Drunk Scot Diverts Thomas Cook Plane

A Thomas Cook flight from Scotland to Turkey was diverted to London Gatwick yesterday after a disturbance on board.

The flight from Glasgow to Dalaman was forced to divert after the pilot called police due to drunken passengers.  Passengers on the flight said they saw police officers board the flight when it landed at Gatwick early on Wednesday morning and arrested a man.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "At 11.45am on Wednesday police went to a Thomas Cook flight which had just been diverted into Gatwick Airport on a flight from Glasgow Airport to Turkey. Officers arrested a man who was a passenger, on suspicion of being drunk on an aircraft. There are no reports of injuries or damage. The man is currently in custody for interview and further enquirers.

American Airlines Flight Emergency Landing at Glasgow.

An American Airlines flight was diverted to Glasgow earlier today after reporting a problem with one of the aircraft's engines.

The US bound flight had departed Frankfurt in Germany normally and was heading to Dallas, Texas when it declared an emergency, with an engine apparently not working.

The pilot landed at Glasgow Airport at around 12.15pm and the plane was met on the runway by emergency services. One passenger on board the flight tweeted: "American Airline 71 FRA-DFW emergency landed in Glasgow after loss of one engine. All good."

TAP's Future in Doubt

Portugal's troubled airline TAP will face a massive consolidation, cutting staff and routes if the ongoing 10 day strike by air crew hamper the carriers planned privatisation the Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said yesterday.

Pilots at the Portuguese airline commenced their strike action on 1st May, which the airline claims has reduced scheduled flights by over 30 per cent.

The strike comes just before a May 15 deadline for bids to buy a majority stake in what is now a wholly state-owned company. The government has said it will go ahead with the privatisation despite the strike.

Vueling Airlines Launches Belfast Route

Vueling Airlines, one of Europe’s fastest growing budget airlines, part of the International Airlines Group (IAG) headed by arrogant megalomaniac Willy Walsh, have confirmed they will start a twice weekly service between Belfast and Barcelona.

The Spanish airline will operate a twice weekly service on Thursdays and Sundays to Barcelona's  El Prat airport, increasing the service to three times a week from 23rd June.

Katy Best, Commercial and Marketing Director at Belfast City Airport, said:“The arrival of Vueling to Northern Ireland is hugely exciting and significant given the airline’s fast paced growth and popularity in mainland Europe. As a low cost yet full service airline, Vueling places customer service at the centre of its operations and strategically selects airport partners which do the same."

Emirates Soars as Sledgehammer Looms

The ascendancy of one of the Gulf's finest carriers continues to soar with news of a 40per cent jump in annual profits.

Emirates, one of the world's largest airlines announced a profit of some 4.6 billion Dirham (£1 billion $1.52 billion) in the last financial year. This massive jump in profit is largely due to the drop in oil prices, saving the airline around 2 billion Diaham last year alone.   Revenue also increased 7 per cent year on year to some 88.8 billion dirhams.

Their ground and tourism operation, Dnata, also recorded a massive 34 per cent rise in profits, climbing it 5.5 bilion Dirhams.  

Norwegian Airlines Losses Will Not Halt US Expansion

Norwegian emerged from the first quarter of 2015 with a loss of 790 million kroner. A pilots’ strike that cancelled many flights and sent passengers to other airlines was largely responsible. “The first quarter is usually seasonally weak, and this quarter the figures were also affected by the weakness of the Norwegian kroner against the dollar and euro,” said Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos. “At the same time, the pilots’ strike sent many customers to competitors.” The loss was actually less than then 802 million kroner that some analysts had predicted.

Norwegian’s total revenue of about 3.6 billion kroner was also slightly better than expected. “On the positive side, passenger growth outside Scandinavia has been good, especially on long-haul routes,” said Kjos. “In particular, passenger growth on the London-Gatwick route has been very solid.” Norwegian Long Haul has also set its sights on opening its maiden US West Coast base at Los Angeles International Airport.  

Croatia Expansion

Expansion plans continue for Croatia Airlines as it announces it will lease two Embraer E190 aircraft next year, also commenting that the company is considering opening bases outside of its home country.

The carrier plans to expand its fleet with four to six jets over the next four years according to sources inside the airline and seem to confirm earlier statements from the airline’s CEO, Krešimir Kučko, “If Croatia Airlines was to buy more aircraft today it would choose an Embraer model”, Mr. Kučko said recently.