United Arab Emirates investigators have disclosed that an Air Arabia Airbus A320 lifted off beyond the end of a Sharjah runway, after the captain opted to continue a take-off despite the jet’s turning onto the wrong runway for departure. The aircraft – bound for the Omani city of Salalah, with a trainee first officer flying – had been cleared to depart from runway 30 but, from the B14 intersection, the crew turned onto the opposite-direction runway 12 and accelerated into a rolling take-off. Although the aircraft was travelling at just 63kt groundspeed, the captain – having realised the jet was heading in the wrong direction – believed there was insufficient runway distance to abort the take-off, and advanced the thrust levers to full power. Analysis by the General Civil Aviation Authority found there was 730m of runway available at the time. Tower controllers contacted the crew, after noticing the A320 was rolling along the wrong runway, but there was no response. The captain deployed additional flap and initiated rotation with aft sidestick input, although the first officer was simultaneously applying a nose-down input she had maintained since the beginning of the take-off roll. Investigators state that the aircraft overran the far end of runway 12 by 30m, entering the runway safety area, before lifting off at 132kt. One of its main landing-gear tyres struck and damaged an approach lamp. Story has more details.<br/>
unaligned
Low-cost carriers are planning to increase their air routes to Europe and other medium- and long-distance destinations as the country's two main carriers ― Korean Air and Asiana Airlines ― may possibly give up some of their flight routes as a condition suggested by the antitrust regulator to approve the former's acquisition of the latter. In November 2020, Korean Air announced that it would acquire debt-ridden Asiana Airlines for 1.8t won ($1.5b), but the acquisition process is still pending awaiting approvals from antitrust regulators in multiple countries. On a related note, Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said at the end of December that it will grant an approval for the acquisition on the condition that the two air carriers return some of their airport landing slots and flight licenses. The slot refers to the right of an airline to use the airport, while the license means the right to operate at airports in overseas countries. By handing over some of its slots and licenses to LCCs, an FTC spokesperson said the competition agency intends to boost market competition and dispel concerns about monopoly issues. Local LCCs welcomed the decision as the redistribution of the slots and licenses would help them diversify their business models. Since the long-distance routes such as Europe could be included among the routes to be redistributed, they are scrambling to introduce addition large-sized aircrafts.<br/>
Jeju Air, the largest budget carrier in Korea, ranked No. 1 in passenger count last year, outnumbering full-service carrier Korean Air, on surging domestic air travel demand and ongoing standstill in international travel. Jeju Air carried a total of 6.51m passengers in 2021, according to transport ministry on Tuesday. Its domestic passengers counted at 6.46m in total, a record high and 2m more compared to a year earlier. This placed its domestic passenger seat occupancy at 19.5%, up 2.3 points on year. The company topped the chart for the second year in a row. Jin Air Co., also a low-cost carrier, followed Jeju Air in total passenger count with 5.84m, trailed by its parent Korean Air Lines with 5.6m. On domestic routes, Jin Air flew 5.81m passengers, the second largest after Jeju Air. Tway Air came in third with 5.1m passengers, outrunning full-service carriers Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines, which recorded 4.8m and 4.5m, respectively.<br/>