Low-cost operator Blue Air remains “cautiously optimistic” travel demand will return to at least pre-pandemic levels in April, after today outlining reduced capacity plans for the first two months of 2022. The Romanian carrier says it is reducing operations in January and February in the context of the “new pandemic reality” caused by the Omicron variant. ”Blue Air will be calibrating its flight programme by reducing its services to a minimum of operations until end of February 2022 and focusing on a strong summer 2022 Schedule with increased capacity, network expansion and a renewed fleet,” the airline states. Blue Air CCO Krassimir Tanev says: ”We understand the impact this new pandemic wave has on our customers and on their near-term plans, so we have prepared a list of new initiatives to meet their needs.” This includes a ”120% fully automated refund to Blue Air wallet” for Omicron-driven cancellations made between 27-30 December for travel until end of March. However, the airline says it is preparing for a ”more secure travel environment” and appetite for Easter and Summer travel by strengthening its schedule from April. “We remain cautiously optimistic that, as of April, the demand will not only go back to pre-Covid period, but even exceed the 2019 levels, so we are offering even more attractive Summer programme to our customers,” says Tanev. Blue Air has been working through a fleet renewal under which it has been phasing out its Boeing 737 Classics as it takes delivery of new Boeing 737 Max aircraft. <br/>
unaligned
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates are probing what Emirates described as “technical incident” shortly after one of its aircraft took off from Dubai on Dec. 21. “We can confirm that a technical incident occurred on the departure of EK231 on 20 December 2021,” the state-owned airline said in a statement in response to questions from Bloomberg on Wednesday. “The flight continued safely to its destination, and after technical clearances the aircraft operated the return flight to Dubai.” The Emirates flight, bound to Washington DC, suffered a close call after the Boeing 777-300ER nearly impacted the ground in a Dubai neighborhood, according to The Air Current, which cited Flightradar24 and a notice to Emirates pilots. The plane came within 175 feet of impacting the ground, according to the news website. The incident may have been due to “incorrect setting” of the autopilot in the plane’s pre-flight setup, it said. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority didn’t immediately respond to an email and calls seeking comment. Emirates declined to comment on the details of the incident due to the ongoing investigation. “The incident is under investigation and we are unable to provide further comment at this time,” said a spokesperson for Emirates. “Safety is at the heart of everything we do and would never be compromised.”<br/>
AirAsia India has paid its debts for air navigation, landing and parking fees, and other tariffs to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which under the ownership of the country’s Ministry of Civil Aviation operates more than 100 airports, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. AirAsia India, which is currently 84% controlled by Tata Sons - now in the process of acquiring flag carrier Air India - and 16% by AirAsia Group’s AirAsia Investment Limited, said on December 29 that it had paid all its dues to the airport operator and that it was aligning all payments as per credit terms on due dates effective from September 2021. AirAsia India’s debts to the AAI had doubled in the last two years, from 14.7m rupees (US$197,000) in January 2020 to 35.8m (US$480,000) by October 2021, the news agency said quoting internal AAI documents. “We have now paid all our dues according to the contract with AAI. We are making all payments as per credit terms on due dates from September, and there are no dues after that date,” an AirAsia India spokesperson confirmed to the Press Trust of India on December 29.<br/>