Trivia 2015 (miscellaneous news)

[sn26567]

Alitalia flight AZ2016 destined for Milan, Italy, flew into "an extraordinary and violent hailstorm" just minutes after takeoff from Rome's Fiumicino Airport Wednesday morning, according to an Alitalia statement.

Hailstones as large as tennis balls pelted the aircraft as it attempted to climb to cruising altitude.

The pilots then turned abruptly south and made an emergency landing at Naples International Airport just over an hour after takeoff.

The aircraft's nose was crushed and torn in several spots, one cockpit window was shattered, and some paint on the aircraft's wing was chipped away.

There were no injuries reported among the 110 passengers on board.


Picture Shane B Egan

[RoMax]

One of their aircraft in the new paint...almost seems like mother nature saying 'start over again, this is boring, I'll help you a bit'...ok sorry a bit too much imagination

[sn26567]

Flight operations at Dublin suspended due to hangar fire
August 26 2015

Flight operations have been temporarily suspended for 90 minutes this morning, as fire crews at Dublin Airport dealt with a fire in one of the hangars at the airport. A number of flights were diverted to Belfast City and Shannon airports.

Passengers are advised to check with their airline or consult their airline website for the latest flight information, as "knock-on delays" are still likely.

The fire, which has now been contained, was in a hangar in a restricted area of the airport that is separate from the passenger facilities. There are no reports of any injuries.

[sn26567]

British Airways to commence San Jose CA service from May 2016
http://ow.ly/Rr7gN

British Airways Increases London Heathrow - Las Vegas flights from 7 to 10 weekly from 27MAR16

Source: Airline Route

[Passenger]

Perhaps this is the end for ex OO-TNE - TNT 's 737-300, now flying in Indonesia?

http://avherald.com/h?article=48b7a570&opt=0

[Passenger]

Newborn airline SkyGreece Airlines ceases all operations:

http://www.skygreece.com

SkyGreece Airlines would like to apologize to all of its passengers who have been affected as a result of the Company’s current operational crisis. The founders, managers and employees of SkyGreece care deeply about their passengers and have been working around the clock to resolve the problem.

Shortly after launching scheduled international service in May, SkyGreece suffered financial setbacks as a result of the Greek economic crisis. In spite of the resulting immediate and dramatic reduction in ticket sales, the Company’s founders have worked tirelessly to maintain scheduled service. Unfortunately, as a result of recent technical issues, the Company is now facing a system-wide multi-day delay and significant additional expenses.

As a result, SkyGreece management regrets to announce that it must temporarily cease all operations. The Company expects to resume operations soon. Passengers should contact their travel agent to arrange for alternate travel and/or accommodations.

Passenger rights under EC Regulation No 261/2004: SkyGreece Airlines, its subsidiaries and affiliates make every effort to operate to their published schedules. There are occasions, however, where it is not possible to do so and a flight may be delayed or cancelled. Should this happen, EC Regulation No 261/2004 provides passengers with specific rights. This law is applicable to all passengers departing from an airport within the EU and to all passengers travelling into an EU Member State on an EU carrier. EC Regulation No. 261/2004 explains how to claim compensation, a refund or reimbursement under this law with respect to flights operated by SkyGreece Airlines S.A.

http://www.skygreece.com/en/OurCompany/ ... tInfo_28_8

[sn26567]

Condor flight DE5083 (B767-300ER D-ABUK) from Las Vegas to Frankfurt was diverted to Denver, escorted by two F-16s of the US Air Force, shortly after take-off last night because of an unruly female passenger. She wanted very strongly her "comfort cat" to be brought to her from the hold...

The flight departed again after 5 and a half hours on the ground.

[sn26567]

Kenya Airways has put things in motion last week to sell off four Boeing B777-200s, which were acquired from the manufacturer new between 2004 and 2007.

Parked outside the airline’s Embakasi headquarters for the past several months, these aircraft have been replaced on long haul routes by the newer and more fuel-efficient Boeing B787 Dreamliner and the larger B777-300ER. Kenya Airways presently has seven Dreamliners in service with two more due for delivery and three of the larger Boeing B777-300ER, that have a greater passenger and cargo capacity compared to the 777-200s and also a longer range. It is not clear if the three B777-300ER will also be sold off when the remaining Boeing B787 Dreamliners have been delivered to Nairobi, or if they will remain on the fleet, now that traffic to Kenya is picking up again.

[Passenger]

Dutch airline Arke (TUI) planned to start flights from Eindhoven to Curaçao/Aruba as from Oct 2015. However, the Dutch government now forbits these flights unless Arke pays the cost for a 100% narcotics check (estimated at "several millions").

Flights from Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Surinam and Venezuela are regarded as "high risk flights" in the Netherlands and therefore all passengers, all luggage and all cargo must be checked at 100% upon arrival. Only Amsterdam Schiphol has the facilities to do so.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines_press_r ... -schiphol/
http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2015/08/31/ark ... n-curacao/

[sn26567]

Japan Airlines (JAL) will expand its trans-Pacific network with return-to-service between Tokyo-Narita (NRT) and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) starting November 30, 2015. Fellow oneworld alliance member and Pacific Joint Business partner American Airlines will add its code to the route. JAL's NRT-DFW service will operate with the state-of-the-art Boeing 787-8 fitted with the airline's latest cabin interiors and seats in a three-class configuration, called JAL SKY SUITE 787 (SS8).

