Northern Pacific Airways (NPA), which operated its first commercial flight from the Los Angeles metropolitan area to Las Vegas on 14 July, is seemingly having trouble continuing service. Its second scheduled passenger flight, which was due to take off from Las Vegas back to Ontario near Los Angeles on 16 July, never left the ground. “The outbound NPA flight yesterday from [Las Vegas] to [Ontario] was cancelled due to a minor mechanical issue with the aircraft,” Northern Pacific said on 17 July. “All passengers have either been refunded or accommodated on other flights or alternate transportation. These are the unfortunate issues that come with starting a new airline.” According to Cirium fleets data, the aircraft, with registration N628NP, is a 28-year-old Boeing 757-200. Northern Pacific has four Boeing 757-200s in its fleet, just one of which is noted as in-service. The other three are in storage, Cirium data shows. Northern Pacific took delivery of the first aircraft 17 months ago. The start-up airline aimed to begin commercial service earlier this year, and has suffered delays due to incomplete regulatory approvals. But last week, the Federal Aviation Administration issued Northern Pacific an air carrier certificate, clearing the way for it to begin passenger flights. Its initial scheduled flights are between Ontario International airport, about 58 miles (93km) northeast of the region’s primary airport, Los Angeles International, and Las Vegas. The schedule appears to cater to customers from the Los Angeles metropolitan area looking to spend a weekend in Las Vegas. <br/>
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Arajet, the Dominican Republic low-cost start-up carrier that launched operations in September 2022, will begin flying to Canada on 24 October. The airline says on 17 July that it plans four-times-weekly service between its home base of Santo Domingo and Toronto’s Pearson International airport. It will offer connections to Cartagena, Medellin, Aruba, Curacao, Saint Marten, Kingston and Sao Paulo, through Santo Domingo. “Canadians will be able to enjoy the privileged location of our low-price hub in the Dominican Republic to connect with dream destinations in the Caribbean throughout the year,” Víctor Pacheco Mendez, the carrier’s CE, said on 17 July. The airline, which operates a fleet of five leased Boeing 737 Max aircraft, is looking to add more leased jets to its fleet this year and has 20 Max jets on order with Boeing, the first of which it expects to receive in 2024. In March, the company applied to the US government to fly routes between the Dominican Republic and the United States. Currently only US-based airlines operate flights between the countries. Arajet is requesting to fly to San Juan (Puerto Rico), Miami and New York. In the 1 March filing with the US Department of Transportation, the airline said it aims to begin the flights in autumn 2023. It currently flies to 18 destinations in 13 countries across the hemisphere.<br/>
Another incident of a passenger tampering with the emergency exit door on an Indian airline has surfaced. It happened on a domestic flight operated by IndiGo earlier this month, creating panic among other passengers and crew members. The accused passenger was later handed over to authorities upon landing. A passenger on an IndiGo flight from Hyderabad to New Delhi attempted to open the emergency exit during take-off, creating panic among his fellow passengers and crew members.<br/>The incident occurred on July 8th, and the passenger in question was reportedly sitting in seat 18A near the emergency exit door. According to reports, it was during take-off that the accused passenger removed the emergency exit door cover, leading to the crew taking control of the situation. The flight attendants restored the cover, informed the pilot-in-command, and moved the passenger to a different seat. Upon landing in Delhi, he was handed over to authorities, and a first information report (FIR) was filed against him. S. S. Panesar, former Director of Flight Safety at Indian Airlines, explained why even removing the exit door cover was dangerous. He said, “If the cover is removed, then the handle is bare open and it can open mid-air due to any reason and it is hazardous for the aircraft.”<br/>
Indonesian operator TransNusa is set to operate the Comac ARJ21 regional jet on flights to Kuala Lumpur, marking the type’s first international operations since it entered commercial service seven years ago. The low-cost carrier will operate the regional jet on all flights between Jakarta and the Malaysian capital from 24 July, according to flight schedules on its website. TransNusa operates twice-daily flights between the two cities with Airbus A320s. From 24 July, it will double its frequencies on the route. While its A320s seat between 168 and 174 passengers, TransNusa’s ARJ21s are configured with 95 seats in an all-economy layout. TransNusa is the sole foreign customer for Comac’s ARJ21, and has operate the type since April between Jakarta and Denpasar Bali. It has two examples in its fleet, PK-TJA and -TJB, both of which were delivered in 2022 and on lease from lessor CALC, according to Cirium fleets data. In January 2021, CALC placed an order for 30 ARJ21s with TransNusa. The lessor holds a stake in TransNusa via its 72.28% stake in Aviation Synergy (Caymen), which in turn owns Naga Pacific Holdings, which has a 49% stake in TransNusa. Neither TransNusa or Comac have issued a statement about the upcoming flight, which was first reported in Malaysian news outlet New Straits Times. The ARJ21 is predominatly operated within China, by airlines such as launch customer Chengdu Airlines, Air China and China Express Airlines. <br/>