A Southwest Airlines flight landed safely Saturday morning following a major malfunction of one of its 2 engines during a flight across the South-eastern US. The Boeing 737-700 was flying from New Orleans to Orlando early Saturday when it suffered the mishap, causing the jet to quickly divert to Pensacola International in northern Florida. A Southwest spokesman said its initial reports indicated no injuries were reported among the 99 passengers and 5 crew aboard. Photos taken aboard the flight showed the Boeing 737-700’s engine inlet completely torn away, revealing extensive structural damage to the engine nacelle that hangs underneath the wing. The spokesman said the failure caused a depressurisation of the cabin. The jet’s fuselage, front edge of the wing, horizontal tail stabilizer and winglet were also damaged. <br/>
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Promoters of AirAsia India have agreed to invest fresh funds in the airline as it aims to expand fleet and fly abroad, the company’s CE said. “It’s the start of our next chapter in India. We have been very categorical in stating that we get new aircraft as soon as possible,” CE Amar Abrol said. Abrol declined to reveal the quantum of investment, but said it can run into “multiples of million dollars”. Abrol took charge of the India operations in April after Mittu Chandilya quit the company. Overseas flights fetch better margins; however, India’s aviation policy for long have barred airlines from flying abroad until they gained 5 years of domestic flying experience and 20 aircraft. The policy, often called the 5/20 rule, was diluted in July, removing the 5-year part. <br/>
Ryanair told analysts it’s cutting prices more than anticipated this summer, helping to boost bookings and increase occupancy levels on its flights. Ryanair’s yield is expected to fall between 8% and 9% over the first half ending Sept 30, steeper than the 6% to 8% drop originally expected. At the same time, August and September bookings are up 1 percentage point from a year earlier. That could help Ryanair attain a 96% load factor in the fiscal Q2. Europe’s airlines are discounting tickets as terror attacks spanning Germany, France and Belgium to Mediterranean resorts depress demand for travel and Britain’s decision to leave the EU impacts the economy. Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary has said he’ll always cut prices where necessary to fill planes and protect his company’s market share. <br/>
Spring Airlines plans to circulate up to 91.5122m shares of its stock at CNY43.71 (US$6.55) per share, to no more than 10 specified investors. The share issue is to raise CNY4b towards the purchase of 10 Airbus A320s and one A320 simulator. According to Spring, the overall deal is worth CNY6.488b. Spring estimates the new A320s will boost the carrier’s operating revenue by about CNY1.5b per year, and the simulator will save Spring about CNY8m in annual operating costs. Spring plans to expand its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2018 to meet growing market demand. The airline operates 61 Airbus A320-family aircraft, and is scheduled to take delivery of more than 10 aircraft in 2017–18. <br/>