Eastern Airways to launch Southampton - Dublin route

The small boutique style regional UK airline, Eastern Airways has confirmed the start date of its new route from Southampton Airport to Dublin will be Monday 17th August 2020.

By reconnecting the airport with the Irish capital Dublin, which is a former Flybe route, Eastern Airways as the UK’s regional airline is expanding the number of routes it operates from Southampton to seven. Commencing with an initial daily round-trip, the frequency will increase quickly as demand increases following the return to air travel following the reduced Covid-19 travel restrictions and return of business and leisure travel.

As services to Belfast City, Leeds-Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Teesside are already offered by Eastern Airways, adding Dublin with further new routes to follow compliments the operators developing Southampton base of 72-seat ATR72-600 aircraft. As Covid-19 travel restrictions reduce, all routes will see increasing frequencies and the addition of weekend services.

Fleetway Travel goes bust.

The UK's Fleetway Travel has ceased trading after being in business for 45 years the firm confirmed today.

Fleetway Travel which operated under several other brand names had been experiencing great cash flow pressures as a direct result of the coronavirus COVID-19 and the subsequent travel restrictions and border closures.  On top of that was the lack of new bookings and the growing pressure to refund customers' money for cancelled trips. 

The firm's management had been looking for other funding opportunities and avenues,  but none was forthcoming and the company put into administrations today. 

It's understood that around 6500 holidays will be affected by the news,  with the majority of those being protected under the ATOL scheme.  Its head, Andy Cohen said: “We understand this will be concerning news for anyone who has booked to travel with the company or has had their booking cancelled. It is a sad day for the industry when a long-established business like Fleetway ceases trading.

Canadian carrier WestJet to expand August schedule

New schedule highlights WestJet's continued service to
39 Canadian cities from coast-to-coast

The Canadian carrier WestJet has released an updated August schedule which features more than 200 daily flights to 48 destinations across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Europe.

The schedule features service to 39 domestic airports and further highlights the airline's commitment to ensuring air service and regional connectivity is available to Canadians from coast-to-coast in the wake of main rival Air Canada dropping more than 200 flights from its domestic schedule,  with more on the way as the airline battles to stem losses caused by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

"With the many safeguards and procedures in place, we are certain Canadians can safely resume travel to destinations across our network," said Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet Chief Commercial Officer. "We continue to adapt our schedule to meet the needs of our guests and through our continued investment economies can begin to recover with the support of domestic tourism driven by air travel."

Between July 15 to September 4, 2020, WestJet will increase domestic frequencies and offer operations to 48 destinations including 39 in Canada, five in the U.S., two in Europe, one in the Caribbean, one in Mexico.

The airline will reintroduce a non-stop Dreamliner service from Calgary to London (Gatwick) and Paris effective August 20, 2020, and will continue to serve five key transborder destinations including Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York (LaGuardia) and Orlando. The airline will also offer service to Cancun, Mexico, and will resume operations once-weekly to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Continued von zur Muehlen, "Despite these headwinds, we are committed to ensuring air travel remains affordable and accessible to Canadians from coast-to-coast during this difficult time. While an increase in flying is a positive sign, we are prudently monitoring our guests' loads to ensure we are managing our airline and the health of our guests and crew responsibly."

The August schedule reflects approximately a 10 % increase in flying from July, but a decrease of 75% less flying from August 2019. It also includes select frequency reductions and temporary domestic route suspensions between stations across Canada due to continued border closures and provincial travel restrictions.  

"The patchwork of domestic travel restrictions and quarantine periods that are currently in place within our own borders are severely limiting Canada's economic recovery and putting hundreds of thousands of jobs in our critical industry at risk," said von zur Muehlen. "We must standardize intra-provincial travel advice to ensure Canadians can move safely and freely across our country."

Air Canada Partners with Cleveland Clinic Canada

Air Canada announced today that Cleveland Clinic, a global healthcare leader, will provide medical advisory services as the airline further develops biosafety measures across its operations. Air Canada will have access to the local expertise of Cleveland Clinic Canada as well as clinical expertise from Cleveland Clinic's worldwide enterprise system.

