Indonesian divers have found the casing of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from a Sriwijaya Air plane that crashed into the Java Sea last week, but are still searching for its memory unit, a navy officer said Friday. Earlier this week, divers hoisted from the seabed the other so-called black box, the flight data recorder, of the 26-year-old Boeing 737-500 jet. Flight SJ 182 crashed into the Java Sea minutes after take-off from Jakarta with 62 people on board last Saturday. Air accident investigators have downloaded data from the FDR, which they hope will help determine the cause of the crash though will also want to hear the cockpit voice recordings. “We’ve found the (CVR) body or casing, we’ve found the beacon and now we’re looking for the memory,” officer Abdul Rasyid told reporters aboard the navy ship Rigel. Experts say most recorders have a strengthened housing containing the memory or tape, a chassis designed to fix it in place and an underwater locator beacon. Abdul was confident divers would find the memory unit within the next few days, adding that a plane’s black boxes were usually strong and could withstand a considerable impact.<br/>
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Virgin Atlantic Airways sold two Boeing 787 jetliners to fund the repayment of a loan from hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management that formed the basis of a hard-won rescue last year. The planes were bought by Griffin Global Asset Management and Bain Capital Credit, Virgin Atlantic said Friday. The sale and leaseback deal, which allows the airline to go on operating the aircraft, raised $230m. After paying off the balance of the $170m borrowed from New York-based Davidson Kempner at the height of the coronavirus crisis, Virgin Atlantic will have GBP70m left for its own funds. The loan from Davidson helped save Virgin after Britain refused it access to state funding tapped by half a dozen other airlines, setting management off on a six-month search for backers. <br/>
South Korea's Eastar Jet has filed for court receivership, a person familiar with the company's plans said, and will continue to seek an investor to stay in business as the coronavirus pandemic weakens budget airlines. The unlisted, midsized Eastar Jet becomes South Korea's first budget airline to apply for receivership. Court control will let the carrier negotiate with creditors for debt reductions and forgiveness. Eastar had suspended all domestic and international flights on its roughly 20 routes amid the spread of the pandemic. Four South Korean parties, including a construction company and an investment fund, are interested in acquiring the airline. Eastar Jet agreed last March to be acquired by peer Jeju Air. But the airlines withdrew the deal as the coronavirus sent passenger demand falling. Eastar continued searching for an investor, but was struggling with debt. South Korea has seven budget airlines, proliferating due to deregulation. <br/>
Emirates has suspended flights to Australia's three largest cities due to operational reasons. "Due to operational reasons, Emirates flights to/from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne will be suspended until further notice," Emirates said on its website. The website further said: "Customers holding tickets with final destinations Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin after the completion of the above flights. Emirates regrets any inconvenience caused. Affected customers should contact their travel agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking options. To receive update notifications, customers are requested to ensure their contact details are correct by visiting Manage Your Booking."<br/>
Montenegro says it will invest E4m in a new flag carrier to replace Montenegro Airlines, whose planes have been grounded since the government said it would shutter the debt-hit airline last month. "We have decided to create a limited liability company for passenger air transport called 'ToMontenegro'," the government said Thursday. Montenegro's new government -- which ended three decades of rule by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) when it came to power last year -- announced in late December that it planned to shutdown Montenegro Airlines because of the high debt the firm had accumulated even before the pandemic severely curtailed air traffic in 2020. The airline employs around 360 people and has a fleet of four leased planes -- three Embraer 195s and a Fokker F100 -- which have been grounded since the announcement in December. On its website, the airline described the government's decision as "radical" and "unexpected", apologising to passengers whose flights were cancelled.<br/>
A Pakistan International Airlines plane has been held back by Malaysian authorities due to a British court case over the jet’s lease, the airline said on Friday, adding it would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels. The Boeing 777 aircraft was seized after a court order, an airline spokesman said, and alternative arrangements were being made for passengers due to fly from Kuala Lumpur back to Pakistan. The case involved a $14m lease dispute, a PIA official said. “A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking a one-sided decision pertaining to a legal dispute between PIA and another party pending in a UK court,” a PIA spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said. “We were told that the plane has been impounded on a court order,” Khan said later in a video statement. “PIA’s legal team will pursue it in the Malaysian court, and we hope that we will resolve this issue as soon as possible.” According to orders passed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday, the plaintiff of the case is Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited and the matter pertains to two jets leased to PIA by Dublin-based AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, in 2015. They are part of a portfolio that AerCap sold to Peregrine Aviation Co Ltd, an investment unit of NCB Capital, the brokerage arm of National Commercial Bank SJSC, in 2018.<br/>
Nok Air estimates it can sustain its business for another six months, although the uncertain market outlook makes predictions difficult. The recurrence of virus cases locally is affecting the rehabilitation plan, which is scheduled for submission to the Central Bankruptcy Court on March 15, as the airline has to revise it again, said Wutthiphum Jurangkool, Nok Air's CE. The revision is unlikely to delay the time frame of the rehabilitation process, which started on Dec 15, 2020, when the court's order was published in the Royal Gazette. Nok Air has three months from the announcement date to finish the plan. The airline and passengers are learning to cope with the virus a year into the pandemic, which makes planning easier to manage, said Kasemsant Weerakun, Nok Air's chief strategic officer. Predicting passenger demand is harder, as numbers dropped drastically even without a nationwide lockdown order from the government as seen last year. The airline's load factor dropped to 40% from 80% before the fresh outbreak.<br/>