South African Airways has returned 17 aircraft to lessors

South African Airways has returned 17 aircraft to lessors so far. This is because the lessors have elected to initiate the termination of the leases, the state-owned airline’s business rescue practitioners confirmed on Friday. The aircraft returned include four A319s; three A340-300s; three A340-600s; five A330-200s and two B737s. The airline is now left with…

U.S. and China to each allow four weekly flights for airlines

The United States and China will each allow four weekly flights between the two countries, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday, easing a standoff on travel restrictions in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. government still hopes China will agree to restore full U.S. flight rights under their bilateral aviation agreement,…

ALERT 3 rockets have landed near Baghdad airport

Three Katyusha rockets landed near Baghdad International Airport late on Monday, the Iraqi military said. The military said it found rocket launchers with several rockets in a rural area in western Baghdad, and there were no reports of damage or casualties. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

EasyJet resumes flight operations after 11 weeks of groundings

Eleven weeks after the last easyJet passenger flight touched down, Britain’s biggest budget airline is to resume flying. The carrier has not flown passengers since 29 March 2020, when an easyJet plane brought stranded holidaymakers home from Tenerife to Gatwick airport. Since then, the airline’s entire fleet of 344 Airbus jets has been grounded. But…

Lufthansa plans to cut 22,000 jobs, half in Germany

German airline Lufthansa has said it will cut 22,000 jobs as it struggles to deal with the slump in air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The carrier predicted a slow recovery in demand and expected to have about 100 fewer aircraft after the crisis. Lufthansa said half the job cuts would be in Germany.…