A Caspian Airlines plane slid off the runway onto a highway on landing at an airport in southwestern Iran Monday, but all passengers were evacuated without injury, Iranian state media reported. Some other Iranian media outlets reported 135 passengers and 7 crew members were on board but there was no official confirmation. IRNA, quoting local aviation officials, said a technical issue delayed the plane's landing which caused the accident. Iranian media reported that the pilot was unable to deploy the landing gear, adding that the incident was being investigated. Photographs of the aircraft show registration number EP-CPZ, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 built in 1994. An unverified video showed an evacuation of passengers from the plane sitting in the middle of a highway in Mahshahr. <br/>
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Flybe mortgaged off the majority of its remaining assets to its shareholders last year, potentially complicating the UK govt’s efforts to provide a loan on commercial terms to the struggling airline. Connect Airways — a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Air and hedge fund Cyrus Capital — formally took over the regional airline last year, with the members of the consortium also providing loans to Flybe. UK corporate filings show that Flybe received a loan from the 3 shareholders in Feb 2019 that required the airline to pledge assets such as buildings, equipment and intellectual property as collateral. A person familiar with the matter said that the loan agreement covered the majority of Flybe’s assets that it had not already offered as security to previous loans. <br/>
A union representing Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants said it expects to meet with the company once again this week in order to negotiate fair wages. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which held its first picket of 2020 at Daniel K. Inouye International last Wednesday says it has hired a financial consultant to present a wage assessment for flight attendants based on industry standards. Since November, when 99.9% of AFA members voted to authorise a strike, with 95.1% of members participating in the vote, the union and airline have been trying to agree on costing models that determine wages. “We have been haggling over the costing models,” said Sharon Soper, Master Executive Council president. “What the company has for their own costing model is not the standard costing model for the industry.” <br/>
Emirates airline is advising its flight crew to stay in their hotels when on a layover in China due to the new coronavirus outbreak there that has killed 81 people. In an internal notice, seen by Reuters, the airline also recommends that crew avoid areas where there would be large gatherings of people. Emirates flies to 3 mainland China cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. It does not fly to Wuhan where the virus first appeared. The carrier is providing hand sanitiser and face masks to crew operating flights to China, the Jan 27 internal notice said. An Emirates spokeswoman said crew have been advised to wear a mask during flights to China if they serve passengers with any symptoms. <br/>
German Airways is to bring in another 3 Embraer 190s this year as part of its transition to an all-jet fleet. The carrier has emerged from parent Zeitfracht Group’s combination of regional operators LGW and WDL. LGW has 15 Bombardier Q400s while WDL has 4 E190s in service. German Airways states that 3 more of the jets “have been ordered” for 2020. The carrier states that it is looking to hire several new pilots who are already qualified to operate Embraer regional jets. “In the coming months we will be able to offer dozens of new colleagues in the cockpit an attractive and secure job with an economically very stable airline,” says Zeitfracht COO Dominik Wiehage. “This also includes extensive benefits under collective agreements, which is certainly not a matter of course in our industry.” <br/>
A judge has ruled that Ryanair must pay a portion of its former COO Peter Bellew's legal costs of having to defend the airline's failed legal bid to block his move to rivals EasyJet. Ryanair had sought to compel Bellew to comply with a covenant that he would not join a competitor for a year following termination of work with Ryanair. Last month, when dismissing Ryanair's action following an 8 day hearing, justice Senan ruled that a clause in Bellew's contract restraining him from working for another airline for 12 months was unenforceable. While Ryanair had proved it had a legitimate interest in exacting the covenant from Bellew, the judge said it went beyond what Ryanair had shown to be justified. <br/>
Wizz Air is staying with Pratt & Whitney for another 166 Airbus A320neo-family jets. The agreement to take the PW1100G engine covers 90 aircraft from a 2016 deal plus a further 56 A320neos. It also covers the 20 A321XLRs recently ordered by the carrier – although Wizz had already indicated that it would fit the Pratt & Whitney engine to these long-haul variants. Wizz Air has previously selected the PW1100G for other A320neo-family jets on order. The airline received its first, an A321neo, in March last year. Pratt & Whitney says the latest selection brings Wizz Air’s overall orders to 276 aircraft powered by the PW1100G. The manufacturer will also provide long-term maintenance service for the powerplants. <br/>
IndiGo will focus on increasing capacity on routes outside its home market to ensure an even split between international and domestic services, after facing strong competition from other LCCs within India. IndiGo CE Ronojoy Dutta said the carrier was “moderating ourselves to be 50% domestic and 50% international” to shift the balance away from “metro to metro” markets. The airline revealed Monday a more than doubling of net profits to US$69m in the 3 months ended Dec 31. Dutta said strong competition from other LCCs on routes linking large Indian cities – which “used to be our strongest market” – but notes that “non-metro markets are doing very well”. As it stands, IndiGo’s proportion of capacity and revenue on international routes is “marching towards 25%”, says Dutta. <br/>
Fastjet Group believes it has sufficient resources to meet operational needs until the end of March, as it scrambles to finalise a deal to sell its Zimbabwe airline to investors. The company had previously warned, last November, that it faced a February deadline to secure additional funding, and had disclosed that it was discussing restructuring proposals including divestment of Fastjet Zimbabwe. Fastjet Group says an investor consortium led by Solenta Aviation Holdings is finalising due diligence work on the Zimbabwe operation and obtaining the necessary regulatory clearances. The consideration payable by the consortium has yet to be confirmed, and depends on further discussions and the extent of any other outstanding liabilities and costs. <br/>