As it moves to expand its global presence, SpiceJet plans to aggressively augment capacity by 80% during the current fiscal, a top company official said Tuesday. As per the plan, the airline will induct 60 aircraft, including 30 from the recently grounded Jet Airways, SpiceJet CFO Kiran Koteshwar said. “We have already inducted 22 aircraft from lessors of Jet Airways. We plan to induct another 8t aircraft from the lessors within the next 10-15 days.” Besides aircraft from Jet’s lessors, the airline will add another 30 planes as part of the planned inductions. According to Koteshwar, the airline expects the 13 grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to enter service after the global ban on these planes are lifted. The airline has, however, not yet received any reimbursements or compensation for the grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. <br/>
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On a day when Flybe cancelled dozens of flights due to strikes in Amsterdam, the CE of the troubled airline announced she would stand down July 15. Christine Ourmieres-Widener’s departure is expected to coincide with Connect Airways – a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Air and a US investor – taking control of the airline. She has been CE for 2 years. Flybe is shrinking its fleet and network in an attempt to restore profitability. But it has faced crewing problems, which led to substantial cancellations at the start of the summer season in late March and early April. For each passenger on cancelled flights, Flybe is obliged to find alternative departures, provide accommodation if needed and pay E250 in compensation under European air passengers’ rights rules. <br/>
Hail shattered the windscreen and damaged the radome of a China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 May 26 as it approached the airspace of Beijing Capital International, where it landed safely after the aircrew declared an emergency. The aircraft was flying outside of clouds and avoiding a thunderstorm when it encountered the hail at 11:20 am local time, China Southern said. The hail ruptured the outer layer of the windscreen, limiting visibility from the cockpit. “Because the A380 windscreen has 3 layers, the flight crew judged that only the outer layer had been damaged and that the inner layer was perfectly all right and would allow safe flight,” the airline said, noting that all aircraft systems were operating normally. <br/>