All Europe articles – Page 308
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In depthHow the A380 ran out of runway after just two decades
A year on from Airbus’s decision to halt A380 production, the outlook for the superjumbo’s long-term prospects has diminished further
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NewsAutothrottle contributed to Belavia 737's long landing and overrun
Ukrainian investigators have determined that the autothrottle of a Belavia Boeing 737-300 was left active before the aircraft touched down long and overran at Kiev Zhulhany. The jet had been operating from Minsk on 12 July last year, and had been descending in darkness and rain to Kiev’s downtown airport. ...
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NewsNorwegian receives first financing under sector’s rescue package
Low-cost carrier Norwegian has obtained the first 10% of the funding that Norway’s government is guaranteeing for it under a rescue plan for the national airline industry. On 19 March, Norway announced an NKr6 billion ($542 million) bailout for the sector, of which half would go to Norwegian. The state ...
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NewsKLM summer schedule just 10% of normal
KLM will begin its summer season flying only a small fraction of its normal capacity, as a result of the coronavirus and travel restrictions. Although the Dutch carrier will operate to 57 destinations, it is dramatically paring back its frequencies. “From 29 March until and including 3 May, KLM plans ...
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Airline BusinessWizz warns full grounding a ‘distinct possibility’ as low-cost carriers pare back
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air has warned the grounding of its full fleet remains “a distinct possibility” as it has now reduced its operations to around 15% of its planned capacity.
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NewsBEA becomes first UK company to secure SET-IMC approval
British European Aviation (BEA) has become the first company to secure approval from the UK regulator allowing commercial flights with single-engined turboprop aircraft at night and in instrument meteorological conditions, so-called SET-IMC operations.
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NewsAirbus sees indications of gradual Chinese traffic recovery
Airbus believes there are initial signs of air transport recovery from the coronavirus outbreak in China, from where the first contagion wave spread. Its Tianjin facility had briefly shut production when the outbreak emerged, but has since resumed manufacturing, although Chinese airline operations remain significantly affected. Speaking during a briefing ...
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NewsAirbus assessing production impact as outbreak pressure intensifies
Airbus is evaluating potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak on production, particularly for twin-aisle aircraft, and acknowledges that it might have to store aircraft as tightening restrictions obstruct deliveries. But the airframer is emphasising that it retains a strong backlog, especially in the single-aisle sector, which will help to reduce ...
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NewsIcelandair Group shifts nearly all staff to temporary working
Icelandair Group has disclosed that it is operating only 14% of its flight schedule and expects this to reduce further, and that it is taking steps to move 92% of employees to temporary part-time working. But it is also cutting 240 personnel across its divisions. The group employs just over ...
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NewsAirbus beefs up finances to weather coronavirus
Airbus has announced measures to support its financial position in light of the economic challenges presented by coronavirus. The measures comprise a new €15 billion ($16.1 billion) credit facility, withdrawal of its 2019 dividend proposal, and suspension of top-up pension funding, says Airbus in a 23 March statement. The withdrawal ...
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NewsEasyJet cancels 90% of flights from 24 March
EasyJet will ground the majority of its aircraft from 24 March because of the coronavirus-related travel restrictions in force across its network. The carrier will continue to operate rescue flights to repatriate customers, but anticipates this will mostly be complete by 23 March. “These are unprecedented times for the airline ...
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NewsS&P cuts European airlines’ credit ratings
S&P Global has lowered its ratings for EasyJet, Ryanair, Lufthansa, IAG, British Airways, Air Baltic, Turkish Airlines and SAS, and placed them on alert for further downgrades as the coronavirus hurts their liquidity positions. “The pandemic materially threatens the credit quality of European airlines and poses serious challenges for the ...
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NewsA330-800 test aircraft deployed to transport coronavirus supplies
Airbus has been deploying an A330-800 test aircraft to assist with coronavirus protection measures, using it to transport some 2 million masks from Tianjin in China to Europe, where they will be distributed to French and Spanish authorities. The airframer disclosed the measure as it prepares to restart – at ...
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NewsA321 uncontained failure spurs urgent V2500 disk measures
Operators of Airbus A320-family jets are being ordered to remove disks from certain International Aero Engines V2500 powerplants after an uncontained failure resulted in an aborted A321 take-off. The incident occurred on 18 March, says the US FAA, and involved a high-pressure turbine first-stage disk failure. While the regulator has ...
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NewsAn-124 disk inspection ordered after uncontained failure
Ukrainian authorities have ordered Antonov An-124 operators to inspect engines on the type after an uncontained powerplant failure. An-124s are fitted with Ivchenko-Progress D-18T engines, as is the sole example of the An-225. The Ukrainian state aviation administration says an investigation into the “serious incident”, which occurred to an An-124, ...
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NewsBrandenburg operator discusses financial aid but opening stays firm
Berlin airports operator FBB is insisting that the new Brandenburg hub will open on time, even if the coronavirus crisis disrupts trial runs prior to the inauguration. The operator says the 31 October opening date will be “strictly adhered to”, but it acknowledges that there are aspects of the testing ...
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NewsEuropean flight activity halves under coronavirus onslaught
Flight activity in European airspace has deteriorated by more than 50% compared with the same point last year, the latest data from air navigation organisation Eurocontrol reveals. The average daily number of flights for March 2019 reached 27,362. But the daily figure sank below the halfway point on 18 March ...
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NewsEuropean Council approves plan to waive slot rule until October
The European Council has approved a plan to suspend rules that force airlines to continue operating 80% of flights at certain EU airports in order to maintain slots.
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NewsSpain’s Volotea grounds fleet until 8 April
Volotea has announced the temporary grounding of its entire fleet until at least 8 April, sending home 1,100 of its employees in Spain, France and Italy over this period.
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Airline BusinessWhich European carriers are suspending all flights because of coronavirus
European carriers have over the past week been announcing increasingly large cuts to their services, as country’s tighten their border controls. A number have called a halt to flights altogether for the coming weeks - or will just operate a few flights to accomodate returning nationals