[airazurxtror]

Tunisia and Congo, Monday, signed an agreement on the launch of an air service between the two countries from 2016.
The agreement also establishes a bilateral co-operation programme in the technical fields, training and exchange of expertise.

[airazurxtror]

Lufthansa has decided to sell its 13% stake in Luxair . The Luxembourg State may take the option to redeem the shares of the German company , but not at any price .
The German company has decided to divest minority investments , where his decision-making power is low.

http://www.air-journal.fr/2015-09-02-lu ... 49539.html

[sn26567]

Following the example of the Lufthansa Group with Eurowings, Air France KLM is mulling the creation of a long-haul low-cost subsidiary to fly to overseas tourist destinations. A part of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners ordered by the Group would be used for that purpose.

[airazurxtror]

Turkish Airlines said it may strengthen its relationship with Star Alliance partner Deutsche Lufthansa AG in a move that could help the German carrier stem a shift in market share to fast-growing rivals in the Persian Gulf.

“There is potential Turkish and Lufthansa could become closer,” Chief Executive Officer Temel Kotil said in an interview. “It’s the strongest carrier in northern Europe, and we’re the strongest carrier in southern Europe.” Asked if the pair could merge he said “it’s too early to make comment.”

[airazurxtror]

Drastic security measures taken by airports since the 11 September attacks are still far from foolproof. A 100 % detection rate cannot be guaranteed at security scans for explosive devices carried by passengers or hidden in luggage, which means that airlines have to be prepared for an in-flight explosion scenario.

To overcome the cost and weight issues entailed in a systematic strengthening of airplane structure and the currently available hardened luggage containers (HULD), the FLY-BAG team developed and successfully tested three novel devices based on bomb-proof textiles combining three layers of flexible and lightweight materials with one layer of Kevlar. These include a soft-shell container to be placed in the luggage compartments of narrow-body jets, one for wide-body airplanes and a smaller FlyBag to be placed in the cabin for scenarios where a passenger is found with a bomb.

Read more :
http://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/123886_en.html

[airazurxtror]

Air France starting late-October 2015 is introducing expanded frequency to Luanda, as it adds 3rd weekly operation to the Angolan capital.
The 3rd weekly flight, AF926/927, will be operating as Paris CDG – Luanda – Kinshasa routing with A330-200 aircraft from 29OCT15.
Kinshasa will also receive 5th weekly rotation as a result.

[sn26567]

Air France starting late-October 2015 is introducing expanded frequency to Luanda, as it adds 3rd weekly operation to the Angolan capital.
The 3rd weekly flight, AF926/927, will be operating as Paris CDG – Luanda – Kinshasa routing with A330-200 aircraft from 29OCT15.
Kinshasa will also receive 5th weekly rotation as a result.

Already reported here: https://www.aviation24.be/forums/viewtopic ... 40#p321946

[Passenger]

(post deleted by passenger)

[airazurxtror]

http://ilmessaggero.it/ROMA/CRONACA/fiu ... 4994.shtml
Sì è vero, la giornata è stata da bollino nero, con decine o forse centinaia di migliaia di passeggeri in transito. Ma sta di fatto che due giorni fa il signor Thomas, chiamiamolo così, 40 anni e nazionalità belga, ha attraversato l’aeroporto di Fiumicino da parte a parte fino a trovarsi seduto all’interno di un aereo low cost in partenza da Roma per Bruxelles. Senza avere il biglietto per quel volo. Ad accorgersi della sua presenza è stato il passeggero che aveva in mano la carta di imbarco con il posto in cui stava seduto Thomas. Che alla domanda di confrontare i due cedolini per capire l’errore ha ammesso di non avere effettivamente pagato alcun biglietto. Quando la sicurezza l’ha portato via ha dichiarato candidamente: «Mi piaceva l’idea di fare un viaggio e andare un po’ a casa mia, ma non avevo i soldi per comprare il biglietto».

http://www.thelocal.it/20150908/man-boa ... ket-report

A Belgian man managed to bypass security and board a plane at Rome’s Fiumicino airport without a ticket, according to an Italian media report.
The 40-year-old somehow managed to get pass the security gate and board the Brussels-bound low-cost flight two days ago, Il Messaggero reported, but without confirming the incident.
He was caught only because he was sat in another passenger’s allocated seat.
As he was led off the plane by security staff, he reportedly said: “I like travelling and going home from time to time, but I didn’t have money for the ticket”.

[Passenger]

An UFO observation by Liverpool Tower forced Ryanair flight FR-448 to abort its approach and make a go around.

Statement from Liverpool Tower to the press: “...As part of our air traffic control function we keep a visual look out across the airfield from the control tower. Colleagues reported that they thought they saw something about a mile from the airfield, but unsure as to what it was. As there was an aircraft around two miles away approaching at the time, we simply advised that he does what is referred to as a go round..."

Other press reports suggest that the UFO was a drone above the Mersey River.

Source:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liv ... s-10027972

Flight involved: FR-448 on Wednesday 09 Sept 2015:
http://www.flightradar24.com/data/fligh ... 8/#76052a0