Aviation News Daily (24.04.2020)
Hello. Guys! Today’s AND comes a little late, as we had some discussions about something I cannot give any details about (look at LiveFlight around Southern Europe in the coming hours, that’s all I can tell you ;)). Friday night is the last time of the week we usually have a flood of news, so let’s get to them!
Lufthansa Group’s Survival Depends On Government Subsidies
Lufthansa Group, the owner of Lufthansa, Austrian, Eurowings and other airlines, shared their Q1 profit data on Thursday, and the numbers weren’t too peachy. There is a massive drop in the revenue of all airlines within the Lufthansa Group. Because of that, they would be seeking financial aid from the governments of the home country of each airlines. This is how bad the numbers are: in Q1, Lufthansa Group’s revenue fell by €1.4 billion – from €7.8 billion to €6.4 billion
Icelandair To Convert 3 Of Their 767s To Cargo Aircraft
Three of Icelandair’s 767s will be converted from passenger jets to cargo haulers. This decision was made after the airline struck up a deal to fly the planes between China and Germany.
Perth Airport Uses A Bulldozer To Imprison Virgin Australia 737s
Virgin Australia went into administration a few days ago and has grounded all their planes in their homebase, Perth Airport. Perth decided to get out the heavy artillery to protect 4 of their 737s. This is apparently so that the planes do not take off until debts are repaid, which is standard practice according to the airport.
British Airways Increases Cargo Flights
British Airways will fly more cargo flights to China in order to bring more Personal Protective Equipment for healthcare workers. The British flag carrier has recently started using the cabin to fit more cargo at once. Virgin Atlantic is helping British Airways move medical supplies, too.
Air Canada Jazz Turned Dash 8 Into Freighter
In recent days, we’ve seen a lot of airlines repurpose their aircraft according to the current demand. All sorts of aircraft are being transformed – from big and heavy A330s and 777s to tiny Dash 8s. Air Canada Jazz will operate one of their Dash 8 aircraft with the so called “Simplified Package Freighter” configuration. The capacity is about 8,165 kgs or 18,000 lbs. 13 such aircraft will be converted. We could expect to see some long flights in the near future, like the 8 hour Dash 8 flight, a topic I covered yesterday.
Boeing To Cut 787 Production Rate
Boeing plans to slow down the 787 production rate significantly, as the plane manufacturer will cut several jobs. This is predicted to cut costs for the aircraft manufacturer, as demand is low currently and global economy is suffering.
Ethiopian Airlines Flies Its Boeing 777 To Bosnia
@AmarKoric11 @AviatorNikola this one’s for you guys!
Ethiopian Airlines flew its Boeing 777F to Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina and delivered 200 ventilators as an effort to triple the medical equipment available during the global health crisis. This equipment was reportedly bought by Republika Srpska from China and was delivered by Ethiopian Airlines. This is quite surprising, as Banja Luka only had two airlines operating there: Ryanair and Air Serbia. So planespotters in Banja Luka must’ve gotten really excited!
Boeing Resumed 777X Test Flights
The 777X test flights were recently renewed. The test flights were paused together with the Washington operations for Boeing. A test airplane from Boeing Field KBFI to Spokane KGEG yesterday. It will have to do several test flights until it officially gets its certification.
Cathay Pacific Considers Swapping 777X For 787-10
The Hong Kong carrier could swap the 777X orders for the 787-10. This is because the 777X program has had massive delays, whereas the 787-10 has got its certification and it could be a better deal for Cathay to get these instead of the 777X.
Air New Zealand Postpones Direct New York Service By A Year
The ambitious route from Auckland to New York has today been postponed by a year. This is because the airline isn’t in the best financial position, which is also why they postponed delivery of their 787-10s, which will be used for that route. It is a chain reaction really. For now, the projected service launch is during 2021, but could be delayed further to 2022.
Coronavirus Saves CargoLogicAir
The UK cargo carrier has recently renewed its Air Operator’s Certificate and will resume operations, as cargo demand is rising rapidly, contrary to passenger demand. Their operations were suspended in February 2020 due to financial struggles, but about 3 months later, they are back in the skies.
United Flight Attendants Will Wear Compulsory Masks
United Airlines’ flight attendants will have to wear masks which cover their faces while on duty. The Association of Flight Attendants is still not pleased though. They want to make masks mandatory for passengers too, something which is far from uncommon nowadays, in Bulgaria (my home country) too.
Special Planes Land In Sofia
This news article is not from SimpleFlying’s website. It was from a Bulgarian website, Trud, and was a nightmare to find.
An Atlas Air 747 landed in Sofia on the 22nd, possibly carrying medical supplies. Additionally, a C-17 Globemaster landed in Sofia the next day. Both planes flew from Dallas to Sofia and weren’t registered in FlightRadar, which makes me think that they were found via some other tracker of some sort.
Sometime later, a 777F landed in Sofia and went past the 747, again coming from the USA.
A DHL 757 came in from Skopje, a really common route for DHL, and a while later, a small turboprop cargo plane departed back for Skopje.
Seeing 777s in Sofia is not a rare sight anymore, as El Al flies these once weekly from Tel Aviv. However, 747s and Globemasters sure are.
The only thing I’m kinda sad about is that I didn’t get the chance to see either of them. Here is an image of the 747 I found on Trud’s website:
That’s All, Folks!
I have missed some articles here and there, as I didn’t find them interesting enough. Your feedback is essential for this series, so if you want to share your thoughts, feel free.
I hope you enjoyed today’s Aviation News Daily and that I saved you some time and succeeded in my mission to keep you guys up-to-date in the aviation world.
All news stories, apart from the last one, are from SimpleFlying’s website. Any critique, tips, opinions, comment and advice is awaited, respected and appreciated!