Two Emirates Boeing 777-300ERs got in each other's way at Dubai Airport - the airline's second serious incident in just a few weeks.

Dubai, January 9, 2022: Emirates Flight 524 is ready for takeoff. The Boeing 777-300ER's destination on this day is Hyderabad. On Runway 30R, the crew takes the takeoff run.

A little further down, a 777-300ER, Emirates Flight 568 to Bangalore, crosses 30R at the same moment.

Meanwhile, EK524 continues to pick up speed. According to Aviation Herald sources, the pilots abort the takeoff procedure "from high speed", there is talk of more than 100 knots, on the instruction of the tower - and taxi out on the runway.

An investigation is now underway to determine how this could have happened. The Aviation Herald, citing two independent sources, reports that the EK524 crew took off without clearance from the tower. According to the report, EK568 had an OK to cross the runway and taxied safely to takeoff after the incident.

Low-level flight over residential area

The incident is the second delicate situation within a few weeks on 30R for Emirates, which was just named the world's safest airline again by JACDEC, the Hamburg-based aviation accident bureau.

On Dec. 20, one of the airline's 777-300ERs had taken off presumably under faulty parameters - the aircraft took off only beyond the final marker of 30R, initially achieved an extremely low rate of climb - and flew over rooftops of houses near the airport with only a few meters of altitude separation.

Ahead of a decision on a Tornado successor for the Air Force, Boeing is offering German companies industrial partnerships to operate a fleet of F-18s. A request for information to that effect has been sent to more than 10 German companies, Boeing said Wednesday in Berlin.

"German industrial partners will play an important role in providing support equipment, logistics and overall maintenance, components, local maintenance programs, training and other relevant repair and overhaul solutions for Germany's Super Hornet and Growler fleet," the statement said.

"German industry will also have the opportunity to participate in the development of the Next Generation Jammer/NGJ for the EA-18G Growler."

The SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed to procure "a successor system for the Tornado fighter aircraft at the beginning of the 20th legislative period." According to dpa information, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has already spoken with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (both SPD) about the multi-billion dollar project.

After that, review orders were issued - including why the F-35 model, which is sometimes described as more modern, is out of the running.

Lambrecht's predecessor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), had set the course for F-18 fighter jets to be purchased in the U.S. as a successor to the Tornado fleet. The U.S. model is to be procured for Germany's so-called nuclear sharing of U.S. nuclear weapons.

The previous deterrence concept envisages that Tornados specialized in electronic warfare would protectively accompany the bombers. According to previous plans, some 30 F-18s of the "Super Hornet" version were to be procured for nuclear sharing. In addition, 15 F-18s in the "Growler" version were to be purchased for electronic air combat - the jamming, holding down and fighting of enemy air defense positions.

Pakistan's aviation regulator has passed an ICAO audit. Pakistan International Airlines wants to start flying to Europe again in March. Latest.

Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK8303 ended in disaster in May 2020 - 97 of 99 occupants died in the A320 crash.

The air accident in Karachi had wide repercussions: Investigators uncovered hundreds of cases of fraud and corruption in the issuance and renewal of pilot licenses in Pakistan.

The EU imposed an immediate flight ban on Pakistan International Airlines in the summer of 2020. Now the signs are that the situation is easing.

"We hope to resume operations to Europe in February or March," said Pakistan's Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan. Pakistan had faced an audit of its Civil Aviation Authority by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in late 2021 and passed the audit in early January.

CAA helps with the restart

According to Khan, Pakistan has permanently banned 50 pilots in the wake of the licensing scandal, eight of them directly with PIA. Five officials involved in the scandal have been fired - they are under criminal investigation in Pakistan. Pakistan is currently completely overhauling its aviation licensing system, with support from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Demand is particularly high over the holidays. Now, of all times, more long-haul pilots are ill than usual. That's why Lufthansa is considering temporarily suspending certain connections.

In the U.S., airlines are struggling with a problem that many industries are currently experiencing: acute staff shortages. Because demand plummeted during the Corona crisis and full recovery will take years, many airlines have laid off pilots, taken temporary leave or taken early retirement. This allowed them to cut costs in the struggle for survival. Many have turned to other professions and are not interested in returning to their old jobs. These include pilots, flight attendants and ground staff. 

According to CAE, the number of active cockpit personnel is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022. That would lead to a near-term need for about 27,000 new pilots starting in late 2021, he said, something the industry in the U.S. is already feeling dramatically. United Airlines recently said it would have to ground 100 planes because it lacked the personnel to do so.

Particularly acute over the Christmas holidays !

Lufthansa is also struggling with a staff shortage. But the reason is not primarily the one causing the problems in the United States. Apparently, the sickness rate among Frankfurt-based cockpit personnel is unusually high for Airbus A330/A340s.

Hamburg-Finkenwerder - Emirates has taken delivery of the last remaining Airbus A380 in Hamburg. The airline made the announcement this afternoon. In total, Airbus has manufactured and delivered 251 aircraft of this type to 14 airlines since the A380 program was launched 21 years ago.

Emirates is by far the most important A380 customer, having purchased 123 aircraft.

Unlike the commercial launch of the giant aircraft, the delivery took place without much of a spectacle: Due to the ongoing Corona pandemic, guests were excluded from the handover at the factory site in the Finkenwerder district.

But sadly, the first Airbus A380s have already been taken out of service. 

In view of the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for additional sanctions against Belarus and airlines. In addition to Belarus and Russia, Turkey is increasingly coming into focus in the border crisis.

Cham Wings has foreign offices in Iran, Iraq, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. For some weeks now, the private Syrian airline has also been providing two contact addresses in Minsk on its website - after all, Cham Wings now flies regularly to Belarus.

The airline is often booked by Russia for sensitive missions. In the past, Cham Wings flew Russian special forces to Syria, disregarded Ukrainian entry bans in Crimea - and is strongly suspected of opening a route to the EU for several hundred people via Belarus alone.

Most recently, the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border had dramatically escalated. On Monday, according to Polish authorities, larger groups of migrants tried to break through the border from the Belarusian side. In response, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for additional sanctions against Belarus this evening.

Belarus must stop its "cynical instrumentalization of migrants," von der Leyen said Monday evening. "I call on member states to approve the expanded sanctions regime against the Belarusian authorities responsible for this hybrid attack," von der Leyen said.

In particular, the EU is working to sanction third-country airlines involved in transporting migrants to Belarus, von der Leyen said. EU Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said he would travel to the migrants' countries of origin and transit in the coming days.

The EU accuses Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of flying people in from crisis regions and then smuggling them into the EU via Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Ankara under suspicion

Aviation sanctions, for example in the form of flight restrictions, could also be directed against Turkey - because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is, according to senior EU politicians, playing a major role in the current crisis.

"If Turkish President Erdogan is now making new attempts at blackmail against the EU by means of numerous migrant flights from Turkey to Belarus, there needs to be an unequivocal response," warned CSU European politician Manfred Weber, making a clear statement to Ankara. "Enough is enough."

Embraer plans to launch four aircraft with disruptive engines between 2030 and 2040. With ranges between 200 and 500 miles, the concepts are aimed at regional transport - and are not the Brazilian's only initiatives on the road to a more climate-friendly future.

