Airport Delays Around Europe

In the UK, British Airways, Ryanair and Easyjet are among airlines warning British holidaymakers of delays at EU border controls at many European airports.

British Airways sent texts asking travellers to make sure they arrive early, as the company expects longer queues due to "enhanced immigration checks" across Europe.  BA has already sent texts to customers flying back from Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona and Milan. They will follow this advice to all UK bound passengers from most European airports in the next few hours. 

Pilot in trouble as 10 year-old flies the plane

You could be forgiven if you thought pilots were getting younger and younger if you've seen a recent video doing the rounds on social media.  It features a smartly dressed young man in a white shirt, black waistcoat, tie and trousers and topping it off with a captain’s hat.  The young chap is eager when he's invited to sit in the captain’s seat mid-flight on the Air Algeria plane, and what 10 year-old wouldn't be?

In a video of the incident, the young chap can be seen manipulating the controls and pushing buttons on the flight between Algiers Houari Boumediene International Airport and Setif Regional Airport. Speaking after the flight, the (real) pilot commended the boy: "He was very disciplined, calm and attentive. I am sure he will be a good pilot.”

Loganair's New Look

The Scottish airline Loganair has unveiled its new tartan livery and announced an increase in passenger numbers on some key routes. 

There was a 17 per cent rise in passenger travel between Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands and the Scottish mainland in July compared to June, with nearly 20,000 people using the route.

An even bigger increase was seen on the Sumburgh and Glasgow route, up 25 per cent, while there was a 14 per cent growth in flights connecting Aberdeen to Shetland.

Loganair has terminated its Flybe Franchise and that deal comes to an end next month and to make the move, LoganAir has shown off its new paint job! 

A Saab 340B, named Spirit of Caithness has become the first of its fleet to undergo a makeover ahead of the airline flying under its own name. 

Older Planes Less Reliable?

A Boeing 737 belonging to Jet2 has made two emergency landings in as many weeks, leading some commentators to question whether the advanced age of the aircraft is affecting its reliability. 

The plane was forced to land at Barcelona on July 16, as it flew from Ibiza to Leeds/Bradford. Twelve days later, on July 28, it made another forced landing at Frankfurt en route from Newcastle to Prague. 

Ryanair Boss Earns £8k A Day

As passengers have to pay a small fortune to sit together on one of his aircraft, Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair Chief Executive gets paid almost £8000 a day to sit in his seat!

Yes, the boss of the budget irish airline took home earnings of €3.26million last year, that's £2.92million,  which calculates at approximately €8,931 / £7,987 per day.  The figures released  atis week revealed he got an increase of £89,000 from last year.  But it's not just his wages that are soaring, so to are complains to the airline. 

End of the line for the A380?

Hot news from Airbus.....The aircraft manufacturer is slowing down the production rate of its super jumbo the double decked A380 even more.   The future of vast aircraft looks even more bleak after the European aircraft company confirmed it was cutting production to just 8 air frames in 2019. 

Virgin Atlantic Bargain Basement Sell Off

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group is flogging off a major stake in the airline Virgin Atlantic at bargain basement prices to Air France-KLM and existing investor Delta Air Lines.

Air France-KLM is to buy 31 percent of Virgin Atlantic for £220m.  The Virgin Group will hang on to just 20 percent of the troubled trans-Atlantic airline, they will also continue to chairman the company.

Avianca Ends Flights to Venezuela

Colombian airline Avianca confirmed today (Thursday) that it will stop flying to and from Venezuela as of today due to the complicated and dangerous situation in the neighboring country.

The airline had initially planned to suspend flights during the middle of August, however  "Due to operational and security limitations in recent hours, Avianca has been forced to suspend its operations from Thursday, and not from 16th Aug as previously scheduled," the airline rushed to say in a statement today.

Big Losses for Etihad

Massive losses are announced for the premier airline Etihad.  It announced it lost $1.87 billion in 2016, siting "one-off impairment charges and fuel hedging losses" as the main reasons for the massive loss, and 2017 may well be worse!

New - Birmingham to New York and Boston.....

   

United Airlines announced last week that its Birmingham to New York route would end in October this year, leaving England’s populous city without a direct route to the US for the first time in over 20 years.

However, like a bolt from the blue, a special new lifeline was offered when another airline announced it would fly not one, but two new routes from Birmingham across the pond.  This new aviation saviour  will fly a daily service to Newark and a four-times weekly service to Boston.

But who is this new entrant into the UK - America trans-Atlantic carrier club.  It's an airline you most probably have never heard of,   they are called  Primera Air,  a little-known low-cost carrier.  They will launch their routes from Birmingham in May 2018 and London Stansted in April 2018.   

Joon - The Air France 'Youth' Brand Budget Airline

The Air France-KLM Group will start flights this autumn of  'Joon' its low fare budget airline, that will go all out to target millennial customers. 

Joon - previously talked about under the code-name 'Boost' plans to operate mainly medium-haul services from Paris,  Charles de Gaulle airport, then towards the end of next year it may venture into the long-haul market place. 

Singapore Review Nuts Policy

An allergy scare involving a three-year-old toddler has prompted Singapore Airlines to review the serving of nuts on board its flights.

Marcus Daley suffered a severe allergic reaction after passengers around him opened their snack packets of peanuts.  He went into anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition which can be triggered by food including peanuts and shellfish.  He was travelling with his parents to Melbourne after a holiday in Thailand.

Burst tyre on take-off for Air Canada Rouge at Gatwick

Travellers at the UK#s second busiest and the world's busiest single runway airport are facing travel chaos after an Air Canada Rouge aircrafts tyre burst as it left the runway at the start of a transatlantic flight.

Flights are using Gatwick's main taxiway 1 as a back-up or 'emergency' runway after the airport's main runway was closed following the incident involving the Toronto bound jet. 

The plane was leaving Gatwick at 1.16pm on Monday bound for Canada when its tyre suffered a blowout.  The airports managers ordered the runway closed immediately after the plane departed so that could carry out an inspection.  

The aircraft then came back to make and emergency landing after the full scale emergency procedures had been put in place.  This included all the airports fire appliances mobilized and more than a dozen ambulances dispatched to the airport.   The aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely on the runway, where it remained.  

Many flights have been cancelled or diverted and the disruption is likely to last well into the evening. 

Air Zimbabwe Lays Off Half its Workforce

Zimbabwe's state-owned airline has laid off 200 workers, roughly half of its staff, with immediate effect.

The job losses are part of a turnaround strategy to bring struggling Air Zimbabwe back to profitability from a $300m (£230m) debt.

Last month the EU banned it from using its airspace, citing safety concerns.  There have been major changes at the national airline since President Robert Mugabe's son-in-law took over as chief operating officer last year.  Money has been hemorrhaging from the company ever since. 

Iberia fined over enforced Pregnancy tests for staff

The Spanish airline Iberia has said it will stop requiring female job candidates to take a pregnancy test after it was fined for the practice.

Labour inspectors in the Balearic Islands discovered the airline insisted on the tests, and fined it €25,000 that's around £22,000.