Danish investigators are probing an incident involving inadvertent thrust-reverser deployment on an Airbus A320 during a missed approach. The aircraft was being operated by TAP Air Portugal on a service from Lisbon to Copenhagen on 8 April. French investigation authority BEA, citing its Danish counterpart, says the captain decided to initiate a go-around during the flare. But upon applying go-around thrust, it says, one of the thrust reversers “inadvertently deployed”. This resulted in “controllability problems” during the go-around, BEA states. BEA has identified the airframe as CS-TNV, an aircraft powered by CFM International CFM56 engines. It was delivered new to TAP at the end of 2009 and has been in service with the carrier since. Investigators have yet to clarify the reason for the incident, which appears to have occurred as the twinjet was nearing touchdown on runway 30, or specify the nature and extent of control issues experienced by the crew. It subsequently made a safe landing around 20min later and none of those on board was injured. The aircraft returned to Lisbon on 18 April.<br/>
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Singapore Airlines Group expects to operate at 61% its pre-pandemic capacity by May, as its carriers see a “significant increase” in traffic following the easing of travel restrictions. In traffic results for March, the group – comprising SIA and low-cost unit Scoot – carried 893,000 passengers, an increase of nearly ninefold year on year. Against February’s passenger numbers, the two carriers saw an increase of around 64%. The sharp rise comes as Singapore in March lifted arrival caps, which had been imposed early in the year amid the rise of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. SIA adds that key markets around the world had also eased restrictions during the month, which led to the increase in traffic. Mainline carrier SIA carried around 764,000 passengers in the month, an increase of more than eight times compared to 2021, while Scoot saw a tenfold rise in passengers to 128,000. Group capacity in March was 51% pre-pandemic levels, a month-on-month increase of seven percentage points. On a year-on-year basis, group capacity more than doubled. SIA Group previously said it expects capacity in April to his 57% pre-pandemic levels, before rising to 61% by May, as restrictions ease. <br/>