Trivia 2025 (miscellaneous news)

[luchtzak]

Trivia 2014 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2015 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2016 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2017 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2018 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2019 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2020 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2021 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2022 (miscellaneous news)
Trivia 2023 (miscellaneous news) - part 1
Trivia 2023 (miscellaneous news) - part 2
Trivia 2024 (miscellaneous news)

[Passenger]

OO-HFH (ASL Cessna Citation XLS) flew Brussels-Rome-Manchester today.

One of the few passengers: Kevin De Bruyne, flying to Napoli to sign his contract.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/oo-hfh

[Passenger]

Onboard view from the Tommorrowland main stage fire:

[Passenger]

Air Baltic is looking for "I was on that flight":

.

[Dan]

Seen on flightradar:
Last couple of days noticed air Maroc lunchtime flight from TUN to CMN does a real detour : after take off from TUN it heads North to Cagliari then west towards Palma and further to mainland Spain before heading South again to CMN. Flight time around 3 hours!!!! Any reason for this long detour?

[luchtzak]

Seen on flightradar:
Last couple of days noticed air Maroc lunchtime flight from TUN to CMN does a real detour : after take off from TUN it heads North to Cagliari then west towards Palma and further to mainland Spain before heading South again to CMN. Flight time around 3 hours!!!! Any reason for this long detour?

I have been doing some research, looks like there is a ban of Moroccan flights overflying Algerian airspace. Since 2021 so it seems:

Algeria has officially closed its airspace to all flights carrying Moroccan registration—including Royal Air Maroc—due to diplomatic tensions with Morocco. This affects routes between Tunisia and Morocco, directly over Algeria. As a result, flights must detour over the Mediterranean instead of taking a more direct path over Algerian territory.

I might be wrong, so anyone else who knows the real reason?

[Dan]

This seems very plausible, thanks for the info

[Oursithee]

Seen on flightradar:
Last couple of days noticed air Maroc lunchtime flight from TUN to CMN does a real detour : after take off from TUN it heads North to Cagliari then west towards Palma and further to mainland Spain before heading South again to CMN. Flight time around 3 hours!!!! Any reason for this long detour?

I have been doing some research, looks like there is a ban of Moroccan flights overflying Algerian airspace. Since 2021 so it seems:

Algeria has officially closed its airspace to all flights carrying Moroccan registration—including Royal Air Maroc—due to diplomatic tensions with Morocco. This affects routes between Tunisia and Morocco, directly over Algeria. As a result, flights must detour over the Mediterranean instead of taking a more direct path over Algerian territory.

I might be wrong, so anyone else who knows the real reason?

Algeria banned Moroccan flights from its airspace due to diplomatic tensions, mainly over Western Sahara.

[globetrotter]

Yemenia lost their only active aircraft A320 when Israeli attacked Aden or Sanaa airport, last year a similar attack destroyed their only remaining A310.

[Passenger]

Elke Wollants is the Lab Manager at the KULeuven Laboratory of Clinical and Epidemiological Virology. On Twitter (X), she posts updates on the KULeuven research (at 5 places in Belgium) on waste water for corona, influenza and even drugs. And on polio (so far none in Belgium).

The KULeuven Laboratory is now working on a new project: to identify SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses in toilet waste from airplanes. Plane poop indeed.

Source: Microbe TV:
https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-special-wollants/

Elke Wollants:
https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/00032056

YouTube:

[Kristy31]

I have been doing some research, looks like there is a ban of Moroccan flights overflying Algerian airspace. Since 2021 so it seems:

Algeria has officially closed its airspace to all flights carrying Moroccan registration—including Royal Air Maroc—due to diplomatic tensions with Morocco. This affects routes between Tunisia and Morocco, directly over Algeria. As a result, flights must detour over the Mediterranean instead of taking a more direct path over Algerian territory.
null’s brawl
I might be wrong, so anyone else who knows the real reason?

Has this ban also impacted Royal Air Maroc's long-haul flights that used to fly over Algeria to destinations further east, or are those routes short enough that they can absorb the detour cost?