Since the manufacturer believes there is no universal solution to reducing the environmental impact of aviation, Embraer has spent the past 12 months developing different designs using different propulsion technologies - electric, hydrogen fuel cell, dual-fuel gas turbine and hybrid electric:

Energia Hybrid (E9-HE) with nine seats, hybrid-electric propulsion and 200 miles of range. The engines are mounted in the rear. Technology maturity is expected in 2030.

Energia Electric (E9-FE) also with nine seats but an all-electric powertrain for locally zero CO2 emissions and 200-mile range - technology readiness by 2035.

Energia H2 Fuel Cell (E19-H2FC) for 19 passengers. Hydrogen-electric powertrain with rear-mounted electric motors and 200-mile range - technological readiness by 2035.

Energia H2 gas turbine (E50-H2GT) for 35 to 50 seats and 350 to 500 miles of range. Turbines are powered by hydrogen or SAF/JetA - technology readiness by 2040.

Each aircraft is now being evaluated for technical and commercial feasibility. "Small aircraft are ideal for testing and proving new propulsion technologies so they can be transferred to larger aircraft," said Embraer Chief Technology Officer Luis Carlos Affonso. That's why our Energia family is such an important platform.

SAF propulsion for E2 and new turboprop

Separate from the Energia aircraft concept research, the company has been testing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a blend of fuel derived from sugarcane and gold of pleasure and fossil fuel, in its E-Jet family. Embraer aims for all Embraer aircraft to be 100 percent SAF compatible by 2030, up from 50 percent today.

In August, Embraer flew its electric demonstrator, a single-engine EMB-203 Ipanema that runs on 100 percent electricity. A hydrogen fuel cell demonstrator is planned for 2025, and the company's eVTOL, an all-electric, zero-emission vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, is under development and scheduled to enter service in 2026.

At the same time, Embraer is working on an advanced turboprop with an E2 fuselage and up to 90 seats. The manufacturer plans to launch the program in 2022.

MPS was a tiny link in the global Boeing industrial chain. Nevertheless, the metal specialist from Brindisi is currently receiving the full attention of the regulatory authorities. The company is alleged to have supplied substandard titanium components for the 787. How could this happen?

Manufacturing Process Specification, or "MPS" for short, is causing Boeing the next 787 problem. The Italian industrial group Leonardo is said to have supplied titanium components processed by MPS that do not meet the specifications - and will now have to be painstakingly replaced.

What began as a quality problem is now spreading further and further. According to information from the Reuters news agency and Italian media, investigations against MPS are underway in Italy. The authorities want to determine whether the defective titanium components pose a safety risk.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun narrowed the investigation in late October to a "specific inquiry" by regulators related to a "material substitution" at a subcontractor. "We don't anticipate that this will have any safety impact," Calhoun said. "On the other hand, we need to make sure we're meeting all the material specifications that our design calls for."

MPS disputes any hazard situation. "These are not safety-sensitive parts that have been extensively inspected by MPS customers," a company lawyer rebuffed to Reuters.

Doubts are warranted. In mid-October, Leonardo issued a terse statement saying that it had not supplied MPS parts to Airbus programs. As aero.de learned from a reliable source, Airbus had insisted on this public clarification - an indication that the case is at least more complex than presented by MPS and Leonardo to date.

For Leonardo, the matter is delicate anyway. How could allegedly defective parts from a company that is said to employ just over 30 people pass through the random tests and quality controls of a major corporation? MPS has not been a supplier to Leonardo for "quite some time," Leonardo said in October.

In the meantime, the corporation's language on the MPS issue has sharpened considerably. "Boeing and Leonardo have become victims of possible misconduct by a second-tier supplier," Leonardo CEO Valerio Cioffi complained Friday. The group faces millions in recourse claims from Boeing.

Boeing has spent the past few months working through a bug list in the 787 program that has proliferated like a hydra. The titanium problem is now once again preventing the resumption of halted deliveries - and is apparently causing Boeing more headaches than previous bugs. "It's the long pole in the tent pitching," Calhoun said in late October.

After more than a year and a half of Corona closure, tourists are to be allowed to re-enter Israel from November 1, subject to conditions.

This was decided by Head of Government Naftali Bennett, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Tourism Minister Joel Razvosov on Thursday. However, the decision still needs final approval from the government.

According to the decision, foreigners who have received two doses of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine will be allowed to enter the country if at least seven days have passed since the second dose.

At least two weeks must have passed after two doses of vaccine from Moderna, Astrazeneca, Sinovac or Sinopharm. A 14-day interval is also required after a single vaccine dose of Johnson & Johnson's Corona vaccine. These time windows also apply after a booster vaccination.

In addition, convalescents may enter if they have received at least one dose of a Corona vaccine that is approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Convalescents may also enter if at least eleven days have passed since a positive test.

A merger between El Al and Arkia is in the offing in Israel. El Al wants to take over its smaller competitor in a share deal. El Al has now outlined this plan, at least in a mandatory announcement. El Al had aborted a run at Israir in 2018 after objections from the Israeli antitrust authority.

Avigal Soreq is busy these days. The El Al CEO wants to navigate the airline out of the crisis with a restructuring concept, and he's causing a stir among employees and politicians alike - 1,500 of 4,000 jobs are on the line, and a dispute has flared up with the government over financial aid.

Now, in the midst of the negotiations, news of a takeover project has burst. This week, El Al confirmed to the stock exchange that it was in "initial talks with Arkia" about a possible takeover of its competitor. According to the report, El Al wants to swallow Arkia in a share deal, but emphasizes the early stage of negotiations - and points to possible objections from the antitrust authority.

Arkia is the second-largest air carrier in Israel after El Al; El Al was one of the airline's founding shareholders in 1949. Arkia is now part of the Jordache Enterprises holding company of New York. The airline has two Airbus A321LRs and three Embraer E195s and had ordered four A330-900s from Airbus in 2016.

El Al is financed by the Rozenberg family. The New York-based investors took a 43 percent stake in El Al at the end of 2020. The turnaround plan calls for a significant reduction of the fleet from 45 to 29 aircraft.

Air New Zealand will only carry fully vaccinated passengers on its international routes starting Feb. 1, 2022.

"This is the new reality of international travel. Many countries do not allow the unvaccinated to enter the country anyway," Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran wrote in a statement. New Zealand is looking to reopen its borders, which have been closed since March 2020, early next year.

Twenty pigs are to keep birds off the runways at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and thus help prevent collisions with aircraft.

The idea behind the pilot project: where pigs eat the ground dry, wild geese and other birds stop looking for food. "Their presence is enough to keep the geese from landing here in the field," farmer Josse Haarhuis now told broadcaster Euronews.

Haarhuis farms a two-hectare area on the Schiphol site, from which sugar beets were recently harvested. "The pigs eat the crop residues. When those are gone, there is no more food for the geese and therefore no reason to come here," the farmer explained in the Euronews report published Thursday evening. 

The airport had informed about the use of pigs as living scarecrows on September 24 - probably also so that passengers would not be surprised by the sight of bristling cattle near the taxiway. The press release stated that the aim was to "ensure optimum flight safety".

The pilot project complements a variety of technical measures for bird deterrence, from sound generators to laser beamers, it said. According to the airport, a special bird radar and bird observation will be used to determine whether the use of pigs is really effective.

