Air Canada flight AC43, scheduled to depart for Toronto, received a bomb threat via email just before leaving Delhi on Tuesday night, according to media reports, amid a string of similar incidents reported in the past few weeks. An email was received at 10:50 pm by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) office at IGI Airport regarding the threat of a bomb inside an Air Canada flight. After standard security protocols, a thorough inspection was conducted and nothing suspicious was found. This incident comes days after a Mumbai-bound Vistara flight with 306 persons onboard from Paris received a bomb threat after which a full emergency was declared at the city airport in the financial capital of India. Vistara on Sunday reported that its,” flight UK 024 from Paris’ Charles de Gualle airport to Mumbai” received a handwritten note on an airsickness bag threatening a bomb. Vistara in a statement confirmed that “a security concern has been noted by our staff while onboard the airline’s flight UK 024 operating from Paris to Mumbai on 2 June 2024.” Last week, Vistara flight UK611 from Delhi was targeted by a bomb threat. Before that on May 1, IndiGo flight 6E-5314 from Chennai to Mumbai also faced a similar threat. On May 28, another IndiGo flight from Delhi to Varanasi encountered a similar situation.<br/>
star
Cathay and Singapore Airlines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on a broad range of sustainability initiatives. These collective efforts are aimed at advocating for the development and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the Asia-Pacific region, a critical decarbonisation lever for the sector, and sharing best practices to boost sustainability performance. The MoU was signed by Cathay Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ronald Lam and Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on the sidelines of the 80th International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit. The agreement, which focuses on two key areas, underscores both carriers’ commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and affirms their aspiration to help drive sustainability changes in the airline industry.<br/>
Air India expects to complete its merger with compatriot Vistara by the end of the year, as it works through legal approvals and operational integration. CE Campbell Wilson says the airline is now awaiting legal clearance from India’s National Company Law Tribunal, which it expects “any day now”, having already secured the green-light from competition regulators in India and abroad. He was speaking at the CAPA India Aviation Summit in Delhi. Air India received the nod for the merger from Singapore competition regulators – the last competition authority to approve the deal – in March this year, having already gained approval from Indian authorities. Vistara is a joint venture between Tata Group, which also own Air India, and Singapore Airlines. Following the merger, SIA will own 25.1% of Air India, with the balance held by Tata Group. Wilson says: ”On top of that, we are working with the [India Directorate-General of Civil Aviation] on…[the] process of transferring aircraft to one operating certificate to another, [as well as] transferring systems, data, [and] bookings. So far, so good.” Wilson is overseeing the consolidation of Tata Group’s airline units, following the privatisation of Air India. This also includes the merger of low-cost units Air India Express with AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India. The company had previously set March 2024 as the target for the merger to complete. <br/>