Reborn carrier Cyprus Airways is preparing to take to the skies again after having obtained a certificate from the civil aviation department, two years after it closed, the company said Tuesday. "The Air Operator Certificate is a huge step forward for us, as it acknowledges that all our processes meet the requirements of European aviation authorities," said Natalia Popova, Cyprus Airways CCO. On March 4, the airline conducted a test flight from Larnaca to Heraklion in Greece with an Airbus A319, as part of the procedure to obtain the certificate. "Our next step," said Popova, "is to get the licence for commercial flights, for which we have already submitted our application. At the same time, we are at the final stage of preparations for the commencement of our flights." The airline is reluctant to give a timeline for the launch of commercial flights but said it was finalising a schedule and would "soon" post a website for tickets and routes. The new Larnaca-based Cyprus Airways is expected to operate flights to Russia, Britain and other European destinations.<br/>
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Striking Berlin airport workers may cease giving notice of walkouts after Ryanair Holdings began using its own ground staff to help maintain services from the German capital. The tactic of bringing in foreign “strikebreakers” poses a security threat because the Ryanair employees are being granted so-called air-side access without sufficient checks, the Ver.di union said Tuesday. The labor group, which represents about 2,000 striking staff at six ground-handling providers, may now deviate from its practice of announcing each walkout a day in advance to give people time to change their travel plans. Ryanair said it had brought in only “fully qualified and authorized ground-handling staff” to dispatch aircraft and minimize disruption to customers. Kenny Jacobs the carrier’s chief marketing officer, added that strikers “have no business” accessing the airport and ramp when they are not working. “It’s a disgrace that Berlin customers and visitors are having their travel plans disrupted,” Jacobs said in an emailed statement. “We call on the German government to intervene.” Flights from Berlin’s Tegel and Schoenefeld airports are being disrupted for a third day in five as workers seek improvements in pay that’s been squeezed by increased competition. Some 578 flights were canceled, taking the total lost since the walkouts began on Friday to more than 1,900. Some other airlines are also managing to operate flights, and while that may be with Berlin-based staff or non-striking handlers, Ryanair said it’s not alone in drafting in help.<br/>
The pilots of a Nigerian airliner failed to follow emergency procedures and didn't land after one of the plane's two engines lost power only minutes into the flight, according to a government investigation into the June 2012 crash that killed 153 on board and others on the ground. A 210-page report by Nigeria's Accident Investigation Bureau into the crash of the Dana Air MD-83 renews long-standing questions over aviation safety in Africa's most populous nation. The pilots, apparently fearing government oversight, pressed on with the flight from Abuja, the capital, to Lagos after losing power to the first engine 17 minutes into the hourlong flight. On the plane's approach to Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the plane lost power to the second engine. A cause for the engine failures wasn't specified in the report, though it mentioned another incident in which a Dana Air MD-83 lost engine power over improperly positioned fuel lines. "If the crew had maintained high altitude as suggested by the co-pilot, they would have had height advantage over Lagos for better speed and maneuvering to enhance their chances of survival during the emergency landing," the report said. The plane, loaded with 18,000 pounds of fuel, crashed in Lagos' Iju-Ishaga neighborhood. A massive fire engulfed the aircraft. Several passengers died of carbon monoxide poisoning, suggesting "that the victims were alive for some time in the fire that probably followed the crash," the report said. Six others on the ground died in the crash, the report said, contradicting previous reports that 10 had been killed.<br/>
An airline in China’s Inner Mongolia region is offering an all-you-can-take “subscription” service on its new flight route for 500 yuan (US$72) a month.<br/>The first flight from the region’s western Urad Middle Banner area to its biggest industrial city, Baotou, took off on Monday, news portal Chinanews.com reported.<br/>Before the new route was introduced, the only way to travel between the two places was by car or a three-hour bus ride. The flight cuts the travel time down to just 50 minutes. The route, operated by airline company General Aviation of Inner Mongolia, will run four days a week, on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays. To promote the new route, the airline is presently offering round-trip tickets at half price -- 230 yuan for adults and 99 yuan for students, according to the report. For regular travellers, it offers a 500-yuan “subscription” plan that allows a passenger to take as many flights between the two places as he can within a month, the report said.<br/>Departure times were also flexible based on passengers’ needs, it added.<br/>