"As airline travel adapts to a new normal, we are taking another leadership role via our partnership with renowned Cleveland Clinic which enables Air Canada to leverage the strategic insight, advice, resources and recommendations of the world's leading medical community to further develop protocols, guidelines and standards validated with science-based evidence in our ongoing COVID-19 response. We are committed in our ongoing strategy of continually developing multiple layers of measures for our customers and employees alike," said Samuel Elfassy, Vice President, Safety at Air Canada.

Air Canada is pleased to announce it has engaged Spartan Bioscience Inc., an Ottawa-based biotechnology leader in portable DNA testing technology, to assess how best to deploy Spartan's portable COVID-19 testing technology in the aviation sector. "Air Canada's strategy for managing COVID-19 has been to develop and apply multiple layers of biosafety measures for customers and employees. We believe the availability of a rapid, accurate, portable molecular test for COVID-19 will add yet another effective layer. We are excited by the potential and point of care use cases for the Spartan Cube, and look forward to working with the Spartan team in the weeks and months ahead," said Samuel Elfassy, Vice President, Safety at Air Canada. Air Canada has been at the forefront of the airline industry in responding to COVID-19, for example being among the first carriers globally to require face coverings onboard and the first airline in the Americas to take customers' temperatures prior to boarding. In May it introduced a comprehensive program, Air Canada CleanCare+, to apply biosafety measures at each stage of the journey. Air Canada has committed to adding other processes and technologies as they become available, which is why it is pleased to be working with Spartan Bioscience. Spartan is developing a proprietary swab for the collection of DNA samples for its COVID-19 test. Spartan's test cartridge (reagents) and the Spartan Cube (portable DNA analyzer device) remain subject to Health Canada approval. "Spartan is excited to explore how our fast, portable testing technology can help keep Air Canada employees and the travelling public safe as Canada's economy re-opens," said Nick Noreau, Spartan Bioscience's Chief Revenue Officer.

Air Canada is pleased to announce it has engaged Spartan Bioscience Inc., an Ottawa-based biotechnology leader in portable DNA testing technology, to assess how best to deploy Spartan's portable COVID-19 testing technology in the aviation sector.

"Air Canada's strategy for managing COVID-19 has been to develop and apply multiple layers of biosafety measures for customers and employees. We believe the availability of a rapid, accurate, portable molecular test for COVID-19 will add yet another effective layer. We are excited by the potential and point of care use cases for the Spartan Cube, and look forward to working with the Spartan team in the weeks and months ahead," said Samuel Elfassy, Vice President, Safety at Air Canada.

As Governments Lift lock-down Measures, Ethiopian Announces Resumption of Regular Service to Dubai and Djibouti

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest airline is resuming service to Dubai further to the ending of the lock-down.

Djibouti has also announced that it will end lock-down on 17th of July. As a result, Ethiopian will resume normal service to Djibouti on the 17th of July.

These resumptions will bring the total number of destinations to be served by Ethiopian with enhanced safety measures to 40. As countries continue to open-up their airports for passenger arrival, Ethiopian will announce a list of these destinations in due course.

Esteemed Customers are kindly informed that Facemasks will be mandatory for travel and are requested to satisfy destination entry requirements such as health certificates and fill health declaration forms if required. Up to date destination entry requirements can be found on our website using the link https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/aa/travel-updates

A Day in the Life: Pilot on the Ground

Photo By Senior Airman Savannah Waters | Senior Airman Vitto Suico, 31st Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment technician, replaces a battery kit for a universal water activated release system at Aviano Air Base, Italy, June 29, 2020. Aircrew flight equipment manages, maintains and inspects gear the pilots wear, as well as gear placed inside the aircraft to maximize survivability in the event an aircrew member egresses during an emergency. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Savannah L. Waters)

Over the years, the U.S. Air Force has employed some of the most advanced aircraft in the world, its pilots utilizing extraordinary skill and precision to command the skies. While mission success is paramount, a pilot’s role as an officer and leader is just as important, and often overlooked.

