A Chinese flight that plunged more than 5,500m inside two minutes has landed safely, according to a report from state-owned media. A Shenzhen Airlines flight dived to 3,733m from 9,297m within two minutes, about 25 minutes after taking off, according to the report by state broadcaster CCTV. The plane had taken off from Shenzhen, a city bordering Hong Kong, and was headed to Xi’an in northwest China. The A330 built by Airbus suffered an “abnormal pressure increase” when it climbed to 9,200m, and the pilots followed procedure and descended to a safe height, according to a statement from Shenzhen Airlines. The flight returned to Shenzhen at 9:13 a.m. Beijing time and all the passengers and cabin crew left the aircraft safely, the airline said in an earlier statement.<br/>
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More than 6,000 of the 27,000 staff from the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group have taken no-pay leave of varying lengths to help the company cope with the collapse in air travel due to Covid-19. In addition, more than 1,700 employees, including ground staff, pilots and cabin crew, have signed up for volunteer positions and jobs in external organisations. The SIA Group - which comprises SIA, regional arm SilkAir and budget carrier Scoot - disclosed the figures last Friday. Its spokesman said it has been arranging temporary and secondary job placements for its staff. "These include ambassador roles and opportunities at public transport stations, social service offices and hospitals, for example," said the spokesman. "Many of our crew have also volunteered with various roles within the company." Staff can apply for the external roles through SIA's employee support portal. They can also tap online financial, mental and physical wellness programmes if needed. The no-pay leave scheme and letting staff seek secondary employment are part of several cost-cutting measures the airline has introduced as the pandemic rages on. ST understands that the SIA Group's pilots and cabin crew who are not flying still get their basic pay, but they do not get flight allowances which substantially increase their pay. For staff who are now attached to other organisations, it is understood that their pay varies.<br/>
Creditors of embattled Asiana Airlines are drawing up a set of countermeasures against the potential rupture of a deal to sell the carrier, as local property developer Hyundai Development Co. is leaning toward withdrawing from the 2.5t-won (US$2.1b) deal, industry sources said Sunday. The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) last week warned that HDC should proceed with the deal to buy Asiana Airlines, rejecting HDC's request for another round of due diligence on the country's No. 2 air carrier. In December, the HDC-Mirae Asset Daewoo consortium signed the deal to acquire the carrier from Kumho Industrial, a construction unit of Kumho Asiana Group, as well as new Asiana shares to be issued and Asiana's six affiliates, for 2.5t won. HDC has completed seven weeks of due diligence on Asiana Airlines. But HDC has demanded an additional 12 weeks of due diligence on the debt-laden carrier beginning in mid-August, claiming it will be forced to shoulder Asiana's heavy debts if it acquires the airline without looking into its current financial conditions hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The creditors think Tuesday is the deadline for HDC to show its stance of whether to push ahead with its acquisition of Asiana Airlines as all requirements for the deal are met.<br/>