A budget airline has introduced three new flights to a city airport. Ryanair's first flights to Alicante, Faro and Malta took off from Norwich Airport on Monday. Michelle Stewart, from Norwich, paid £63 for a return ticket to Benidorm and said the tickets were "cheap as chips". Richard Pace, the airport's managing director, said that although the flights have been launched to run during summer, "the aspiration is to have year round flights of Ryanair". Ryanair has planned to run 12 flights per week to and from Norwich Airport throughout the summer. Craig Easterbrook, from Mulbarton, Norfolk, was travelling from the airport to Alicante with his family. He said: "It is great to be able to come just round the corner and hopefully soon we will be in the sunshine." Pace said: "This is a massive deal for Norwich Airport. We have recruited about 60 extra staff because the turnaround time for a Ryanair flight is 25 minutes, so we need to be very efficient with our service."<br/>
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The last direct flight between Johannesburg and Tel Aviv has taken off from South Africa following El Al Israel Airlines’ announcement in January that the route would be canceled from April 1. The airline cited a steep drop in demand after South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing it of committing genocide in its military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. “Israelis don’t want to fly to South Africa,” an El Al spokesperson reportedly said at the time. “They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty… We understand it’s the situation because it was different before. The fact that the Israelis don’t want to go to South Africa but do want to go to other places helps us decide that we’re pausing that route.” El Al, which flew up to twice weekly directly to Johannesburg, also reportedly cited the current security situation.<br/>
Indian airline Vistara said on Monday it was forced to cut a number of flights as it was dealing with a shortage of pilots and crew. "We have had a significant number of flight cancellations and delays in the past few days due to various reasons including crew unavailability," a company spokesperson said. Vistara, owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is using larger aircraft, including the wide-body Boeing 787 Dreamliner on certain domestic routes "to accommodate more passengers, wherever possible," the spokesperson said. The airline, which will be merged with Tata-owned Air India, faced similar disruptions last month. Local media had reported that an increasing number of its pilots had called in sick. In response, Vistara had said the disruption was not attributed to pilot absenteeism alone as it also had to deal with certain unforeseen maintenance needs. Vistara's flight disruption comes as India's aviation watchdog deferred a June 1 deadline for airlines to adopt new rules on rest and duty times for pilots, a move that has drawn criticism from some pilots and aviation safety experts.<br/>
Air Astra has requested permission to fly four times per week between Dhaka and Pokhara International, Nepal, and simultaneously applied for a raft of fee exemptions, including holidays on landing, fuel, turn-over tax, parking, and navigation charges. Astra will become the sole operator on the route if given the green light. Multiple Kathmandu-based outlets report that the privately owned airline has approached the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to secure flying rights and exemptions. Air Astra operates a fleet of three ATR72-600s to five airports within Nepal. As such, the Dhaka-Pokhara sector would be its maiden international service. "The company has sought exemptions on various issues," said the Ministry's Deputy Secretary, Buddhisagar Lamichhane. "We need to coordinate with the relevant ministries for this. The proposal for direct flights at Pokhara International Airport is also a good opportunity for us." Air Astra was not immediately available for comment.<br/>
PAL Holdings, Inc., the listed operator of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), saw its attributable net income more than double to P16.81b last year, driven by heightened passenger volume and route expansions. The company’s net income for 2023 rose to P16.81b from P8.16b a year ago, it said in a regulatory filing on Monday. PAL’s passenger revenue increased by 37% to P160b in 2023 from P114b in 2022, boosting the company’s overall revenues. The company said that higher revenues offset the increase in gross expenses as its top line climbed to P179.12b, marking a 28.6% increase, citing a “significant” rise in passenger volume compared to its previous combined revenues of P139.24b. The company flew a total of 14.7m passengers in 2023, a 58% jump from last year’s 9.3m passenger count. Data provided by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed that PAL’s subsidiary PAL Express’ passenger volume rose to 7.77m from 3.84m in 2022. The flag carrier also managed to operate about 105,294 flights in 2023, a 36% climb from 77,533 flights in 2022. <br/>