A senior Kenya Airways pilot has paid the ultimate price for his heroic efforts to evacuate Kenyans stranded in the Covid-19-hit New York City. Captain Daudi Kimuyu Kibati, who was taken ill on March 29, died on April 1, a week after performing his last international assignment. His death was announced by Health Cabinet Secretary…
Airbus is considering a sharp reduction in the production of its A320 family single-aisle aircraft due to industrial and delivery problems due to the coronavirus crisis, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Two of the people said Airbus may have to reduce its official monthly rate of 60 A320-famiy jets by as…
The Australian government, Qantas and Virgin Australia have reached a deal to rescue Australians still overseas. Under the deal the airlines would fly with an empty cabin, but full of freight to 4 international hubs, London, LA, Hong Kong and Auckland. The government would subsidise the outgoing flights, with returning passengers paying full fare. The…
Qantas has received a letter from SafeWork NSW to say it is being investigated after standing down a COVID-19 whistleblower. The employee is a cleaner, union delegate and elected health and safety rep. They were stood down on 2 February. Qantas told ABC News Australia “A union delegate was stood down pending an investigation…
This coronavirus crisis is so much more severe than past downturns in the industry that there’s a good chance there could be a new round of mergers and airline failures that the industry has gone through in the past. “In the near term, we’re going to see a shakeout,” said Joe Schwieterman, a transportation expert…
Virgin Australia was placed in a trading halt this week. The trading halt was to announce that the airline had requested a $1.4 billion ($US843 661 000, £681,863,000, €777,315,000) loan from the Australian government. Virgin has about 6 months of reserves, but requested the loan to “bolster the airline’s ability to reinstate workers once the…
(file picture) The leader of the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, accused unidentified Americans of swooping in with cash to secure shipments already promised to French buyers. “We lost an order to the Americans who outbid us on a shipment that we had lined up,” said Valerie Pecresse, the chief of France’s most populous region.…
Heathrow Airport is going to shut down one of its two runways and operate take offs and landings from just one runway. With countries around the world banning travel and the British Government advising against travel outside the country, the number of flights leaving Heathrow has fallen dramatically, leading to the decision to shut down…
Emirates will resume operating some passenger flights next week after it suspended operations on March 25. The airline got approval from UAE authorities to begin flying a limited number of passenger flights starting April 6 and will initially only carry travelers outbound from the UAE, Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in…
Moray Council has confirmed plans have been put in place to use an old aircraft hangar at Kinloss as a temporary mortuary during the outbreak. The space, which used to house Nimrod spy planes, would only be used in the “worst case” senario if there are a large number deaths in the local area. The…
Scottish airline Loganair has begun flying into London Heathrow for the first time. It has transferred its regular link between Isle of Man and London from City Airport (which is temporarily closed) to Heathrow. Loganair is using Terminal 5, the home of British Airways, which has consolidated its Heathrow operations at T5. The single flight…
