Aviation

Qantas tests 20-hour non-stop flights

Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd will run marathon ghost flights from New York and London to Sydney carrying just a few staff to see how the human body holds up before commercial services start. Qantas said it will simulate the world’s longest direct flights with Boeing Co Dreamliners as soon as October. The payload of 40 passengers and crew, most of ...

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Cathay warns staff social media use may breach China rules

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, trying to contain the damage it has suffered from staff taking part in Hong Kong’s anti-Beijing protests, cautioned employees that misuse of social-media platforms could be a breach of rules set by China’s authorities. In a message to employees, Cathay said that posting, responding and sharing content on social media could go against the demands ...

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Panel to cite communication failure on 737 Max certification

Bloomberg An expert panel reviewing how the Boeing Co 737 Max was certified is expected to cite a breakdown in communication following revelations that aviation regulators didn’t understand key design elements until the first of two deadly crashes of the plane. The Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) hasn’t found evidence that regulations weren’t followed when the jetliner was approved in ...

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Cathay warns of ‘significant’ revenue impact amid protests

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd expects “significant impact” on its revenue from August and beyond as travel demand gets affected by the months-long protests in Hong Kong. Both business and leisure travel into Hong Kong has “weakened substantially” and traffic from Hong Kong has started to soften, especially on short-haul routes to such countries as China and South Korea, Cathay ...

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Ryanair’s legal bid makes Britain strike more certain: Union

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc’s bid to block a strike by UK pilots rather than return to talks means a walkout before Britain’s busiest weekend for air travel is more certain, according to the union that called the action. Ryanair has lost the chance to resolve the pay dispute by seeking a High Court injunction at a hearing to be held ...

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TUI blames 737 Max crisis for summer slump

Bloomberg TUI AG blamed the grounding of its Boeing Co 737 Max fleet for wiping out a profit rebound as the world’s largest holiday company cut costs and expanded in cruise ships. The global idling of the Max following two fatal crashes meant TUI had to lease in less-efficient jets from third parties, according to a statement, cutting earnings by ...

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Cathay under scrutiny as CEO takes fall for protests

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd is counting on the resignation of its British chief executive officer, Rupert Hogg, to move beyond the tumult that saw its employees’ participation in the Hong Kong protests draw the ire of Beijing. But will it be enough? Incoming CEO Augustus Tang has the delicate task of continuing to placate China, an increasingly important market ...

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US backs F-16 sale to Taiwan, drawing warning from China

Bloomberg The Trump administration has informally told Congress that it supports a potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, drawing a preemptive warning from China at a critical moment in trade talks with the US. The State Department has informally told key House and Senate committees that it supports the $8 billion sale of 66 F-16s, according to two ...

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China state agency unveils rocket for commercial use

BEIJING / WAM A Chinese government space agency successfully launched its first rocket meant for commercial use as firms in the country compete to join a commercial satellite boom, Reuters quoted state television CCTV as saying. Smart Dragon-1 rocket, which weighs 23 tonnes and was developed by a unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC) successfully delivered three ...

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Cathay flight staff unions regret CEO’s departure

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways’s flight attendants unions said they were “saddened” and “regret” the departure of CEO Rupert Hogg and Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Paul Loo. In a Facebook post published on Sunday, the unions representing flight attendants of Cathay Pacific and sister firm Hong Kong Dragon Airlines said the resignations were made to “take up the collective responsibility ...

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