“As a pilot, the leadership aspect of it is something I don’t think a lot of people expect coming in,” said Maj. Joseph Basala, 510th Fighter Squadron pilot. “[People assume pilots] show up, walk to the jet while drinking their morning coffee, jump into the cockpit, fly, land and go home…I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what a pilot’s day consists of.”

After commissioning in 2010 from the University of Michigan, Basala was originally selected for navigation school, but made his way into the backseat of an F-15E Strike Eagle as a combat systems operator. In 2017, Basala was selected to complete pilot training, and has been flying as a wingman at Aviano for the last year.

Like most pilots, Maj. Basala isn’t just a pilot.

Mesa Air Group Reports June 2020 Operating Performance

Mesa Air Group, has reported Mesa Airlines’ operating performance for June 2020, this week

Mesa Airlines reported 9,247 block hours in June 2020, a 75.8 percent drop from June 2019 as a result of reduced schedules during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also reported a controllable completion factor of 100 percent for both its American and United operations.

Operating statistics for June 2020 and fiscal year 2020 YTD are included in the table below.

	Jun-20	Jun-19	% Change		YTD FY2020	YTD FY2019	% Change
Block Hours
American	3,000	16,546	-81.9%		111,199	148,592	-25.2%
United	6,248	21,694	-71.2%		144,289	192,479	-25.0%
Total	9,247	38,240	-75.8%		255,488	341,071	-25.1%
	Jun-20	Jun-19	% Change		YTD FY2020	YTD FY2019	% Change
Departures
American	1,699	9,737	-82.6%		63,693	85,570	-25.6%
United	3,550	11,318	-68.6%		72,559	96,987	-25.2%
Controllable Completion Factor*
American	100.00%	98.71%	1.3%		99.75%	99.21%	0.5%
United	100.00%	99.10%	0.9%		99.98%	99.59%	0.4%
Total Completion Factor**
American	100.00%	91.88%	8.8%		93.27%	95.72%	-2.6%
United	99.83%	97.81%	2.1%		94.72%	98.34%	-3.7%

*Controllable Completion Factor excludes cancellations due to weather and air traffic control
**Total Completion Factor includes all cancellations

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Mesa Air Group, Inc. is the holding company of Mesa Airlines, a regional air carrier providing scheduled passenger service to 66 cities in 29 states, the District of Columbia and Mexico. As of June 30th, 2020, Mesa operated a fleet of 145 aircraft with approximately 175 daily departures and 3,400 employees. Mesa operates all of its flights as either American Eagle or United Express flights pursuant to the terms of capacity purchase agreements entered into with American Airlines, Inc. and United Airlines, Inc.

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Ethiopian to Resume Flights to Cameroon on Special Permit

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest airline is resuming service to Duala and Yaoundé as of July 13, 2020.

The service will initially be three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from Addis Ababa to Duala via Yaoundé and then back to Addis Ababa.

Further to the resumption of regular service to Dubai and Djibouti, the addition of Duala and Yaoundé will bring the total number of destinations to be served by Ethiopian with enhanced safety measures to 42. As countries continue to open-up their airports for passenger arrival, Ethiopian will announce list of these destinations in due course.

Customers are informed that Facemasks will be mandatory for travel and are requested to satisfy destination entry requirements such as health certificates and fill health declaration forms if required. Up to date destination entry requirements can be found on our website using the link https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/aa/travel-updates As countries continue to open their borders and relax travel restrictions, Ethiopian is ready to increase frequencies to accommodate the demand by focusing on the wellbeing of customers and staff.

Ethiopian is happy to welcome back business and leisure travellers to these destinations. 

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US forces rescue missing hiker in Guam

Photo by Chief Petty Officer Joan Jennings

The Guam-based “Island Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 responded to a search and rescue (SAR) request for a stranded hiker on July 8.

The hiker was reported missing in the morning near the Pagat Caves of Guam’s eastern shore. Guam Fire and Rescue launched a ground search and located the hiker who was unable to hike out of the area around noon.

U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam contacted HSC-25 and requested air support at 2:05 pm. The rescue helicopter, piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Adam Wagler and Lt. Pierre Ramos, was on scene less than one hour later.

