UK space regulator issues Virgin Orbit licences ahead of UK launch

• UK Civil Aviation Authority issues launch and range licences to Virgin Orbit to undertake launch activities from the UK
• public safety, the environment and international obligations were among the statutory tests Virgin Orbit had to satisfy to secure licences
• licences issued in 15 months, putting the UK framework on a competitive footing with international space regulators and follows first spaceport licence issued to Spaceport Cornwall

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has issued the final remaining licences to Virgin Orbit ahead of a planned UK launch after requirements were met within 15 months.

The licences were issued following consent from Transport Secretary Mark Harper for Virgin Orbit’s launch and range licence, meaning he is in agreement with the licensing decisions made by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Virgin Orbit met the licensing requirements having demonstrated to the UK Civil Aviation Authority it has taken all reasonable steps to ensure safety risks arising from launch activities are as low as reasonably practicable. Virgin Orbit also met other appropriate security and environmental aspects required for launch.

Virgin Orbit also received its range control licence from the space regulator, which enables the company to issue warning notices to keep people out of hazardous areas and monitor the progress of the rocket.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority granted the licences within 15 months, well within the expected timescales for these types of licences, putting the UK’s regulatory framework on a competitive footing with other international space regulators.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper, said:

Today we are one step closer to opening the UK’s galactic gateway, with Virgin Orbit receiving a historic first licence to allow the UK’s first ever spaceflight launch.

The planned launch reinforces our position as a leading space nation as we look to the future of spaceflight, which can spur growth and innovation across the sector, as well as creating thousands of jobs and apprenticeships.

Dan Hart, Chief Executive of Virgin Orbit, said:

Receiving Virgin Orbit’s range and launch licences takes us one step closer to the first satellite launch take-off from UK soil. This is a major milestone for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and represents the successful completion of an enormous effort, which has included the construction of new regulations, new processes and new teams.

With our partners at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Spaceport Cornwall, UK Space Agency and our payload customers, together we are progressing towards the first launch from Cornwall – keeping a strong focus on a safe and successful mission for all.

Aeroflot Group launches more flights from Saint-Petersburg

The Russian Aeroflot Group has opened direct regular flights from Saint-Petersburg Pulkovo Airport to a number of destinations. 

Aeroflot itself operates its own flights to Istanbul from Pulkovo Airport are operated on Boeing 737-800 aircraft and flies four times a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. 

Flights to Samarkand are operated by Rossiya Airlines with Aeroflot's SU code three times a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays on Airbus A319 aircraft.

Aeroflot will operate flights to Tashkent three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with Boeing 737 - 800 aircraft.

A service to Antalya will also be operated by Aeroflot on 737-800 jets flying on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  

Allegiant Travel Company reports preliminary passenger traffic results for November 2022.

Allegiant Travel Company reports preliminary

passenger traffic results for November 2022.  

Las Vegas-based Allegiant, an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, that features small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares, has just released details of its November performance. 

Scheduled Service – Year Over Three-Year Comparison
	November 2022	November 2019	Change
Passengers	1,193,686	1,101,346	8.4 %
Revenue passenger miles (000)	1,094,020	962,614	13.7 %
Available seat miles (000)	1,272,381	1,197,831	6.2 %
Load factor	86.0 %	80.4 %	5.6 pts
Departures	8,085	8,189	(1.3 %)
Average stage length (miles)	891	857	4.0 %
Total System* - Year Over Three-Year Comparison
	November 2022	November 2019	Change
Passengers	1,221,545	1,129,065	8.2 %
Available seat miles (000)	1,342,100	1,255,381	6.9 %
Departures	8,680	8,739	(0.7 %)
Average stage length (miles)	875	841	4.0 %
Scheduled Service – Year Over Year Comparison
	November 2022	November 2021	Change
Passengers	1,193,686	1,187,477	0.5 %
Revenue passenger miles (000)	1,094,020	1,066,154	2.6 %
Available seat miles (000)	1,272,381	1,373,420	(7.4 %)
Load factor	86.0 %	77.6 %	8.4 pts
Departures	8,085	8,923	(9.4 %)
Average stage length (miles)	891	876	1.7 %
Total System* - Year Over Year Comparison
	November 2022	November 2021	Change
Passengers	1,221,545	1,211,017	0.9 %
Available seat miles (000)	1,342,100	1,430,727	(6.2 %)
Departures	8,680	9,448	(8.1 %)
Average stage length (miles)	875	862	1.5 %

*Total system includes scheduled service and fixed fee contract.  System revenue passenger miles and system load factor are not useful statistics as system available seat miles include both ASMs flown by fixed fee flying as well as non-revenue producing repositioning flights used for operational needs.  Fixed fee flying is better measured through dollar contribution versus operational statistics.

