Virgin Australia is seeking regulatory approval to co-ordinate on services with Virgin Atlantic Airways between Australia and the UK and Ireland via Hong Kong and Los Angeles. A filing with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission shows that the carriers are seeking authorisation that would allow them to jointly set prices, control inventory and co-ordinate schedules and network planning. The two carriers also propose to co-operate on aligning their products, joint procurement of ground services and corporate contracts. Both carriers are seeking interim authorisation from the commission, which is expected to be ruled on in July before a final determination in November. Virgin Australia says that the tie-up will help to solidify its presence on the Hong Kong route, where it has only 10% market share, and its load factors have been around 66%. "The proposed co-operation is anticipated to result in increased passenger numbers on these services and will improve their performance," it states in its application. "From a competition and passenger perspective, and in the interests of Virgin Australia’s network offer, it is in the public interest to take steps to improve the sustainability of these routes."<br/>
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An international flight was delayed nearly seven hours after a passenger opened a plane's emergency exit door after mistaking it for the bathroom, according to reports. A traveller Friday on a PIA flight from Manchester, London, to Islamabad, Pakistan, opened the exit before takeoff, which automatically deployed the emergency slide, CNN and The Independent report. "We regret the delay of PK771, which is an unfortunate consequence of the delay of PK702, caused due to a passenger opening the emergency door," the airline later tweeted. "We strongly urge passengers to follow security instructions as such mishaps result in inconvenience of hundreds of other passengers." Passengers were off-loaded and eventually brought back onto the flight. One traveler voiced frustrations on social media, claiming the airline lost their luggage and criticized PIA for "pathetic service." <br/>
An Atlanta-based attorney has filed an amended lawsuit against Boeing and Southwest on behalf of a couple who witnessed a fellow passenger sucked into an aircraft window. Tyler and Alexis Albin were on a honeymoon trip when they boarded Flight 1380 from New York LaGuardia to Dallas. The April 2018 flight took a deadly turn when an engine on the Boeing aircraft exploded, and the medical school couple watched another passenger get sucked into an aircraft window. "We could turn over our shoulders and she was two seats over,” Alexis Albin said in a 2018 interview. “We had a straight shot. We had front-row seats.” The victim, Jennifer Riordan, was pulled from the window by fellow passenger but attempts to save her life were not successful. "We did about 10 cycles of rescue and CPR while we waited for EMS to get on the plane, but there was nothing else we could do,” Tyler Albin said. “It was helpless.” The Albins have been added to a $1b complaint against Boeing and Southwest, filed by Atlanta-based attorney Jonathan W. Johnson. Johnson filed the amended complaint in New York last week, largely focusing on Boeing failures of the past two years that are under investigation.<br/>
The news that Ryanair is apparently set to launch Malta Air, a new low-cost airline on the sun-soaked island of Malta, is clear evidence of the group’s ongoing restructuring in action. It has yet to be formally announced, but it appears that Ryanair has struck a deal with the Maltese government to acquire an airline operator’s certificate (AOC) on the island for a new branded subsidiary. Malta Air is expected to start off with six aircraft, with a view to doubling this over time. According to a detailed local report in Malta Today, as part of the overall agreement Ryanair has agreed to also re-register on Malta another 60 of its aircraft, currently operating in Germany and Italy. These planes would not fly under the new Malta Air livery; they would remain Ryanair planes and in day-to-day terms they would operate much as they do now. But it raises the prospect that Ryanair could use Malta as some sort of aircraft maintenance hub. This may be the jam in the deal for Maltese authorities. This will be the third new brand in the Ryanair family, after Laudamotion in Austria and Buzz, which flies out of Poland. Throw in the group’s eponymous original brand, and Michael O’Leary will now effectively be in charge of four different airlines. This is, in effect, the conversion of Ryanair to a structure similar to that of IAG, the airline group that owns BA, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling. O’Leary will end up running Ryanair as an apex structure, in much the same way that his peer Willie Walsh runs IAG.<br/>