In the fiscal year to the end of March 2026, the number of passengers carried by Ryanair and its group airlines such as Lauda is expected to grow to more than 225 million, the company announced at its annual general meeting in Dublin.
That's 25 million more than previously targeted and more than one-and-a-half times the number in the fiscal year to the end of March 2020, when Ryanair had paid just under 149 million passengers.

To handle the business growth, the airline plans to strengthen its fleet over the next five years with the 210 Boeing 737 Max medium-haul jets already on order.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary wants to expand flight offerings in areas where other airlines have had to give up or downsize their fleets in the wake of the corona crisis. In the course of this, Ryanair plans to create more than 5,000 new jobs for pilots, flight attendants and technicians.

However, management is making the plans conditional on the corona crisis not worsening again and more than 90 percent of people in Europe being vaccinated against Covid-19. Many EU countries, such as Germany, are still a long way from this quota.

The militant Islamist Taliban ruling Afghanistan has asked Pakistan to resume passenger flights between the two neighboring countries.
The Afghan Civil Aviation Authority has written a letter to that effect to Pakistan's to allow Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air to resume flights, a spokesman for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority said Wednesday.

According to the letter from Afghanistan, Kabul International Airport has been repaired with technical and financial assistance from Qatar. The small Gulf state has hosted the Taliban's political office for years.

This week, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) charter flight landed at the airport - the first passenger flight to reach the Afghan capital since the Taliban takeover in mid-August. PIA, Kam and Ariana flew regularly between Kabul and the Pakistani capital Islamabad before the Taliban takeover.

It was not initially known whether Islamabad would allow the flights to operate. Pakistan has not recognized the recently announced interim Taliban government.

A charter flight headed for Kabul took off from Iran on Wednesday for the first time since the change of power in Afghanistan. A plane operated by Iran's Mahan airline took 19 passengers from the eastern Iranian city of Mashad to the Afghan capital, according to media reports.

After the militant Islamist Taliban took power in mid-August, Iran's Civil Aviation Authority had suspended charter flights to Kabul. However, they are now being resumed on a limited basis.

Due to the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the airspace in Afgahnistan is empty. Many airlines are avoiding the airspace completely. The only flights coming into Kabul are those to evacuate people. The airspace over Kabul is not controlled, and airplanes fly at their own risk. 

U.S. forces have taken control of the airport to ensure safe passage out of the country. However, the forces are already engaged in several firefights with the taliban, who do not agree that the usa controls the airport. There have already been deaths in the fighting.

A video is currently circulating on Twitter showing a plane taking off from Kabul airport. Zooming in, two black dots falling down become visible. According to various users and the news agency BNO News, as well as the reporter of an Afghan news site, these are supposed to be people who desperately clung to the landing gear during takeoff and then crashed. The authenticity of the video could not be confirmed so far.

Other videos show numerous people clinging to the landing gear before the takeoff of a U.S. military aircraft.

Boeing has sent a 737 MAX 7 to China to give the twinjet, which has been banned there since the crashes, another chance to be recertified. China is considered a key market for the twinjet, but the political environment is difficult.

The Boeing 737 MAX 7, N7201S, painted in Boeing colors, set out Thursday morning from Seattle as flight BOE701 for Shanghai, China. However, the jet first headed to Hawaii, landing at Kapolei Airport, west of Honolulu, after a five-and-a-half-hour flight. After an overnight stop, the 737 MAX 7 will continue its journey across the Pacific.

Its destination is Shanghai, where Boeing plans to demonstrate its MAX modifications to the Chinese aviation authority. China has not yet reopened the 737 MAX to scheduled commercial service, even with modifications, since the series of crashes that killed 346 people. The FAA, EASA and Transport Canada had insisted on their own test flights with their own test pilots for recertification, but subsequently granted recertification.

The situation is further complicated by worsening political relations between China and the U.S., for example on the issues of trade, the island dispute, Taiwan and Covid-19. It also remains to be seen whether the pandemic will practically delay the re-certification program because of tighter security measures now in place again in China. Boeing has not yet officially confirmed the visit.

A321 line jerks in ramp-up. Airbus must ask customers for a few more months of patience. AerCap is urgently waiting for A321neo supplies. Airbus has informed the lessor of a "delivery delay of several months (...) until 2022," AerCap announced last week after presenting its quarterly financial statements. AerCap will also receive A330neo late.

Airbus has confirmed the delays, citing the pandemic as well as supply chain difficulties, according to a "Bloomberg" report. However, it said there was no "systematic" problem in production. Airbus had delivered only 47 jets in July, including 43 A320 family aircraft.

AerCap said nine A321neo will arrive later than agreed. The Irish leasing giant is also preparing its customers for delays of seven Boeing 787-9s. Airbus left the crisis rate of 40 aircraft per month with the A320neo in July and plans to increase production to 45 monthly units by the end of the year.

New Visitors Terrace - Geneva Airport, a new paradise for spotters ?

For 20 years, a whole generation, the visitors' terrace of Geneva airport remained closed. Planespotters and other fans had to find various legal and semi-legal ways to take decent pictures of airplanes. Those days are over.

The now new terrace is located on the fourth floor of the main building of Geneva Airport. After a security check, the terrace can be visited every day - except Mondays - from 10:00 to 19:00.

Great opportunities for photos

The terrace has an open and unobstructed view. This provides great opportunities for photos. For photographers, a lens of 70 to 200 to 300 millimeters is adequate. More millimeters can be handy for small planes, but because of the heat haze, large lenses are often useless.

Will Condor get new long-haul jets?

Talks about the vacation airline's new long-haul fleet have been going on for some time. The Airbus A330, the Airbus A330 Neo and the Boeing 787, i.e. the Dreamliner, were under discussion. 

Now Condor has announced that it wants to take over the A330neo with the help of an investor. Since the Boeing 767s are getting on in years, they will soon be retired. And in order to secure long-haul routes, new types are now being acquired. 

Details are even being given on the first three. The A330-900s - the larger variant of the A330 Neo - with serial numbers MSN 1966, 1971 and 1972 are to go to Condor, the listing says. Actually, the trio was to go to Air Asia - the long-haul model's largest customer. But due to Air Asia's very high debt, they want to reduce their Airbus A330 Neo from 78 ordered to just 15. As a result, the first model could be transferred to Condor as early as this year and fly to the first destinations in Europe and overseas.

Recovery of air traffic at Germany's largest airport ?

Germany's largest airport, Frankfurt am Main International Airport, draws a positive balance from the period after the Easter vacations until today. There are also positive developments at Lufthansa, the airline based there. The number of flights is constantly increasing and parked aircraft of the Lufthansa Group are reactivated almost every day. For the vacation season, experts estimate a utilization of short- and medium-haul routes of up to 85%. 

Long-haul flights, however, will have to wait. At the beginning of June, the first Lufthansa customers took off on business flights, mainly to the USA.

According to the report, an average of 711 flights per day currently take off and land at Frankfurt Airport, although this is still about 50% less than in June 2019. Lufthansa alone contributed 402 departures from Frankfurt most recently, according to Eurocontrol. Ryanair currently takes off 21 times daily from Frankfurt, while Eurocontrol counts 15 departures each for United and Condor.

Eight daily flights alone currently leave Frankfurt with destination Palma - Mallorca is thus only a good third behind FRA's 2019 flight schedule.

It almost looked as if the Sino-Russian CRAIC CR929 widebody project would go down in flames. Now the interim turbulence seems to have been overcome and the conflicts resolved. Both partners are demonstrating unity. The CR929 is to be a success - despite the crisis.

