failure. Virgin Sun Airlines was founded in 1998 as a charter airline to ferry British vacationers to sunny Mediterranean and Canary Islands destinations.
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Starlux Airlines Offering Sightseeing Flight To Nowhere
For those in Taiwan missing the international travel experience, relatively new start-up Starlux Airlines is launching a ‘flight to nowhere’ for the purposes of sightseeing. The offer was announced this past week, marketed as a “pretending to go abroad” tour, taking passengers over the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the northern part of the South China Sea.
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Boeing's 3rd 777X Test Plane Will Go To Lufthansa
Boeing’s third 777X testbed completed its first flight less than a week ago. The aircraft, registered as N779XY, is bound for Germany’s Lufthansa after spending some time running flight tests.
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Alaska Airlines Launches Buy 1 Get 1 Whole Row Promotion
Alaska Airlines is launching a two day “Buy One, Get One” sale. If you buy one main cabin ticket, you can get a second ticket on the same itinerary for just the taxes and fees. Essentially, you’ll get the whole row to yourself for the price of one ticket. Passengers can take advantage of this deal for travel to over 100 destinations in the Alaska network.
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Why Airlines Are Parking & Retiring Planes Early
There has been plenty of news in recent months of airlines retiring aircraft early as the industry comes to a standstill. Many retired planes are being sent to aviation graveyards, otherwise known as boneyards. Here, they live out the rest of their days being picked apart as parts are taken and used elsewhere. However, some retired aircraft are not destined for scrap just yet.
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Reawakening The A380: Emirates Slowly Puts Its Superjumbos Back Into Service
While the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of abating in large parts of the world, Emirates has returned the A380 to service on no less than six routes. The carrier is hoping to fill its reawakened superjumbos to London, Amsterdam, Cairo, Paris, Guangzhou, and Toronto by offering a one-of-a-kind COVID-coverage health insurance, valid for 31 days.
LinkAirports
Berlin Brandenburg Airport begins security search in preparation for opening
On 4 August 2020, the aviation security line at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) has been enabled in accordance with Section 8 of the Aviation Security Act, and a security search has now begun.
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Copenhagen Airports set to reduce workforce as traffic downturn begins to bite
Copenhagen Airports (CPH), arguably one of the world’s best run airport operators, today revealed that its COVID-19 survival plan includes potentially making a quarter of its staff redundant.
LinkMilitary
Russia reportedly decides on new military freighter design
The Defence ministry of the Russian Federation has reportedly approved the specifications of the new military cargo plane set to replace its aging An-124 and An-22 fleet.
According to the insider information obtained by Izvestia, the new aircraft, designated PAK VTA, should have a maximum payload of no less than 80,000 kilograms and a range of 5,000 kilometers. Its cargo bay length will be over 27.5 meters, with a width of 5.8 meters and a height of 4.4 meters.
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RAF P-8 Poseidon monitors Russian warship for maiden mission
A P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) carried out its first mission by monitoring a Russian warship cruising in the North Sea near the United Kingdom’s sovereign waters.
The P-8A Poseidon belonging to the No. 120 Squadron took off from RAF Station Kinloss, Northern Scotland, to monitor the activity of the large patrol boat Vasily Bykov as it passed through the North Sea on August 3, 2020.
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Hermeus partners with USAF to develop supersonic Air Force One
Hermeus, an aerospace company developing a Mach 5 aircraft, announced its partnership with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to deliver hypersonic travel for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
On August 6, 2020, Hermeus signed a contract under AFWERX, a U.S. Air Force innovation program, to develop its Hermeus Mach 5 aircraft to “support the Presidential and Executive Airlift fleet.” The company will work together with the USAF to deliver hypersonic travel for the DOD.
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Aviation Quote
My definition of an optimist has to be the Luftwaffe F-104 pilot who gave up smoking!
- John Wiley
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Editor's Choice
Trivia
World Airlines
1. What is the oldest airline still operating under its original name?
KLM
Northwest Airlines
Deutsche Lufthansa
Qantas
2. What airline carried the most passengers in 2005?
British Airways
American Airlines
United Airlines
Japan Airlines
3. Which of these low-cost airlines is not based in India?
Air Blue
Go Air
SpiceJet
Paramount Airways
4. What colour is associated with EasyJet?
Dark Blue
Purple
Orange
Maroon
5. Which of these is not an international airline?
Continental Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Delta Air Lines
6. Which of these European Airlines is not operating?
SABENA
Air Dolomiti
Eurowings
Luxair
7. Which of these is a French airline?
GB Airways
Air Scotland
Brit Air
Aurigny Air Services
8. MALEV was the flag-carrier of what country?
Czech Republic
Lithuania
Iceland
Hungary
9. Which of these is not a Japanese Airline?
Skymark Airlines
All Nippon Airways
Asiana Airlines
Hokkaido International Airlines
10. Which of these is a Mexican Airline?
Aero California
Mesaba Airlines
Frontier Airlines
Chautauqua Airlines
