A Ukrainian airplane carrying at least 170 people crashed on Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Tehran's main airport, killing all onboard, state TV reported. The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in the Iranian capital. The crash is suspected to have been caused by mechanical issues, the TV reported, without elaborating. An investigation team was at the site of the crash in southwestern outskirts of Tehran, civil aviation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh said. “After taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport, it crashed between Parand and Shahriar," Jafarzadeh said. “An investigation team from the national aviation department was dispatched to the location after the news was announced.” Pir Hossein Kulivand, an Iranian emergency official, later told state TV all those on board were killed in the crash. He said rescuers were trying to collect the dead. State TV earlier said there were 180 passengers and crew aboard. The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled. Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. A photo later published by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency showed rescue officials in a farm field, with what appeared to be pieces of the aircraft laying nearby.<br/>
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Norwegian’s 2019 capacity was 1% higher than the previous year despite its pledge of zero growth as part of efforts to return to profitability. However, the airline slashed capacity by a quarter in December and saw its unit revenue for the month rise 21%. Full-year unit revenue was up 7% in 2019. Traffic growth for the year, as measured in revenue passenger-kilometres, was double the 1% capacity increase, resulting in a 0.8 percentage point rise in load factor to 86.6%. New CE Jacob Schram, who took the helm earlier this month, says that throughout 2019 Norwegian “worked on reducing the capacity in line with demand and worked continuously to set a route structure adapted to the large seasonal fluctuations across the industry”. He praises the airline’s employees for making “an impressive effort delivering on the strategy of moving from growth to profitability”, although the airline acknowledges that the 1% capacity growth last year was “a little over the previously announced zero growth”. Norwegian made a full-year operating loss of US$438m in 2018, having pursued an aggressive growth strategy across Europe and on transatlantic routes. It has since scaled back its expansion plans by selling aircraft and axing unprofitable routes. These measures helped deliver a 64% rise in Q3 2019 operating profit, to NKr2.97b, and a nine-month operating profit of NKr2.13b.<br/>
A passenger plane skidded off the runway in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday, temporarily shutting down the airport. The Boeing 737-800 from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, operated by Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus, skidded as it landed at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in the morning. Passengers were evacuated by emergency slides. The airline said there were no deaths or injuries. Istanbul governor's office said all 164 passengers were safely evacuated. Storms and heavy rain have affected the city and transportation since Sunday night. The official Anadolu news agency said the international airport will be closed until 1700 GMT, after initially saying it would re-open at 0820 GMT, but added the airport could open earlier. The airport is on the Asian side of Turkey's largest city, which spans two continents.<br/>
Ryanair has again claimed to be Europe’s greenest and cleanest major airline despite being named recently as one of the continent’s worst polluters by the EU’s Transport and Environment (T&E) group. The carrier bases its claim to green credentials on having the lowest carbon footprint per passenger of any European airline. The company published figures on Tuesday showing that it produced 69g of carbon-dioxide per passenger for every kilometre its craft travelled in December. It claimed this was half the rate of other rival European airlines. However, according to data released last month by the T&E group, Ryanair was responsible for 9.9m tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2018, making it one of Europe’s top 10 worst polluters. The airline was one of only two non-energy companies on the list, and the only airline. <br/>