A person on board a plane at Boston Logan International Airport that was taxiing for takeoff suddenly opened an exit door and was quickly restrained by other passengers, authorities said. The JetBlue passenger was expected to face charges and be arraigned Wednesday, Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Tim McGuirk said in a statement Tuesday night. The passenger’s name was not released. The door was opened about 7:30 p.m. “suddenly and without warning,” McGuirk said. The opening of the overwing exit door caused an emergency slide to deploy aboard JetBlue flight 161 from Boston to San Juan, the airline said in a statement. “The flight was eventually swapped to another aircraft and has since landed in San Juan. We greatly appreciate our customers’ understanding as we worked to address this situation, ” the airline said.<br/>
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Brazilian airline Azul is expected to sign in the next few weeks a memorandum of understandings with rival carrier Gol's parent Abra for a potential merger between Azul and Gol, newspaper Valor Economico reported on Wednesday. The memorandum would stress the intention to merge while establishing details pertaining to governance, capital structure and different options to structure the deal, according to the report, which cited sources involved in the talks. Gol did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Azul declined to comment. Azul has been in talks with Abra Group to "explore opportunities," amid speculation about a potential tie-up with Gol. The two carriers announced a codeshare deal last May. A key variable for the potential merger is the conclusion of Gol's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, Valor added, noting this is expected in April.<br/>
Ryanair is suing a passenger it claims disrupted a flight between Dublin and Lanzarote, seeking €15,000 (£12,500) in damages to cover expenses incurred when the plane was diverted to Portugal. The airline said on Wednesday it had filed proceedings in Dublin’s circuit court against the passenger, whose behaviour on the flight last April it described as “inexcusable” and “completely unacceptable.” The damages would cover the cost of overnight accommodation and other expenses it had to pay for people onboard the flight after the aircraft was diverted to Porto. Ryanair said it would “continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour on aircraft”. The airline said the passenger’s behaviour forced the flight in question to divert to Porto, where it was delayed overnight, and caused 160 passengers to “face unnecessary disruption as well as losing a full day of their holiday”. Announcing what the airline described as a “major clampdown”, a spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that passengers – many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing summer holiday – are suffering unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time as a result of one unruly passenger’s behaviour.” The spokesperson said Ryanair hoped the civil proceedings in the Irish court would deter further disruptive behaviour on flights. The passenger has not been named.<br/>
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE:ELAL) has added flights on high-demand routes between Tel Aviv and major European cities after last week's decision to suspend Tel Aviv-Moscow flights for the next three months. The decision follows last month's plane crash in which 38 people were killed, when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozhny in Chechnya rerouted to Kazakhstan and crashed during an emergency landing, after Russian air defenses identified it as a hostile plane. The eight weekly flights that El Al made between Tel Aviv and Moscow will now be diverted to high-demand destinations in Europe. El Al has increased its number of weekly flights: to Paris from 23 to 25; to Vienna from five to six; to Frankfurt from six to eight; to Zurich from seven to nine; and to Munich from five to six.<br/>
El Al subsidiary airline Sundor announced on Wednesday the launch of its new direct route to Tirana, Albania – dubbed the "pearl of the Balkans" – starting in late March. The length of the flight is two and a half hours. Sundor will operate three weekly flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with the inaugural flight scheduled for March 31, 2025. Ticket sales opened on Wednesday, with an introductory fare for a "Lite" ticket, including a trolley and backpack, priced at $279 (1,018 shekels). <br/>
Syrianair and Cham Wings Airlines restarted scheduled international operations on January 7, 2025, each operating a flight from Damascus to Sharjah. The latter carrier also operated a domestic flight on the same day. A320-200 YK-AKG (msn 1402), one of only two aircraft of the type that Syrianair recently had in service, had previously been parked at Damascus since December 7, 2024. The flight to Sharjah was the first passenger flight out of the Syrian capital since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's government in early December. On January 8, the aircraft was deployed to Doha Hamad International, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. Sistership YK-AKH (msn 1416), which was used to trial the domestic Damascus-Aleppo route on December 18, remains parked for the time being. Six remaining A320-200s and both A340-300s operated by the airline remain inactive.<br/>
Akasa Air has appointed its marketing chief Belson Coutinho to a newly created chief operating officer role, amid slower growth in 2024 and increased regulatory scrutiny in recent months. The Indian low-cost operator says Coutinho, who is also an airline co-founder, assumed the new role on 6 January. He will “lead Akasa Air’s crucial operational functions”, overseeing areas such as inflight and airport services, maintenance and engineering, as well as flight operations. “With over two decades of experience in the aviation industry, Belson has delivered multiple industry-first initiatives in Indian aviation, underpinned by his strong operational, strategic and leadership skills,” Akasa states. It is not immediately clear if Coutinho remains in his previous role. The announcement comes after a tepid 2024 for the airline, which began operations in August 2022. The Boeing 737 Max operator was impacted by production caps on the narrowbody programme – imposed by US regulators following an in-flight cabin door-plug blow-out on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9. Akasa has 150 Max 10s and high-density Max 8-200s on order, in addition to more Max 8s. The airline received its 20th 737 Max 8 on August 2023 – its first anniversary – but only took delivery of six more aircraft since then, which has limited its growth opportunities.<br/>
Cebu Pacific, operated by Cebu Air, Inc., has secured a sustainability-linked loan to help fund its decarbonization efforts and fleet expansion plans. “Cebu Pacific’s first sustainability-linked aircraft financing is a milestone in our decarbonization journey, as the transaction supports the core element of our program—the modernization of our fleet towards more advanced and fuel-efficient aircraft,” Cebu Pacific CFO Mark Julius V. Cezar said in a media release on Wednesday. The airline said the terms and amount of the loan remain confidential. “The financing has been structured to align with Cebu Pacific’s strategic goals and fleet expansion plans,” it noted. The airline said the sustainability-linked loan is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia for low-cost carriers. “This landmark deal highlights CEB’s commitment to decarbonizing its operations and reinforces its leadership in sustainable air travel within the region,” it added. It said the loan was arranged by Crédit Agricole CIB and was structured under a Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option. Sustainability-linked loans are corporate loans aimed at facilitating environmentally and socially sustainable initiatives.<br/>