[OO-JFP]

I would like to raise a question re. Ryanair.
Next to the "normal" Ryanair, we also have Ryanair UK, Malta Air and BUZZ (Used to be Ryanair Sun) "based" in Poland.
It's about the latter that I have a question. I suppose that the reason for setting up a subsidiary in Poland (and Malta) must be tax driven.
Lower taxes on crew salaries or a different legislation on working conditions for crews, I don't know.
Since a couple of weeks I see Polish registered aircraft operating between Spain and Brussels but also other intra-European routes are being flown by "BUZZ". My question is: is this legal?
It could be that these aircraft are flown by Ryanair crews not based in Poland. But is there no legislation that prohibits Ryanair to use these aircraft on routes that are not originating from or going to Poland? Or is this again a reason to save money by Ryanair?
I see the same happening with 9H- registered aircraft that are based at CRL for example.
Thanks in advance if someone can explain this a bit.

[sn26567]

I would like to raise a question re. Ryanair.
Next to the "normal" Ryanair, we also have Ryanair UK, Malta Air and BUZZ (Used to be Ryanair Sun) "based" in Poland.
It's about the latter that I have a question. I suppose that the reason for setting up a subsidiary in Poland (and Malta) must be tax driven.
Lower taxes on crew salaries or a different legislation on working conditions for crews, I don't know.
Since a couple of weeks I see Polish registered aircraft operating between Spain and Brussels but also other intra-European routes are being flown by "BUZZ". My question is: is this legal?
It could be that these aircraft are flown by Ryanair crews not based in Poland. But is there no legislation that prohibits Ryanair to use these aircraft on routes that are not originating from or going to Poland? Or is this again a reason to save money by Ryanair?
I see the same happening with 9H- registered aircraft that are based at CRL for example.
Thanks in advance if someone can explain this a bit.

EU-registered aircraft can operate all over the EU.

[OO-JFP]

Thanks André.
I didn't know it was that simple.
OO-JFP

[fcw]

I suppose that the reason for setting up a subsidiary in Poland (and Malta) must a different legislation on working conditions for crews.

EU based carriers are subject to EASA rules, which are the same all over Europe.
The need for Ryanair UK is quite obvious after Brexit, isn’t it? For the same reason you have easyJet UK and easyJet Europe.

[OO-JFP]

I understand the reason for setting up a subsidiary in the UK, that's not the issue.
It's still not clear why you would set up a subsidiary in Ireland, Malta and Poland. The first two must have the most "liberal" rules for setting up companies if I see how many airlines have Irish and/or Maltese registered aircraft in their fleets. There must be a specific reason to have also a subsidiary in Poland. (I'm aware that Austria also has certain advantges to register aircraft with an OE-reg)
And then in the end use all these EI/9H/SP aircraft across the European Union as if it was one airline.
On top of that, BUZZ and Malta Air have resp. 70+ and 170+ aircraft in their fleet but only 6 of them each are pinted in the colours of BUZZ and Malta Air, the rest of the aircraft are wearing the regular Ryanair colour scheme.
I still have the impression that Ryanair is doing business on the edge of what is legally permitted.
But as long as the EU find it's okay, who am I?

[sn26567]

Oman Air schedules service to Denmark, where the airline files a Muscat – Baghdad – Copenhagen schedule from mid-December 2025.

The oneWorld member plans to operate 2 weekly flights from 16 December 2025, on board Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Source: Aeroroutes

[Duztin]

On top of that, BUZZ and Malta Air have resp. 70+ and 170+ aircraft in their fleet but only 6 of them each are pinted in the colours of BUZZ and Malta Air, the rest of the aircraft are wearing the regular Ryanair colour scheme.Beautifulideas.in
I still have the impression that Ryanair is doing business on the edge of what is legally permitted.
But as long as the EU find it's okay, who am I?

Regarding the Buzz/Malta Air discussion: as a passenger, is there actually any difference on board? Do the Buzz planes have different interiors or crew uniforms, or is it exactly the same experience as 'mainline' Ryanair?

[Dan]

Various charter flights arriving today at BRU airport from Spain and France, all arriving between 1400 and 1600. In total about 8 coming from TLS,BOD/RNS,NTE,MRS/LYS, VLC,ALC,MAD and SVQ.
Operated by different airliners : Tui, Enter air, Air horizont, Smartwings, Volotea and Corendon.
Anyone knows reason for these flights?

[Established02]

Various charter flights arriving today at BRU airport from Spain and France, all arriving between 1400 and 1600. In total about 8 coming from TLS,BOD/RNS,NTE,MRS/LYS, VLC,ALC,MAD and SVQ.
Operated by different airliners : Tui, Enter air, Air horizont, Smartwings, Volotea and Corendon.
Anyone knows reason for these flights?

My best guess: Winter Wonders and Christmas Market 2025
https://www.brussels.be/winter-wonders