Aviation News Daily (20.04.2020)
Hello, guys! This week starts with a significant amount of news for today, so let’s get right to them!
Virgin Australia Goes Into Administration
Reports state that Virgin Australia has gone into voluntary administration and the international accounting firm Deloitte is appointed to lead the process. This news came after months of struggle for the airline, during the pandemic included. Virgin Australia had apparently asked the Australian Government for a US $890 million, but it had been rejected, which lead to the decision of the airline to go into administration.
Air France A318 Causes Social Distancing Controversy
Air France has received quite a lot of criticism over the weekend for operating a full A318 on the Paris to Marseilles route. The airline was accused of effectively ignoring the recommendations for social distancing and putting passengers’ health at risk. However, Air France have simply said that “All measures are taken in order to minimize interactions and contacts between passengers and during flights” to France 2.
Titan Airways Flies An A318 to St Helena
The British charter airline flew an all-business class A318 from London to Saint Helena on Saturday. The purpose of the flight was to transport medical supplies to the island. The aircraft, registered as G-EUNB, had 32 seats, all business class. It left London Stansted EGSS and had a stop in Accra to refuel. The transported stuff was five ventilators, 960 test kits for COVID-19, medical staff and 2.5 tons of supplies.
4 More Airlines Move To Heathrow’s Second Terminal
As London Heathrow Airport stabilizes its flight operations due to the Coronavirus outbreak, an additional four airlines have moved the terminal they’ll be using to Terminal 2. Qantas, Qatar Airways Finnair, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and PIA all moved their flights to Heathrow’s Terminal 2 as the administration of the airport prepares the closure of Terminal 3 and 4. This means that Terminal 2 and 5 will be where flights depart out of until the end of the Coronavirus pandemic and airlines begin resumptions of regular flights.
Airbus Sells 6 Planes Destined To Go To AirAsia
Airbus announced today that they would be selling 6 aircraft belonging to AirAsia after the Asian budget airline announced they wouldn’t be taking any new aircraft this year. Additionally, AirAsia has 96% of the fleet is grounded and it’s losing massive amounts of money. That lead to the carrier’s decision, which is a part of their methods to help the airline survive during these times. The six cancelled aircraft are four A320neos and two A321neos.
Times are tough for aircraft manufacturers, which is quite sad for me. I am an Airbus fanboy, but I have no hard feelings for Boeing too. In fact, I really like Boeing aircraft, so I am sad to see the aircraft manufacturers struggle.
You May Be Sitting With Cargo On Your Next Flight
HAECO Cabin Solutions has unveiled a new line of products today. These products are designed to make airlines able to carry cargo and passengers. So you might have a box or two of medical supplies flying behind you.
Etihad’s Catering Provides 15 Thousand Meals For Abu Dhabi
Unlike other catering kitchens, Etihad’s catering service kitchen is working actively. In a press release issued on yesterday, Etihad Airways stated that their catering service had been commissioned to provide meals to people who have been affected by the Coronavirus crisis.
El Al’s Dreamliners Ferry Millions Of Eggs From Europe
Here’s one Easter-themed one for you guys.
Israel’s flag carrier has operated some bad pun alert eggciting flights recently. Their 787s have ferried millions of eggs between Europe and their base, Tel Aviv. 45 tons of eggs were transported with each flight, which is about 3 million eggs transported between Portugal and Israel.
Norwegian Air’s Subsidiaries File For Bankruptcy
Subsidiaries of Norwegian Air have declared bankruptcy today. The subsidiaries based in Sweden and Denmark employ under 5,000 crew members, who will lose their jobs. This decision followed after the announcement that Norwegian Air did not have the funds to pay the April’s wages to their employees.
I feel really sorry for all the people who lost their jobs and hope they can still continue feeding their families.
Richard Branson Offers His Caribbean Island To Save His Airline
The billionaire and owner of The Virgin Group has asked the UK Government for a bailout, explaining that his airline wouldn’t survive without the requested help and has offered his private island in the Caribbean as a collateral against the requested $622 million loan.
