Shortly after a Sun Country flight touched down at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, US a passenger forced open an emergency exit and leapt from the plane. The flight from Orlando, Florida, landed at about 11pm on July 9 (local time), officials told KSTP. As passengers began deboarding the aircraft, a 44-year-old New Brighton man suddenly opened an emergency exit door, jumped down to the tarmac and started running, the outlet reported. The man had violated a no-contact order, officials said, and police were waiting for him at the gate, KMSP reported. He only managed to postpone his arrest, officials told WCCO. Less than an hour after the man’s escape, police found him hiding inside an airline food truck and he was taken into custody. “We take these incidents very seriously, and the crew called airport police who responded quickly,” Sun Country told KMSP. “Fortunately, passengers and crew are fine.”<br/>
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The FAA has issued Northern Pacific Airways an air carrier certificate, clearing the way for the start-up airline to begin passenger flights later this week. The US regulator confirmed on 10 July a tweet from last weekend in which Northern Pacific’s CE Rob McKinney said the airline had ”passed every test” from the FAA. ”Passed and exceeded all expectations,” he wrote on 8 July. ”Ravn Alaska as Northern Pacific Airways is authorised as a global airline flying large jets.” The airline had aimed to begin flights between Ontario International airport in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and Las Vegas last month. Those flights were delayed, however, due to incomplete FAA approvals. McKinney tells FlightGlobal on 10 July that those flights will now launch on 14 July.“We are sold out for this first flight,” McKinney says, adding that the airline has published its schedule through the end of September. Currently the only other airlines that connect the two airports are low-cost carriers Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines. The Northern Pacific connection is scheduled to leave Ontario, located about 58mi (93km) northeast of the region’s primary airport, Los Angeles International, on Fridays at 14:00 local time, arriving in Las Vegas an hour later. A return flight is scheduled to leave Las Vegas at 14:00 on Sundays, arriving into Ontario at 15:00 local time. The flight times appear to cater to customers from the Los Angeles metropolitan area looking to spend a weekend in Las Vegas – a popular trip. The distance between the two airports is listed as 197nm. By car, with traffic, that one-way journey can take 4-5h. “We believe there is almost an infinite amount of seats that you can throw at that market,” McKinney says. <br/>
Shares of Surf Air Mobility are expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange during the week of July 24, the electric aviation and regional air travel company said on Monday. The company had earlier set a date on or about July 11, according to its filing with the US SEC. Surf Air last year had confidentially filed for a direct listing after terminating its $1.42b merger deal with a blank check firm. The deal would have fetched up to $467m in cash proceeds for Surf Air. It was terminated at a time when tough economic conditions dried up the environment for new stock listings. Surf Air did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for additional comment. Contrary to an initial public offering, shares are not sold in advance in a direct listing. Shareholders are allowed to sell shares directly to the public and net any proceeds from the sale. The stock price at debut is determined by orders coming into the stock exchange.<br/>
EasyJet has cancelled 1,700 summer flights, primarily from London Gatwick, potentially disrupting the holiday plans of thousands of passengers. After a number of short-notice cancellations at the Sussex airport in recent days, the move will prompt fresh concern about the resilience of squeezed European airspace to deal with booming demand, with more air traffic control strikes threatened. The airline said 95% of those affected had already been contacted and rebooked on alternative flights, and the remaining passengers would be notified and offered refunds or rebooking on Monday. It is understood about 9,000 passengers have yet to be put on new flights. It said most of the cancellations were those with multiple departures and would amount to less than 2% of its remaining schedule for July and August. It blamed “unprecedented air traffic control delays” and said these “pre-emptive adjustments” were not a sign of the same kind of problems with ground staffing that forced easyJet and other airlines to cancel thousands of flights last year. Dozens of easyJet flights were axed over the weekend to and from Gatwick, where it is by some distance the biggest carrier. The cancellations could drive peak summer fares even higher, with capacity still roughly 10% below 