Iran dismissed as “immature” a statement by a UN investigator that inconsistencies in its explanation of the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane last year raised questions over whether the act was intentional, Iranian media said on Thursday. Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said on Tuesday she had found no concrete evidence the plane was targeted intentionally but that Iran had not proven it was accidental. After denying blame for three days, Iran’s Guards said they had shot it down by mistake while under high alert for a possible attack. Hours earlier it had attacked U.S. targets in Iraq in retaliation for Washington’s killing of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, with a drone strike five days before. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Callamard’s “sphere of activity has nothing to do with these regulations and frameworks. Rather, her unwarranted involvement might not have a constructive impact on the legal procedures as well”.<br/>
unaligned
Czech airline group Smartwings said on Thursday it had returned Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 to service after a nearly two-year absence. European regulators in January lifted a 22-month ban on flights of the 737 MAX airplane after a design and pilot training overhaul in the wake of crashes that had killed 346 people. Smartwings has seven of the planes in its fleet and returned the first to service on a regular flight from Prague to Malaga. It aims to have the other six planes in operation by the summer season, it said.<br/>
Aer Lingus said Thursday that it has appointed Lynne Embleton, the head of its parent company’s cargo unit, as its new CE. The airline, which is part of the International Airlines Group alongside British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, is Ireland’s former flag carrier and is the country’s largest long-haul airline. Embleton joined BA in 1992 and has served at CE of IAG Cargo since 2017. She will take up the post of CEO at Aer Lingus on April 6, replacing Donal Moriarty, who has served as interim CE since October 2020.<br/>
Emirates Airline and Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will together implement digital verification of traveller medical records related to COVID-19 testing and vaccination. Under the deal, the two will link the IT systems of DHA-approved laboratories with Emirates' reservations and check-in systems to enable the sharing, storing and verification of passenger health information related to COVID-19 infection, testing and vaccination. The project, which will commence immediately, will go live in the coming months. "It's a natural step to combine our capabilities to implement digital verification of COVID-19 medical records, which will also enable contactless document verification at Dubai Airport," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates' Chairman and Chief Executive. "Dubai will continue to lead the way in implementing effective and balanced approaches to contagion control, while facilitating travel and air transport which are crucial to communities and economies."<br/>
There will be more flights and routes operated by budget airline Air Arabia and India’s SpiceJet from Ras Al Khaimah International. The airport, which resumed taking in flights in October last, is banking on such deals to boost connectivity as the emirate attempts to position itself as a major tourist hub within the UAE. Currently, SpiceJet passengers travelling from RAK International to Delhi can fly to multiple destinations through the carrier’s domestic service, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur and Kozhikode. The low-cost carrier also operates direct flights between UAE and seven Indian cities. And there could be even more. “We expect even more Indian destinations to be added to SpiceJet’s direct service from Ras Al Khaimah within the coming months and years,” said Sanjay Khanna, CEO of RAK International Airport.<br/>
Cebu Pacific is expecting to take delivery of eight more aircraft this year despite the ongoing pandemic crisis. Cebu Pacific had 10 deliveries in 2019 and three last year, said Candice A. Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice-president for marketing and customer service. “Eight expected deliveries for 2021 — a mix of Airbus and ATR (Avions de Transport Regional) fleet,” she added. On its website, the budget carrier said that it was expected to take delivery of 27 Airbus A321NEO and one more Airbus A320NEO between 2020 and 2026.<br/>
Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia Group Bhd has postponed its fourth-quarter earnings release by about a month, just as its closed Japan unit starts bankruptcy proceedings. The airline confirmed that it had delayed the results announcement to the end of March, from initial plans to release the figures on Thursday evening. Malaysian market regulators have granted listed companies temporary relief measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. AirAsia in a bourse filing on Wednesday said its 33%-owned Japan unit, which ceased operations last October, had begun bankruptcy proceedings. The airline will recognise a loss of $74.1m in its 2020 H2 financial results, from intercompany financial assistance and loans deemed irrecoverable. The company also incurred expenses of $5.2m in the fourth quarter last year and first quarter of 2021 related to aircraft de-registration to move three aircraft from Japan to Malaysia, it said.<br/>