unaligned

The fatal air crash in Nepal on Sunday adds to the Himalayan country’s reputation as the most dangerous place to fly on the planet. All 68 passengers and four crew on Yeti Airlines Flight 691 were killed in the disaster in Pokhara, Nepal’s second-largest city and a gateway for tourists exploring the Annapurna mountain range. According to Aviation Safety Network data, the fatal crash was the 11th in Nepal in as many years. Only last May, 22 people died when a Tara Air flight came down en route from Pokhara to the trekking base of Jomsom. The latest tragedy, the deadliest since 1992, has led to a spate of tourist cancelations, according to travel-industry executives, costing the country vital revenue. Nepal’s topography and weather patterns make flying harder than in many other places. In 2015, the United Nations-backed International Civil Aviation Organization prioritized the country for technical assistance, later saying its “beautiful but rugged terrain makes the safety of air operations more challenging than in other areas of the world.” Nepal also has some of the world’s most dangerous roads, adding to the risk that citizens and visitors face when traveling around the vertiginous nation. Tourism is a key industry, contributing almost 7% of the gross domestic product, according to the World Bank. About 150,000 foreign tourists traveled to Nepal in 2021, almost all arriving by air, according to the latest data available on Nepal’s tourism ministry website. The busy capital Kathmandu is the main entrance point for larger aircraft, with travelers typically taking smaller planes to more remote areas featuring eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest.<br/>

Rescuers used drones and abseiled down a deep gorge on Tuesday looking for the last missing person from Nepal's worst air disaster in 30 years, in which at least 71 people died including small children. Difficult terrain around the 200 metre gorge and poor weather was hampering rescue efforts near the tourist city of Pokhara, where the Yeti Airlines ATR 72 turboprop carrying 72 people crashed on Sunday just before landing. The search was called off after darkness descended, and will resume on Wednesday, said Tek Bahadur K.C., a top district official. Rescue teams were struggling to identify bodies, Ajay K.C, a police official in Pokhara who is part of the rescue efforts, told Reuters. "There is thick fog here now. We are sending search and rescue personnel using ropes into the gorge where parts of the plane fell and was in flames," he said before the search was suspended for the night. Rescuers had collected what appeared to be human remains and sent them for a DNA test, he said, but search efforts would continue until all 72 passengers and crew were accounted for. Search teams found 68 bodies on the day of the crash, while two bodies were recovered on Monday before the search was called off. One more body had been recovered as of late Tuesday afternoon, said Prakash Pokhrel, an official coordinating rescue operation at Kathmandu airport. An airport official said 48 bodies were brought to the capital Kathmandu on Tuesday and sent to a hospital for autopsies, while 22 bodies were being handed over to families in Pokhara. Medical personnel in personal protective equipment and masks helped transport bodies from stretchers to a vehicle before they were flown to Kathmandu. Television footage showed weeping relatives waiting for the bodies of their loved ones outside a hospital in Pokhara.<br/>

People planning getaways from Regina via Sunwing Airlines are being forced to find another option. In an email statement to CBC News Tuesday, the airline confirmed it is cancelling the remainder of its winter flights from Regina International Airport "due to extenuating circumstances," effective Feb. 4, 2023. It's the latest bout of turbulence for the airline that had already cancelled all service in Saskatchewan between Dec. 29, 2022 through to Feb. 3, 2023. "We sincerely apologize to our valued customers and airport partner in Regina for the inconvenience and disruption," the statement reads. "Following the preliminary cancellations in January, the difficult decision to cancel more of our winter program was necessary due to operational and business constraints that would prevent us from delivering the standards of service our customers in Regina expect and deserve when travelling with Sunwing." The latest round of cancellations affects weekly flights to Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic from Regina, with the exception of Sunday departures to Puerto Vallarta starting on Feb. 5.<br/>

Mexican start-up airline Aerus has become the latest carrier to express interest in acquiring Eviation’s in-development all-electric commuter aircraft Alice. The Monterrey, Mexico-based company signed a letter of intent to acquire 30 of the aircraft, which it intends to deploy on flights within northeast Mexico, Eviation said on 17 January. “Working with Eviation to bring a zero-emissions fleet to our region will transform the way we experience air travel and connect communities like never before,” says Aerus chief executive Javier Herrera Garcia. When Aerus expects to receive its first Alice remains unknown, though Alice hopes to begin delivering the type in 2027. Aerus has not yet started flying but plans to begin operating in Q1 of this year, according to its website. Aerus seems poised to launch flights using Cessna Grand Caravans. In December 2022, Cessna parent Textron Aviation disclosed that Aerus had ordered four 14-seat Grand Caravans (of which three had been delivered) and two 19-passenger Cessna Skycouriers. Arlington, Washington-based Eviation says Alice will enable Aerus to halve its carbon emissions by 2033. “Our aircraft is an ideal fit for Aerus as a large number of flights in northern Mexico are already less than 250 miles,” says Eviation chief executive Gregory Davis. “We are always pleased to receive the endorsement of forward-thinking airlines.” The manufacturer has not disclosed details related to the Aerus agreement, nor has it specified possible delivery dates. Aerus did not immediately respond to a request for more information.<br/>

Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary has said there are “no signs” of the economic slowdown hitting airlines after the low-cost airline racked up record bookings at the start of the year. Passengers were also paying up for higher fares as demand from consumers withstands slowing economic growth and a squeeze in the cost of living in the UK and across Europe. “All the indicators are very strong,” O’Leary told the Financial Times on Tuesday. “There is a lot of spending going on out there. Hotels are full, restaurants are full,” he said. Ryanair reported 4.95mn bookings last week, the most in the airline’s more than 30-year history. “There is an outside prospect this week we might do 5mn for the first time,” he said. No major airline has reported a significant slowdown in demand for flying despite the grim economic backdrop, a resilience that O’Leary put down to pent up demand for travel following pandemic border restrictions, high savings and still low levels of unemployment. Avolon, the world’s second-largest jet leasing company, this week predicted that global air traffic would recover to pre-pandemic levels by the middle of this year, propelled by the reopening of China’s borders. Ryanair is already back above its 2019 flying schedules, but O’Leary warned the recovery was still vulnerable to a sudden collapse in demand, potentially because of an escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine, or a new flare-up in the Covid-19 pandemic. “There is undoubtedly strength in bookings and pricing at the moment. And if that continues through into Easter and the peak summer travel without any black swan event, then I think we could see all the airlines do very well in Europe this year,” O’Leary said. Ryanair expects to carry a record 168mn passengers in the 12 months to the end of March, up from 149m in its busiest year before the coronavirus crisis. O’Leary cautioned that profitability could be squeezed over the next 12 months as the airline would be more exposed to the volatile price of oil when some of its fuel hedges expire in April. But he said that for now passengers appeared willing to soak up much of these price rises through higher air fares.<br/>

Ryanair said it will grow its flight schedule to and from London’s Stansted, Gatwick and Luton airports by 10% this summer compared to last summer, operating more than 3,000 weekly flights. The Ireland-based airline, the largest in Europe, said on Tuesday that it was adding extra flights to Spanish destinations such as Malaga and Mallorca, as well as a new route between Stansted and Cornwall, in south west England. Britain cut air passenger duty (APD) on domestic flights from April 2023 and Ryanair said that helped it add more routes within the UK. The airline repeated its call for the government to boost Britain’s economy by abolishing APD for all flights.<br/>

The US Transportation Department (USDOT) said Tuesday it had fined Virgin Atlantic $1.05m for flying in restricted airspace over Iraq on numerous occasions. USDOT has jurisdiction since the flights carried Delta Air Lines' code. The FAA had issued a notice prohibiting US carriers from flying over Iraqi airspace without prior approval. The investigation found Virgin Atlantic flew "a significant number" of flights that breached the ban between September 2020 and September 2021, USDOT said, adding the airline was ordered to cease future violations. Virgin Atlantic said Tuesday that "as soon as we were made aware of this compliance issue by the DOT, our code share flight routings were immediately corrected." USDOT notified the airline of the violation in September 2021 for flights between London and India that flew over Iraq. At the time, other foreign governments permitted flying over Iraqi airspace at high altitudes, with numerous flights over Iraq daily. Virgin Atlantic must pay $525,000 in three installments while the remaining $525,000 is payable only if Virgin Atlantic violates the order’s cease and desist or payment provisions. In March 2020, the FAA issued a notice barring flight operations at all altitudes due to "heightened militia activities and increased tensions in Iraq." USDOT said Virgin Atlantic had told the agency the "prohibited overflights were inadvertent, caused by operational disruptions and loss of personnel due to the COVID-19 pandemic."<br/>

Administrators at grounded South African budget carrier Mango Airlines have warned a deal to secure new investors may have to be abandoned after concerns raised by the national government. Sipho Sono, who has been acting as the business rescue practitioner since Mango was placed into formal financial restructuring in the summer of 2021, has been working on securing government approval for an investor to take over the airline. Hopes of a deal had been raised after South African Airways, which must dispose of its shares in Mango, dropped its concerns over the deal and submitted an application to sell its shares to the country’s public enterprises ministry. However, in the business rescue practitioner’s latest monthly update, published on 12 January, Sono says public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan is yet to make a decision on the application. ”We understand that the minister wrote to SAA on or about 20 December 2022, expressing a view that he was not completely satisfied with the responses to the queries that were raised by SAA,” Sono says, adding South Africa’s treasury has also communicated that the application will have to be resubmitted. While noting that he had not been provided with copies of these letters, Sono says SAA did send a letter on 11 following a board meeting outlining the ministry and treasury’s concerns. ”The business rescue practitioner is considering the SAA letter to determine whether the issues raised are capable of resolution and feedback in respect hereof will be provided to affected parties in due course,” Sono says. <br/>

The Nigerian federal government is trying to achieve the transfer from Lagos to the capital Abuja of a court case aimed at preventing the establishment of Nigeria Air - its new joint venture national carrier with Ethiopian Airlines. In an affidavit filed on January 13, the defendants - Nigeria Air, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika, and Attorney General Abubakar Malami – argued that continuing the court case in Lagos would be a financial burden on them as they resided and worked in Abuja. In November, the Nigerian Federal High Court in Lagos ordered all parties to maintain the status quo pending the case's determination after it had already granted an interim injunction preventing the government from selling shares in Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines, pending the continuation of the court case this week. This followed an application by airline members of the Airline Operators of Nigeria to have Nigeria Air's air transport license revoked on competitive grounds.<br/>

Israeli airline El Al plans to continue expanding in the tourism business through merger and acquisition deals and will also increase its flights to North America, CEO Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia said on Tuesday in Dublin. The airline also wants to make a quick decision on the purchase of new narrow body planes this year, Ganancia said while speaking on a panel at the Airline Economics conference.<br/>