Russia and China are once again pulling together. At least as far as plans for a joint wide-body passenger aircraft are concerned. The CRAIC CR929, a project of the state aircraft manufacturers UAC (Russia) and Comac (China), had become a bone of contention last year.
Competence disputes and communication problems between the partners cast an unsightly light on the ambitious undertaking, which was moreover overshadowed by the global corona crisis. The global slump in air traffic raised the question among some skeptics: Will there even be a need for new widebody jets in the future?

For Russia and China, this question does not arise. The two nations are determined to continue their widebody program together - and to make the CR929 a success despite uncertain market prospects.

Both Comac and UAC had made demonstrative commitments to the project in the recent past. According to the Asian Times, the Chinese embassy in Moscow has now also emphasized that China is willing to stick with the CR929.
In fact, a pre-selection of key suppliers had already been made in March. Now they are entering the contract phase with the selected candidates. A large number of the suppliers under consideration are said to come from China and belong to the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). Their parts and components, according to Asian Times, "will be made to standards worked out by Russian engineers."

Reflecting on strengths

It was precisely this division of labor that had sparked controversy last year. Russia's Industry and Trade Minister Manturov, for example, accused the Chinese of snooping on their Russian counterparts and siphoning off know-how while refusing to open up their home market.
Comac officials countered that Russia was only interested in selling parts to China, with no good will to share and pass on important technologies. The Chinese apparently feared being reduced to an extended workbench.

Now it seems that both partners are finally coming to terms with where their respective strengths lie. And while final tests are underway in the T-128 wind tunnel at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute in Zhukovsky, Comac is aiming to start building the first CR929 prototype this year.
Whether the hoped-for first flight date of 2023 can be met, however, seems questionable. It will probably be a while longer before the first CR929 actually takes to the skies.

346 people died on board Lion Air 610 and Ethiopian Airlines 302 flights. U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing has now set up a $500 million fund to compensate survivors of those killed in the 737 MAX crashes.

Each eligible family of the 346 victims will receive about $1.45 million, administrators of the funds said. The Justice Department and Boeing initially declined to comment. The compensation fund is part of a $2.5 billion settlement the Justice Department reached with Boeing in January.

Boeing faced trial for fraud in the certification of the 737 MAX following the Lion Air crash in October 2019 and the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March 2019.
The settlement allowed Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution, but has no impact on pending civil lawsuits brought by relatives.

Contrails are the biggest climate factor of aviation - even ahead of CO2 emissions. A study shows that the use of sustainable fuels significantly reduces the climate impact of contrails. DLR and NASA see this as a "breakthrough" on the road to more climate-friendly aviation.

The use of sustainable fuels in aviation significantly reduces the climate impact of contrails, according to research. Scientists at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) found this out during joint flight tests with the U.S. space agency Nasa.

According to the study, a 50-50 mixture of kerosene and sustainable fuel halved the number of ice crystals in contrails. This reduced the climate impact of the trails by 20 to 30 percent, the researchers report in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

Aircraft engines emit soot particles that act as condensation nuclei for small supercooled water droplets. These immediately freeze into ice crystals and become visible as contrails in the sky. Under certain conditions, these can develop into so-called cirrus clouds, which contribute to global warming. According to DLR, contrails are the biggest climate factor caused by air traffic, even ahead of carbon dioxide emissions.

Further tests

"We were able to clearly demonstrate in the joint flight tests conducted by DLR and Nasa in 2018 that fewer soot particles from sustainable fuels in exhaust gases result in fewer ice crystals in contrails," explained first author Christiane Voigt of the DLR Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Oberpfaffenhofen.

This evidence is a breakthrough for the possibilities of more climate-friendly aviation, she said. "This is because a lower number of ice crystals reduces the additional energy input into the atmosphere caused by contrails."

According to DLR, sustainable fuels are obtained from renewable sources without petroleum and also have a smaller carbon footprint than fossil kerosene. Fuels based on plants and waste are conceivable, for example.

Next, the researchers want to find out how flights with 100 percent sustainable fuel - so-called Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) - affect CO2 emissions and contrails. Data from initial test flights are currently being analyzed, DLR said.

Online criminals have crippled one of the most important pipeline systems in the United States. After the hacker attack on the Colonial Pipeline rail company, fuel is running low at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. American Airlines diverts first flights out of Charlotte.

Colonial Pipeline is the lifeline of the southeastern U.S. economy - 2.5 million barrels of fuel flow through the network every day from refineries in the Gulf.

Following an IT attack on the Colonial Pipeline network operator last Friday, supplies are severely limited.

Meanwhile, aviation fuel is being rationed at Charlotte Airport. American Airlines is changing two long-haul flights because of this: passengers on the Charlotte to Honolulu route will transfer to another plane in Dallas for the time being. The daily flight to London will make a fuel stop in Boston.

"We are keeping a close eye on the situation and working around the clock to ensure we have adequate fuel supplies across our network," American Airlines said. The airline expects to return to normal operations May 15.

DarkSide

The hacker group "DarkSide" is behind the attack on the pipeline operator. The cybercriminals infected Colonial systems with so-called ransomware, an extortion software. "Our intention is to make money," the group meanwhile confessed its motive.

Security-related pipeline control systems are indeed shielded from the rest of IT, Colonial said. As a precautionary measure, however, it decided to shut down the pipeline after the attack. The operator does not plan to resume supply until the weekend.

Lufthansa is investing in new long-haul aircraft despite the difficult situation. The Executive Board has decided to purchase five Airbus A350-900s and five Boeing 787-9s, Lufthansa announced surprisingly on Monday evening in Frankfurt. The supervisory board has already approved the project.
The new aircraft are to replace more fuel-thirsty older aircraft at Lufthansa's core brand.

The Boeing jets are reportedly already in production, but their intended buyers had not wanted to take delivery of them until later because of the crisis. The first aircraft are to fly for Lufthansa as early as next winter, with the remainder to arrive by mid-2022.

Delivery of the five Airbus A350-900s is to follow in 2027 and 2028. In turn, Lufthansa has also renegotiated delivery schedules for previously ordered aircraft with both manufacturers.

Lufthansa plans with 45 A350-900s

Lufthansa had previously ordered 20 Boeing 787-9s to be based at its Frankfurt hub. The number of firm orders for the A350 has increased to a total of 45 aircraft, with 14 of the type already in service with Lufthansa.

The investment in new aircraft is reportedly in line with the rescue package the German government used to save Lufthansa from bankruptcy during the Corona crisis. The new aircraft reportedly consume about 30 percent less fuel per passenger and 100 kilometers than their predecessors.

Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Tbilisi: Eurowings will fly to Russia and Georgia for the first time in summer 2021.

Eurowings will launch three new direct flights from Düsseldorf to Russia - to Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar in southern Russia - as well as to the Georgian capital Tbilisi in July.

The background to the first flights to Russia and Georgia: Eurowings wants to play more strongly in the "family and home visits" segment, which promises a somewhat more predictable passenger demand than the vacation flight business during the crisis.

Most recently, connections to Beirut in Lebanon and Erbil in northern Iraq were added to the program in December. "Eurowings is a leader in this market segment and is increasingly expanding its position due to rising demand," the Lufthansa subsidiary said.

