An Airbus A400M airlifter has performed an air-bridge between Toulouse and Madrid in order to deliver critically-needed mask supplies to the Spanish health system. The aircraft, known as MSN56 and operated by an Airbus crew, took off on 23rd March 2020 from Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse at 18.07 local time (CET) landing at the Getafe Air Base (Madrid) at 19.05 to off-load and deliver the masks to the Spanish Ministry of Defence. The cargo is part of the approximately 2 million masks transported over the weekend by a test Airbus A330-800 aircraft from Tianjin, China, to Europe. This air-bridge will enable the delivery of a significant supply of masks to the Spanish public health network in support of current COVID-19 crisis efforts. This comes on top of donations by Airbus in recent days to provide thousands of masks to hospitals and public services around Europe. The Company will continue to support....
Bombardier recently announced that in support of the recent mandates from the Governments of Quebec and Ontario to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will suspend all non-essential work at most of its Canadian based operations until April 26, 2020, inclusively. This suspension includes Bombardier’s aircraft and rail production activities in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Employees impacted by these temporary shutdowns will be placed on furlough, as will corporate office employees whose support functions are less critical in the short-term. During this furlough period, Bombardier’s CEO and senior leadership team will forgo their pay, and the Chairman and members of Bombardier’s Board of Directors have agreed to forgo board compensation for the remainder of 2020. Bombardier is also suspending its 2020 financial outlook as it evaluates the impact of temporarily closing its Canadian operations, as well as other actions being taken in response to the....
Thai low-cost carriers have announced temporary suspensions of international services. Thai AirAsia says its suspension of international flights began on 22 March and will end on 25 April, and that the decision was taken “in accordance with travel restrictions being enforced by various governments and relevant health authorities”. Domestic flights will continue. Cirium schedules data shows that prior to the suspension, Thai AirAsia had around 26% of its total capacity in February dedicated to international services. Flights to China, as well as to neighbouring countries Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore, are the hardest hit by the suspension. Thai Lion Air, meanwhile, said in Facebook statement on 20 March that all flights would be suspended from 25 March to 30 April. But the following day the airline said domestic services would resume from 15 April. Around 23% of Thai Lion Air’s February capacity was to foreign countries – a similar proportion to....
After weeks of cutting schedules and updating routes, Emirates has added several more destinations to its growing list of flight suspensions. Emirates has now cut flights to 111 destinations across its network – which means more than 70 per cent of the airline's routes are currently suspended. The changes are due to travel restrictions introduced to prevent the spread of Covid-19 by air travel. The latest destinations to be added to the list include several cities in the UK, US, Australia and all destinations in New Zealand. Some services are suspended until June 30, meaning many foreign residents in Dubai will not be able to travel home with Emirates for the annual summer break. The Dubai airline has suspended services to Auckland and Christchurch, the only two destinations it serves in New Zealand. As the only UAE airline to fly direct to the country, New Zealanders will need to look....
The Airport Council International (ACI) has voiced concerns over the effectiveness of imposing travel bans. “While the EU balks at the imposition of a transatlantic travel ban by the US, an increasing number of EU countries are imposing their own unilateral restrictions to air connectivity within Europe. Besides further damaging European aviation and worsening the economic fallout of COVID-19, the fact that these measures do not appear aligned with WHO recommendations raises serious doubts as to their effectiveness,” Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe has said. The WHO continues to advise against travel restrictions to countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, stating that “in general, evidence shows that restricting the (international) movement of people during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations”. The WHO recognises that restrictions on international air travel can be justified at the beginning of an outbreak, to prevent or at best delay imported cases from other countries. But once....
As an unexpected consequence of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, the French airline Air Tahiti Nui broke the record of the longest passenger flight by traveled distance ever by operating a nonstop flight between Papeete, in French Polynesia, and Paris. Departing from Papeete airport (PPT), on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia on March 15, 2020, the company's Boeing 787 Dreamliner, registered F-OTOA, landed in Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport (CDG) some 15 hours and 45 minutes later. It had traveled a distance of 15,715 kilometers (9,764 miles). Usually, flights between Papeete and Paris have to make a stopover in Los Angeles airport (LAX), United States. There, passengers have to deplane and are processed through US Customs. However, four days before the flight, President Donald Trump had suspended all travel from Europe to the United States for a period of 30 days in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic.....
Air France is to ground its Airbus A380s and its Dutch sibling carrier KLM its full Boeing 747 fleet as part of wider capacity cuts the group expects will result in potential cuts in its ASK capacity of between 70% and 90%. The cuts follow the tightening of travel restrictions in Europe generally, and the group’s home nations of France and the Netherlands specifically, in response to the coronavirus crisis. Notably, that includes the French government’s move to a level 3 public health emergency requiring the closure of all non-essential services. ”Faced with these growing restrictions on the possibility of travelling and a strong downward trend in demand which has resulted in a drop in traffic and sales over the last few weeks, the Air France-KLM Group is obliged to gradually reduce its flight activity very significantly over the next few days, with the number of available seat kilometres potentially....
CAE announced recently at the International Women in Aviation conference the opening of its second edition of the CAE Women in Flight scholarship program, with its first airline partner in this edition: Southwest Airlines. The objective of this unique annual scholarship program is to inspire a new generation of professional pilots among women, as well as to encourage diversity in aviation. One outstanding candidate will be selected and awarded the scholarship to train with CAE. Other airline partners will be announced in the upcoming months. In 2019, for the first edition of the program, CAE awarded five scholarships to cadets that started their journey to become pilots with one of our global airline partners: American Airlines, Aeroméxico, AirAsia, Cityjet and easyJet. CAE is creating role models for the next generation of professional pilots by awarding scholarships every year to its ab-initio training programs across its global training network. Each scholarship covers the....
Kuwait will halt all commercial flights to and from the country starting Friday and until further notice, with the exception of cargo flights, state news agency KUNA reported on Wednesday. Authorities also announced a public holiday in the country from March 12-26, with work resuming on March 29, KUNA said, adding that companies providing vital services would remain open. The country would also 'forbid' its residents meeting in "restaurants, cafes and commercial centres", KUNA said. The decision comes as coronavirus cases in Kuwait rose to 72 with three new infections on Wednesday. Neighbouring Bahrain saw a surge in cases to 189 while the UAE has 74 infections, Saudi Arabia has 21 and Oman has 18.
Magnetic MRO, a Total Technical Care and asset management organization, and Airbus, a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services, have signed a long term airframe maintenance agreement for the support and maintenance of Airbus family aircraft. "The Total Technical Care is not only about the quality of MRO services. It's also about first-class customer support, transparent processes, and exceptionally high procedural standards. We're very proud of our team which has proven to meet these standards on numerous occasions. We are glad to expand our partnership with Airbus and share the experience of Magnetic MRO high quality of service with them and their partners. This has definitely opened new horizons for Magnetic MRO, and we are looking forward to wide cooperation now that we are an approved supplier for Airbus maintenance-related activities," shared Inga Duglas, Chief Commercial Officer at Magnetic MRO. Magnetic MRO provides EASA and FAA-certified Total Technical Care....
Airbus A400M delivers mask supplies to Spanish health system
Bombardier temporarily suspends its Canadian operations
Thai carriers temporarily suspend international flights
Emirates add more key destinations to its flight suspension list
ACI voices concern over travel bans across EU
Air Tahiti Nui flies its longest flight ever
Air France, KLM make major capacity cuts
CAE announces opening of its new Women in Flight scholarship program
Kuwait to halt all commercial flights until further notice
Magnetic MRO and Airbus sign airframe maintenance agreement
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