Pakistan’s national airline here grounded 150 of its pilots Thursday after the government said nearly a third of the country’s pilots obtained their flying licenses fraudulently. Pakistan’s aviation minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, on Wednesday said that 262 Pakistani pilots had faked exams to get their pilot licenses by getting others to sit for their exams and through other abuses of the licensing process. The accused pilots worked for Pakistan International Airways, private domestic Pakistani carriers and some for foreign airlines, he said, announcing the results of an investigation. The names of these pilots weren’t released, leaving confusion in the industry. It isn’t clear where those 112 of them not working at PIA are employed. An aviation ministry official said they were in the process of informing national and foreign regulators in countries where the pilots were thought to work, although he declined to say which countries specifically. PIA wrote to Pakistan’s aviation regulator Thursday asking for official confirmation of the identities of these pilots. The airline believes that 150 of its pilots are deemed by regulators to have suspicious credentials and has stopped those suspected from flying until the airline receives an official list of those accused, airline officials said. “It is a grave concern for us as many out of these 150 pilots must be flying PIA aircraft, which cannot be allowed after disclosure of fake/suspicious licenses scam,” PIA’s CE Arshad Malik, wrote Thursday to the Civil Aviation Authority.<br/>
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Virgin Australia has been bought by US private equity group Bain Capital after falling into administration due to coronavirus travel restrictions. The airline was struggling with long-term debt of A$5b even before the pandemic struck. Australia's second biggest carrier had unsuccessfully asked for government loans before its collapse in April. Virgin Australia is currently owned by a number of major shareholders including Sir Richard Branson. Administrators for the airline, Deloitte, said Friday that Bain would become the new owners, with the deal expected to be completed by the end of August. A statement said Bain supports the airline's current management team and its turnaround plan for the business. It has also committed to retain thousands of jobs. In addition, a "significant injection of capital" would be made to help Virgin Australia recapitalise for the future, according to the statement. Bain and another US firm, Cyrus Capital Partners, had been in the running to buy the airline before Cyrus pulled out on Friday. "Bain Capital has presented a strong and compelling bid for the business that will secure the future of Australia’s second airline, thousands of employees and their families and ensure Australia continues to enjoy the benefits of a competitive aviation sector," Deloitte said.<br/>
Emirates needs to redefine its strategy after the coronavirus pandemic brought global aviation to a near halt, its COO said Thursday, flagging an increased focus on bringing more visitors to Dubai. The group is one of the world's biggest long-haul carriers and has over the past 35 years transformed Dubai into a major gateway for international travellers, most of whom connect onto flights to elsewhere. "We will need to redefine some of the operating model... because surely what used to work for us in the past is not going to work for us going forward," Adel Ahmad al-Redha said. He said Emirates would focus on getting more passengers to visit Dubai while continuing to "connect the world" through the hub-and-spoke model it relied on for over three decades. Emirates only operates international flights. The airline is also planning to reexamine its network and to look at greater cooperation with fellow state carrier flydubai, he said. The two state airlines already sell tickets on some of each other's flights and coordinate on network planning. Emirates will also need to operate smaller aircraft, which it has ordered and are to be delivered from 2023, Redha said. It currently operates a fleet of large widebody Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s, many of which had to be grounded due to the pandemic. "Going forward we cannot sustain long-term operating on that kind of fleet. We need to inject the smaller type," Redha said.<br/>
Emirates plans to temporarily convert 10 Boeing wide-body planes to carry more cargo, switching focus to the transport of goods while waiting for a recovery in passenger air travel. The world’s largest long-haul airline has modified seven Boeing 777-300ER jets by removing 305 economy class seats from each plane, the airline said in a statement on Thursday. Three more aircraft are due to be similarly converted by mid-July. The measure has been introduced as demand for personal-protective equipment and other goods used to battle the coronavirus continues to rise, Emirates said. Planes would typically only carry cargo in their holds. Emirates, which connects Dubai to 40 cities, said Monday it’s seeing traffic building up across the carrier’s network as it adds flights and Dubai eases travel restrictions. <br/>
Icelandair Group has achieved a breakthrough in its restructuring efforts, with a provisional productivity agreement with cabin crew representatives. While the company had reached new deals with its pilots and aircraft mechanics, cabin crew union FFI was holding out and Icelandair Group was pessimistic over progress. But it states that the two sides have managed to sign a new collective-bargaining agreement which will run until the end of September 2025. “The agreement meets the set objectives of increasing productivity and flexibility for the company and, at the same time, ensures competitive compensation for cabin crew members,” said the airline. Icelandair Group had been looking to relax duty-time clauses and obtain flexibility which would open up the possibility of new western US and southern European services. Cabin crew union members are set to vote on whether to accept the deal, which is an important part of the company’s restructuring plans.<br/>