Aviation

Bloomberg Australia will continue the pause of green zone flights from the North Island of New Zealand until October 31 amid a further spread of locally acquired coronavirus cases outside the Auckland region, according to a statement. However, given there haven’t been any locally acquired cases on the South Island connected to the outbreak, Australia was expected to recommence green ...

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co asked a federal court to reject a request from its pilots to temporarily block the carrier from carrying out federally mandated coronavirus vaccinations, saying such an order would put the company’s business, employees and customers at risk. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) is seeking to stop the airline from moving ahead with the November 24 ...

Bloomberg Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA), the state-owned successor to Alitalia, is positioning itself for an investment from a major airline that could come as soon as the end of next year, according to Chairman Alfredo Altavilla. The new Italian carrier, which started operations after its predecessor shut down, is too small to survive as a standalone company, Altavilla said in ...

Bloomberg A consortium led by Hungary’s government has offered about 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) for full control of Budapest Airport, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The latest bid, after an earlier one this year was rejected as undervaluing the hub, is being considered by the airport’s owners, according to two people who asked not to be identified ...

Bloomberg China’s Civil Aviation Administration ordered five domestic and foreign airlines to suspend some flights from Monday after multiple coronavirus cases were found on board, it said. The carriers included Air China Ltd, which had six infections detected on an inbound flight from Frankfurt to the northeastern city of Changchun, the administration said in the statement. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, ...

Bloomberg A former Boeing Co pilot was charged with deceiving US aviation regulators in the first prosecution related to two fatal 737 Max accidents that plunged the aviation titan into crisis. Mark Forkner, a former chief technical pilot for the company, was indicted on charges that he deceived the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Aircraft Evaluation Group during the agency’s evaluation ...

Bloomberg Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc is pushing the start of commercial flights further into next year after rescheduling a test flight, disappointing investors with the unexpected delay to its space tourism business plans. A program to upgrade the company’s spaceplane is taking place a month later than anticipated, forcing the delay of a planned research mission with a crew of ...

Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc is planning its largest expansion into Europe, anticipating a surge of pent-up demand following two years of weak bookings because of the coronavirus pandemic. The significant trans-Atlantic capacity increase reflects the airline’s expectation that next summer will deliver record traffic. Flights essentially shut down industrywide in 2020 and capacity was limited last year because of ...

Bloomberg London Heathrow airport called on the UK to mandate the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to help the industry lower carbon emissions while fending off pressure from climate groups to curtail air travel. The hub is also seeking other policies that would scale up the production of SAF in the country, including a price-support mechanism and loan guarantees, ...

Bloomberg The UK is facing a pilot shortage that could hamper the reopening of the travel industry, after hundreds of aircrew took early retirement or changed career during the pandemic, the Telegraph reported. The number of pilots who retired during the pandemic is believed to be at least double the usual levels, the newspaper said, citing sources in the aviation ...