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Avianca has slammed an 8 November decision by Colombia’s civil aviation authority to block its planned tie up with financially struggling low-cost competitor Viva Air. “We are concerned about the direction of the decision, as it goes against the needs of the country and ignores the potential effect that the disappearance of Viva would have on users and the market,” Avianca CE Adrian Neuhauser says on 8 November. “At Avianca, we reiterate our willingness to actively participate in rescuing Viva, seeking to maintain connectivity for travellers, strengthen tourism and preserve formal employment.” Colombia’s aviation regulator, known as Aerocivil, shot down the planned combination on grounds it would be a “setback” to competition in the region. Avianca now says it will “make a detailed analysis of the Aerocivil’s decision and will evaluate all available legal alternatives to seek the necessary approvals”. In April, owners of Avianca and Viva struck a deal to form a joint holding company to provide greater financial stability for the Latin American carriers post-pandemic, with Viva’s Peruvian and Colombian operations remaining independent. Four months later, Avianca requested accelerated approval by Colombia’s civil aviation regulator over concerns about Viva’s ability to compete in the face of increased financial pressure. In its 8 November ruling, Aerocivil said the airlines collectively operate 59 national routes accounting for about 94% of the country’s domestic traffic, including 16 routes where they have no third competitor. <br/>

Lufthansa Group is to serve as launch customer for a virtual-reality procedure trainer for pilots being developed by Airbus. Airbus intends the system to allow pilots to undertake procedures training without the use of a flight simulator or fixed training equipment. The airframer showed off the development at the European Airline Training Symposium in Berlin. Airbus says the system “immerses” pilots in an authentic virtual cockpit, through a visual headset, and enables full interaction with the instruments, switches and levers. The virtual procedure trainer allows pilots to perform repeated drills, building physical muscle memory and sequence knowledge of Airbus standard operating procedures. Lufthansa Group head of aviation training development Gilad Scherpf says the system will be used for Airbus A320 pilots across various interactive platforms. “The resulting training enhancements will enable further use cases as well as regulatory acceptance,” says Scherpf. “This will be based on the jointly-gathered data while aiming at a trainee-centric, flexible solution to support key competencies.” Airbus VP of flight operations and training Fabrice Hamel says the system has shown pilots have “demonstrably” learned procedures “more effectively and efficiently”. <br/>

A passenger was escorted off a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight on Tuesday after behaving in an unruly manner, the airline said on Wednesday. In a video circulating on social media, the man was seen arguing with an SIA crew member for not giving him water on flight SQ711, which had just arrived in Singapore from Bangkok. The passenger could be heard using expletives and threatening to push the crew member over. He was then escorted out of the plane by a security officer. In response to CNA queries, SIA said that the passenger “was behaving in an unruly manner during the meal service... After his multiple requests for alcohol, our cabin crew assessed the situation and politely declined to serve him alcohol to ensure the safety of the other customers on board the flight.” The passenger also did not comply with safety instructions from the cabin crew, and "caused annoyance and inconvenience" to the other passengers on board. The man was handed over to auxiliary police upon arrival at Singapore Changi Airport.<br/>

CDB Aviation has signed lease agreements for six Airbus A320neo aircraft with Air India, as part of efforts to grow its presence in what it calls an “increasingly important market”. The deal, announced on 9 November, will see the first A320neo delivered to the carrier in the second half of 2023. CDB Aviation says it is the first lessor to secure the placements of new A320neos, which Air India has committed to as part of a business transformation plan under new owners Tata Group. The Star Alliance carrier first disclosed intentions to lease 25 A320neo family aircraft in September, alongside five Boeing 777-200LRs, marking its first major fleet expansiion since being acquired by Tata. Air India commercial chief Nipun Aggarwal hails: “This is an important agreement, which will help us to strengthen our fleet with state-of-the-art aircraft. This will boost our connectivity, especially on the short and medium-haul routes, and is an important step ahead in our transformation journey.” CDB Aviation chief commercial officer Peter Goodman adds: “India is an increasingly important region for CDB Aviation, being the second largest Asia Pacific market for new aircraft deliveries, with nearly 1,000 Boeing and Airbus jets in its orderbook.” According to Cirium fleets data, the lessor has 21 Airbus and Boeing aircraft on lease to Indian carriers, which include AirAsia India, IndiGo, as well as SpiceJet.<br/>

Thai Airways International is bringing back almost half a dozen aircraft originally put up for sale in an effort to revive flights more quickly amid buoyant demand. The global air travel recovery from Covid has put a squeeze on newer planes that are available on the open market, chairman Piyasvasti Amranand said in an interview at the airline’s headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday. As a result, the carrier is struggling to find capacity available on operating lease, prompting Thai Airways to hold onto its own aircraft, he said. “It’s not all that easy now, the market is changing -- to be getting new or second-hand leasing of wide-bodies or narrowbodies,” the chairman said. He was speaking ahead of the carrier hosting of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines annual meeting on Nov 10-11, which counts Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways among its 14 members. Three Airbus SE A330s and two Boeing Co 777-200ERs will return to service early next year, joining four new A350s that Thai has already secured. As part of the restructuring plan, the state-controlled national carrier planned to add a total of 10 wide-bodies next year and a further eight in 2024. The airline has 61 aircraft in its fleet right now, including 20 for its low-cost unit Thai Smile, down from around 100 previously. Thai Airways is the midst of a court-monitored debt restructuring, having already undertaken painful cuts which saw it eliminate half of its workforce and 40% of its fleet. <br/>

Two people - one of them an Air New Zealand staff member - have been injured in an attack at Queenstown Airport on Wednesday evening. Emergency services were called to the airport at around 8:30pm after the attack left two people with injuries. New Zealand Herald reports passengers had to step in to stop the assault before emergency services arrived. Hato Hone St John said they received a call about an incident at Queenstown Airport at 8:46pm on Wednesday. Two patients were treated and transported to Lakes District Hospital in a minor condition, a spokesperson for St John said. Air New Zealand and Queenstown Airport told New Zealand Herald they wouldn't comment on the incident. <br/>

Air New Zealand cancelled thousands of flights last year due to border uncertainty and difficulties getting aircraft and crew, but travellers are seeing a return to more normal levels of disruption. A year ago, the national carrier cancelled more than 1000 flights between New Zealand and Australia through to the end of the year. Air NZ also cancelled many domestic flights due to the uncertainty of alert level restrictions. It was then accused of “taking an enormous punt” by ramping up capacity and slashing fares on Auckland flights from early December. In October last year, the airline cancelled 5.49% of its flights, or 3524 services, according to aviation data firm Cirium. That was well above the 0.85% of flights cancelled before Covid hit, in October 2019, 1% in the same month in 2020, and 1.66% of flights cancelled last month. Air NZ generally performed better than Australian airlines in terms of cancellations, aside from October 2020. Last month, Qantas cancelled 1.9% of its flights, Jetstar cancelled 1.86% of flights and Virgin Australia cancelled 2.15% of flights. A year earlier, Qantas cancelled 4.7% of flights, Jetstar canned 6.38% and Virgin Australia cancelled 2.36% of its flights.<br/>