WestJet said it cancelled 11 flights on Thursday impacting 1,200 passengers, following the global grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes because of safety concerns. Canada and the US announced Wednesday they would follow other nations in grounding the MAX planes, citing new satellite data and evidence from the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday that killed 157 people. Canada’s second-largest carrier WestJet, which operated 13 MAX planes, said in a statement on Thursday that more than three-quarters of passengers impacted by the cancellations will be rebooked on flights today, with the remainder being rebooked this week.<br/>
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Middle Eastern carrier flydubai said Thursday the Boeing 737 MAX, grounded after two fatal crashes in five months, remained integral to its future strategy. State-owned flydubai is one of the biggest customers of the MAX aircraft, having ordered 250 of the new model narrowbody jets since 2013. It currently operates 13 MAX 8 and MAX 9s. “We recognise this is a unique and complex situation underpinned by safety and regulation. There are a number of procedural factors that our experienced teams are working through,” an airline spokeswoman said. “Flydubai continues to work closely with its regulator and Boeing and we value our long-standing relationship with these partners. Our MAX aircraft remain an integral part of our strategy for the future.”<br/>
Ryanair is to resurrect the ‘Buzz’ airline brand later this year, using it for its newly-established Polish operation Ryanair Sun. The airline says it will rebrand Ryanair Sun, which was set up last year, with the new identity being introduced from autumn. Ryanair Sun flies under a Polish air operator’s certificate and uses a fleet of 17 Boeing 737-800s. The Buzz brand was acquired by Ryanair when it took over KLM UK budget airline operating under this name in April 2003. It was originally incorporated into a new Ryanair subsidiary, Buzz Stansted, which operated services using a fleet of 737s and British Aerospace 146s. Ryanair has since established a new UK operation, Ryanair UK, with its own air operator’s certificate, as part of its efforts to prepare for the country’s departure from the European Union. The Buzz brand name is to be revived with the Polish operation and Buzz will become one of the four carriers within Ryanair Holdings – alongside Ryanair itself, Laudamotion, and Ryanair UK. Ryanair Sun CE Michal Kaczmarzyk says the fleet will have a “new and unique branding” when Buzz is launched.<br/>
Norwegian Air Shuttle will seek compensation from Boeing over the MAX grounding, CEO Bjorn Kjos said. Nations and regions around the world have been grounding the 737 MAX, following the March 10 crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 near Addis Ababa, killing all 157 on board. The Ethiopian MAX crash came just over four months after a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 crashed off the Indonesian coast Oct. 29, 2018. The US FAA was the latest to announce it was grounding the narrowbody March 13 with immediate effect, following the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) March 12 decision to suspend MAX operations in the region. In a video posted on Twitter March 13, Kjos said only a small part of Norwegian’s operation was affected—about 1% of seat capacity. But he added: “It is quite obvious that we will not take the cost related to the new aircraft that we have to park temporarily. We will send this bill to those who produce this aircraft.” “What happens next is in the hands of European aviation authorities, but we hope and expect that our MAXs will be airborne soon,” Kjos added. <br/>