Representatives of the LATAM Airbus A320neo crew involved in the fatal runway collision at Lima Jorge Chavez airport have disclosed that the two pilots were taken into police custody following the accident. The Sindicato de Pilotos de LAN Peru states that the two were detained while the preliminary investigation into the 18 November collision was continuing. It states that representatives of the union, and its lawyers, have been supporting the crew at the criminal investigation division, and maintained contact with their families. According to the union, the crew initially requested the presence of the organisation’s legal team but have since opted for LATAM to represent them. “They know we are at their disposal and we are continuing to support the whole process,” it adds, but states that the “legal process” has to advance through “established procedures” before the pilots can return home “where they should be”. The accident occurred during a firefighting exercise when the A320neo, accelerating for take-off, struck an emergency vehicle on the runway, fatally injuring some of its occupants. The union has acknowledged the “rapid response” of the rescue service in extinguishing the fire which broke out during the collision, and the successful evacuation of all passengers from the jet. International pilot federation IFALPA describes the detention of the crew as an “arrest” and says the situation is “unacceptable”. “Holding individuals in custody who are already under intense psychological pressure due to an accident is extremely detrimental to flight safety and can only hinder the investigation,” it states. <br/>
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Eurowings is doubling its fleet at Berlin's airport and expanding its flight programme, said the Lufthansa subsidiary's head Jens Bischof on Monday, filling a gap left by rivals EasyJet and Ryanair at the German capital's airport. Eurowings will have six aircraft in Berlin for the summer flight schedule from the end of March 2023, said Bischof. In the summer, the airline will offer flights to almost 30 destinations, twice as many as before. "Others are pulling back, we are building up," he said. British low-cost carrier easyJet has said it would reduce its fleet from 18 to 11 aircraft in Berlin, while Irish Ryanair is also thinning out its flight schedule.<br/>
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. called on regulators to ensure London’s Heathrow airport returns to full capacity next summer and linked his support for a third runway to measures that improve competition with British Airways, such as Virgin’s own dedicated terminal. CEO Shai Weiss is concerned that 2023’s peak season will see a repeat of capacity caps imposed by the hub earlier this year amid staffing shortages, he said Monday at the Airlines 2022 conference in London. Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority “must not allow our only hub airport to sleepwalk into another entirely avoidable period of disruption,” Weiss said. “It should be responsive and accountable to its customers and cannot be allowed to unilaterally restrict capacity.” Heathrow imposed a cap of 100,000 departing passengers a day through much of the summer schedule amid a lack of workers. While that limit was removed at the end of October, CEO John Holland-Kaye has warned the customer tally won’t match the pre-pandemic level of 81 million until 2025 or even 2026. Weiss, who has previously accused Heathrow of playing down the strength of the recovery as it seeks CAA permission to hike fees, said the hub must make more “honest and accurate passenger forecasts” in its resource planning. Heathrow initially forecast a passenger tally of 45m this year but now projects as many as 62m, and regained its status as Europe’s busiest airport over the summer. The hub had also intended to impose ad hoc curbs on capacity in the lead up to Christmas, but dropped the plan amid pressure from Virgin and other operators.<br/>
Creditor banks have indicated they will issue no-objection certificates and allow SpiceJet to transfer all of its cargo and logistics operations to SpiceXpress and establish the cargo business as a separate entity. In August, SpiceJet foreshadowed the move, saying it would allow the cargo carrier to grow independently of the struggling parent airline. SpiceXpress recently posted revenues of 20.6b rupees (US$252.8m) in the three months to September 30, 2022, and a net profit of 2.12b (US$26m) from transporting 27,675 tonnes of cargo. In contrast, SpiceJet reported a multi-billion quarterly net loss. In addition to utilizing belly hold space in its fleet of 78 passenger aircraft (of which the ch-aviation fleets advanced module reveals only 39 are active), SpiceJet also operates a fleet of three B737-700(BDSF)s and two (presently inactive) B737-800(BCF)s under the SpiceXpress brand. <br/>
MYAirline Sdn Bhd says it has been granted initial air service licence from the Malaysian Aviation Commission, effective Nov 15, 2022. The airline said it had earlier been awarded the Air Operator Certificate by the Civil Aviation Authority Malaysia on Oct 1, 2022. According to MYAirline, the approvals authorise it to sell air tickets and undertake commercial air transport flights utilising its fleet of Airbus A320-200 from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.<br/>