The airline will fly to Krasnodar and Tbilisi from July 19 and 21, respectively, on two traffic days per week from Düsseldorf. The service to Yekatarinburg will follow on July 24 - and is only scheduled on Saturdays.

Flypop wants to launch routes between the UK and India. The British airline startup has now leased its first aircraft.

Great Britain - India, and as cheaply as possible: Navdip Singh Judge has been working on his airline for low-cost long-haul routes for 15 years. Of all things, the plans became more concrete during the crisis - Flypop raised seed capital from the UK Government's Future Fund and brought in other investors.

The airline plans to offer its first flights to India from London Stansted in October 2021 and has signed a lease with fleet financier Avolon for "a number of A330-300s," Flyopop announced Monday. "This contract will allow us to apply for our AOC."

Avolon will deliver the aircraft - Flypop is keeping mum on the exact number - "until 2023," the airline said. Flypop plans to focus on "second-tier cities" in India and will equip the A330-300s with about 400 seats.

Airbus is seeing growing interest in smaller long-range jets. "The pandemic has brought this segment a bit further into the spotlight," Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said Tuesday during a Eurocontrol webcast. Airbus is sticking to its timeline for the top-of-the-line A321XLR.

With compacts out of the crisis: A321LR and A321XLR meet the spirit of the times, according to Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.

"The trend toward long-haul aircraft that can be deployed flexibly, such as the A321LR and A321XLR, will continue in the long term, in our view," Faury said. "Airlines will be opening new routes in the post-pandemic world that can be well tested with a long-range single-aisle before converting to a widebody."

Via A321LR and A321XLR, Faury says airlines will also find new ways to "balance seasonal demand surges and manage networks."

Faury maintains the tight schedule for the A321XLR. "The A321XLR will enter service in 2023," the executive reiterated. European aviation regulator EASA recently raised concerns about the fully integrated auxiliary fuel tank, which boosts the A321XLR's range to 8,700. According to media reports, stricter certification requirements could push the EIS back to 2024.

Shallow curve out of crisis

Airbus will be slow to release the handbrake on A320 end lines in 2021. From 40, monthly production will initially rise to 43 in the third quarter and and 45 A320neo in the fourth quarter. Before the crisis, the lines were churning out 60 aircraft a month. Airbus expects a return to that rate "around 2023," Faury told Eurocontrol's "Straighttalk" interview format."

Demand for large long-range jets will recover "probably in 2024 or 2025," Faury said. "But to be honest, we don't really know ourselves."

Norwegian has ruined itself with low-cost long-haul routes. That leaves its successor cold - Norse Atlantic Airways has leased nine Dreamliners for a start.

Six 787-9s and three 787-8s, each previously owned: leasing giant AerCap has placed nine Dreamliners with Rolls-Roye Trent 1000 engines with Norse Atlantic Airways. According to media reports, Norse Atlantic Airways had explicitly negotiated with AerCap for aircraft that last flew across the Atlantic for Norwegian.

Former Norwegian CEOs Björn Kjos and Björn Kise are taking a second shot at the shark tank of low-cost long-haul with investors. "Norse Atlantic Airways will offer passengers comfortable and affordable intercontinental travel," said Norse Atlantic Airways CEO Björn Tore Larsen.

Norwegian confines itself to Europe

Norwegian is keeping its hands off long-haul routes in its relaunch. The airline received the OK from a Dublin court Friday for a reorganization plan negotiated with creditors and shareholders - the concept calls for a fleet of 53 Boeing 737-800s for short-haul Scandinavian and European services.

Norse Atlantic Airways, meanwhile, is looking for flight crews. AerCap plans to hand over the nine 787s to the airline before the end of 2021, according to a statement Monday evening.

The Indian airline Indigo wants to become more involved in the airfreight market. To this end, India's largest airline is buying a handful of Airbus A321P2Fs. The airline is thus expanding its range of services to include cargo-only flights.

With rising airfreight costs, these are currently a good way to earn money. If the airfreight boom continues, the airline will buy even more A321P2Fs. These aircraft will be used mainly on domestic routes, but also internationally to the Gulf States to explore demand.

There is room for 14 standard containers on the main deck and another ten in the underfloor space. Airbus states that the maximum payload of the A321P2F conversion freighters is 28 metric tons. These smaller freighters make a lot of sense on routes that are not heavily frequented and for the fine distribution of freight. They require fewer long runways and less kerosene.

Lufthansa doubts that business class compartments in Europe and the U.S. will fill up as they once did. The airline is therefore looking into converting its aircraft.
How often do business travelers still board planes now that they've become accustomed to video conferencing? That question came up early in the Corona crisis. The predictions are now clear: Vacation airplanes will fill up again sooner than business-class compartments. But is it just a matter of time before the number of people traveling for work returns to 2019 levels? Or is there no full recovery? Do airlines need to worry?

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr is not optimistic about that. "In the business travel world, which is important for us, which is business and first class, I can imagine a scenario where it doesn't go back to those levels in the markets of Western Europe and North America," he said this week. Lufthansa is preparing for that. 

This is how to prevent empty First and Buissnes classes. But they will continue to exist.

As an aircraft buyer, you're in a lot of hot water at the moment. Because many airlines are downsizing their fleets and postponing investments as a result of the Corona crisis, there has been a lull in orders for months. This should make Airbus and Boeing all the more pleased to be looking to Jeddah.

Saudia has approached several local banks. According to the business newspaper Maaal, Saudi Arabia's national airline wants to take out a loan of 11.5 billion riyals, or the equivalent of 2.54 billion euros. It plans to use the money to partially finance the purchase of 70 new aircraft, it said. 

Qantas ventures a cautious outlook for the near future - The airline plans to closely align its opening strategy with the Australian government's vaccination plans. The airline will gradually reopen its Asian and long-haul network from October with the Boeing 787 and Airbus A330.

As it currently stands, Australia will remain largely closed to foreigners until the fall. "We are in close coordination with the government - if things change, so will our timetable," Joyce said in an interview with Executive Traveller.

Only when all Australians have been vaccinated against the corona virus can the borders reopen, according to the government's reading. Previous exceptions could possibly exist in the form of travel corridors with New Zealand, for example.

The airline and especially its chief executive are very optimistic about this. They also hope, like many other airlines, that the vaccinations will become much faster. Then the business will come all by itself. 

The era of the MD-11F at Lufthansa Cargo will come to an end once and for all in 2021. For the four remaining three-engine aircraft, however, that is not necessarily the end of their service. After all, some of the Lufthansa MD-11s that have already been retired are still flying in the skies today.

Their end should have come long ago, but the Corona pandemic gave the last MD-11s at Lufthansa Cargo another reprieve. By the fall, the curtain will gradually fall on the four three-engine cranes that supply the world with airfreight of all kinds from Frankfurt. The aircraft have more than 20 years of service under their belts. But retirement is still not on the cards! 
Why ?

In view of the continuing high demand in the cargo sector, Lufthansa would have liked to keep the MD-11Fs even longer. But the aircraft have long since been promised: they are going back to Boeing, or more precisely to Boeing Aircraft Holding Company. Boeing, in turn, is reselling the jets.

According to unconfirmed information, Lufthansa Cargo's remaining MD-11Fs will probably all go to UPS.

The cranens logo adorned the tail of the MD-11F for years. One of the most special aircraft is now also leaving the Lufthansa fleet. Whether there will be further consequences is unclear.

