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A Florida teenager traveling alone was meant to fly to his mother in Ohio on a Frontier Airlines flight, but instead ended up on a flight to Puerto Rico. The 16-year-old passenger was scheduled to fly from Tampa to Cleveland on December 22, but “mistakenly boarded a different flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico,” Frontier Director of Corporate Communications Jennifer de la Cruz said in a statement to CNN. The Ohio and Puerto Rico flights departed from the same gate, with the flight to Puerto Rico taking off first, according to de la Cruz. “Frontier has extended its sincere apologies to the family for the error,” de la Cruz said. The mix-up comes after a similar recent incident involving an unaccompanied 6-year-old, who got on the wrong Spirit Airlines flight and ended up in Orlando instead of Ft. Myers. It was the first solo flight for the teenager, Logan, who suffers from flight anxiety, the teen’s father Ryan Lose told CNN in a phone interview Saturday. The father said he and his current wife Krista talked the teen through how to go to the gate. But when Logan got to the gate in Tampa at around 8 p.m., passengers were already boarding, Lose said. Story has more details.<br/>

The 21 Indian passengers of the Nicaragua-bound flight of Legend Airlines which was grounded for suspected human trafficking in France, have failed to explain why they boarded the chartered plane. The passengers were asked to record their statements by India’s Central Investigative Department (CID) on Friday, according to local media reports. Many of the passengers have maintained that they were travelling to Nicaragua as tourists, CID officers told The Indian Express newspaper. However, an unnamed officer told the newspaper that the passengers were “unable to explain” why they boarded the dubious flight which had mostly “single persons and unaccompanied minors”. “They had valid documents to procure visas on arrival and some even had tourist visas,” the official said. “They also can’t explain why they paid their agents huge sums of money to board the flight…” An officer said they were also questioned by the department if they had any plans to cross into the United States of America illegally after reaching Latin America. “There was a rumour they had planned to enter the US illegally after landing in Nicaragua,” S P Rajkumar, additional director general of police, CID - Crime and Railways, told The Hindustan Times. “We are going into the details to find out who were the agents behind their trip.” The flight, an Airbus A340 carrying 276 passengers, including 65 from Gujarat, was grounded for four days in France last week over suspected human trafficking, sparking speculations over illegal immigration. The flight landed in Mumbai on 26 December and it has been a mystery ever since. What adds to the complexity of the situation is the significant sums of money passengers allegedly paid to local agents facilitating their journey.<br/>

Russian carrier Red Wings has received a Tupolev Tu-214 twinjet, following work to restore its airworthiness. The aircraft (RA-64518) was originally delivered to now-defunct operator Transaero in 2009. It was subleased to Red Wings for a short period until 2017. Red Wings states that the aircraft, leased from Ilyushin Finance, underwent upgrade work and it was formally handed to the carrier at Kazan on 28 December. “Fleet expansion is a key part of our strategy aimed at developing the route network of passenger transport in Russia,” says CE Evgeny Solodilin. He says the carrier has experience with the Tu-204 and Tu-214. “Western sanctions are essentially stimulating accelerated restoration of the domestic civil aviation industry,” he adds. “I am confident that the updated Tu-214 will strengthen Red Wings’ competencies and will be convenient for passengers.” Red Wings says the aircraft, fitted with Aviadvigatel PS-90 engines, is configured with 194 seats in a single-class cabin.<br/>

Uzbekistan start-up Air Samarkand has today completed its first flight, operating a return charter service to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen airport with an Airbus A330-300. Launch of flights comes just two days after the airline on 27 December announced it had secured its air operator’s certificate (AOC). The airline will now operate regular charter flights out of Samarkand to Istanbul using an Airbus A321 as well as its A330 before adding further destinations from the Uzbek city in the coming months. Air Samarkand CE Anton Khojayan says: “The launch of passenger flights from Samarkand is a great event not only for us, but also for our base airport, the city and for Uzbekistan as a whole. “In the very near future we will see the opening of further destinations, the expansion of the fleet and other key events, including the delivery of two more aircraft in the near future, an Airbus A320 and A321neo.” The carrier is initially focusing on charter flights, but plans to begin scheduled services from the start of the summer season in late March. “We have ambitious plans for the rapid development of Air Samarkand, giving passengers safe, direct and high-quality services to a growing number of cities in Asia and Europe as we ramp up operations,” says Khojayan.<br/>

Asia-Pacific carriers continue to add services to leisure destinations as the post-pandemic recovery enters its second year. Japan low-cost carrier Zipair will commence a new three-times-weekly service on the Tokyo Narita-Vancouver route from 13 March. The Japan Airlines unit, which operates Boeing 787-8s, already serves three North American destinations: Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco. Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines has launched three new international routes, all of which will be operated with 737-800s. New services includ Hainan’s third Thailand route, a Beijing-Phuket service that will operate seven times weekly, and a Beijing-Irkutsk service that will operate twice weekly. In addition, a new Hangzhou-Sapporo service will be operated twice-weekly. Malaysia’s Batik air is adding to its North Asian network with services to China and Taiwan starting in early February. The airline is adding three Chinese destinations: Kunming, Zhangjiajie, and Zhengzhou. Flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Batik will service Kunming and Zhengzhou four times weekly, and Zhangjiajie three times weekly. February will also see the launch of a three-times-weekly-service to Taiwan’s second largest city, Kaohsiung. Taiwan’s Starlux will launch a Taichung-Hakadote service in February 2024, and a Taichung-Macau service in March. It also plans scheduled services to Da Nang and chartered services to Hakodate. Singapore-based low-cost carrier Jetstar Asia has also commenced a new service to Wuxi in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Wuxi is the carrier’s second Chinese destination and Jetstar Asia will operate it twice weekly until 15 January, after which the service will be operated four times weekly. Jetstar will use Airbus A320s on the route.<br/>

Jetstar Japan Co. canceled 15 domestic flights Friday as it could not secure enough workers for operation amid an ongoing strike by some union members, affecting some 2,600 people, the company said. The company expects flight cancellations on Saturday and is preparing for reimbursements while arranging to transfer affected passengers to alternative flights with other airlines. The cancellation came as many people in Japan plan to travel to their hometowns during the New Year holiday season, with many domestic flights fully booked. The 15 flights canceled Friday include those connecting Narita near Tokyo and Hokkaido airports, as well as Matsuyama and Fukuoka. The union, including flight crew members, launched the strike on Dec. 22 following failed negotiations with management over demands that the airline pay employees' unpaid wages and allegations that overtime work had been calculated erroneously. The union has said it will continue the strike through Jan. 7.<br/>

AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat is leaving his role at the airline and will become a board member at AirAsia Aviation Group. Riad was appointed to the role in January 2018 and had been responsible for the company’s Malaysia-based operations, AirAsia Aviation Group said in a statement. The executive, who is relinquishing the position effective Dec. 31, said he would “take a bit of a break” in an Instagram message to followers. “AirAsia will be announcing additional updates on the restructuring of the company and personnel within the group in due course,” according to the statement. Riad will continue to sit on several related company boards and provide consultancy work for Capital A Aviation Services. The move comes as Capital A Bhd, the holding company for AirAsia, seeks to expand its services beyond aviation. In September, Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes said he expected its non-airlines business to be bigger than its airline operations within five years.<br/>