With the busy summer season in full swing, Ryanair’s cabin crew are all set to go on strike Wednesday and Thursday in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy, forcing the airline to cancel 600 flights. Five unions are behind a stoppage affecting 100,000 passengers, forcing the no-frills airline either to reimburse their trips or offer them alternative flights. According to the company, “90% of affected passengers have been transferred” to another flight. Spain, the world’s second tourist destination after France, is the worst affected country. The airline predicts the strike could affect “up to 200 of over 830 daily Ryanair flights” to and from there. In Portugal and Belgium, Ryanair says the stoppage will affect up to 50 daily flights. In Italy, unions have also called for a stoppage but the airline says its schedule there will not be affected.<br/>
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The US NTSB said Tuesday it will hold an investigative hearing in November about a midair incident in April in which an engine on a Southwest Boeing 737 exploded over Pennsylvania, killing one passenger. The hearing will focus on the CFM International engine fan blade design and development history of the engine type that failed, as well as engine fan blade inspection methods, procedures and engine fan blade containment design and certification criteria. <br/>
Uganda will borrow from Canadian and European credit agencies to fund jet acquisitions from Bombardier and Airbus to revive its national airline that’s been defunct for more than two decades. The East African country will liaise with manufacturers to access credit at concessional rates, Works and Transport Ministry Permanent Secretary Bageya Waiswa said Tuesday. Bombardier said last week Uganda plans to acquire four new CRJ900 jets, while Airbus said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state for two A330neo-800 aircraft. Uganda’s working figure for each Bombardier jet including training its crew is $27.7m, while that for each Airbus is $108m, he said. Uganda National Airlines will operate as Uganda Airlines and will operate its own ground cargo handling unit, the minister said.<br/>