Saudi Arabia Tuesday revoked the licenses of Qatar Airways and ordered its offices to be closed within 48 hours, a day after banning all Qatari planes from landing at its airports. The Saudi government's move follows coordinated action on Monday by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to cut links with Qatar, accusing the country of supporting terrorism. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) also said in a statement any licenses granted to Qatar Airways employees would also be withdrawn. Analysts said the fallout from canceled flights resulting from Saudi Arabia's action would cost Qatar Airways millions of dollars in lost revenue. "The revoking of the license suggests that this spat will be a long and drawn out. You don't revoke licenses if you expect a resolution quickly," Saj Ahmad, the UK-based chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said. "The real challenge is what Qatar can do to mitigate [the losses], and right now, it doesn't look like it is in a position to do anything." Saudi Arabia's aviation authority said customers seeking adjustments on tickets to or from Qatar should communicate with the company by phone or through its website. <br/>
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Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc cancelled flights via Doha to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Egypt after they severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, state news agency MAP and the airline's customer service said Tuesday. MAP said Royal Air Maroc flights via Doha to those countries could not be guaranteed, and the airline's customer service said flights would no longer be available. "Royal Air Maroc apologizes to its clients for these inconveniences caused by a situation outside of its control," it said. In 2015, Qatar Airways and Royal Air Maroc announced a joint business agreement on services and expanded direct flights between the countries. Morocco has refrained from taking sides in the dispute between Qatar and other Arab states.<br/>
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is in talks to bring back Pakistani passengers of Qatar Airlines stranded in Doha after Saudi Arabia and four other Arab countries cut off ties with Qatar, an official said on Tuesday. The Pakistani passengers were supposed to fly to Saudi Arabia via Doha to perform Umrah, a religious ritual, at Mecca. “There are two options for PIA. Either take them from Doha to Jeddah, and for that we will be needing Saudi government permission. Or the second is to bring them back to Pakistan and take them to Saudi Arabia,” said a spokesman for the national carrier, told Reuters. Saudi Arabia is leading a clampdown on Qatar, accusing the tiny emirate of supporting pro-Iranian Islamist militants. The spokesman said the number of stranded Pakistani passengers was not clear because they were customers of Qatar Airways, but PIA was in contact with the Pakistani embassy in Doha to get details.<br/>
African low-cost carrier fastjet reported a net loss of $48m for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, more than doubling the $21.9m loss in the year-ago period. Fastjet has air operator’s certificates in two countries—Tanzania and Zimbabwe—which are facing tough economic conditions and increased competition, as the two airlines themselves battle to right-size to the market. “These financial results reflect not only a difficult market place, but also the overly optimistic expansion plan adopted in early 2015. Since I became CEO on Aug. 1, 2016, we have successfully initiated a stabilization plan to address the immediate challenges. However, although good progress has been made many of the plan’s benefits to reduce our cost base, and match capacity with demand, have naturally taken time to feed through and as such will only be materially realized in 2017,” fastjet CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said. The stabilization plan includes cost cuts, downsizing from Airbus to Embraer aircraft, route rationalization and the relocation of fastjet’s offices from London to Johannesburg.<br/>
A passenger was arrested after an Australian domestic airliner landed in a regional airport on Tuesday because of a note found near a toilet, police said. Police would not comment on a report in The Australian newspaper alleging that the passenger wrote on a sick bag that he had stashed a bomb on the Virgin Australia ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop plane. Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that a single-word note was found near the toilet. “Police and emergency services went to the airport after receiving information that a note was located in the toilet area of the aircraft,” a police statement said. “The aircraft landed safely and a man was arrested.” Virgin said the 68-seat Flight 1174 from Sydney to the New South Wales state town of Albury was met by police “due to a security incident on board.” Police said they took less than five minutes after the plane landed to get the passengers off. The passenger had not been charged by late Tuesday.<br/>
Flybe, has reached an agreement with UK regional Eastern Airways, under which the latter airline will operate as a Flybe franchisee. Flybe and Humberside-headquartered Eastern Airways expect to sign the agreement “within weeks,” with the arrangement expected to become operational in September, the airlines said. The new agreement will replace a franchise accord between Flybe and Glasgow, Scotland-based Loganair, which were last November unable to agree on terms to continue their arrangements. Loganair, which has operated under franchise agreements with a number of franchisors for more than two decades, will once again fly under its own name. The five-year deal, announced June 6, will see Eastern Airways’ fleet painted into Flybe’s purple color scheme. Eastern operates scheduled domestic and short-haul international services and private charter services, with hubs at Aberdeen, Norwich, Teesside, Newcastle, Southampton, Leeds, Cardiff and Paris.<br/>
A Cathay Dragon charter plane for Komatsu, Japan had to turn around mid-flight because the pilot was missing a crucial document. Flight KA8348, carrying 155 passengers, departed from Hong Kong International Airport at at 9.25am on June 1 and was expected to reach its destination at 2.30pm the same day. But it had to return after the pilot realised that the required approach chart for Komatsu Airport was not available. The plane resumed its journey later in the day, arriving in the Japanese city at 6.38pm, more than four hours later than scheduled. Cathay Dragon is conducting an internal investigation, a spokesman said, added that the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department had been informed. Civic Party lawmaker and licensed pilot Jeremy Tam Man-ho said this was the first time he had encountered a case like this. He explained that the approach chart contained information such as the airport layout, and arrival and departure procedures, which pilots should be familiar with before setting out.<br/>
Alaska Airlines on Tuesday launched new daily nonstop service between Milwaukee and Portland, Ore. The daily nonstop flights to Portland International Airport will operate through Aug. 26. The flights will be operated with Embraer E175 jets, featuring 12 seats in first class, 12 seats in premium class and 52 seats in the main cabin. The airline announced the new service in January. The new flight will depart Milwaukee daily at 7:15 a.m. and arrive in Portland at 9:47 a.m. The return flight will leave Portland at 11:10 p.m. and arrive in Milwaukee at 5:02 a.m. <br/>