Eight passengers who were aboard a Southwest flight that was forced to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia after one of its engines blew apart filed suit Wednesday against the airline, Boeing and the companies that manufactured the engine, alleging that they failed to take proper safeguards to prevent the fatal tragedy. One person died and several others were injured in the April 17 incident. “As a direct result of the frightful, death-threatening Flight 1380 incident, each Plaintiff suffered severe mental, emotional and psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder and physical injuries,” says the 20-page lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on behalf of the passengers. Southwest, the Boeing Company, GE Aviation Systems, Safran USA and CFM International were all named as defendants in the suit. The suit contends that “Southwest negligently failed to reasonably monitor, inspect, test, service maintain and repair the Aircraft and the Engine to keep its aircraft reasonably safe for its passengers, and to remove from service aircraft that were not reasonably safe.”<br/>
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Air Arabia has an overall exposure of $336m to Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj, which has filed for provisional liquidation, the airline said on Wednesday. The carrier said that it had appointed a legal representative to protect its business. Shares in Air Arabia, the only listed airline in the United Arab Emirates, plunged 7% this week because of the link between the airline and Abraaj. Abraaj, the Middle East’s biggest private equity firm, filed a petition in the Cayman Islands last week asking the court to appoint provisional liquidators for the embattled company. Air Arabia said this week it had appointed a team of experts who are “actively engaged with all stakeholders and creditors involved with the matter to ensure Air Arabia’s investment and business interest is protected.” The carrier said on Wednesday there was “no significant impact on Air Arabia’s daily or future business or on its liquidity status and that the business is operating as usual.” <br/>
El Al Israel Airlines said Wednesday it had scrapped its bid to acquire smaller low-cost rival Israir from IDB Tourism amid opposition from competition regulators. A year ago, El Al reached a deal for its Sun d’Or unit to pay up to $24m for Israir, which flies to the southern resort of Eilat and a host of European cities. Sun d’Or flies to about 17 destinations in France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece and elsewhere in Europe. Earlier this year, Israel’s Anti-Trust Authority said it opposed the merger since it would prevent El Al from operating flights to Eilat and lead to competitive concerns resulting from El Al’s control of security services at all Israeli airlines. El Al, which argued that flights to Eilat were economically unjustified, appealed against the decision but decided to drop that appeal on Wednesday. “In view of the passage of time from the signing of the purchase agreement and the expected time to complete the appeal process the parties were required to negotiate the commercial terms in which the agreement could be kept in place,” El Al said. “Since the negotiations failed and no agreement was reached, the parties ... withdrew the appeal.” The withdrawal came hours before a preliminary hearing in front of an anti-trust tribunal.<br/>
China’s Sichuan Airlines is seeking approval from the US DoT to open service to Boston, Massachusetts, accelerating its international expansion. The Chengdu-based carrier plans to launch the service Dec. 17 with twice-weekly flights operated by an A350-900, which is slated to be delivered soon. Sichuan is expected to introduce four A350-900 aircraft, configured with 28 business- and 303 economy-class seats, in 2019. The airline secured clearance from the Civil Aviation Administration of China for the new service Dec. 25, 2017. Sichuan plans to transport 55,608 passengers on this new service with an average load factor of 75% and earn $24.6m in operating revenue for the first year. The carrier has been challenged by overcapacity in the Sino-US market. Currently, Sichuan operates two Sino-US routes: Chengdu-Hangzhou-Los Angeles (opened in October 2016) and Chengdu-Jinan-Los Angeles (opened in December 2016).<br/>
The head of Jin Air has quit over allegations that he forced a pilot to go ahead with a flight last year despite an engine problem. The budget carrier unit of Korean Air Lines said Kwon Hyuk-min resigned on Tuesday for personal reasons. The resignation came four weeks after employees of Korean Air Lines claimed that the No. 1 engine of a B777-200 jet would not shut down despite a pilot's efforts to turn it off after landing at Guam on Sept. 19 last year. The plane, however, left for Incheon about 70 minutes later without addressing a major defect in the engine, according to the employees. They claimed that Kwon, who was then the head of the maintenance centre at Jin Air, pushed for the flight to go ahead by concealing problem. However, Jin Air insisted that the engine stopped normally after landing at Guam and that fuel left in the fuel pipes may have caused some smoke. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it is investigating.<br/>
The AirAsia Group has again refuted any wrongdoing in its dealings with the Indian government over its AirAsia India unit, following allegations of corruption filed in a first information report with the Indian police. AirAsia said it had conducted an internal review and found that there had been no wrongdoing by group CE Tony Fernandes and deputy group CE Bo Lingam - the two parties at the centre of the allegations. The statement follows widespread media coverage concerning the alleged police report, based on information from an unnamed "reliable source". "The Board of Directors of AirAsia Group refutes strongly all the allegations made in the FIR as baseless, unsupported and unjustified and will vigorously challenge these allegations." Among the allegations in the report includes claims that AirAsia India was "indirectly controlled and operated" by Malaysia AirAsia via a brand licensing agreement, violating India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board norms which requires substantial ownership and effective control by Indian nationals. AirAsia has since refuted this, backed by a report from the Indian Director General of Civil Aviation that the terms and conditions "did not dilute substantial ownership and effective control" by Indian nationals.<br/>