Services began again at 7.10pm but airport warns that there may be further delays
Gatwick airport suspended all inbound and outbound flights for around two hours on Wednesday due to an “air traffic control system issue”.
Eight flights into Gatwick, in West Sussex, were cancelled and 26 diverted before operations resumed at 7.10pm and passengers were warned there would be further delays into the evening, with the airport advising them to check with their airlines.
Continue reading...Experts suggest heat sensors could help detect people hiding in landing gear compartment
There have been calls for fresh scrutiny of aviation security as efforts continue to identify a man whose frozen body fell into a garden in London from the landing gear of a Kenya Airways plane.
Investigations have centred on Nairobi airport, where the man is believed to have concealed himself in the aircraft, but one aviation expert suggested airlines and plane manufacturers could take steps including fitting heat sensors to detect stowaways.
Continue reading...Air Canada’s planned C$520m purchase of Air Transat could be bad news for passengers who already pay double what Americans do
For most Canadians, flying from one corner of their country to the other can be a pricey endeavour – so expensive, in fact, that they could fly to Europe or Asia for nearly the same price.
Online travel agency Kiwi noted in its 2017 flight price index that Canadians pay more than twice the price Americans do for similar-distance domestic flights.
Continue reading...President accused of ‘flogging family silver’, as communists and Sarkozy MPs join forces
Emmanuel Macron’s plan for the biggest wave of French privatisations in a decade is under threat after opposition politicians took the unusual step of joining ranks to push for a referendum on the sale of Paris airports.
The centrist French president wants to sell the state’s controlling stake in Aéroports de Paris, the profitable operator of Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, which are used by more than 100 million passengers each year. It would be among the biggest privatisation operations in French history, alongside Macron’s plans to sell other stakes in the national lottery as well as the gas and power group ENGIE.
Continue reading...Air Canada said on Sunday it was looking into how crew members could have disembarked from a plane without noticing a sleeping passenger who was left behind.
The airline was responding to an incident involving a woman who described waking up “all alone” on a “cold dark” aircraft after a flight to Toronto earlier this month.
Continue reading...Airline said ‘extremely disruptive passenger’ forced RAF jets to escort plane back to airport
A 25-year-old woman has been arrested after two RAF jets were scrambled to escort a plane back to Stansted Airport.
Jet2 said there had been an “extremely disruptive passenger” on board its flight from Stansted to Dalaman in Turkey on Saturday, forcing the aircraft to return to the London airport.
Continue reading...Funds from sale of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s jet will be put toward the deployment of the newly formed national guard
Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to fund a crackdown on migrants to Mexico from Central America with proceeds from the sale of his office’s aircraft, a 787 Dreamliner which has been on offer since shortly after the Mexican president took office in December.
Funds from the sale would be put toward the deployment of the newly formed national guard which has the power to detain migrants without correct papers, López Obrador said on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Bill de Blasio says an investigation is continuing into the ‘very strange and very troubling’ helicopter crash-landing on a Manhattan skyscraper, but there is no ongoing threat. Investigators looking into the crash, which killed at least one person, said it was the result of an air space issue. Emergency services were called to the scene on Seventh Avenue shortly before 2pm on a rainy, foggy Monday
Continue reading...Woman triggers evacuation slide, causing eight-hour delay at Manchester airport
A flight from Manchester was delayed for almost eight hours when a confused passenger opened an emergency exit after mistaking it for the toilet door.
The Pakistan International Airways (PIA) flight to Islamabad was nearly ready to depart when the woman grasped for the wrong door, launching the emergency evacuation slide.
Continue reading...Airlines told to check aircraft as affected components may be at risk of premature failure
Safety regulators in the US have identified a further problem in Boeing’s grounded 737 Max model and the generation of planes that preceded it.
The Federal Aviation Administration has told airlines to check more than 300 737 aircraft, including 179 of the Max model, for improperly manufactured parts.
Continue reading...Plane taken out of service after Ethiopian Airlines crash may not fly before peak season
The Boeing 737 Max aircraft will not return to the skies before August, according to the boss of aviation’s main trade body.
The 737 Max was grounded by regulators in the wake of two crashes, and although manufacturer Boeing has been working on a fix to allay safety concerns, the timetable is now likely to see it out of service for another 10 to 12 weeks, into peak season for many airlines.