French shipping company CMA CGM is entering the airfreight business with used Airbus A330-200Fs. The aircraft will be based in Liège and operated by Air Belgium. By no means everyone in the Group is convinced that the bet on the air freight market will work out in the long term.

In the pandemic, air freight rates are shooting through the roof. The boom is luring French shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM into the market.

From March 8, CMA CGM has an Airbus A330-200F shuttling on the Liège-Chicago route. A second A330-200F will follow eight days later, also serving the US market.

CMA CGM has set up its own air freight division for this purpose, but has outsourced operations to Air Belgium. Air Belgium will be equipped with four Airbus A330-200Fs by CMA CGM: the A7-AFG, -AFH, AFI and -AFJ were purchased from Qatar Airways. Due to the comparatively low payload, Qatar Airways Cargo is disposing of the sub-fleet; the airline had previously sold one A330-200F to Hungary.

CMA GGM and Air Belgium are planning to operate six full-freighters by the end of 2021. There are doubts about the prospects of success. Moreover, the A330-200F is more suitable for transporting express freight.

CMA CGM will book part of the airfreight capacity internally - its subsidiary Ceva Logistics has reserved substantial quotas, according to a statement.

As expected, the corona crisis and the planned cutback of thousands of jobs have caused Airbus to post a loss of billions of euros in 2020. Thanks to a profit in the fourth quarter, however, the bottom line for the year as a whole was only a minus of 1.1 billion euros, as the company announced.

For the new year, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury expects somewhat better results in the current business. However, according to management estimates, the manufacturer is unlikely to deliver more aircraft in 2021 than in the crisis year 2020.

The news was received with disappointment on the stock market. The Airbus share lost almost five percent of its value shortly after the start of trading in Paris. Most recently, it was still down by around three percent, making it one of the weakest stocks in the French benchmark index Cac 40.

At around 91 euros, the stock is still trading around 30 percent cheaper than before the outbreak of the Corona crisis around twelve months ago.

In the end, Airbus performed better in the Corona year 2020 than analysts had feared. But experts had expected a bolder forecast for 2021.

Analyst Sandy Morris of analyst firm Jefferies described it as somewhat confusing that Airbus did not expect the positive development to continue. His colleague Chris Hallam from the U.S. bank Goldman Sachs also assessed the management's targets as extremely conservative.

For example, Airbus CEO Faury is aiming to deliver at least as many aircraft in 2021 as in the previous year. There the manufacturer had handed over 566 machines to its customers, after it had been 863 in the record year 2019. Earnings before interest, taxes and special items (adjusted Ebit) are expected to rise to at least 2 billion euros in the current year.

Meanwhile, management wants to continue to keep the group's money together and achieve at least a small free cash inflow in the new year before mergers and acquisitions and customer financing.

In the fourth quarter, it had already achieved this with 4.9 billion euros. Overall, however, the figure for 2020 was a heavy loss. This is one of the reasons why shareholders are to forego a dividend for 2020, as they did for 2019.

Faury: Crisis far from over

"Last year was a challenging one for Airbus. It is far from the original expectations for 2020," Faury said. He added that the 2020 balance sheet now shows that the measures put in place have worked. "We have demonstrated our resilience." However, he said it is clear that the crisis is far from over in 2021.

The Corona pandemic hit the Toulouse-based group hard, triggering a severe slump in business. Sales plummeted 29 percent to 49.9 billion euros. However, Airbus remained in the black before interest, taxes and special items: Adjusted EBIT fell by 75 percent to 1.7 billion euros.

In this figure, Airbus has, among other things, deducted special charges for the announced cutback of tens of thousands of jobs, which alone accounted for 1.2 billion euros. The manufacturer has cut its aircraft production by around 40 percent as a result of the crisis - especially in the wide-body jets of the A330neo and A350 series. This is another reason why Airbus will need fewer employees in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, the manufacturer plans to slightly ramp up production of its A320 family of medium-haul jets again this year. Airbus top management expects the market for commercial aircraft to return to pre-Corona levels only in 2023 to 2025.

More orders than cancellations

Nevertheless, there was also good news for Boeing's rival. Last year, for example, Airbus received more aircraft orders than cancellations and defended its position as the world's largest aircraft manufacturer.

Airbus had already slipped deep into the red in 2019. The reason at the time was a billion-dollar fine due to corruption allegations. As a result, the Group posted a loss of just under 1.4 billion euros in 2019.

In the past year, Airbus was in a much better position than archrival Boeing. The U.S. company was hit by the Corona crisis, the debacle surrounding the 737 Max crash jet and new delays to the 777X wide-body jet, which resulted in a loss of more than 11.9 billion U.S. dollars (9.9 billion euros) last year.

The crisis, the debacle over the 737 MAX and new delays in the 777X wide-body jet have caused a record loss for U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing in 2020. The bottom line was a loss of more than $11.9 billion (9.8 billion euros), the Airbus rival announced Wednesday in Chicago.

It is by far the highest loss that Boeing has had to absorb in its more than 100-year history. In 2019, there had already been a loss of 636 million.

Because of the 777X alone, Boeing set aside 6.5 billion dollars at the end of the year. The bottom line is that the group lost 8.4 billion dollars in the three months to the end of December alone; a year ago, the quarterly balance sheet had been in the negative range with a good one billion. The manufacturer also had to absorb costs for a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations of fraud in the 737 MAX scandal.

Boeing's 2020 revenue fell 24 percent to $58.2 billion - the weakest in about 15 years. Revenue additionally suffered from problems with the 787 "Dreamliner" long-haul jet, deliveries of which stalled due to production shortcomings.

The figures reflected the severe strains on aviation from the Corona pandemic and the long grounding of the ill-fated 737 Max, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a memo to employees. However, he said the company has made important progress in strengthening safety processes, regaining confidence and setting a course for business recovery.

The figures did not go down well with investors, however, and the share price fell sharply in pre-market trading.

In particular, the new problems and immense costs of the modernized 777X wide-body jet are likely to have caused a bad mood on the market. The first aircraft is now not due to be delivered until the end of 2023. Boeing had already postponed the new version of the 777, which is to consume significantly less kerosene thanks to new engines and improved aerodynamics, several times before - most recently to 2022.

Among the reasons given by the company for the new delay were changes in the requirements for certification of the jet and changes in demand as a result of the Corona crisis.

Recently, there has actually been some good news for the ailing U.S. company. In November, Boeing's ill-fated 737 MAX finally received permission from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take off again after being grounded for more than a year and a half. On Wednesday, European aviation regulator EASA also gave the green light for the jet, which was taken out of service in March 2019 after two crashes that killed a total of 346 people.

The 737 MAX is Boeing's best-selling model and main profit earner. Since the planes were allowed to take off again in the U.S., more than 40 have been delivered, according to Boeing.

The fact that the 737 MAX could not be brought to customers during the grounding has put a massive strain on Boeing in the past two years - already in 2019, Airbus overtook the U.S. competitor as the world's largest aircraft manufacturer. Now the problem plane is allowed to take off again, but the Corona pandemic has brought the aviation industry into one of its deepest crises.

This has cost Boeing many orders - according to the company, there were a good 650 cancellations in 2020. In fact, a total of more than 1,000 orders were cancelled from the order book because many orders are considered uncertain.