2019 levels, although more flights will depart the UK this month – 92,400, with 16.5m seats – than any month since October 2019, according to data from analysts Cirium. Airspace remains a worry for UK airlines, with frequent French air traffic control strikes in particular forcing carriers to divert to longer paths. Eurocontrol, which manages and coordinates airspace around Europe, has warned of “challenging conditions”, with the war in Ukraine constraining available flight paths, as well as more possible summer strike action. An easyJet spokesperson apologised to customers for any inconvenience, and said: “We are currently operating up to around 1,800 flights and carrying around 250,000 customers per day with more crew and pilots flying than ever before, and like all airlines we review our flights on an ongoing basis.<br/>
Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes has disposed of his entire shareholding in QPR Holdings, the parent company of Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) said on Monday. Capital A also said that this strategic move will allow Mr Fernandes to concentrate his time and efforts on expanding AirAsia and Capital A's digital businesses, and aligns with his vision to drive growth and innovation in these key sectors. "This is a sad day for the club, and for me in particular because Tony and I joined the club together (in 2011)," said the Championship club's majority shareholder Ruben Gnanalingam. "There have been some incredible moments during that period, particularly our survival in the (English) Premier League in 2012 and our play-off success in 2014. We thank Tony wholeheartedly for his endeavours and there will always be a place for him at the club." Fernandes, who acquired QPR more than a decade ago alongside Gnanalingam and Kamarudin Meranun, said stepping away from QPR was a difficult decision, but his time and expertise were needed elsewhere.<br/>
Indonesian low-cost carrier Citilink is returning to Perth with the resumption of services to Bali and a new route to Jakarta. Citilink, an arm of Indonesian national carrier Garuda Indonesia, will fly daily between Perth and Bali starting 19 July, and three times per week between Perth and Jakarta starting 29 July. Both routes will use Airbus A320 aircraft. “It’s great that Citilink is returning, especially given that these services will bring almost 190,000 additional seats to the market, which is fantastic news for those travelling for leisure, business or education,” said Perth Airport Acting CEO Kate Holsgrove. “Indonesia is our nearest neighbour and one of the most popular tourism destinations for Western Australians. And as a significant trading partner with a population of 273m, these new services to Indonesia only brings further business and trade opportunities.” According to Citilink Indonesia CEO Dewa Rai, the new routes are “quite promising”, as Australian tourists had some of the highest numbers visiting Indonesia last year – the fourth highest of any country, per Indonesian government data. “The opening of these new international routes is expected to improve bilateral relations between the two countries so that they can increase the potential for cooperation in various sectors such as culture, economy, politics, social and so many more,” he said.<br/>
Passengers have been left stranded in Tahiti with cabin crews on Air Tahiti Nui, a codeshare partner of Qantas, on strike. The industrial action, which began last Tuesday, has upended travel plans, as Air Tahiti Nui flights to Auckland – which would connect to Australian destinations such as Sydney, Brisbane and Perth – have been cancelled at the very last minute. Cabin crews are seeking a new salary package, as well as a review of wages. In a statement, Air Tahiti Nui said it is “actively working on finding alternative solutions” for affected customers to fly home. This includes chartering an Aircalin A330neo to ferry passengers between Papeete and Auckland. “The Commercial Department specifies that each customer will be contacted individually as soon as a new departure option is found,” the airline said. “Our teams are also actively involved in finding accommodation solutions to minimise the inconvenience caused to customers while they wait.” The airline said on Sunday it has “no visibility on the operation of its flights during the next 48 hours”, and offered full refunds for passengers wishing to cancel their tickets. “Charter solutions are currently being sought to allow resident travellers stranded abroad to be able to return to Polynesia and foreign visitors to be able to reach their country of origin. The General Management, along with the staff in the air and on the ground, are actively troubleshooting for passengers and send their most sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by this strike. Returning to normal operation is a priority for the company, which is currently doing everything possible to best assist its passengers.”<br/>