A total of 26 people, most of them air cadets, have been killed in a military plane crash in Ukraine. Footage of the crash released by officials on social media showed the smouldering remains of the Antonov-26 transport plane. Most of the dead were students of the Kharkiv National Air Force University, the air force said. There were 27 people on board, 20 cadets and seven crew. On Saturday, the death toll rose after three more bodies were found under the charred remains of the plane and one of the two survivors died in hospital from extensive burns. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the crash as a "terrible tragedy". "We are urgently creating a commission to investigate all the circumstances and causes of the tragedy," he wrote on Facebook.<br/>
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Hawaiian Airlines on Friday became the second US carrier to announce it will offer coronavirus testing to customers flying to Hawaii — a move that will allow travelers to avoid having to quarantine once they arrive. Beginning in mid-October, Hawaiian Airlines customers can be tested at drive-through labs in Los Angeles and San Francisco through a partnership with Worksite Labs. The cost will be $90 for results within 36 hours or $150 for express day-of-travel results, the airline said. The tests are Droplet Digital PCR (polymerase chain reaction) shallow nasal swab tests, what the airline called the “gold standard” in coronavirus screening, and meet Hawaii state guidelines, airline officials added. “As Hawai’i’s leading airline, it is critical to ensure that access to testing does not impede travel to Hawai‘i, for visitors or our kama‘āina (residents),” Avi Mannis, the airline’s senior VP of marketing, said in a news release announcing the testing program. “Our testing option will offer Los Angeles and Bay Area travelers superior value and we look forward to expanding the program and bringing additional choices to more of our gateway cities.”<br/>
The coronavirus pandemic has left easyJet “hanging by a thread” and at risk of going under without a summer resurgence of passenger numbers, a union official told pilots during talks over potential redundancies. In a conference call with staff, a recording of which was passed to the Guardian, pilots’ union official Martin Entwisle said: “If easyJet don’t have a good summer and make money next summer, I suspect none of us will have a job this time next year.” He said he was speaking following a briefing with the company’s chief financial officer, Andrew Findlay, union officials and other members of the management team. Entwisle told pilots that Findlay had warned that the company’s situation was “even worse than their worst fears”. “The easiest way to put it is: the company is hanging by a thread.” EasyJet strenuously denied Entwisle’s characterisation of his discussion with Findlay, saying it was not representative of the discussion. “The recording does not reflect what easyJet or its chief financial officer said,” the company said. “We have been clear the whole industry has been impacted by the pandemic, however easyJet has taken a prudent approach to capacity and the right actions on cash preservation. The airline continues to keep all liquidity options under review, but no decisions have been taken. Winter flying is always significantly lower than summer and easyJet will continue with its prudent and dynamic approach to capacity over the winter. No decisions have been taken and we will update the market in due course. As we said at our recent trading update, changing restrictions and quarantine requirements continue to impact consumer confidence to book travel so we continue to call on the UK government for sector specific support.”<br/>
Brazilian airline Azul said Sunday in a securities filing that one of its Embraer E195 has been certified to fly as an adapted dedicated cargo aircraft, as the company diversifies its business amid the coronavirus crisis. The airline added it expects other three aircraft to be adapted by year-end to provide services to e-commerce customers. Currently Azul has two dedicated Boeing 737-400 freighters. “We are seeing record demand for the services provided by Azul Cargo Express and are pleased to innovate to further meet the needs of our customers,” said John Rodgerson, CEO of Azul.<br/>
A new South African airline has launched a competition in which members of the public are invited to choose its name. Aside from the prestige of having their entry emblazoned across the carrier’s aircraft livery, the winner will also receive a year of free flights worth an estimated R480,000 (GBP22,000). However, the competition might not suit international frequent flyers – the new airline will be offering domestic services only when it starts operations in December 2020, starting with a Johannesburg-Cape Town route. “Help to find a name that is unique, aspirational, and cool,” says the competition website. “If selected, you could be the lucky winner of a year’s free travel on the airline valued at R480 000.” The carrier is a partnership between Gidon Novick, the founder of South African low-cost airline Kulula, and Global Aviation, a company that primarily wet leases aircraft and crew to other airlines. <br/>