Ten suspects, including four former senior executives of Polar Air Cargo, have been charged and nine arrested in connection with a massive, decade-long fraud scheme that cost the cargo specialist an estimated US$52m in lost revenue, the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York has announced. The suspects are facing up to 20 years in prison on fraud and money laundering charges for their alleged widespread scam "that led to pervasive corruption of nearly every aspect of the company's operations", the Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed in a statement. Story lists names. Nine suspects were arrested, and eight have appeared in federal courts in New York, California, and Florida. Winkelbauer has been arrested in Thailand and is awaiting extradition to the United States, but Xu of West Covina, California, remains at large. According to the four-count indictment, the former Polar executives accepted US$23m in kickbacks or disbursements received due to their ownership of conflicted companies between 2009 and July 2021.<br/>
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The EC said on Monday it had opened an in-depth investigation into the state aid given by Romania to ailing airline Blue Air Aviation. “The Commission has concerns that the restructuring plan and the aid measures implemented are not in line with EU state aid rules,” the European Commission said. Last November, the Romanian government announced plans to take a majority stake in budget airline Blue Air over unpaid debt to the state. The airline has been struggling since 2020, when it entered a debt restructuring agreement to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, taking a state loan worth 300m lei ($66.9m) and putting up 75% of its stock as a guarantee.<br/>
New Estonian airline Marabu will start operating commercial flights from Tallinn Airport this summer after receiving an air carrier certificate and operating license from the Transport Administration. The company will start flying regularly to Munich from May 21 and to Hamburg from June 16. It will then be possible to catch connecting Marabu flights from Germany to Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Canary Islands, Sardinia, Ibiza, Palma and Hurghada. The new company will initially sell its airline tickets through the German airline Condor. At the start of the year, Marabu and Nordica signed a long-term cooperation agreement.<br/>
Ryanair does not expect to see major disruption this summer on account of Boeing's decision to halt deliveries of 737 MAX jets over quality issues, a senior executive told Irish broadcaster RTE on Monday. The Irish airline in a statement on Friday said it was assessing with Boeing how the issue, related to certain components made by one of the U.S. firm's main suppliers, would impact the 24 737 aircraft which are scheduled for delivery in the remainder of April, May and June. "We don’t anticipate any major disruption this summer," Eddie Wilson, the head the largest airline in the Ryanair Group, Ryanair DAC, told RTE television.<br/>
Flights between City of Derry Airport and London are being moved from Stanstead to Heathrow Airport, the operator Loganair has announced. The government subsidises Derry to London flights under a public service obligation (PSO). PSO air routes see the government support flights which would not be commercially viable without support. A new PSO contract was announced last month at a cost of £1.1m by the UK government.The contract sees the Department for Transport continue subsidising the route alongside the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland. The new flight route is set to operate from 6 May from Heathrow's Terminal 2, pending UK government approval. "The move to Heathrow truly is a game-changer for City of Derry's air links," said LoganAir CE Jonathan Hinkles. "Alongside improved ground transport links into central London, the new range of global flight connections will bring new inward investment opportunities and tourism into the region." Managing director at City of Derry Airport, Steve Frazer, said the proposed switch to London Heathrow from City of Derry Airport is "an exciting time for the airport".<br/>
African carrier RwandAir is to open services to Paris Charles de Gaulle towards the middle of this year. The airline is to commence the flights on 27 June, operating the route from Kigali three times per week. Addition of the Paris link with expand the carrier’s network to 25 destinations. “France is a major market for RwandAir,” says the airline’s CE, Yvonne Makolo. “Launch of our first-ever flights to Paris is an exciting development.” RwandAir’s reservations engine indicates that it will use an Airbus A330-300 for the connection. The carrier has both the -300 and -200 variants of the twinjet in its fleet of 13 aircraft, which also includes Boeing 737s and regional types. RwandAir says it is aiming to double its fleet over the next five years, and will shift its base to the Bugesera international airport which is undergoing expansion.<br/>
Last September, Pieter Elbers became CE of India’s largest airline, IndiGo, and quickly discovered what it is like to be overlooked. A budget carrier specialising in domestic routes, IndiGo flew more than twice as many passengers last year as AirAsia, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. But few people outside its home country had heard about it. “In my observation, IndiGo is such a great and well-respected brand in India,” Elbers told Nikkei Asia. “But outside India, [the perception of the airline] is neither positive nor negative. It’s just unknown.” Elbers is hoping to change that. The 52-year-old — who joined IndiGo after serving nearly eight years as CE of Dutch carrier KLM — is making international expansion a priority, setting the stage for more intense competition with regional rivals, including India’s second-biggest carrier, Tata Group’s Air India. IndiGo flies Airbus aircraft to 26 international destinations and reaches 30 European cities under a code-share agreement with Turkish Airlines that enables either carrier to sell seats on its partner’s planes. Elbers said IndiGo would soon start flying to Nairobi and Jakarta, and was in talks to sign a code-share agreement to expand to the US. It is awaiting delivery of A321XLR aircraft from Airbus, which can fly longer distances and will help IndiGo grow further in Europe, south-east Asia and north-east Asia. “Our position in international [travel] is still, I would say, modest, but internationalisation is going to be a very important part of our road map going forward,” Elbers said. At the same time, he pledged that IndiGo would “develop the domestic network, which remains the core of the company”, with a goal of “serving every city which has an airport of some size”.<br/>
Sarawak’s plans to have its own boutique airline took a step closer to being realised with approval in principle from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.Anwar said he would bring up Sarawak’s request for the airline to be discussed at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, after which an official reply would be given to the state. “In principle, I don’t see why we should object, as Sarawak has a proven track record of good management,” he said when opening the Raia Hotel and Convention Centre here yesterday. “Sarawak has been taking the lead in many areas, such as electric vehicles and hydrogen energy, and setting an example in running the state. In view of Sarawak’s good performance, I agree to the state’s request for a boutique airline,” he said, in an immediate response to Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, who had raised the request in his speech. Abang Johari said high air fares were a problem faced by travellers coming to Sarawak. “We are requesting to form a boutique airline, not to compete but to stabilise the air fares. The state government is ready to invest in a small airline to bring in visitors,” he said. Last November, Abang Johari said Sarawak was waiting for a licence to be issued by the Transport Ministry so that the proposed boutique airline could begin operations.<br/>