SWISS to recruit new pilots from 2023

SWISS is to resume the recruitment and training of new pilots from 2023 onwards. The training will be provided by the European Flight Academy, which is operated by Lufthansa Aviation Training. SWISS student pilots can also take advantage of financial training support.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will resume the recruitment and training of new pilots next year, after such activities were suspended in view of the coronavirus pandemic. SWISS will also be newly employing 80 first officers who have already completed their training with Lufthansa Aviation Training Switzerland (LAT).

“We are really pleased that, after a two-year hiring freeze, we can now offer a new generation of SWISS pilots job prospects, career perspectives and an attractive workplace aloft, and can welcome more new colleagues to our cockpit crew corps,” says SWISS Head of Flight Operations Stefan-Kenan Scheib. “We’re looking to train new cockpit personnel now, to ensure that we continue to meet all our cockpit crewing needs for our SWISS flight operations.”

The two-year training of SWISS’s new pilots will be conducted by the LAT-operated European Flight Academy (EFA). The training will take place at various locations including Opfikon and Grenchen in Switzerland and Goodyear (Arizona) in the USA.

“Now is the ideal time for talented young individuals to seek a cockpit career,” says Manuel Meier, Managing Director of Lufthansa Aviation Training Switzerland AG. “As the Lufthansa Group’s Swiss-based training organization, we offer our applicants high-quality basic and further flight training with SWISS instructors and a state-of-the-art training aircraft fleet.”

SWISS student pilots offered financial support

Applicants should have completed at least three years of basic vocational training or have examination-free access to university-level education. SWISS student pilots can also benefit from assistance in financing the training costs involved. Candidates can apply now, and will find further information at www.swiss.com or at www.european-flight-academy.com.

Southwest Airlines new five year contract approved by customer service employees

Southwest Airlines new five-year contract approved by customer service employees

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), representing the more than 8,000 Customer Service Employees at Southwest Airlines Co. announced that their members voted in favour of a new, five-year contract.

"Our Employees work hard to take care of our Customers every day, and that's even more evident during this busy holiday travel season," said Adam Carlisle, Vice President Labor Relations at Southwest Airlines®. "I'm extremely pleased we can reward them with this new contract, which demonstrates the value they bring to Southwest and is designed to give us additional efficiencies to operate our airline."

This contract covers Southwest's Customer Service Agents, Customer Representatives, and Source of Support Representatives, who are keenly focused on delivering world-class Hospitality and Customer Service. These valued Employees support Customers during their Southwest journey, whether that's taking a phone call to change a Customer's travel plans or assisting a Customer or Fellow Employee on the ground at one of the airports Southwest® serves. The new contract becomes amendable on Dec. 15, 2027.

Eurowings expands in Prague after successful first year

Eurowings has been connecting the Czech capital Prague non-stop with European metropolises and holiday regions for a year now. Starting with four destinations for the winter flight schedule 21/22, travelers could already choose from 14 different destinations in the summer of 2022. The Lufthansa Group airline quickly established itself in the Czech market and met with great customer interest right from the start.

Lufthansa Group Airline has quickly established itself in the Czech Republic
Three new routes in the 2023 summer flight schedule
Eurowings now also connects the Czech Republic with Geneva, Rhodes and Corfu; Oslo and Funchal now also connected in summer
CEO Jens Bischof: "Prague and Eurowings are a match"
Czechs' New Year's Eve trips lead to metropolises

Eurowings CEO satisfied with first year

"Prague and Eurowings are a match. We dared to take the step to the Czech Republic in a still very uncertain situation, but it is becoming more and more clear that people all over Europe now want to travel again after the Corona restrictions," says Jens Bischof, CEO of Eurowings. "Our concept as a value airline is also working: Czechs like to fly cheaply, but they also value our additional services such as flexible rebooking up to 40 minutes before departure or our Priority Service."

Jaroslav Filip, Director of Aviation Business at Prague Airport, also welcomes the Lufthansa subsidiary's commitment. "In the summer, Eurowings brought many guests to popular destinations and also expanded the offer in the winter. After the first year, it is clear that this is a successful cooperation, which we will continue to expand in the future.

Outlook: New destinations in summer 2023 and New Year's Eve trends

Evaluations show that Czech customers preferred to fly to Spain with Eurowings in the summer. Alicante on the Costa Blanca, Barcelona and Europe's most popular sunny island Mallorca were particularly popular. The most popular metropolis in 2022: the Danish capital Copenhagen.

In summer 2023, both holiday and business travellers from Prague will be able to choose from an even wider range of Eurowings services. New in the programme are connections to Geneva, Rhodes and Corfu. More frequent connections will be offered to Copenhagen (eleven times a week), Stockholm (six times a week), Malaga (four times a week), Athens and Alicante (three times a week). The programme now comprises a total of 18 routes, which are served by three stationed aircraft. Prices start from 39.99 euros.

