The operator of Peru's capital airport said on Sunday that a firetruck involved in a dramatic and fatal collision with a LATAM Airlines passenger jet had been doing a pre-arranged emergency drill. The jet crashed into the firetruck as it careened down the runway before takeoff on Friday, with the plane rapidly catching fire and smoking heavily as it ground to a halt. The accident resulted in the death of two firefighters. On Sunday, Lima Airport Partners, which operates the airport, said in a statement on Twitter that the firetruck had entered the runway as part of an emergency response drill coordinated between the operator and the air traffic authority. "On Nov. 18, during the morning and until the beginning of the exercise, the firefighting team made all the necessary arrangements to execute the maneuver," the airport operator said. "Control Tower (CORPAC) confirmed the start time 15:10, it being the time fixed for the beginning of the maneuver, and the impact with the LATAM aircraft occurred at 15:11." Jorge Salinas, president of the board of directors of the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (CORPAC), told local radio that the authorization for the drill had not included entry to the runway. "There is no authorization for the entry of any vehicle to the runway. There is authorization to carry out an exercise, but it is outside the areas that currently have transit operations," he told radio station RRP on Saturday.<br/>
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Romania’s government is set to take a 75% controlling stake in grounded low-cost carrier Blue Air after opting to enforce a guarantee related to owed state aid granted during the pandemic. Blue Air was forced to suspend flights on 6 September after Bucharest blocked its bank accounts over the recovery of millions of dollars’ worth of debt. While initially hoping to restart flights in October, Blue Air later said it was unable to do so and flights remain suspended indefinitely. Now the Romanian finance ministry has begun proceedings through the country’s Authority for Administration of State Assets (AAAS) to enforce the guarantee related to the granting of state aid to Blue Air in 2020. The state provided the letter of guarantee to Eximbank for 300m lei ($63m) of credit to Blue Air backed by a 75% stake in the company. “We have initiated the procedure by which we will become the majority shareholder of Blue Air,” AAAS president Florian Daniel Geanta told Romanian daily Curs De Guvernare. ”Our intention is to get this company back on its feet, but we can do that only after we become an official shareholder in Blue Air and following a detailed analysis.” Blue Air says that following notification from the finance ministry, it has asked the AAAS to attend an AGM to fulfil the guarantee obligation and to hand over 75% of the shares. ”As soon as this legal process is completed, the company will publicly communicate the new shareholding structure,” the airline says. ”Obviously, later the majority shareholder of the company will decide the way of public communication of the Blue Air situation.”<br/>
Cebu Pacific announced on Sunday its plan to add more domestic and international flights due to anticipated increased demand during the holiday season. “We know that many are raring to travel again to their favorite local and foreign destinations, so we are very excited to mount these additional flights as we approach the holiday season,” Xander Lao, Cebu Pacific’s CCO said in an emailed statement. Starting Dec. 1, the airline will increase weekly flights between Cebu and Iloilo, Dumaguete, Legazpi, Surigao, Pagadian, and Tacloban. To widen its international footprint, Cebu Pacific will also add more flights between Manila and Brunei, Jakarta, Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong. The increased weekly flight frequency (from two times to four times) to and from Brunei is expected to start on Nov. 27. Weekly flights between Manila and Hong Kong will be increased to 32x from 28x currently starting Dec. 11. Flights between Manila and Seoul (Incheon) will increase to 14 times per week from seven times currently starting Dec. 1. Cebu Pacific currently flies to a total of 34 domestic and 19 international destinations. The airline said it continues to implement a multi-layered approach to safety while it operates with a 100% fully vaccinated crew, 97% of whom have been boosted.<br/>