One of Emirates most profitable routes is a 2-hour hop to neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Long lines form at the start of every week for EK 819, the most popular of 4 daily Emirates flights that pack in a total of about 1,600 seats. The destination is Riyadh, and the cargo is business consultants who live in Dubai on weekends but work for the Saudi govt during the week in sectors ranging from education to transport to energy. First- and business-class seats sell out months in advance. A round-trip economy ticket shoots up to US$1,089 on average during the narrow commuting window, making it costlier than a round-trip ticket to London. While Emirates is known for its huge global footprint, nearby Riyadh ranks as one of its top regional routes in terms of frequency, with 27 weekly flights from Dubai. <br/>
unaligned
India has stepped up scrutiny of engines on Airbus A320neo jets, forcing IndiGo to replace more than previously estimated, a move that could further delay the carrier’s expansion plans. A “more intense boroscopic examination” of engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney has identified more engines at risk of shutting down in mid-air, Arun Kumar, the head of India’s DGCA said Sunday. Out of roughly 200 engines in use, IndiGo will now have to replace at least 130. India’s aviation minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, had earlier put the figure at 110. Kumar said the DGCA would decide in mid-January whether to grant IndiGo more time — beyond the current Jan 31 deadline — before it started ordering some planes be grounded. The affected planes have continued to fly while the work is being done, since they have 2 engines. <br/>
Iran’s minister of transportation said that 3 new airbus planes will be delivered to the country in the very near future amid sanctions that have made it difficult for the airlines to renovate their fleet. Mohammad Eslami did not elaborate on details of the deliveries, weather the planes were new and which airline would get hold of them. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that the planes will be delivered to Homa, known internationally as IranAir. There was no confirmation from the company, neither was there any other report suggesting that the airline prepared to get the deliveries in the near future. However, a Friday report by ISNA agency said that Iran’s Kish Airlines had leased 3 Airbus planes from a foreign country and that the deliveries were due. <br/>
RavnAir canceled at least a half-dozen flights in Alaska Saturday — at the peak of holiday travel — following what the company described as “a malicious cyber-attack” on its computer network. The cancellations affected around 260 passengers, according to a spokeswoman. The regional carrier canceled all flights involving its Dash 8 aircraft until noon "because the cyber-attack forced us to disconnect our Dash 8 maintenance system and its back-up,” the company said. The airline serves more than 100 communities in Alaska, many of which are not accessible by road. The company is working with the FBI, other authorities and a cyber security company to restore systems. RavnAir Alaska later announced that it will operate a normal afternoon schedule on its Dash-8 flights. <br/>