Australians stuck in Peru amid Covid-19 outbreak advised to book charter flight home

Thousands of travellers frantically trying to fly back to Australia after government warning over coronavirus pandemic
• Australia coronavirus live: NSW now has 307 confirmed cases, up 40 since yesterday

More than 170 Australians trapped in locked-down Peru have been advised by the government to find a commercial charter flight to get out of the country.

Some passengers have been able to get on chartered flights to the US, while others have been offered a dedicated charter flight from Lima to Sydney, but at a cost of more than $5,000.

Continue reading...

Emiliano Sala: CAA says crash investigation could take rest of 2020

Striker’s family criticise Civil Aviation Authority for length of investigation into death

The family of the footballer Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane crash 14 months ago, has strongly criticised the length of time it is taking the UK aviation regulator to investigate the tragedy.

Relatives of the Argentinian striker are also angry at what they see as a lack of teeth from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in prosecuting the sort of unlicensed flight that Sala was taking at the time of his death.

Continue reading...

UK to withdraw from EU aviation safety regulator, Shapps says

Transport secretary says senior figures will gradually return to UK as regulatory powers revert to CAA

The UK is to withdraw from the European Union aviation safety regulator (EASA) after the Brexit transition period, Grant Shapps has confirmed.

The transport secretary said many of the most senior figures at the organisation headquartered in Cologne, Germany were British and that they would gradually return to the UK throughout this year as regulatory powers reverted to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Continue reading...

Are flying taxis ready for lift-off?

To supporters, they are the solution to congestion. To critics, they’re just billionaires’ toys. So are they the answer to urban travel?

It’s right up there with meal pills, jetpacks, robot butlers and colonies on Mars. Since at least 1962, when the TV cartoon characters George, Jane, Elroy and Judy Jetson first took to the skies, flying cars have been a staple of speculative visions of the future. Designs for dozens of small, affordable, personal flying machines were unveiled in the latter half of the 20th century. Few became airborne and none took commercial flight.

Now, however, a form of flying car is set to escape the clutches of eccentrics and the confines of science fiction. A handful of well-funded startups, some backed by major aviation and car companies, have carried out test flights of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Piloted air taxi and shuttle services are expected before 2025. Uber says it expects to be operating aircraft without pilots by around 2030.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus crisis drags down Flybe; shops warned against rip-off prices – business live

IATA warns Covid-19 will cost airlines up to $113bn in revenue this year, as regional airline Flybe collapses, and experts fear others will follow

HSBC has confirmed that an employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, and that some colleagues from its research department have been sent home while the office is deep-cleaned.

A spokesperson says:

We have been informed that one of our employees at 8 Canada Square has been diagnosed with COVID-19. This colleague is under medical supervision and has self-isolated. We are working closely with the health authorities.

We are deep-cleaning the floor where our colleague worked and shared areas of the building. Colleagues on that floor, and others who came into contact with him, have been advised to work at home. Based on medical and official advice the building remains open and operates as normal.

Back at the British Chambers of Commerce annual meeting today, health secretary Matt Hancock said he was working with the Department for Work and Pensions on a way to extend sickness benefit to all workers.

That could including contract workers and the self employed, my colleague Phillip Inman reports.

“It is vital that the same approach applies to all workers,”

Related: PM: workers with coronavirus will get sick pay from day one

Continue reading...

Heathrow third runway ruled illegal over climate change

Appeal court says decision to give go-ahead not consistent with Paris agreement

Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal by the court of appeal because ministers did not adequately take into account the government’s commitments to tackle the climate crisis.

The ruling is a major blow to the project at a time when public concern about the climate emergency is rising fast and the government has set a target in law of net zero emissions by 2050. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, could use the ruling to abandon the project, or the government could draw up a new policy document to approve the runway.

Continue reading...

Lie-flat beds in economy class: Air New Zealand unveils bunks for budget travellers

Airline which operates some of world’s longest flights is considering ‘Skynest’ sleep pods with pillows, sheets and blankets

Air New Zealand has announced it could have flat beds in economy for some of its long-haul flights, but it will be more than a year before customers could get the chance to sleep in one of the new pod beds.

Continue reading...

Air Canada plane makes emergency landing in Madrid

Boeing 767-300 suffers engine and tyre damage on takeoff from Barajas airport

An Air Canada Boeing 767 with 128 passengers onboard has made an emergency landing in Madrid due to technical problems after taking off from the city’s Barajas airport.

The Toronto-bound flight AC837 departed from the Spanish capital early on Monday afternoon but had to request an emergency return after one of its two engines was damaged and a tyre ruptured during takeoff. There was no immediate information as to what had caused the malfunction.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: Australia to screen passengers on flights from China for potentially fatal illness

Sars-like virus can be transmitted by human contact and has infected more than 200 and killed three

Australia will begin screening passengers on high-risk flights from China for signs of a new Sars-like coronavirus following confirmation from the Chinese health authorities that the virus has begun spreading from human to human.

The outbreak was first reported in Wuhan City in China on New Year’s Eve and tied to a seafood market, but officials have since confirmed that it has spread to other humans who had not frequented the market, as well as to health workers.

