A passenger was removed from a Spirit Airlines flight by authorities this week after lighting up a cigarette on a plane as it waited for its gate in Fort Lauderdale. She was escorted off the plane after Broward Sheriff’s Office Airport District deputies “responded to a disturbance” on the flight, which flew to Florida from Detroit. “On scene, deputies met with Spirit Airlines employees and were advised that they wanted a female passenger removed from the plane for smoking,” a the sheriff’s office said Wednesday. “Deputies made contact with the request, and no arrest was made.” The incident was captured on video by a passenger sitting behind the smoker, Florida resident Alexa Majdalawi. “I was actually the one who finally got a flight attendant to report her,” Majdalawi said. “I was immediately behind her and asked her to put it out multiple times. I asked to move because I have asthma and I couldn’t breathe ... other people were looking around confused. None of us understood why a flight attendant didn’t come over.” Smoking has been prohibited on all domestic and international flights coming into and out of the United States since 2000 – and other rules began prohibiting the habit on certain flights as early as 1988.<br/>
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Mexican low-cost airline Volaris said on Wednesday that El Salvador’s civil aviation authority has granted its local subsidiary authorization to operate in the Central American country. Its new business unit Vuela El Salvador, or Volaris El Salvador, was given permission for regular and non-regular international public air transport services for passengers, cargo and mail, and will begin operations in September. “Volaris seeks to expand the offer of its ultra-low-cost model in Central America by offering low base rates and point-to-point services in the region,” the carrier said. The airline’s CE Enrique Beltranena said in July that Volaris plans to expand to Central and South America in the coming months, as it acquires new planes and creates a subsidiary to serve the region. <br/>
Ongoing Covid-19 travel restrictions have forced Aer Lingus to delay the launch of flights from Manchester, in England, to the United States until December. The Irish airline planned to begin flights to New York JFK, Orlando in Florida, and Barbados from the British airport this autumn after regulators granted its UK subsidiary a licence. However, Aer Lingus said on Wednesday that it would delay the introduction of the two US services to December from their scheduled start of September 30. The carrier will begin New York flights on December 1st and Orlando on December 11. The Barbados service will begin as planned on October 20. Aer Lingus blamed the delay on restrictions on travel into the US, which continues to bar travellers on nonessential journeys from Europe.<br/>
Rossiya has taken its fleet into triple figures after introducing 42 Sukhoi Superjet 100s to its operation, as part of an Aeroflot Group network restructuring. It says its fleet has expanded to 100 aircraft as a result of the transfer of Superjets, and it intends to have 66 of the type by the end of this year. Rossiya will further increase its Superjet fleet to 87 in 2022 – a year in which it will also start bringing in the Irkut MC-21. Aeroflot Group signed for the lease, with Rostec’s Aviakapital-Servis, of 50 MC-21-300s in February 2018 and will become the largest operator of the twinjet type. Rossiya carried nearly 3.8m passengers over the first six months of the year, twice the figure at the interim point of 2020, as domestic recovery in Russia lifted its performance.<br/>
Africa Airlines began scheduled flight operations on Saturday, August 21, shortly after having secured its AOC from the Republic of Congo's civil aviation regulator. Brazzaville's Maya Maya Airport said in a statement the start-up's service currently entails multiple daily rotations between the Republic of Congo's two main cities, Brazzaville (its hub) and Pointe Noire. Operations are on-board B737-300 TN-AKC, formerly TL-TSM with defunct Central Africa-based Karinou Airlines, which was itself once named Africa Airlines. Congolese government records show Africa Airlines was approved as a passenger and cargo carrier back in April 2019.<br/>
The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport has cancelled Globaltrans Air's business licence, a start-up that planned to operate as a business charter specialist but which never completed its certification drive. Globaltrans Air was incorporated in 2014 and received its business licence in 2015, planning to launch with two Beech (twin turboprop) 200 King Airs. However, it never added any aircraft and thus could not complete its AOC certification drive. In 2018, the authorities extended the licence's validity, normally set to expire after three years if an airline does not launch, by another three years. In order to secure the renewal of the licence, the airline presented an updated business plan, whose details were never publicly disclosed. In May 2021, as the validity of the extended licence neared its end and the carrier was not nearing launch, the Ministry of Transport moved to cancel the licence.<br/>