Once overhead, Chief Naval Aircrewmen (Helicopter) Brandon Stotts lowered Naval Aircrewmen (Helicopter) 2nd Class Andrew Hansen and Hospital Corpsman Kyle Barrington to the hiker 70 feet below through the trees. The rescue helicopter delivered the hiker to U.S. Naval Hospital Guam approximately 4 pm.

Crete - Now Open for Summer !

Crete is the largest of all the Greek islands and comes with an unbeatable beach-blanketed coastline that has delighted millions of visitors over the years.  There are sandy beaches, seafront tavernas, ancient palaces and neon nightlife – Crete holidays have it all.


Resorts for all sorts
Agios Nikolaos, Sissi or Stalis will tick all the boxes – especially if sun, sea and sand are your main criteria. For a taste of tradition, head to the hills where you’ll find quaint villages like Koutouloufari and Piskopiano. If it’s world-renowned nightlife you’re after, make it Malia, the island’s party capital.

Step into the past
Crete is steeped in history. Some of the mountainside villages have barely changed in centuries, while the sprawling ruins at Knossos are over 3,000 years old. Heraklion’s museum is one of the finest in Greece and will teach you everything essential about the island’s past, including its glory days under King Minos.

Eating out
It’s a place of delectable cuisine, from your standard cheese and olives to local wine, honey-covered goods and freshly caught fish. So enjoy the fine food and drink as you uncover Crete's Minoan history.

SAS releases traffic figures for June 2020 as the airline slowly rebuilds network

As a result of the ongoing Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, Scandinavian Airlines System saw passenger numbers down 86% for June this year compared to the same month of 2019. 

However, some shoots of recovery and starting to be seen,  the airline doubled its capacity to 30 aircraft during the middle of June and an additional 15 aircraft have returned to service in July.

SAS has increased its capacity and number of passengers as countries are gradually opening up. Compared to last month capacity has increased by 251 million available seat kilometres (ASK) and the number of passengers has increased by 269 thousand. In relation to last year, SAS experienced a 91% reduction in capacity and an 86% drop in the total number of passengers.

“We are pleased to welcome more passengers on board as we slowly start to rebuild our network and increase the connectivity to, from and within Scandinavia,” says Rickard Gustafson, CEO SAS.

Saab starts Gripen Production in Brazil

Saab's first aerostructures plant outside of Sweden for the new Gripen E/F fighter, in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, reaches another important milestone with the start of production. This site builds sections of Gripen, which will then be delivered to the final assembly facilities at the Embraer plant in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo, Brazil and to Saab in Linköping, Sweden.

In 2014, Saab signed a contract with the Brazilian government for the development and production of 36 Gripen E/F aircraft. In September last year, the first Brazilian Gripen E aircraft was delivered to start the flight test programme. Now, another milestone is reached, as Gripen production starts at Saab’s site in São Bernardo do Campo, in São Paulo in Brazil.

The last of 22 Apache attack helicopters delivered to Indian Air Force in June

The U.S. aerospace giant Boeing has completed delivery of all new AH-64E Apache and CH-47F Chinook military helicopters to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The final five of the 22 Apache attack helicopters were handed over to the IAF at Air Force Station, Hindan. Earlier in March, Boeing handed over the last five of 15 CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to the IAF.

“Customer centricity, commitment to the modernization and mission-readiness of India’s defence forces are key values to our partnership with India,” said Surendra Ahuja, managing director, Boeing Defence India. “With this delivery of military helicopters, we continue to nurture this partnership and are fully committed to working closely with India’s defence forces to deliver the right value and capabilities to meet their operational needs,” Ahuja added.

FLYONE has relaunched regular flights with new protection measures

FLYONE, the airline of the Republic of Moldova, following the recent gaining of its IOSA certificate after the IATA Operational Audit, had restarted regular flights from 1 July, as well as implementing new protection measures for the passengers and the crew safety.

The measures were coordinated in accordance with the operational instructions received from the local and international authorities. The measures are an integral part of the carriers Guide to Safe Travel.   

New video guide for passengers.