Continue reading...

‘We will not rest until there is justice and accountability’: Trudeau — video

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has promised justice for victims of the Ukraine Airlines flight shot down in Iran. Memorials were held across Canada for the 57 Canadians killed in the crash - including one interrupted by a protester in Toronto

Continue reading...

Catastrophic failure of Ukraine jet in Iran suggests missile strike

Experts say debris fragments and sudden loss of fail-safe systems point to missile

To civil aviation professionals, including pilots, engineers and former crash investigators, there was something immediately puzzling about the crash of the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet that fell burning out of the sky minutes after takeoff from Tehran.

Conversation on forums, and in a risk assessment that was rapidly produced by the organisations OpsGroup, pointed to the sudden and catastrophic nature of the event, including the loss of both communications and tracking systems.

Continue reading...

Iran says it will not give black box from crashed airliner to Boeing

Leaders of Ukraine and Canada vow to find cause of crash that killed dozens of their citizens

Iran’s aviation authority has said it will not hand over flight recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane that crashed moments after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 passengers and crew onboard, either to the aircraft’s manufacturer or US aviation authorities.

The statement was issued on Wednesday as the leaders of Ukraine and Canada, from which dozens of citizens died, vowed to identify the cause of the crash amid contradictory statements and swirling speculation.

Continue reading...

Ukraine passenger plane crashes in Iran, killing 176 people – video report

A passenger plane bound for Kyiv has crashed close to Tehran's main international airport, killing 176 people. Video circulated by Iranian news agencies appears to show the Boeing 737-800 bursting into flame minutes after takeoff and plummeting to earth. There was no early indication the crash was linked to Iran's Wednesday morning missile strikes on bases in Iraq hosting US and coalition troops

Continue reading...

Iran plane crash: footage appears to show burning wreckage – video

Footage released by Iran Press TV appears to show burning wreckage from moments after a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed near Tehran.
The Ukrainian airliner, which had 176 people onboard, crashed soon after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport. Iran's Red Crescent said there was no chance of finding survivors

Continue reading...

Uber reveals plans for flying taxi to bypass road traffic congestion

Aerial ridesharing would allow for a pilot and three passengers at speeds of up to 180mph

Uber has unveiled plans for a flying taxi at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The ride-sharing company on Tuesday showed off a full-size mock-up of the electric plane concept vehicle created with South Korean carmaker Hyundai, as it seeks to fly above traffic rather than add to it.

Uber wants to offer aerial ridesharing, allowing a pilot and three passengers to take city trips of up to 60 miles at a speed of up to 180mph. Resembling a winged helicopter and featuring four propellers, Uber and Hyundai joined forces to design a personal air vehicle, or PAV, which can take off and land vertically.

Continue reading...

Chilean air force chief says cause of Antarctic plane crash may never be known

Investigators may never recover enough wreckage to know why the Hercules crashed, killing 38

The commander-in-chief of the Chilean air force has said that the struggle to recover the remains of a Hercules that crashed en route to the Antarctic two weeks ago could make it difficult to ever determine what happened to the plane.

The Hercules C-130 cargo plane, which was carrying 17 crew and 21 passengers, disappeared shortly after taking off on 9 December from the southern city of Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia.

Continue reading...

‘Handing control away’: UK’s sale of Cobham defence firm to US company decried

Founding family criticises approval of £4bn deal despite national security concerns

The government has been accused of handing control away after it approved a US private equity firm’s £4bn takeover of the UK defence company Cobham despite national security concerns.

The deal had been delayed since mid-2019 after fears were raised that Advent International’s acquisition could undermine the country’s security.

Continue reading...

Military police remove climate protesters from Schiphol airport

Hundreds of demonstrators call for international hub in Amsterdam to curb emissions

Dutch military police have begun forcibly removing a group of climate protesters at Schiphol airport, in Amsterdam, after they refused to leave during a demonstration organised by Greenpeace.

Hundreds of protesters attended the demonstration on Saturday calling on the international air hub to adopt a plan to curb greenhouse emissions. The group had been allowed to protest outside the building only, but they broke that restriction, arguing that citizens’ rights to peaceful protest should not be restricted.

Continue reading...

FAA let Boeing 737 Max continue to fly even as review found serious crash risk

Analysis from US regulators found plane could have averaged a fatal crash about every two to three years without design changes

US regulators allowed Boeing’s 737 Max to keep flying even after their own analysis found the plane could have averaged one fatal crash about every two or three years without intervention.

According to a report dated a month after a Lion Air 737 Max crashed in October 2018, killing 189 people, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded the plane could become involved in more fatal crashes without design changes.

Continue reading...

World’s first fully electric commercial aircraft takes flight in Canada

Company hails start of the ‘electric aviation age’ after 15-minute test flight in Vancouver

The world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft has taken its inaugural test flight, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and flying for 15 minutes.

“This proves that commercial aviation in all-electric form can work,” said Roei Ganzarski, chief executive of Australian engineering firm magniX.

Continue reading...