Continue reading...Peruvian archaeologists decry new airport that would carry tourists directly to already fragile Inca citadel
Among the Inca archeological sites that abound in Peru, none draw nearly as many tourists as the famed citadel of Machu Picchu. There were more than 1.5 million visitors in 2017, almost double the limit recommended by Unesco, putting a huge strain on the fragile ruins and local ecology.
Now, in a move that has drawn a mixture of horror and outrage from archaeologists, historians and locals, work has begun on clearing ground for a multibillion-dollar international airport, intended to jet tourists much closer to Machu Picchu .
Continue reading...A plane in Myanmar with 89 people onboard landed on the runway without its front wheels. The pilot has been praised for saving the day after the landing gear failed to launch. The touchdown – in which no one was hurt – was the second instance of a malfunctioning flight in the country in less than a week
Continue reading...Smoke rises from under the seats of a Myanmar National Airlines plane shortly after it lands without the use of its front wheel. The plane landed safely on Sunday at Mandalay airport despite the landing gear problems. Passengers scrambled to evacuate as instructions were given over the speaker system. The airline said in a statement that flight UB103 came from Yangon and the pilot flew around the air traffic control tower twice in order for staff to check if the landing gear had been activated before the decision was made to make an emergency landing. The statement also said the pilot followed emergency procedures and dumped extra fuel before attempting to land.
Pilot praised after touching down successfully at Mandalay despite failure of landing gear
A Myanmar pilot saved the day after his aircraft’s landing gear failed, safely putting the jet on the runway with no front wheels on Sunday, an official said.
The touchdown – in which no one was hurt – was the second instance of a malfunctioning flight in Myanmar in less than a week.
Continue reading...Britain’s net zero by 2050 goal may have impact on whether existing policies are reassessed
Britain’s move to “net zero” carbon and the declaration of a climate emergency in parliament will be “given careful consideration” in deciding whether to grant a review of Heathrow airport’s expansion, the government has said.
The new approach falls well short of any commitment to review Heathrow’s expansion, but means the decision on whether to grant campaigners’ request for a review will include the net zero target and the climate emergency among its criteria.
Continue reading...Police called after flight delayed following refusal of woman to watch safety video and read card in exit row seat
A woman who refused to watch the regulation air safety video or read the safety instructions card handed to her by flight attendants has reportedly been removed from an Air New Zealand flight in Wellington.
The woman, described by other passengers as “wealthy-looking”, was sitting in the exit row but ignored attendants’ attempts to get her to listen to the safety instructions for flight NZ424 to Auckland on Tuesday.
Continue reading...The Russian Sukhoi Superjet with 78 passengers on board bounced along tarmac before bursting in to flames
A Russian passenger jet burst into flames on Sunday while attempting an emergency landing at a Moscow airport, leaving as many as 41 passengers dead and more injured.
Video from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport shows the plane bouncing along the tarmac before it suddenly burst into flames. The tail section of the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 became engulfed by fire, discharging thick, black smoke as crew members evacuated passengers using emergency slides. Fire engines sped toward the blaze while some passengers were seen fleeing across the tarmac in tears. Some were carrying luggage.
Continue reading...Boeing 737 was landing at a naval airport when it ended up in the St Johns river but 143 passengers and crew survive
All 143 passengers and crew have escaped after a Boeing 737 plane skidded off a runway and landed in a river during a “terrifying” attempted landing at an airport in Jacksonville, Florida.
The military-chartered Miami Air international plane was trying to land in a thunderstorm at the naval air station in Jacksonville en route from Guántanamo Bay in Cuba at around 9.40pm local time when it slid off the runway into the St Johns river, a statement from the navy airport said.
Continue reading...Four thousand skilled jobs at risk in Northern Ireland as Canadian firm unveils sell-off
The Canadian aerospace firm Bombardier is to sell its wing-making operation, which employs 4,000 people in Northern Ireland, sparking concern among trade unions and MPs about the impact on highly skilled jobs.
A spokesman for the prime minister said the government did not expect jobs to be affected but the trade union Unite said it was seeking stronger assurances from the government and the company.
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