Ethiopian Airlines surpassed many carriers by becoming one of the first to install a simulator to teach pilots how to fly the new Boeing 737 Max 8, but the captain of the doomed Flight 302 never trained on the simulator, according to people close to the airline’s operations. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the carrier had the Max 8 simulator up and running in January, 2 months before Flight 302 crashed. Boeing has said that experienced 737 pilots needed little training for the new Max 8, an assertion that has now come under close scrutiny by regulatory officials and pilots at other airlines. Use of the simulator by Ethiopian Airlines means the carrier was among the few in the world that not only had a working simulator for Boeing Max jets but was using it a few months after the first Max 8 crash, Lion Air Flight 610. <br/>
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Ethiopian air accident investigators are taking the unusual step of fast-tracking their probe into last week’s crash of a Boeing 737 MAX airliner amid global safety concerns around the jet and could issue a preliminary report on the accident as early as next week, the head of Ethiopia’s civil-aviation authority said Wednesday. Ethiopia’s transport minister and the French air safety investigation bureau, which downloaded the data from the Ethiopian Airlines plane’s black boxes, have pointed to “clear similarities” between that accident and a Lion Air crash. “It is a big issue for the whole world,” colonel Wosenyeleh Hunegna, Ethiopia’s civil-aviation boss and a member of the committee overseeing the crash investigation, said. A preliminary report, with more data from the plane’s black boxes could be released in a week or 8 days. <br/>
France’s civil aviation safety authority won’t be analysing flight-recorder data from an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max flight that crashed earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the investigation. No reason was given for the decision, which could be announced as soon as late Wednesday by Ethiopian authorities, said the person, who asked not be named. Analysing the data is a step further than the decoding France’s Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses has already carried out, and while Ethiopia is overseeing the investigation of the crash, agencies including the US NTSB have also been providing technical assistance. French experts at the BEA successfully downloaded the voice and data recordings after officials in the East African country refused to hand them to the US officials. <br/>
ANA received its first of 3 Airbus A380s March 20, which the carrier plans to use to double capacity between Japan and Hawaii. Hawaii is the number one resort destination for Japanese travellers, and ANA operates Boeing 787s on the Tokyo Narita-Honolulu route with a 90% load factor, ANA marketing executive Nanako Murakami said. ANA will put 2 A380s into operation this year, May 24 and July 1, and a third on an unspecified date in 2020. With the first aircraft, ANA will operate 3 flights a week; the second will bring the total to 10 flights a week. Each A380 will be equipped with 520 seats, more than double the capacity of an ANA 787, Murakami said. The cabin will be configured with 383 seats in economy class, 73 in premium economy and 56 in business, as well as a new eight-seat first class intended for honeymooners. <br/>
Turkish Airlines Wednesday denied reports claiming that the company had been sold to Qatar Airways. "News reports about the sale of Turkish Airlines which surface from time to time have no basis in reality. We wish to respectfully inform the public that we reserve our legal rights about these baseless speculations," THY's senior VP of media relations Yahya Üstün said on Twitter. Reports began circulating last week, alleging 49% of THY's shares were sold to Qatar Airways for US$10.5b. Meanwhile, THY CE Bilal Ekşi used the spotlight to quell rumours and praise the company's progress, saying the airline flies to more countries — currently 121 countries — than any other airline in the world. "We don't just carry passengers, but also culture, tourism, and develop business with entrepreneurs," he said. <br/>