Airbus actually wanted to sell or lease the first Beluga STs as early as 2020. Despite the good market situation, the decision is dragging on. It is expected to be made by the middle of the year.

One more whale: In April 2019, Airbus announced that it would not only build five Beluga XLs, but even six of the giant freighters with whale livery. At the same time, the aircraft manufacturer commented on what will happen to the five examples of the predecessor model Beluga ST, which will gradually be replaced by the new Beluga XL.

Philippe Sabo, head of Airbus Transport International, which operates the Belugas, said they are looking at various options for the Beluga ST. "We know there is a need for super transporters," Sabo said at the time. Another option, he said, is to operate the planes themselves and lease them out for special transports. So far, Airbus has only used the planes to transport its own aircraft parts between its plants.

Three Beluga XLs are already in the air

Three Beluga XLs are now in the air. The two aircraft with the registration numbers F-GXLH and F-GXLI and the paint schemes XL2 and XL3 are in normal operation. The first Beluga XL built, with the registration F-GXLG, is still in service as a test aircraft. Nevertheless, Airbus has yet to part with or convert any Beluga ST.

In 2019, the manufacturer had still held out the prospect of selling or leasing the first of the older supercarriers as early as 2020, when the Beluga XLs enter service. Currently, however, four of the Beluga STs remain in service for Airbus and one, with the registration number F-GSTB, has not flown since October 2020.

Mixed fleet until mid-2023

Although the Belugas' cargo hold is not a pressurized cabin, unlike other cargo jets, the situation actually seems good for finding customers for large freighters. Cargo capacity is in high demand worldwide. And Airbus' own production is not high in the Corona crisis, so it should be easy to do without one or two Beluga STs.

Airbus said that the six Beluga XLs would replace the five Beluga STs without change. Airbus Transport International would "operate a mixed ST/XL fleet until the remaining Beluga XLs are in service by mid-2023." The STs would be gradually replaced, he said.

Beluga ST decision by mid-2021

Airbus is still grappling with the future of the Beluga ST, or at least not letting its guard down just yet. "The future role of the ST is currently under review," the aircraft manufacturer explains. There is now a date for a decision, however. "In mid-2021, we will be able to provide more information on this."

As for the Beluga XL, test aircraft F-GXLG will be the last to transition into normal operations. This is expected to happen in the second half of 2023. The inactive Beluga ST, marked F-GSTB, is currently in storage in France "while we evaluate possible future missions," Airbus said.

China's aircraft manufacturer Comac has subjected its new twin-engine C919 to a cold test lasting several weeks. In Inner Mongolia, the C919 had to prove that it could be relied on even in extreme cold - a real endurance test at almost 40 degrees below zero.

The Hulun Buir region in Inner Mongolia is the "refrigerator" of China. Located far to the north, not far from Siberia, the thermometer there drops to average temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius in winter. In January, it is usually much colder still - perfect conditions, therefore, for putting a new aircraft through its paces in frost and ice.

From December 25 to mid-January, Comac therefore sent a prototype of its C919 medium-haul jet to Hulun Buir Hailar International Airport for three weeks, according to Chinese media reports. From there, the jet flew to several airports in the region in the following days. With temperatures on the ground approaching minus 40 degrees Celsius at times, the C919 had to prove that it could cope with extreme weather conditions and freezing cold.

This involves, in particular, cooling tests in which the aircraft is parked outdoors for a night with its systems turned off. The next morning, all onboard systems must start up without any problems and return to operating temperature. The cabin heating must also bring the passenger compartment to comfortable levels despite the extreme cold. Successful completion of the cold tests is important for certification. Comac is aiming for this for the C919 by the end of this year.

This site was created in October 2020. With just 3 users the site started to grow. Your Spotterlog has put a lot of time and effort into building the site. Now at the end of 2020 we had a user count of 26 users. We are very happy about the access. But not only that is pleasing: The Corona virus has a firm grip on our daily life. However, things are now looking up again with aviation. Through vaccinations and hygiene, it will soon be possible to travel normally again!!! We were very happy.
Also the Boeing 737 Max is now allowed to take off again. Do safety landings and takeoff's!

There are a few new things planned on the website, so feel free to check back often.

Of course we would like to optimize the site but also... with suggestions, opinions or improvement suggestions gladly the Discord server use or simply a Mail write. 

Stay healthy and hopefully the new year 2021 will bring many good paint jobs and new planes to your airports.

Your Spotterlog Team

We hope that despite Corona and the circumstances you can still celebrate with your loved ones. Have a few nice days and enjoy yourselves.

Merry Christmas 

Your Spotterlog Team

FRANKFURT - To help supply British supermarkets, Lufthansa has flown 80 tons of fruit and vegetables to the United Kingdom.

The Boeing 777 cargo jet (D-ALFH) was scheduled to land at Doncaster Sheffield Airport in central England this afternoon, the company said Wednesday in response to a request.

"Lufthansa Cargo is currently examining whether additional cargo flights can be offered in the coming days," it said. It is also possible that a regular flight could be used, it said. "This could be with a freighter, but we are also examining whether we can use passenger aircraft for cargo flights only."

Because France had closed its borders due to the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain, thousands of trucks also carrying perishable goods are jammed in southeast England. Trade associations warn that some fresh produce could be in short supply in British supermarkets after Christmas at the latest. Currently, around 80 percent of British food imports come from the European Union.

The aircraft transported cauliflower, broccoli, strawberries, lettuce and citrus fruits. 

Boeing has been preparing test pilots for tests (test flights). Some whistleblowers allegedly wrote this on various social media.The U.S. Senate is probably accusing Boeing and the aviation regulator FAA of joint cover-up maneuvers in dealing with the 737 MAX crashes. During the tests, whistleblowers say, "rigged crews" were able to turn off the MCAS in 4 seconds. Other crews, however, needed 16 seconds to do so. 4 times as much time. And in the event of problems in the air, every second counts.

Could this cost Boeing dearly ? Will the airlines' trust in Boeing sink even further?

All Flights to the UK got canceled due to the new type of Coronavirus 

Many country's in Europe such as Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and Turkey canceled all flights to the UK due to the New type of Covid-19. In Asia, the Country's Iran and Hongkong did the same. In North America is Canada the only country that canceled all flights to the UK yet. The USA said that they will wait.

The aircraft are in the parking lot at Boeing. It has been almost 2 years since the first Max took off again, but the rest of the aircraft are still on the ground waiting for delivery. But in Europe, that seems to be taking time. 

In times of the pandemic, people are even happy about the grounding because it saves money. But at some point, the planes have to be delivered.

Sun Express, one of the first European airlines, is to take delivery of the first Boeing 737 Max from Boeing at the end of 2021.

Until then, the broken-down aircraft will still be on the ground and the last mistakes will be ironed out.

Until now, ATR freighters were only available as conversions, but now the turboprop is being produced ex works as a pure cargo aircraft. Launch customer Fedex has now taken delivery of the first example.

Just in time for Christmas, the aircraft manufacturer ATR completes its first freighter aircraft. The ATR 72-600F was taken over by FedEx on December 15, 2020 and stationed in Shannon. Altogether 30 planes are ordered.

