Breeze Airways announced Thursday that Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport will become the fifth base of operations for the airline that specializes in low-cost nonstop flights. Headquartered in Utah, the airline plans to permanently house aircraft at the Windsor Locks airport as well as hire local pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, creating at least 200 new jobs in the state. “It’s going to be great for people to come and visit this part of the country and also for people from here to be able to kind of visit other parts of the country as well,” said Breeze Airways founder and CEO David Neeleman, a Connecticut resident. He said the airline, which began offering flights on May 27, 2021 to three destinations, including Bradley, will announce eight new nonstop destinations from Connecticut’s largest airport in the coming weeks, for a total of 12. Breeze currently offers nonstop service from Bradley to Charleston, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Norfolk, Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By the end of February, the airline is expected to provide service nationally between 18 cities and 14 states. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said more airlines are becoming interested in Bradley, considered a small airport nationally but the second-largest airport in New England, for its convenience and operations. “Bradley is a key economic driver for our state, and the more airlines and destinations that we can add from the airport, the more attractive Connecticut becomes to companies that are seeking to grow their own operations,” Lamont said. The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development is providing Breeze Airways a grant in arrears up to $1.26m contingent on the company creating and retaining 212 full-time jobs.<br/>
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Vueling, IAG's Spanish low-cost airline, has cancelled direct flights to and from Ukraine´s capital Kyiv in February, a spokesperson for the Barcelona-based carrier said on Thursday. Vueling cancelled the eight direct flights from Paris Orly airport to and from Boryspil International Airport near Kyiv it had scheduled by the end of this month as tensions continue between Russia and Ukraine. "We are in constant contact with the authorities and we take action based on what they tell us," the spokesperson added. Vueling is following several other European airlines which have already cancelled services to and from Ukraine on concerns about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, something Moscow has repeatedly denied contemplating. Vueling is the only Spanish airline that operates a direct route to the Ukrainian capital from Paris. nIAG's other airlines, which include British Airways and Iberia, do not fly to the country.<br/>
An Emirates flight to Washington in December flew too low as it took off from Dubai International Airport and over an adjacent inner-city neighbourhood, investigators said on Thursday. There were no injuries to the 372 passengers and crew onboard or damage to the plane in the Dec. 19 incident, which investigators determined as serious in a preliminary report. The flight landed in Washington uneventfully, it said. The United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) investigators said the pilot of the Boeing 777 set the altitude to the standard 4,000 feet for departure from Dubai airport. The aircraft, however, failed to ascend to that altitude due to what investigators described as shallow climb during takeoff. Investigators said the pilot had stated that she had followed the onboard computer during takeoff. No cause for the shallow climb was given in the preliminary report.<br/>Investigators said examinations and analysis of the root cause and crew performance would be included in the final report but did not say when that would be released. State-owned Emirates declined to comment on the report. Investigators said that data from the onboard flight data recorder had been downloaded but the cockpit voice recorder for the flight had been overwritten.<br/>
The dispute is escalating over security arrangements at Dubai airport for the flights to Tel Aviv operated by Israeli airlines. Sources say that the Israeli authorities will work according to the principle of fair competition and require the number of daily flyDubai flights on the Tel Aviv - Dubai route to be restricted. The aviation agreement between Israel and the UAE allows for 28 daily flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai. Each of Israel's three airlines - El Al, Arkia and Israir, each operated three daily flights on the route before the dispute over security arrangements but have now been instructed by the Dubai authorities to limit their daily flights to just one each on the route. Emirates airlines low-cost unit flyDubai currently operates four daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv but will now be asked to cut the number of flights. More than a year after flights were inaugurated between Tel Aviv and Dubai, following the signing of the Abraham Accords, no agreement has been signed on security arrangements for the flights. Israel's Security Agency (Shin Bet) sets the security demands for overseas flights at every airport that Israeli airlines fly to and to date flights have been conducted under temporary arrangements. Story has details.<br/>