All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 262
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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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NewsGovernments could offer certainty by taking Airbus deliveries: research note
Governments should buy up to 600 aircraft from Airbus over the next three years, as a measure to sustain the airline and aerospace industries, according to a research note from US financial services firm Jefferies Group. Airbus deliveries might fall to some 600 aircraft per year – compared with 863 ...
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NewsLondon Heathrow operations to ‘shrink’ during outbreak
London Heathrow is to restructure and “shrink” the hub’s operations while the coronavirus situation persists, the airport’s operator has advised. The airport will remain open, enabling vital freight services – as well as a limited number of passenger services – to continue. But the operator warns that its financial performance ...
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NewsSAS in line to benefit as Sweden approves credit guarantees
Sweden’s national legislature has rapidly approved a proposal to issue credit guarantees of up to SKr5 billion ($488 million) to airlines, of which SKr1.5 billion will be allocated to SAS. Under the agreement the state will guarantee commercial loans to airlines affected by the coronavirus crisis. “The matter was decided ...
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NewsFinnish government agrees to guarantee €600m loan to Finnair
Finland’s government has provisionally agreed to provide a state guarantee of up to €600 million to assist flag-carrier Finnair, although the measure still needs parliamentary consent. Its economic policy committee met to consider the guarantee on 19 March. Finnair is state-controlled, with nearly 56% of the carrier owned by the ...
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NewsNorwegian offered largest share of airline state guarantee package
Norway’s government is providing a conditional state loan guarantee for its aviation industry amounting to NKr6 billion ($533 million), and is securing a minimum level of flight operations in the country. Half of the funding, NKr3 billion, will be directed at embattled budget operator Norwegian, with another NKr1.5 billion for ...
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NewsThree runways to close at main Paris airports
Paris Charles de Gaulle airport is set to close two runways within days, providing additional space on which to park aircraft grounded by the coronavirus crisis. NOTAM information issued for the French capital hub on 19 March states that both runway 08R/26L and the parallel 08L/26R will be shut from ...
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NewsRecurrent hydraulic fault preceded Iran Fokker 100 gear-up landing
Investigators have found that an engine-driven pump’s overheating preceded a hydraulic leak before an Iran Air Fokker 100 was forced to land at Tehran Mehrabad with its main landing-gear retracted. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation found that the aircraft, inbound from Qeshm on 19 March last year, had suffered a series ...
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NewsAir Canada 777-300ER rejects take-off behind aborting E190
Canadian investigators have detailed an incident in which an Air Canada Boeing 777-300ER aborted take-off at 110kt after its crew saw that a preceding Embraer 190 had aborted its own take-off roll on the same runway. The 777 had been cleared to line up on Toronto’s runway 06L immediately after ...
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NewsThomas Cook failure crippled passengers' protective trust fund
Leisure firm Thomas Cook Group’s collapse resulted in a £481 million drain on the protective Air Travel Trust Fund, leaving the fund with sparse resources, a UK National Audit Office investigation states. While the Civil Aviation Authority expects the fund to remain in surplus, the investigation points out that it ...
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NewsGearbox replacement order broadened to non-ETOPS PW1100Gs
US regulators have extended a directive to replace the gearbox and control software of Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, to encompass powerplants not used for extended twin-engined operations (ETOPS) flights. The US FAA had already ordered removal and replacement of the main gearbox assembly on the engines as well as ...
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NewsEl Al puts most personnel on two months' leave
Israeli flag-carrier El Al has put 5,500 personnel on unpaid leave until the end of May, following the cuts to its network in the face of the coronavirus crisis. El Al employs some 6,350 staff overall. It has been holding talks with the Israeli ministry of finance regarding government support ...
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NewsWindtunnel tests to start on new Russian blended-body concept
Russian analysts have developed an improved model for a proposed blended-body twinjet passenger aircraft, which is to be submitted for research and testing. Studies of potential “flying wing” configurations have been examined for several years, using models with various tail and engine designs, says the Moscow-based Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. Previous ...
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NewsCopenhagen converts two runways to aircraft parking zones
Copenhagen airport’s operator is allocating two of its three runways to aircraft parking while the coronavirus crisis persists, as airlines seek to ground large proportions of their fleet. The operator says it expects a “high double-digit” number of aircraft to be parked at the Danish capital hub “before long”, and ...
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NewsPressured SA Express suspends services until further notice
South African regional carrier SA Express is suspending operations until further notice, in response to various pressures on the airline. While it mentions the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, SA Express indicates this is only one consideration behind its decision, attributing the suspension to “adverse recent developments”. The airline had ...
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NewsBrussels Airlines to shut down for a month
Brussels Airlines has become the latest carrier to shut down services in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, suspending all scheduled flights for a month. It says the services will be gradually wound down and then halted on 21 March and will not restart until 20 April. “We need to ...
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NewsSwiss bolsters senior management to face coronavirus fallout
Swiss has shored up its management teams in order to provide greater corporate stability as the Lufthansa Group carrier deals with the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak. It has installed Markus Binkert as its chief financial officer – a position which had been left vacant – and appointed Thomas Frick ...
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NewsAlitalia to be renationalised under broad emergency decree
Italy’s government has indicated that it will renationalise struggling flag-carrier Alitalia as part of a broad set of emergency measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The government says, in a decree published on 16 March, that the epidemic is being formally recognised as a “natural disaster and exceptional event”. ...
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NewsFourth MC-21 flown to Moscow test centre
Russian airframer Irkut has flown its fourth flight-test MC-21-300 to Moscow to participate in the certification campaign for the twinjet. The aircraft, fitted with Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engines, was ferried with a crew of two pilots to the Gromov institute at Zhukhovsky airfield. It has been fitted with a ...