The owner of failed British airline Monarch should, in principle, foot some of the bill for a massive repatriation effort co-ordinated by the country’s aviation authority, British transport minister Chris Grayling said Monday. Monarch collapsed two weeks ago, wrecking the holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of Britons, a year after owner Greybull Capital secured a bailout for the struggling airline. Asked by lawmakers whether Greybull Capital should contribute to the costs of returning tourists to Britain, Grayling said that if the investment firm ends up with a gain after the administration process, a payment towards repatriation costs would demonstrate goodwill. “There’s no formal legal mechanism that we can use, but in terms of the principle I completely agree,” Grayling said. “I would hope that if any of the creditors end up with money in pocket, whether they might indeed consider doing that.” He also said it could take weeks to determine how much money might be recovered from credit card companies and insurers. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Monday said that it had completed its programme to repatriate the 110,000 Monarch customers who were abroad when the airline went bust, which is estimated to have cost the government around GBP60m. However Grayling said that any contribution from Greybull Capital could depend on how the administration process played out.<br/>
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The reborn AirAsia Japan will commence services on 29 October with a service from its Nagoya hub to Sapporo, two years after receiving its air operator's certificate. The carrier says that it will operate twice-daily on the route, which FlightGlobal schedules data shows it will compete against five other carriers, including Jetstar Japan, All Nippon Airways and Skymark Airlines. “We are honoured to be the first airline to be based in Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International airport and we are committed to connecting as many guests as possible at low fares to AirAsia's extensive network, as well as bridging communities and cultures for the benefit of the local economy,” says CE Osamu Hata. AirAsia holds a 49% stake in AirAsia Japan, while shareholders Rakuten, Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund, Noevir Holdings and Alpen hold the other 51%. This is the Malaysian budget carrier’s second attempt into the Japanese market, following the October 2013 breakdown of its joint venture with ANA Holdings. The shell of that first carrier was used to launch Vanilla Air shortly after.<br/>
Australia’s crash investigator is looking into an unprecedented seven incidents involving Air-Asia Group airlines in the past 20 months. Three of the incidents have involved flights leaving or arriving into Perth, two of which were deemed serious. The two serious incidents involved flying below a minimum safe altitude in February last year while on approach to Perth Airport and engine failure off Carnarvon in June. On Monday, the ATSB confirmed it was investigating a depressurisation event on Indonesian AirAsia Flight QZ535 on Sunday involving an A320 with 152 people aboard travelling from Perth to Bali. The ATSB said that while the descent to 10,000ft from 34,000ft — the altitude at which passengers could breathe without oxygen masks — was disconcerting, “it was standard operating procedure”. Passengers on the Air Asia flight say the crew panicked, making matters worse. Passengers on the Air Asia flight say the crew panicked, making matters worse. “Investigators from the ATSB’s Perth office will conduct a technical examination of the aircraft and the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder will be retrieved and shipped to the ATSB’s Canberra headquarters for downloading and analysis,” it said. It will also interview the crew.<br/>
Ryanair Holdings’s efforts to calm disgruntled pilots were dealt a blow after crew at London Stansted Airport turned down a wage increase that was meant as a peace offering, people familiar with the matter said. At a Friday meeting, the majority of flight crew at the budget carrier’s biggest base voted against a deal from CEO Michael O’Leary for annual raises of up to E22,000 for captains and E11,000 for first officers, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. A spokesman for Ryanair said it doesn’t comment on “rumor or speculation.” After years of grumbling over working conditions, Ryanair’s aviators have been emboldened by a crisis that saw Europe’s biggest budget airline scrap more than 20,000 flights over botched vacation planning. Pilots are trying to form a companywide group, bypassing the existing structure which requires each of Ryanair’s 86 bases to negotiate deals separately. Chief People Officer Eddie Wilson last week wrote to pilots cautioning that the deal on offer, which includes extra scheduling staff, more base managers and an improved IT system, could be withdrawn in the event pilots don’t fall into line. “If pilots continue to be misled by the false promises of unions, then you will delay or miss out on these big pay increases next month,” he said.<br/>
Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO of Oman Air, the Sultanate’s airline, has resigned, the airline announced on Monday. “The board of Oman Air directors has accepted the resignation of the CEO, Paul Gregorowitsch. Engineer Abdul Aziz Al Raisi, the executive VP of products and brand development, will serve as acting CEO,” Oman Air said. Gregorowitsch — a national from the Netherlands — joined the airline as CEO in August, 2014, having moved from Air Berlin. Before joining Air Berlin, he was president and CEO of Amsterdam-based passenger and cargo airline Martinair Holland NV from 2007 to 2011, where he implemented successful restructuring measures to bring the company back into profit in record time. Gregorowitsch has also held a series of international management positions within Air France-KLM, rising to executive VP commercial. There were no further details given about the resignation.<br/>