Art Aviation Magazine

04/07/2021

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22/05/2020

Pakistan's PIA aircraft with 107 passengers on board crashes in Karachi Awhile ago
Friday 22-5-2020

A PIA aircraft with 99 passengers and eight crew members on board crashed on Friday in a residential area of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, officials said.

“The plane PK 8303 with 99 passengers and 8 crew members has crashed,” said a spokesman for the national carrier.

The Pakistani army said its quick reaction force and paramilitary troops have reached the site for relief and rescue efforts alongside civil administration.

Local TV station Geo showed crowds near the scene which appeared to be a densely populated area and ambulances trying to make their way through. It also showed black smoke billowing from the scene.

18/05/2020

Anther one 😥

The loss-making airline is expected to embark on a sweeping restructure which will also streamline its fleet.

14/05/2020

Singapore Airlines posts first annual net loss in 48-year history after COVID-19 cripples demand

SINGAPORE: National carrier Singapore Airlines on Thursday (May 14) reported the first annual net loss in its 48-year history, after COVID-19 ...

13/05/2020

Cebu Pacific flights remain cancelled until May 31

The Cebu Pacific group which comprises of Cebu Pacific and CebGo has announced that its regular passenger flights remain cancelled for the duration of May 16 to May 31 due to the extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) over Metro Manila.

The Philippine government yesterday extended the ECQ over the National Capital Region (NCR), Laguna, and Cebu City as these places have been identified as critical zones of the coronavirus.

Cebu Pacific however continues to operate cargo and special sweeper and recovery flights while its regular passenger scheduled flights remain suspended.

11/05/2020

Qatar Airways fires pilots but bills them for airline scholarship training

Qatar Airways has come under fire once again for terminating flight deck crew while billing them for the pilot training expense under the airline's scholarship program.

Qatar Airways has come under fire once again for terminating flight deck crew while billing them for the pilot training expense under the airline's scholarship program.

Photo credits: Wikimedia
In a report from UK Aviation, a leaked letter to the employees show that "their services are no longer required" by the airline in which their last day was carried out. It is then followed by paragraph stating that the employee still owes the company for the “costs and expenses incurred by the company for the Scholarship Programme Agreement”. The amount is QAR529,000 or US$145,290.

Trainee pilots are often asked to sign a training bond which means that if they leave the company within a set period, they agree to repay or compensate the airline for their training expense incurred. However, this termination was due to a management downsizing decision caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It was not due to an employee voluntarily resigning nor was it a result of a dismissal caused by misconduct.

This raises a question on bonded training schemes as the employee has not chosen to leave but has been forced to by the airline.

Qatar Airways has recently been cutting jobs. Just last March, the airline laid-off around 200 Filipino staff. Just last week, another leaked memo showed that the airline will be terminating the contracts of a number of cabin crew.

11/05/2020

Colombian airline Avianca files for bankruptcy in US court
Behind KLM, Avianca is the second-longest continually running airline in the world.

Colombia's national airline, Avianca, has filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court.

The carrier is the second-largest in Latin America, but its passenger operations have been grounded since March because of coronavirus.

It said the pandemic had cut more than 80% of its income, and it was struggling with high fixed costs.
If it fails to come out of bankruptcy, Avianca will be the first major airline to go under amid the pandemic.

In a statement, the firm said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a court in New York. The process postpones a US company's obligations to its creditors, giving it time to reorganise its debts or sell parts of the business.

More than 140 of its aircraft have been grounded since Colombian President Ivan Duque closed the country's airspace in March. Most of its 20,000 employees have been put on unpaid leave.

The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a huge blow to the international aviation industry, as governments impose travel restrictions and confinement measures.
Global air travel has fallen by 90%, according to the International Air Transport Association. The body predicts Latin American airlines will lose $15bn (£12bn; €13.9bn) in revenues this year - the biggest drop in the industry's history.

09/05/2020

In a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), inbound international chartered flights will be allowed to land at NAIA on Mondays and Thursdays for as long as clearance is secured from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and CAAP for slotting purposes.

Inbound international commercial scheduled flights will be allowed to land at NAIA on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. These commercial flights have to secure approval from CAAP 48 hours before the scheduled departure from the airport of origin for the necessary slotting and rescheduling of flights in order to subscribe to the 400 passengers per day capacity of NAIA.

However, not covered by the NOTAM are enroute flights experiencing emergency, ferry flights/cargo flights, air ambulance and medical supplies flights, government/military flights, weather mitigation flights, maintenance flights, and outbound ferry flights/cargo flights with passengers, as authorized.

These restrictions will be in effect from May 11 to June 10 and will only be implemented in NAIA, a statement from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said.

06/05/2020

PAL gets ready to restart regular scheduled flights

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is set to resume regular passenger flights on May 16 contingent on factors like status of community quarantine in certain areas, government imposed travel restrictions, passenger demand, and health situation in the countries the airline serves.

However, the airline has announced an additional set of precautionary measures ensuring the safety of all passengers, employees, and staff.

PAL is imposing a strict mandatory face mask policy where all passengers and customers will have to wear face masks at all times at the airport premises, aircraft, and ticketing offices. The airline also reminds passengers of the thermal temperature checks and the required social distancing between each person.

The airline also requests all passengers to arrive 3 hours before departure time for domestic flights and 4 hours for international travellers due to the mandatory safety and health checks to be conducted.

For carry-on luggage, a maximum weight of only 2kgs is allowed inside the cabin of the aircraft. However, each passenger will get an extra 5kg of free baggage allowance. Passengers may also carry up to 10 100ml bottles of sanitizers with 70% alcohol.

PAL also ensures that all its aircraft are properly maintained while even parked in the ground wherein they are all airworthy once normal operations resume. Each aircraft are thoroughly checked to each detail like sensors, flaps, slats, tires, hydraulics, and every important component. The aircraft are also given full protection and preservation procedures while on the ground.

The PAL group continues to operate all-cargo flights carrying important medical supplies and items from different parts of the Asia-Pacific region to the different regions and islands within the Philippines, ensuring that the flow of important supplies are unhampered.

06/05/2020

Six dead as plane carrying coronavirus aid allegedly shot down in Somalia

"According to local security officials a rocket-propelled gr***de brought down a light Kenyan-registered aircraft with 6 crew while landing in Bardaale town in Bay region ."

A plane carrying aid supplies for use in the fight against the coronavirus crashed in Somalia on Monday, killing all six people on board, the Somali transport minister said. He declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, but a former defense minister told Reuters he had spoken to a witness at the airfield who said it appeared to have been shot down.

Samalia's Secretary General Abdalle Ahmed Mumin wrote on twitter, "According to local security officials a rocket-propelled gr***de brought down a light Kenyan-registered aircraft with 6 crew while landing in Bardaale town in Bay region ."

04/05/2020

IN DETAIL

04/05/2020

As we prepare to fly in the future, we are introducing some new guidelines for Contactless Flights!

See you on board soon!

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