All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 166
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NewsWizz Air expects gradual late-summer traffic recovery
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is expecting to turn in a net loss of €570-590 million ($680-700 million) for the full year. The company puts the underlying loss, for the year to 31 March 2021, at €475-495 million – the difference being a €95 million loss relating to discontinued ...
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NewsParking-brake not applied before 777-300ER towbar accident
French investigators have found that an Air Canada Boeing 777-300ER’s parking-brake had not been applied before one of the individuals in a pushback tractor was injured as he worked to disconnect the towbar. The individual was a driver instructor and was training a tractor driver at the time of the ...
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NewsEasyJet edges capacity levels upwards as it aims for summer recovery
UK budget carrier EasyJet is expecting to fly up to 20% of its pre-crisis capacity over the third quarter, up from 14% during the first half, and foresees these levels to start increasing from late May onwards. The airline provided the latest outlook as it projected first-half headline pre-tax losses, ...
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NewsPrototype sections for 'Russified' Superjet's PD-8 engine emerge
Russia’s United Engine has completed manufacturing work on the primary components of a prototype Aviadvigatel PD-8 powerplant. The PD-8 is a lower-thrust variant of a family which centres on the PD-14 designed for the Irkut MC-21-310. It is intended for eventual use on the Sukhoi Superjet 100 as a fully-domestic ...
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NewsAirbus extends sustainable-fuel Beluga operations to UK
Airbus has extended the use of sustainably-fuelled A300-600ST Beluga outsize transports to its UK wing plant at Broughton. It has carried out an initial flight from the UK facility with aicraft F-GSTF – one of five -600STs in the airframer’s logistics fleet, fitted with General Electric CF6 engines – partially ...
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NewsEASA draws up initial certification requirements for electric and hybrid engines
European aviation safety regulators have drawn up an initial set of certification requirements for electric or hybrid propulsion systems for future aircraft types. The in-depth special condition has been shaped from an initial proposal in January last year, following extensive comments from multiple aerospace companies including Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Rolls-Royce, ...
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NewsItalian start-up SkyAlps signs for Dash 8-400s
Italian start-up regional carrier SkyAlps has agreed to lease a pair of De Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprops from Chorus Aviation Capital. The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to the Bolzano-based airline in April and May. Chorus has identified the airframes involved as MSN4230 and MSN4237. These aircraft were both ...
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NewsFlybe operating licence again under threat as sale nears completion
Administrators of collapsed UK regional carrier Flybe are immersed in renewed scrap over the airline’s operating licence, as the transaction to sell the business nears completion. The administrators had already averted a bid last year by the Civil Aviation Authority to revoke the airline’s licence, after the pandemic resulted in ...
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NewsGreece’s Aegean looks to second half for recovery
Greek carrier Aegean Airlines is expecting a gradual, but significant, recovery in the second half of this year, if progress with coronavirus vaccination roll-out and European digital passport initiatives progress. But the company says the first months of this year have been “heavily impacted” by restrictions, as it unveils the ...
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NewsStart-up Flypop to introduce A330s leased from Avolon
UK long-haul start-up carrier Flypop has agreed to lease an Airbus A330-300, as part of a deal involving several aircraft with Irish-based lessor Avolon. Flypop’s management team has been attempting to establish a new carrier for services between the UK and India for several years – originally being named ‘POP’ ...
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NewsWizz Air UK experiencing few effects from UK’s EU withdrawal
Withdrawal of the UK from the European Union has not substantially affected Wizz Air UK’s operations, the airline has disclosed in its latest full-year financial statement. Wizz Air UK was set up in 2017 following the UK ‘Brexit’ referendum on leaving EU membership, and the withdrawal was completed at the ...
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NewsPIA turns in heavy full-year losses
Pakistan International Airlines has turned in a full-year pre-tax loss of Rs35.5 billion ($224.6 million), the airline’s latest financial statement reveals. The flag-carrier’s loss to 31 December 2020 was lower than the previous Rs53.3 billion despite the effects of the air transport crisis. PIA’s revenues for the year nevertheless were ...
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NewsSouthampton airport cleared for ‘lifeline’ runway extension
Southampton airport in the UK has obtained conditional permission for a short extension its runway, a project which the operator argues is crucial to the airport’s long-term viability. The local government authority, the borough council of Eastleigh, voted in favour of the application on 10 April. Southampton’s project involves a ...
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NewsA320 close call at San Francisco highlighted NOTAM overload: ICAO forum
Overflight of a heavily-occupied taxiway by an Airbus A320 at San Francisco served as an illustration of the serious risks of overloading pilots with NOTAMs, an ICAO forum has heard, as the organisation initiates efforts to reduce unnecessary NOTAM information. The Air Canada jet’s crew, intending to land on runway ...
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NewsLatest Il-96-300 conducts maiden flight from Voronezh
United Aircraft has conducted the maiden flight of the latest production Ilyushin Il-96-300, an aircraft which will be delivered to the Russian government as a special operations platform. The four-engined jet – registered RA-96024 and fitted with Aviadvigatel PS-90A powerplants – lifted off from the Voronezh facility of airframer VASO ...
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NewsSlip in Airbus order total illustrates 12-month impact of crisis
Analysis of Airbus backlog data over the year since the onset of the air transport crisis shows the airframer’s overall orders fell during the period, an extraordinary contrast to its strong annual performances over the previous decade. Airbus’s order total had risen each year by an average of over 1,000 ...
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NewsUnited Engine tests ‘spaceplane’ pulse-detonation demonstrator
Russian powerplant specialist United Engine has carried out initial testing of a pulse-detonation rocket motor which has potential application to orbital spaceplanes or hypersonic aircraft. Pulse-detonation propulsion combusts fuel and oxidizer using detonation waves, with relatively few mechanical moving parts, offering a more efficient thermodynamic cycle than conventional gas turbines. ...
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NewsBelavia starts 737 fleet renewal with delivery of first Max
Belarusian flag-carrier Belavia has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 Max, one of five of the re-engined type intended for the airline’s fleet. The Max 8 aircraft (EW-528PA) arrived in Minsk on 8 April, having flown from Seattle via Reykjavik. It was acquired through US lessor Air Lease under ...
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NewsAirbus reveals order for 20 A220s
Airbus has revealed that an undisclosed customer has ordered 20 A220-300s, while lessor Avolon has signed for eight A320neo-family jets. The agreements in March bring the airframer’s gross order figure to 39 aircraft for the first quarter of this year. But cancellation of eight single-aisle jets – five A320neos and ...
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NewsTUI 737 weight incident traced to ‘Miss’ interpretation of female passengers
Investigators have traced a take-off weight error on a TUI Airways Boeing 737-800 to a flaw introduced to a reservations system by international differences in the manner that female passengers are addressed. The reservations system had been upgraded during a period in which TUI Airways operations were suspended as a ...