"Let it deliver many gifts and packages!"(Co-CEO of Spotterlog)

DUBLIN - According to a media report, the Ryanair subsidiary Lauda has used airline personnel as money messengers. According to the report, cash income from in-flight sales was distributed "in small heaps" between stations in Europe.
Individual employees quickly wondered whether the practice was legal. Ryanair and Lauda are weighing up the situation.

"Take this with you to Palma": Lauda sent flight attendants with sealed wallets all over Europe.

LONDON - To mark its 100th birthday, British Airways had three of its Boeing 747s painted in the colors of bygone eras. Even their active time is over forever. Unlike most of their sisters, however, the retro jumbos will all be preserved for posterity.

The star of the "Queen of the skies" has also finally gone down at British Airways - much faster and earlier than planned due to the Corona crisis.
British Airways has already had the first of the Boeing 747-400s taken out of service in the summer scrapped, and the majority of the others are still facing this sad fate.

Fortunately, however, there are exceptions, and these are no longer just rumors, but have now been officially confirmed:
a total of four of the 31 British Airways jumbo jets taken out of service have been spared the great battle and instead are allowed to continue to exist as complete aircraft.

As British Airways announced today, the other two retro jumbos will now also be given a new and final home: the aircraft bearing the designations G-BNLY and G-BYGC will depart this month from the BA technical base in Cardiff.

DÜSSELDORF - Düsseldorf Airport, which has been severely affected by the Corona pandemic, wants to get back into the black with savings and a substantial reduction in staff. An extraordinary shareholders' meeting approved the management's restructuring concept,
the airport announced on Tuesday. From 2021, the management wants to achieve an annual improvement in earnings of around 50 million euros. Half of this amount is to be achieved by reducing personnel costs. The airport group currently employs around 2200 people.
The airport did not announce how many jobs will be cut. The job cuts are to be carried out in as socially responsible a manner as possible.

For 2020, the airport is expecting passenger volumes to reach a maximum of 30 percent of the level before the start of the corona crisis, and around 50 percent next year. The industry does not expect a return to the 2019 level until 2025.

The airline is preparing for the return of Boeing's short- and medium-haul flights. With this in mind, American Airlines is also thinking about the fact that customers may be afraid.

Isn't this a step that all customers who are Boeing 737 Max should take?

Japan's largest airline is therefore saving and phasing out Boeing 777s. But ANA All Nippon Airways also wants to seize new opportunities with a new low-cost airline.

The ANA Group intends to address this demanding customer group even more with the core brand All Nippon Airways. Increased digitalization will help to provide even more personalized service. The budget airline Peach will focus on short-haul flights in Japan and Asia. In addition, it will also target more families in the future and will therefore be brought closer to ANA All Nippon Airways, for example by linking the frequent flyer programs. At the same time, Peach will also transport cargo in the future.

ANA will establish a new low-cost airline for flights to Southeast Asia and Oceania. It will be built on the basis of the small cargo and vacation flight subsidiary Air Japan. This will allow a fast take-off. The name of the airline is not yet known.

The first flight was made by EasyJet and Lufthansa.

Both Airbus A320neo were supposed to land in parallel, but this maneuver was cancelled by air traffic control. For this occasion Lufthansa painted the Airbus A320neo (D-AINZ) as the capital delivery.

The Japanese company pulls the rip cord on its aircraft subsidiary. The Mitsubishi Spacejet will not be built for the time being - and perhaps never again.

A week ago, there was speculation that Mitsubishi might stop the development of its Spacejet. The company did not want to confirm this and declared that nothing had been decided yet. But now the decision has definitely been made.

The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has purchased an A330-200F - in the event of a crisis, the country wants to become more independent of partners in air freight.
The full-freighter taken over from Qatar Airways has already arrived in Budapest - in future it will be operated by Wizz Air.
The Qatar A7-AFF is now registered as HA-LHU in Hungary: With the purchase of its own Airbus A330-200F full-freighter, Hungary is drawing the consequences of a tight supply situation when the corona crisis breaks out in spring 2020.
However, the freighter will not be operated by the government, but by Wizz Air - as a private airline, Wizz Air can more easily obtain international overflight and landing rights in a crisis than a military operator, according to the reasoning behind the purchase.

Airbus in Toulouse is preparing for a premiere: The first A330-800 intended for Uganda Airlines rolled out of the paintshop last Friday. The aircraft with MSN 1977 now bears the colorful livery of the East African airline.
In East Africa, expectations are high: Uganda Airlines, re-founded in 2018, is looking forward like Bolle to its first wide-body jet. In December, the young airline plans to take delivery of the A330-800, which received its future service dress in Toulouse at the end of last week.
The livery, in Uganda's national colors, is a dazzling contrast to the shorter of the two A330neo variants. In the following days and weeks, Airbus will carry out final work on the aircraft. So it should not be long before the maiden flight.
Uganda Airlines has ordered a total of two A330-800s. Each one will have a three-class cabin configuration with 20 Business, 28 Premium Economy and 213 Economy seats.

Airbus could do with some success stories about the A330-800, as the customer list for the short A330neo is still quite manageable. So far, Airbus has only received 14 orders for the A330-800,
compared to more than 300 for the A330-900, with Kuwait Airways being the largest customer with eight orders.

Southwest Airlines has relied on Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer located in the country since the airline was founded. But now they are also looking at European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

Although a unified fleet can bring certain advantages, especially in terms of maintenance, etc., one could also imagine the Airbus brand in the fleet, according to the board.
This is the question of whether to buy the Airbus A220 or the Boeing 737 MAX 7. The selected aircraft type is to be used primarily on short-haul flights, but also to some extent on medium-haul flights.
The decision has not yet been made, but both models are being closely examined, according to Mike Van de Ven, Chief Operating Officer.

DÜSSELDORF - In view of the corona pandemic, Düsseldorf Airport (DUS/EDDL) is expecting only a slow recovery in passenger numbers and is therefore planning significant job cuts.
According to its own statements, the airport is, at this time, not economically viable.

FRANKFURT - Keep almost ready to fly, put in mothballs or scrap - these are the options airlines are currently facing when they think about the future of their jets. In the ongoing Corona pandemic,
passenger demand is far from picking up as quickly as initially expected.

TOULOUS, 23rd of September. The last A380 (MSN 272) leaves production. All that remains to be done for the A380 destined for Emirates is to install the engines and apply the paint.
Of the 9 (nine) A380s parked on the site, 8 (eight) will be delivered to Emirates and one will go to All Nippon Airways (ANA) in Japan.

However, the production line will continue to be used for the assembly of the Airbus A321. However, these plans may be disrupted by the corona pandemic.

The new base will welcome two Airbus A321 aircraft, including five new routes from Catania Fontanarossa Airport (CTA) towards Bologna, Roma, and Venice in Italy, Memmingen Airport (FMM) in Germany, and London Luton Airport (LTN) in the United Kingdom.
The new base will begin operating in October 2020, according to local media reports.

Wizz Air has been very active over the past few months, as it announced several new bases throughout Europe in the second half of 2020.
They are located in such airports as Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA), Dortmund Airport (DTM), Lviv Danylo Halytskyi International Airport (LWO), London Gatwick Airport (LGW), Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP) and Pulkovo Airport (LED) in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

In addition, despite the current pandemic, the company is going ahead with the launch of its Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based subsidiary, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, which is set to start operations also in October 2020.
The Abu Dhabi offspring recently welcomed its first Airbus A321neo (registered A6-WZB).