The EU’s aviation safety agency announced today that Pakistan’s national airline would not be allowed to fly into Europe for at least six months after the country’s aviation minister revealed that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated during their pilot’s exams. PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said PIA had not been flying to Europe because of the pandemic. But the airline had hoped to resume its flights to Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Barcelona and Milan within the next two months. “It is hurting us really bad,” he said of the pilots scandal. An inquiry into a 22 May Airbus A320 crash that killed 97 people at the southern port city of Karachi resulted in the revelation that 260 of 860 pilots in Pakistan had cheated during their exams, but were still given licences by the Civil Aviation Authority. The government has since fired five officials of the regulatory agency and criminal charges are being considered. The EASA said in a letter announcing the ban that it was “concerned about the validity of the Pakistani pilot licenses and that Pakistan, as the State of operator, is currently not capable to certify and oversee its operators and aircraft in accordance with applicable international standards.”<br/>
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Norwegian Air Shuttle has become the first airline to launch legal action against Boeing over the grounding of its 737 Max aircraft, as well as hitting the US plane maker with the biggest cancellation of its troubled jet so far. The carrier said it has issued a notice to Boeing that it will terminate the remaining 92 737 Max aircraft it had on order as well as its last five 787 planes. Norwegian’s lawsuit comes as Boeing began on Monday a critical step for returning the Max to service: certification flights overseen by the US FAA. The company, which restarted Max production in May, has said it expects to start delivering to customers by the third quarter, if it receives FAA approval. Airline regulators around the world grounded the 737 Max in March 2019 following the second of two crashes in five months that killed a combined 346 people. Norwegian said late Monday it had filed a legal claim seeking the return of pre-delivery payments related to the aircraft and compensation for the airline’s losses related to the grounding of the 737 Max and engine issues on the 787. The airline has 18 737 Max aircraft already. It said: “Norwegian has engaged in a commercial dialogue with Boeing with a view to resolving its 787 and 737 Max issues and obtaining compensation for its losses. The dialogue has [yet to date] not led to an agreement with a reasonable compensation to the company.” <br/>
EasyJet may close bases at Stansted, Southend and Newcastle airports in England as it consulted with unions on steps to stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Pilot’s union Balpa says that 727 easyJet pilots are at risk of redundancy - which equates to nearly one in three of its pilots in the U.K. Those cuts appear to be part of the airline’s announcement in May that it would cut a third of its staff, or 4,500 jobs in all. EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren described the times as “unprecendented" amid the near halt of air travel globally. He said changes were necessary for the survival of the airline. “Unfortunately the lower demand environment means we need fewer aircraft and have less opportunity for work for our people - we are committed to working constructively with our employee representatives across the network with the aim of minimizing job losses as far as possible," Lundgren said. “These proposals are no reflection on our people at Stansted, Southend and Newcastle, who have all worked tirelessly and have been fully committed to providing great service for our customers.”<br/>
Ryanair expects to fly more than 4.5m passengers in July as it returns to a more regular schedule with 40% of its usual capacity for the peak summer month, it said on Wednesday. While that would be a drop of almost 70% from July last year, it would be a huge increase from April and May when Europe’s biggest budget airline flew just 110,000 passengers. The carrier has operated a skeleton service since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most European air travel in the middle of March and plans to restore almost 90% of its routes from July 1, albeit with fewer flights.<br/>
There is a high demand for domestic air travel in the coming months, budget airline Jetstar says. The company has resumed flying on Wednesday, with more than 2000 passengers booked on flights to five destinations across the country, the airline said. The flights to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown, represented approximately 60% of Jetstar's normal domestic schedule. Jetstar Group CE Gareth Evans said there was pent-up demand for domestic air travel. "We’ve seen a strong response from customers snapping up our low fares, booking and planning flights for the weeks and months ahead," Evans said. "Our return to the skies will get more people out into communities that rely on tourism and bring a much-needed boost to local businesses. It also means more of our New Zealand team members are back at work, which is great news." There would be some noticeable changes in the onboard routines for customers, including masks and sanitising wipes, he said.<br/>