Since 2022 began, we've seen a transatlantic flight turned around because of a mask dispute, another plane turning back due to disruptive passengers on a long-haul flight, and partying passengers stranded in Cancun with airlines unwilling to take them home after their behavior on the flight over.<br/>And it looks like the behavior has continued into February, with a US flight being diverted due to a disruptive passenger. The Frontier Airlines plane was traveling from New York LaGuardia to Orlando, but was forced to divert to Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina. The airport announced the unexpected arrival in a statement, saying it was down to a "disruptive passenger." Frontier flight 1335 took off early, shortly before 6 p.m., and was scheduled to arrive at 9:11 p.m. at Orlando. However, it was diverted to RDU at approximately 8:15 p.m., with RDU law enforcement, fire-rescue and Wake County EMS responding, the airport said. At about 9:40 p.m., the flight was able to resume its journey to Orlando, according to RDU. It finally arrived at its destination at 11.10 p.m..<br/>
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Tunisair plans to lay off about 1,000 of its employees during two or three years starting in 2022, its CE said Thursday, as part of plans to ease financial difficulties at the state-owned Tunisian airline. Tunisair has been losing money every year since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, prompting urgent demands to be restructured. “The company will return to its normal place and overcome difficulties by strengthening its fleet and an ambitious reform program,” CEO Khaled Chelli said during the reception of a new A320neo aircraft.<br/>
El Al Israel Airlines said Thursday it would not be able to maintain a full flight schedule to Dubai from Sunday due to disagreements over security arrangements in Dubai. Tens of thousands of Israelis who had already purchased tickets will not be able to fly, it said. El Al and two local rivals called on the Israeli government to intervene. One option, they said in a letter made public, was to secure from Dubai authorities "an additional allocation of security tags, to an extent that will allow the Israeli companies to handle the entire planned flight schedule." The other was to reroute flights operated by airlines in both countries away from Dubai to nearby Abu Dhabi or other airports to ensure fair competition. Nonstop flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai on El Al and smaller rivals Israir and Arkia were among the fruits of a landmark 2020 deal establishing ties between Israel and the UAE. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have visited the UAE commercial hub since.<br/>
Emirates has announced that it will double its capacity on its Dubai-Sydney route, increasing to two return services per day on its iconic Airbus A380 aircraft. From 1 March, the Dubai-based airline will increase its number of return services from seven to 14 per week, in light of the Australian government’s announcement to reopen its international borders to tourists. The new additional flights mean Emirates can fly over 1,000 people into the NSW capital per day. It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week announced Australia’s borders are set to finally reopen to fully vaccinated tourists and visa holders from 21 February, marking the first time the country has fully eased its international border restrictions since these were introduced in March 2020. Flight EK412 will depart Dubai daily at 10:15am local time, arriving in Sydney the following day at 7am, while EK414 departs Dubai daily at 2am local time, and lands in Sydney at 10:30pm. The return flight from Sydney to Dubai is EK415, which departs Sydney at 6am local time, and lands in Dubai at 1:20pm.<br/>
Australia’s Alliance Aviation saw revenue climb 11% to A$170.1m ($122m) in the first half of its 2022 financial year, but costs associated with fleet growth resulted in it swinging to a loss. The carrier says its strong topline performance reflects record contract revenue in the six months to 31 December 2021. Contract revenue rose 21% to A$128m during the period. The carrier, however, swung to pre-tax loss of A$4.5m from a pre-tax profit of A$33.6m a year earlier. It also swung to a net loss of A$3.4m from a profit of A$23.4m a year earlier. Alliance attributed the losses to investments in its next phase of growth, which includes the full deployment of its Embraer E190 fleet. It calls the E190 integration a “step change for the group from both an operational and financial perspective.” During the last six months of 2021, Alliance paid for the final six of 32 E190s, eight E190s joined the fleet, and it took on E190 costs for 78 pilots, 77 cabin crew, 36 engineers, and 25 corporate staff. This resulted in its reporting a statutory loss. This aside, it says, the underlying result is a pre-tax profit of $20.7m.<br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has authorised Nok Air to operate domestic flights from this northeastern province to three major tourist destinations, effective in the second quarter of this year. Nok Air's application to operate more domestic flights to and from Nakhon Ratchasima airport was submitted to the CAAT in November last year. Following the CAAT's approval on Jan 21, the no-frills airline will begin round-trip flights from Nakhon Ratchasima to Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai, with seven flights a week to each destination. The airline is expected to use a Bombardier Q400 turboprop with 86 seats on these routes. Located in tambon Tha Chang, Chaloem Phra Kiat district, Nakhon Ratchasima airport was opened in 1997 during the Chatchai Chunhawan administration. Many airlines, such as Air Andman, Thai AirAsia, Happy Hair, Thai Regional Airlines and Kan Air, had offered flights to the airport but had to discontinue due to the low number of passengers. It was about 290 kilometres from Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi airport.<br/>
AirAsia “is close to” launching a new airline unit — with an announcement due in the next two months — amid a broad restructuring of the airline business which sees the appointment of a new independent board of directors. The announcement follows the name change of AirAsia Group to Capital A in late-January to reflect its “new core business strategy as an investment holding company” with wide-ranging interests. As part of the reorganisation, AirAsia’s airline units have been brought under the AirAsia Aviation Group, which will allow it to “focus expansion of the business within the larger ecosystem”. Asked by FlightGlobal for further details on the new airline unit, Group A chief Tony Fernandes was tight-lipped, except to say that AirAsia Aviation Group was “very focused on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and that the group was “back on the growth trail”. “In due course, we will announce it. I think it will be within the next two months,” he adds. The low-cost airline group has units in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, as well as the Philippines. It also has a joint venture in India. It was previously reported that the airline group was looking at Cambodia as a prospective market, and had been toying for more than a year with the idea of launching a new airline in the Indochina region. <br/>