China Development Bank Cancelled 29 Boeing 737 MAX Orders
CDB is the latest customer in an extensive list of airlines and lessors to cancel delivery of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. They announced that they will not be taking delivery of 29 out of 101 ordered aircraft from the type. This decision was made by the lessor in order to keep it afloat during the downturn in the global economy. This means more money lost for Boeing, putting the aircraft manufacturer in an even tougher position.
Icelandair Pilot Draws A Love Heart In The Air
An Icelandair pilot decided to share his love by drawing a love heart with the plane’s flight path above Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. He was flying a 767 from Shanghai and it was filled with vital medical supplies. The drawing took 12 minutes.
The picture is from FlightRadar24 found on the news article page.
Kenya Airways Shifts Their Focus To Cargo Operations
The last few weeks brought only uncertainty for many airlines and Kenya Airways is no different. Last Thursday, they carried 40 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables to London. The aircraft used was a 787-8 which was converted to a cargo airplane temporarily. On the way back to Kenya, the plane carried all sorts of cargo: ranging from courier items all the way to mining equipment.
EVA Air Temporarily Stops “Hello Kitty” Services
EVA Air’s Hello Kitty jets are easy to recognize. That is, of course, if they are flying. The airline announced on Twitter that they’d temporarily suspend their flight with the 7 Hello Kitty livery aircraft they fly, as there will be no use for them due to the global economy downturn.
For the ones who haven’t seen such a plane (me included), the picture above shows how the plane looks. I’m not gonna lie, the colorfulness of the livery definitely attracts attention. The picture was found on the page of the news article.
Will Delta Retire Their 767 Fleet?
The Boeing 767 is an important aircraft in Delta’s fleet. It operates several key routes to Europe and South America. Most of the airline’s 767s, however, are grounded currently due to the international travel restrictions and the non-existent demand for air travel.
The simple answer is no, Delta will not retire their 767s as of now. They are old aircraft, but age is not enough to justify sending an aircraft to the scrapyard. They could retire the jets earlier than they anticipated to though. They struck up a deal with LATAM to take 9 A350-900s from LATAM’s fleet and they have an additional 41 aircraft of that type still waiting to be delivered. Delta’s plan is to get the A350s to operate routes that are currently operated by the A330s, so they could use these on 767 routes. This way, they could retire their 767s
The reason they would want to retire their 767s is that these jets are not very efficient, especially compared to the A350s. However, the 767’s retirement from the Delta fleet will certainly not happen soon.
Emirates A380 Crew Error Lead To Dangerous Ground Proximity In Moscow
This news article regards investigation on crew actions of an Emirates A380. This happened in September of 2017. The aircraft was performing an approach at Moscow Domodedovo Airport. At one point, the aircraft was about 500 ft above the ground and descending at a whopping 1,600 ft/min. This all happened 7 NM away from the airport.
The flight report classifies this situation as a serious incident. The plane went below the instructed altitude and the crew was told to perform a go-around. By that time, the aircraft was 400 ft AGL and alerts about ground proximity were triggered. The aircraft performed yet another go-around and had a third and final attempt to land, which was successful. Nobody was injured during that. This incident was classified as “Serious” as there was miscommunication between ATC and the crew.
United Airlines Sells 22 Aircraft To BOC Only To Lease Them Back
United Airlines arranged a leaseback agreement with the lessor BOC Aviation for 22 of United’s aircraft. What it means in a nutshell is that BOC will buy the aircraft from United and then United will lease the aircraft from them. This was announced yesterday. The aircraft part of the leaseback agreement are 6 Boeing 787-9s and 16 Boeing 737 MAX 9s.
This move doesn’t really make sense to me. What do you guys think of it? Let me know in the comments!
Hawaiian Airlines Is Upgrading Parked Airbus A321neos
Hawaiian Airlines is taking advantage of the current groundings of aircraft and has decided to upgrade its fleet or A321neos. The upgrades which will be made are additional ventilation tubes to better optimize airflow within the cabin. The modifications were started earlier this month.
That’s All, Folks!
I hope you enjoyed today’s Aviation News Daily!
I hope I saved you some time and succeeded in my mission to keep you guys up-to-date in the aviation world.
All news stories are from SimpleFlying’s website. Any critique, tips, opinions, comment and advice is awaited, respected and appreciated!
