A Ryanair flight from Ireland to Poland was diverted to Berlin on Sunday after the crew were told of a "potential security threat" affecting the aircraft. German air traffic control warned the crew of the Dublin-Krakow flight of the potential threat and the captain followed procedures and diverted to Berlin, the nearest airport, Ryanair said. The aircraft was taken to a parking spot away from the terminal. The 160 passengers on board the Boeing 737 plane were taken inside the terminal and underwent “extensive security checks” along with their baggage, but nothing untoward was found. Once they were cleared, passengers were flown to Krakow on a spare plane after an eight-hour delay. Security threats against aircraft mid-flight are rare but not unheard of. Sunday's incident follows a week after another Ryanair flight diverted to Minsk after authorities in Belarus ordered it to land. A dissident journalist on board the plane was then arrested, sparking a major diplomatic showdown which led to many airlines avoiding Belarusian airspace.<br/>
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Avani Singh, the CEO of SpiceHealth and daughter of SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh, has called upon India’s government to open up the manufacture and procurement of vaccines to the private sector, saying it’s the only way to ensure the nation’s vast population receives adequate protection from the pandemic. “The government needs to become much more lenient in opening up vaccination to the private sector,” Singh said last week. “We are obviously moving at a much slower pace with vaccinations than we should be. If they let private players like labs and hospitals procure vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and let private players make Covaxin more aggressively we could significantly ramp up the administration and build up enough immunity to get out of this faster. Not allowing labs and hospitals to procure and facilitate vaccines is a huge untapped potential.” India is suffering the world’s worst Covid-19 outbreak and its health care system is collapsing as it runs short of everything from hospital beds to oxygen cylinders. SpiceHealth was founded in November last year, a time when parent company SpiceJet Ltd., India’s second-largest airline, was hard hit by the pandemic. So much red ink has prompted airlines around the world to look for new revenue streams as they burn through cash. SpiceJet began selling Covid tests for around $4 to passengers to get them back on planes. Story has more.<br/>
Two of Japan's regional airlines, Airdo and Solaseed Air, announced Monday that they will merge in 2022, a move that could portend more consolidation among airlines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The merger aims to lower the two airlines' operating costs through standardization and more efficient use of resources, such as personnel and facilities. The carriers will set up a joint holding company in the fall of next year. The two airlines will decide the investment ratio of each party, the name of the new company and its executives later. They also announced on Monday the issuance of preferred shares through a third-party allotment to the Development Bank of Japan, the largest shareholder in the two companies. ANA Holdings is also a major shareholder in the two airlines. Hokkaido-based Airdo operates a popular route between Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Shin-Chitose Airport near Sapporo, the main gateway to Japan's northernmost main island. Solaseed Air, headquartered in Miyazaki, on the southern island of Kyushu, has routes connecting the island and Haneda. The two airlines have no overlapping routes in priority areas. "Each of us is making self-help efforts, but there are limits," Susumu Kusano, president of Airdo told reporters at a news conference on Monday. Kosuke Takahashi, president of Solaseed Air, echoed Kusano, saying, "We cannot survive unless we strengthen cooperation through a holding company." <br/>
Former Southwest pilot Michael Haak, 60, was sentenced to one year of probation last week after pleading guilty to committing a lewd, indecent, or obscene act during a flight he was piloting last summer, according to a news release from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland. As part of a plea agreement, Haak, who was captain of a Southwest plane flying from Philadelphia to Orlando on August 10, 2020, admitted that once the airplane reached cruising altitude, he got out of the pilot's seat, undressed and "viewed pornographic media on a laptop computer," while still in the cockpit. During this time Haak also "engaged in inappropriate conduct" while a female First Officer, whom he had never met before the flight, continued her flight duties, according to the release. Haak was prosecuted in Maryland because the plane on which the incident occurred flew over parts of the District of Maryland and other federal districts. On Friday US Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson also ordered Haak to pay a fine of $5,000, the release said. Federal prosecutors agreed that Haak will not need to register as a sex offender for his misdemeanor offense, a court memorandum filed on Tuesday reads.<br/>