Zimbabwe’s national airline has resumed flights to South Africa, the company said Monday, after a halt last week when South Africa’s state-run airports management firm barred the airline from using the country’s airports over unpaid fees. Air Zimbabwe’s sole aircraft in operation was grounded last week by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), which said the airline had failed to pay landing and parking fees, passenger service charges and an undisclosed amount towards clearing its arrears. “There were negotiations that were held, and we were given clearance to take off and land on Friday. It (Air Zimbabwe’s plane) did take off for South Africa today as scheduled,” Air Zimbabwe spokesman Tafadzwa Mazonde said. He declined to say whether Air Zimbabwe had cleared its debt or come to another arrangement, such as a part payment. Air Zimbabwe owes foreign and domestic creditors more than $300m. The Zimbabwe government put the airline under administration last year and later invited bids from potential investors as it seeks to privatise it.<br/>
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Alaska Airlines cancelled all of its scheduled service to the Santa Rosa, California airport, north of San Francisco, due to a massive wildfire nearby which has burned tens of thousands of hectares and forced 180,000 residents to flee their homes. The Seattle-based airline suspended 18 nonstop inbound and outbound flights between the city in northern California and five west-coast destinations - Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego - through Thursday, 31 October, it says in a statement on its website on 28 October. The Santa Rosa airport closed for operations on Saturday at 20:00 local time after mandatory evacuations in the area began. As of Tuesday afternoon local time, the fire had burned more than 26,300 hectares and was 5% contained. The last time the airport closed was in November 2017 during another wildfire that destroyed parts of the city. A second fire in the Los Angeles area has not disrupted flights at Los Angeles International Airport as of Tuesday afternoon.<br/>
Icelandair Group has slashed its forecast full-year losses, partly owing to its extending the suspension of Boeing 737 Max services. The company has removed 737 Max operations from its schedule for January and February 2020. This means that the costs of reintroducing the aircraft to its timetable will not be incurred in the current financial year. Icelandair Group says it has cut its predicted EBIT loss to $35-55m from the previous figure of $70-90 million. This includes the financial impact arising from the grounding of its 737 Max fleet, which it has trimmed to $110-120m for this year. The airline has six of the re-engined type, with several more on order. Icelandair Group says its prospects for this year are "more favourable" than they were during its previous forecast. It states that its Q3 results indicate EBIT and net profit levels "similar" to those of the same period last year, despite the 737 Max suspension. Icelandair Group is also expecting "improved performance" in Q4, partly resulting from the shift of 737 Max return-to-service costs into 2020. "The actions taken to mitigate the impact of the Max suspension are starting to materialise," it adds. But it also says that it is benefiting from "optimisation" of its route network and improved revenue management.<br/>
Spain’s Vueling has become the first LCC to offer European Aviation Network inflight WiFi, with an initial “soft launch” on five Airbus A320-family aircraft. “The rollout will progressively continue over the coming months, with installations expected to be completed on its fleet of more than 110 Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft by early next year,” Vueling said Monday. EAN is Europe’s first integrated air-to-ground (A2G) and satellite connectivity network in Europe, and the second in the world after the US. The A2G component of EAN works from land-based masts, rather than satellites. That means aircraft can be fitted with smaller, lower-drag antennas, making it faster to install and less expensive than satellite-based connectivity. EAN installation takes under nine hours per aircraft, minimizing downtime. A2G does not work over large oceans, however, so EAN also includes satellite links. Vueling said the EAN rollout forms one of the “significant investments” under its NEXT strategy, which spans customer experience, operational resilience and digital innovation.<br/>