UAE seeks to verify credentials of Pakistani pilots in its airlines

The United Arab Emirates is seeking to verify the credentials of Pakistani pilots and engineers employed in its airlines, as global concern mounts after the South Asian government grounded 262 pilots for holding “dubious” qualifications. In a letter to Pakistani aviation authorities, the Director General of the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority Saif Mohammed Al…

Aeromexico files for bankruptcy protection in United States

Aeromexico has become the third Latin American carrier to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. The flag-carrier said it would use the respite to financially restructure, while continuing to serve passengers. “Our industry faces unprecedented challenges due to significant declines in demand for air transportation,” said Andrés Conesa, chief executive of…

Ryanair is back in the air!

Ryanair is returning to fly from today, offering over 1,000 daily flights across Europe. The decision marks the end of a 14-week shutdown of operations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The low-cost carrier will offer departures to 200 European airports, restoring almost 90 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 route network, albeit with lower…

Norwegian Air cancels 92 Boeing 737 MAX and 5 Dreamliners

Norwegian Air has cancelled orders for 97 Boeing aircraft and will claim compensation for the grounding of the 737 MAX and for 787 engine troubles. The airline cancelled 92 of the 737 MAX jets, five 787 Dreamliners and so-called GoldCare service agreements related to both aircraft. “Norwegian has in addition filed a legal claim seeking…

Airbus concludes autonomous flight tests

Following an extensive two-year flight test programme, Airbus has successfully concluded its Autonomous Taxi, Take-Off and Landing (ATTOL) project. In completing this project, Airbus has achieved autonomous taxiing, take-off and landing of a commercial aircraft through fully automatic vision-based flight tests using on-board image recognition technology – a world-first in aviation. In total, over 500…