United Airlines can take delivery of new airplanes as US aviation regulators review the carrier, the head of the FAA said Thursday. "We are permitting them to take deliveries of aircraft. Most of those aircraft have been one-on-one replacements for missing aircraft," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told reporters at a briefing. "Some of it has been growth. They have provided us with their growth plan, and we're working with them on that growth plan going forward." United did not immediately comment. Some United certification activities were halted after the FAA said in March it was increasing its oversight of United following recent safety incidents. The FAA said earlier this month it is requiring the presence of FAA personnel when United conducts final inspections of new aircraft replacing older models. The FAA said this month the review, known as the Certificate Holder Evaluation Program, "is ongoing and safety will determine the timeline for completing it." The evaluation is to ensure the Chicago-based airline "is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety," the FAA said. United, in a May 16 email to its employees, said the FAA was allowing the company to begin the certification process restart "after a careful review and discussion about the proactive safety steps United has taken to date."<br/>
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Scandinavian airline SAS posted a Q2 pretax loss that more than doubled from a year earlier on Thursday, while pledging to complete its restructuring this summer. The company's Chapter 11 plan of reorganisation was approved in March. It filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection in 2022 after years of struggle with high costs coupled with low customer demand, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. "We look forward to emerging as a competitive and financially stronger airline with a stable equity structure," CEO Anko van der Werff said in a statement. SAS said it intends to complete the restructuring proceedings in Sweden and in the US, and fulfil all remaining conditions as soon as possible. The company targets the summer of 2024 to finalise this, but said the timetable may change.<br/>
Croatia Airlines has introduced a new flight route between Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) and Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. The service operates three times a week: on Tuesdays and Fridays, flights depart from BER at 20:20, arriving in Zagreb at 21:45; on Sundays, flights leave BER at 10:50, reaching Zagreb by 12:15. The flight duration is approximately 90 minutes. In addition to this capital-to-capital connection, Croatia Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, also offers a weekly flight from BER to Split on Saturdays, catering to travellers heading to another popular Croatian destination. <br/>
EVA Air has selected Panasonic Avionics to install in-flight entertainment (IFE) and connectivity systems, plus a range of digital services, on 54 of its widebody and narrowbody aircraft. The Taiwanese carrier will install Panasonic’s Astrova seat-end IFE solution on 18 Airbus A350-1000s and 14 Boeing 777-300ERs, along with its Marketplace e-commerce solution and Arc integrated moving map. Additionally, 17 of the airline’s Airbus A321 fleet will be retrofitted with Panasonic eXW wireless IFE, while there will be a retrofit of five Boeing 787-9s with the NEXT and eX3 IFE, along with connectivity services. The agreement continues more than two decades of cooperation between Panasonic Avionics and EVA Air, having first worked together in 2001.<br/>
Thailand's Ministry of Finance intends to invest another THB12b baht (US$325.5m) in Thai Airways International by October 2024 and aims to relist the company on the Stock Exchange of Thailand by mid-2025. The DG of the Finance Ministry's State Enterprise Policy Office, Tibordee Wattanakul, told the Bangkok Post that Thai's financial performance had improved dramatically due to reductions in expenses, improvements in operational efficiencies, and a strengthening local currency. Thai Airways is in the final stages of a court-supervised business rehabilitation that involves shareholders recapitalising the carrier. The Finance Ministry will retain a stake of around 40% in the airline, with majority control passing from the government to the private sector. The plan for the capital injection and relisting on the stock market is subject to approval from the supervising court. This approval is expected to be granted later this year. Tibordee said the funding from the ministry would come from the 2025 fiscal budget and the Vayupak Fund, a state-owned sovereign wealth fund.<br/>