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Hawaiian Airlines is exploring electric airplane technology with a company based in Boston. The airline is interested in using the airplanes for travel between Hawaii’s islands, Hawaii News Now reported. The company called REGENT is designing electric planes called “seagliders” that would each carry up to 100 people. Hawaiian hasn’t committed to purchasing any aircraft but is exploring the possibility. A news release from REGENT said Hawaiian agreed to strategically invest to support the initial design of the company’s next-generation aircraft. Hawaiian is the first airline to partner with the company, which hopes to have its Monarch planes in the air by 2028. “We look forward to working with REGENT to explore the technology and infrastructure needed to fulfill our vision for convenient, comfortable and environmentally sustainable interisland transportation,” said Avi Mannis, chief marketing and communications officer at Hawaiian Airlines. REGENT’s seagliders fly through the air close to the water’s surface. The company said the planes will service routes up to 290 kilometers with existing battery technology and routes up to 800 kilometers with next-generation batteries. The company said its planes will fly at the speed of an airplane but have the operating cost of boats and will use existing dock infrastructure.<br/>

Passengers on an Abu Dhabi-bound flight from Albania have spoken of the moment that lightning struck their plane. Wizz Air flight WAZ 7092 was hit shortly after it departed from Tirana, Albania on Monday. The aircraft turned back shortly after and landed safely in the Albanian capital. People travelling on the flight reported a large bang after the strike, then screaming. The captain explained on the PA system that the plane had been struck and that he would announce the next steps soon. Five minutes later he said the plane would be returning to Tirana. A spokesman for Wizz Air told The National: “Following a lightning strike during the climb, the pilot returned to Tirana to ensure the safety of all passengers and crew on board. “The aircraft landed safely in Tirana. The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority at all times.”<br/>

Further details, including eyewitness accounts and images showing aircraft damage, have emerged following the Tibet Airlines Airbus A319 runway excursion at China’s Chongqing Jiangbei International airport. The aircraft’s entire left-side CFM International CFM56 is shown completedly ripped away from the wing, and the aircraft’s landing gear has collapsed. The forward part of the left-side fuselage is severly charred – social media footage had shown the left wing on fire as passengers escaped. In addition, the A319’s fuselage is cracked aft of the wing. The forward fuselage near the nosewheel is also stoved in. One video shows dozens of passengers exiting from the main left-side door as a blaze builds up under the aircraft’s port wing. Slides were deployed from the left-side emergency exit over the wing, as well as from the left-rear door. One image shows that the left-side over-wing emergency exit was opened, but apparently left in place. The left-side main door is also open, but it appears as if the slide was not deployed. The A319 (B-6425/MSN5157) was due to operate flight TV9833 to Nyingchi on the morning of 12 May when it aborted its take-off and veered off the runway before bursting into flames. Tibet Airlines says all 113 passengers and nine crew were evacuated safely, with close to 40 suffering minor injuries and needing medical attention. Investigations, led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, are ongoing. <br/>

Philippine Airlines said on Wednesday that it is adding more domestic and international flights this month and is on track to get back to the number of domestic flights it had before the pandemic. “We are on track to full restoration of pre-pandemic domestic flights. As to the full restoration of international flights, this will depend on the reopening of specific markets. So potentially, we should be back to 2019 levels — except for China market — by end of the year,” PAL Spokesperson Cielo C. Villaluna said. On PAL’s flights in the first three months of the year, she said, “It was a slow and gradual increase as far as regular commercial flights are concerned. But domestic and international repatriation flights, bayanihan flights, vaccine cargo flights, all cargo charters never stopped.” The airline saw “revenge travel” kick in by March, the start of the summer season. PAL reached 40% of pre-pandemic daily frequencies in the fourth quarter of 2021, Ms. Villaluna noted. She said prior to the pandemic, PAL was operating an average of 300 flight legs daily or domestic and international inbound and outbound flights daily. “Today, we have restored 80% of our pre-pandemic number of domestic flights and 60% of our pre-pandemic number of international flights. To be specific, 80% of our average 170 domestic flight legs daily and 60% of our average 130 international flight legs daily.”<br/>

Cebu Pacific remained in the red for the first quarter of 2022 amid a surge in coronavirus infections in the Philippines, though the low-cost carrier trimmed its losses from a year ago. For the three months to 31 March, Cebu Pacific posted a Ps5.3b ($102m) operating loss, narrowing slightly from the Ps6.8b loss in the same period a year ago. Revenues for the quarter more than doubled year on year to Ps6.7 billion, with passenger revenue trebling against 2021. Expenses rose 26% against 2021 to Ps12b, as a result of rising fuel costs. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period stood at Ps17.4 billion, slightly below the Ps18.1b at the start of 2022. Cebu Pacific says the spike in coronavirus infections - caused by the more infectious Omicron variant - had impacted travel demand, as travel restrictions tightened in January and February. The “headwinds” caused by the wave of infections also led to flight cancellations, as the carrier suffered crew resource limitations. By March, however, Cebu Pacific was seeing an uptick in travellers, as travel curbs began to ease. Consequently, the carrier saw a three-fold jump in passenger numbers in the first quarter to about 2.05m, with flights mounted doubling year on year. For the rest of the year, the airline expects a “better business outlook” with domestic recovery and international borders reopening. “However, it remains cautious of the risks presented by increasing jet fuel prices and interest rates and depreciation of the Philippine peso vs US dollar,” Cebu Pacific adds. <br/>