But many Czechs don't wait until summer for their next trip, they also take a plane on the occasion of New Year's Eve. The most popular destinations over the New Year are the metropolises of Barcelona, Rome and Stockholm.

United Airlines 787 pilot and new union boss is bringing anything but unity to the cockpit.

Ben Schlappig over at One Mile at a Time has posted an interesting article on the kind of person United Airlines pilots belonging to the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have as a new leader of the Master Executive Council (MEC) - Neil Swindells, a 787 captain. 

Ben tells of just a few recent posts and social media updates from Mr Swindells that indicate what sort of person he is,  the person that represents so many United staff.  

In one post Swindells says he wants all those pilots that cross picket lines - labelled as scabs, "all died slow painful deaths of a anal cancer requiring multiple surgeries, and copious amounts of seepage from weeping wounds."

Ben has a few other comments Swindells has posted, and there are many others that we couldn't repeat here due to their nature or their one-sidedness.  Take a look over there or other articles or one of the many pilot forum boards.  

What the future holds for Swindells and the United Pilots he represents remains to be seen, but the firm's great strides in diversifying employment at the sharp end of the jets has taken a substantial knockback. The idea that the cockpit is a safe and professional working environment for all United pilots, regardless of union affiliation or none, seems to be nonexistent. The comments either for or against Swindells on those boards are more like what you'd hear in secondary/high school and not from people you'd trust to fly you in a plane. 

Condor releases winter flight schedule 2023/24

Condor winter flight schedule 2023/24

With Condor to the world's most beautiful destinations: Germany's most popular leisure airline has released the longhaul flight schedule for the 2023/24 winter season. Condor will be taking off from Frankfurt to 19 long-haul destinations, including popular destinations in the USA and the Caribbean, as well as in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

The flight schedule includes the American metropolises of New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle, as well as the Canadian city of Toronto. In addition, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic for beach lovers and South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania for Africa fans. The yearning destinations in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius, the Maldives, and the Seychelles, are also back in the program. Further destinations and frequencies are under consideration.

Travel with Condor can be booked with tour operators and at travel agencies, and flight tickets are available as usual at www.condor.com and by telephone.

Overview of Condor long-haul flights from Frankfurt, bookable now:

New York City - JFK (USA): Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Seattle (USA): Monday, Thursday, Saturday

Los Angeles (USA): Thursday, Sunday

Toronto (Canada): Monday, Thursday, Saturday

Varadero (Cuba): Tuesday, Friday, Sunday

Holguín (Cuba): Wednesday, Sunday

Havana (Cuba): Monday, Thursday

Puerto Plata (Dom. Republic): Wednesday, Sunday

Punta Cana (Dom. Republic): Daily

Santo Domingo (Dom. Republic): Wednesday, Sunday

Cancún (Mexico): Daily

Montego Bay (Jamaica): Wednesday, Sunday

Cape Town (South Africa): Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Johannesburg (South Africa): Monday, Friday

Mombasa (Kenya): Friday, Sunday

Zanzibar (Tanzania): Friday, Sunday

Mauritius (Indian Ocean): Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Seychelles (Indian Ocean): Friday

Male (Maldives): Monday, Wednesday, Saturday

The 2023/24 winter schedule is valid from November 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024. Not all flights operate on a full-season basis.

UK Defence Secretary oral statement on war in Ukraine

Defence Secretary's oral statement on war in Ukraine

The UK's Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace made the following statement to Parliament today, updating members of Parliament on the war in Ukraine and the UK's continued programme of military aid. 

During the statement, Wallace detailed how Russian soldiers have exhumed the bones of Prince Potemkin, the legendary confidant of Catherine the Great as well as looting priceless artefacts from museums. And, according to UNESCO, either partially or fully destroyed more than 200 Ukrainian cultural sites.  Wallace said that numerous open-source reports demonstrate this morally bankrupt activity is not the work of rogue units or of corrupt individuals but is systemic.

He tells how the Russian regime is splitting up families through forced relocation or ‘filtration’ into Temporarily Occupied Territories or Russia itself and nobody knows of their long-term fate.

Wallace told the MP's that more than 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been struck, which is a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict. This is just one of hundreds of alleged war crimes that are being investigated. 

Full statement below. 

Gripen E now in operation with Brazilian Air Force

The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) held a ceremony on 19 December at the Anápolis Air Base (BAAN) marking the beginning of operational activities of the Gripen E fighters (referred to as Gripen F-39 in Brazil) by the First Air Defense Group (1st GDA).

