Staff at Hong Kong international airport have begun an 11-hour protest in an attempt to hold the government to account for violent attacks on residents by suspected gang members last week. Flight attendants and airport staff were joined by demonstrators dressed in black, the signature colour of the territory's protest movement. Protesters could be heard chanting 'free Hong Kong' as travellers arrived at the terminal
Continue reading...Category Archives: Air transport
Boeing Max 737: airlines delay plane’s return until November
Southwest, American and United Airlines all put back return date for troubled jet
The swift return of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft to the skies was put further in doubt this week with airlines signalling that they do not hope to operate the plane any time soon.
With more than four months already elapsed since the plane was grounded by regulators, Southwest and American, two of the jet’s main US operators, followed United Airlines in saying they would be taking the Max out of their schedules until November.
Continue reading...‘Abusive’ woman billed for £85,000 after RAF scrambled to escort plane
Chloe Haines, 25, allegedly tried to open aircraft doors on Jet2 flight from Stansted to Turkey
A passenger who allegedly caused two RAF jets to be scrambled to escort a plane back to Stansted airport has been sent a bill for £85,000 by the airline.
Chloe Haines has been accused by Jet2 of a “catalogue of aggressive, abusive and dangerous behaviour” on a flight bound for Dalaman in Turkey in June, including trying to open the aircraft doors during the flight.
Continue reading...Garuda Indonesia bans in-flight photos after being mocked for handwritten menu
Popular video blogger whose image of the menu went viral now faces police inquiry
Indonesia’s national airline has come under fire for banning the taking of in-flight images after a popular video blogger posted a photo online showing a handwritten menu he was handed in business class.
The travel v-logger Rius Vernandes was also reported to police after the post, which led to the airline Garuda Indonesia being widely mocked online. The photo was uploaded with the caption: “The menu is still being printed sir.”
Continue reading...Dozens injured as Air Canada flight to Sydney hits turbulence
‘We all hit the roof,’ passenger says after plane forced to land in Honolulu
Dozens of people on an Air Canada flight to Australia have been injured after the plane encountered unexpected turbulence, forcing it to land in Hawaii.
The flight from Vancouver to Sydney encountered “unforecasted and sudden turbulence” about two hours past Hawaii and diverted to Honolulu, according to an Air Canada spokeswoman, Angela Mah.
Continue reading...Gatwick suspends flights for two hours over control tower problem
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...Aviation security under scrutiny after death of stowaway in London
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...Canadians are paying sky-high prices for flights – and merger could make it worse
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...French parties unite in call for referendum on Macron’s airports sell-off
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 investigates after woman wakes up alone on darkened plane
- Airline confirms incident described in Facebook post
- Passenger was ‘full on panicking’ after attempts to raise alarm
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...Woman arrested after Jet2 plane intercepted by Typhoon fighters
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...Mexico: Amlo says sale of presidential plane will fund migrant crackdown
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...New York mayor says skyscraper helicopter crash not terror-related – video
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...Flight delayed after passenger mistakes exit for toilet door
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...Further safety issue found in grounded Boeing 737 Max planes
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...Boeing 737 Max will be grounded until August, says airline trade body
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...‘It would destroy it’: new international airport for Machu Picchu sparks outrage
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...Passenger aircraft lands in Myanmar without front wheels – video
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 fills Myanmar plane after emergency landing without front wheel – video
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.
Myanmar plane with 89 on board lands without front wheels
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.
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