The longest direct flight in American Airlines' history is in the books. Flight AAL7 departed from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Saturday night and landed at Brisbane Airport (BNE) after nearly 16 hours and 8,300 miles traveled, according to the airline and FlightAware, a site that tracks flight paths. The Boeing 787-9 took off at 9:57 p.m. CDT Saturday and landed about 33 minutes early on Monday at 4:57 a.m. AEST, the tracker shows. The inaugural nonstop connection between the two cities was staffed with a crew of three pilots, a relief captain, and 11 flight attendants, an American Airlines spokesperson told USA TODAY Monday. The landing was livestreamed on Brisbane Airport's YouTube channel. The plane carries 285 passengers but American would not say how many people were on board. More than 12,000 people watched the video, giving viewers "a front row window seat through runway-cam," as noted by BNE. At the gate event celebration at DFW Airport, customers received a gift bag that included a koala plushie, a commemorative postcard and a voucher for a free koala moment at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, American Airlines told USA TODAY.<br/>
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British Airways has cancelled its New York flights from London Gatwick over a five-month period – but why would the airline choose to pull this popular route with Christmas and New Year just around the corner? It was revealed two weeks ago that BA would not run its daily London Gatwick-New York JFK route between 12 December 2024 and the end of March 2025. The route has been cancelled alongside other journeys, including London Heathrow to Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, which not run until April 2025, as well as BA’s two daily return flights London Heathrow to Doha, Qatar. Around 103 trips between London and New York have been scrapped due to the “delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce”. The airline said it was forced to make changes to its winter itinerary after delays in delivery of the Trent 1000 engine parts that power its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets. Rolls Royce says that supply chain issues have left them unable to deliver enough spare parts. British Airways operates up to nine daily services from London Gatwick to John F. Kennedy International Airport. It also runs eight daily flights departing from Heathrow that will not be affected. Virgin Atlantic, Icelandair, Delta, American, KLM and Lufthansa are just a few of the other airlines that cover the London to New York route, but it is thought that the grounding of the BA flights could cause price fluctuations. In a statement, British Airways said: “We’re disappointed that we’ve had to make further changes to our schedule as we continue to experience delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce – particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft. We’ve taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly, and we want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve for their travel plans. We continue to work closely with Rolls-Royce to ensure the company is aware of the impact its issues are having on our schedule and customers, and seek reassurance of a prompt and reliable solution.”<br/>
Issues related to mechanical components and a shortage of skilled workers are among the significant findings made by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) in its recent spot checks on Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) Engineering Services, says Anthony Loke. The Transport Minister said that these two primary issues have contributed to maintenance problems affecting the effectiveness of quality management and safety systems for the national flag carrier. “Therefore, to identify improvement actions following CAAM's spot checks, MAB has prepared a mitigation plan, which includes enhancing aircraft safety to an alert level, allowing for a focus on airworthiness,” Loke said in a parliamentary written reply on Tuesday (Oct 29). “MAB has also undertaken the procurement of new fleets as part of a strategy to boost passenger confidence in the airline, in addition to ensuring adequate aircraft availability to meet scheduled flight demands,” he added. The minister was responding to a question from Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Itam), who had asked for the findings of the special audits on MAB following a series of emergency landings and technical issues affecting the airline. Loke explained that to strengthen the maintenance of aircraft, the airline has also taken several comprehensive measures. These include the temporary cancellation of flight networks, conducting thorough investigations to improve maintenance protocols and procedures, closely collaborating with engine manufacturers and suppliers to address technical and supply chain issues, as well as enhancing training and increasing recruitment of workers.<br/>