This important customer milestone follows the flight test phase in Brazil that started in September 2020 with the arrival of the test aircraft in the country, and which were conducted at the Gripen Flight Test Center (GFTC) located at the Embraer plant in Gavião Peixoto.

"The start of operational activities with Gripen E by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) is an extremely important day. It marks the beginning of a new operational era for FAB but also is the result of years of hard work done in partnership with the Air Force and with our Brazilian industry partners: Embraer, AEL Sistemas, Akaer, Atech, and our own subsidiaries in Brazil,” said Saab’s President and CEO Micael Johansson.

At the event two Gripen fighters made a presentation flight led by FAB pilots Lieutenant Colonel Gustavo Pascotto, Commander of the 1st GDA, and Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Lincoln Santos Fórneas. The Brazilian pilots carried out their training with Gripen E in Sweden. They also practiced for today’s flight on the mission trainers, which are installed at the Anápolis Air Base.

In November, Saab achieved the certification necessary for the military use of Gripen E, which attests that the aircraft has met certain airworthiness and flight safety requirements which was an important step prior to operational activities with the FAB. This was granted by both the Swedish and Brazilian military authorities, represented by the Swedish Military Aviation Safety Inspectorate (FLYGI) and the Industrial Fostering and Coordination Institute (IFI) in Brazil. The joint certification reflects the synergy obtained through the technical cooperation between the two authorities in each country.

“Brazil now has one of the most advanced fighters in the world. This is currently the most extensive ongoing technology transfer programme in Brazil and it is definitely the largest one ever done by any Swedish company, bringing to the Brazilian defence industry the knowledge to develop, produce, test and maintain an advanced supersonic fighter. We are very proud to be a strategic partner to Brazil," concluded Johansson.

'Unlawfully killed' coroner concludes at the end of the Shoreham Airshow Crash inquest

'Unlawfully killed' -Coroner Penelope Schofield has concluded at the end of the long inquest into the deaths of eleven men who died when at the Shoreham Airshow crash in 2015.

The men were either watching or driving past the airshow when a Hawker Hunter vintage jet, piloted by Andrew Hill, failed to pull up enough during a manoeuvre and crashed on a dual carriageway. 

Previously Andrew Hill had been cleared of manslaughter by gross negligence, however, the coroner Penelope Schofield said the plane crash was "a result of the manner in which it was flown" and confirmed those that had been killed played "no part" in causing their own deaths.  There were a series of errors serious enough to reach a conclusion, on the balance of probabilities, that the men had been killed as a result of gross negligence manslaughter, Schofield added.

The Hawker Hunter jet was said to have 'disintegrated' creating a 'massive fireball' upon impact with the ground as pilot Hill was performing a manoeuvre called a bent loop.  Hill was lucky to escape the crash and was thrown into a ditch when the plane broke up.  

The 11 that died were:

Matt Jones, 24.

Matthew Grimstone, 23. 

Jacob Schilt, 23. 

Maurice Abrahams, 76. 

Richard Smith, 26.

Mark Reeves, 53. 

Tony Brightwell, 53. 

Mark Trussler, 54. 

Daniele Polito, 23. 

Dylan Archer, 42. 

James "Graham" Mallinson, 72. 

Video from the BBC  below of the last few seconds of flight before the crash - the impact or devastating results are not shown.

Simon Pauck Hansen leaves SAS

Simon Pauck Hansen, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the troubled Scandinavian carrier SAS has confirmed he is leaving the airline, handing over the reins to Mikael Wångdahl, currently VP SAS Link and External Production, with the changeover to be completed by the middle of January. 

SAS said that the pandemic’s impact on the aviation market has demanded significant changes for SAS and Simon Pauck Hansen has played a key role in the process of taking SAS through the largest crisis ever experienced by the aviation industry and in preparing SAS for a competitive future facing the new market reality. Simon has been instrumental in implementing the SAS Forward Plan and the main components under Simon’s responsibility are now realized or planned as SAS is entering the next phase of the business transformation plan.

 “Simon Pauck Hansen has made significant contributions to SAS during his many years of dedicated service. We are very sad that he has chosen to leave SAS, and I would like to personally thank Simon for our close cooperation and his dedication to the company during my time as CEO”, says Anko van der Werff, SAS President & CEO.

“I started in SAS as a trainee 26 years ago, and I am truly grateful for all the experiences and opportunities offered to me during this time. It has been a great journey to be part of this company and navigating through the ups and downs of this highly dynamic industry. The last three years have required significant sacrifices by everyone in SAS, but I am confident that a brighter future now lies ahead. The time has, however, come for me to hand over the reins. SAS will always hold a special place in my heart, and it has been a very difficult decision for me to make,” says Simon Pauck Hansen, SAS Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer.