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A Southwest Airlines flight was forced to abort a landing at Chicago Midway airport on Tuesday and narrowly avoided a collision with a business jet that entered the runway without authorization, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Around 8:50 a.m. CT, Southwest Flight 2504, a Boeing 737-800 arriving from Omaha, Nebraska, abruptly pulled up and flew over a FlexJet Challenger on the runway. The Southwest plane performed a go-around, a maneuver in which it circled and reapproached the landing. A dramatic video posted on social media showed the Southwest jet nearing touchdown then ascending sharply. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. Southwest said the crew "followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident." According to Southwest's website, its Boeing 737-800 aircraft can carry 175 passengers. The business jet, which Flexjet says can carry up to nine passengers, had been taxiing on runway 31C before departing for Knoxville, Tennessee. The Southwest jet had descended to an altitude of 50 feet when it abandoned its landing only about 2,050 feet away from the business jet, according to tracking service Flightradar 24. As it abruptly rose, the Southwest plane had only reached an altitude of 250 feet when it passed over the smaller aircraft, the service said. Over the last two years, a series of troubling near-miss incidents has raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control operations. There was no indication of air traffic control error in Tuesday's incident.<br/>

Dominican start-up carrier Arajet has a deal to lease a further five Boeing 737 Max 8s as it eyes flights to the USA. Singapore-based lessor BOC Aviation said on 24 February that it purchased five Max 8s from Boeing and has put those aircraft on long-term leases with Arajet. Deliveries are scheduled to begin next year and continue into 2027. Victor Pascheco, Arajet’s founding CE, said the incoming Max 8s will allow the airline to “continue to consolidate our fleet and our footprint in the region”. Launched in September 2022, the start-up has been working establish a new air travel hub at Las Americas airport in Santo Domingo and expand its network to North America. The carrier took its 10th Max 8 delivery in June 2024, adorning the jet with a Dominican-themed livery. Fleets data from aviation analytics company Cirium show Arajet still operating 10 of the narrowbody Boeing jets, and holding orders for a further 23 of the type. Arajet plans to launch flights between the Dominican Republic and Miami on 11 April, in addition to flights to Puerto Rico starting in June.<br/>

One of the North's major airlines is being sold. Winnipeg-based Exchange Income Corporation (EIC) announced on Monday that it will buy Canadian North for $205m, subject to regulatory approval. The company promised the sale would mean better service to northern communities. Exchange Income Corporation already owns several aviation companies that operate in northern and remote regions, including Calm Air, Perimeter Aviation, Keewatin Air and Custom Helicopters. "Canadian North will be a natural fit with our other northern air operators. Combining our aviation resources, knowledge, and assets with the team at Canadian North, will lead to increased efficiency and enhanced service levels in the region," said Mike Pyle, CEO of EIC, in a statement. Canadian North, which offers passenger and cargo service to 24 communities in the N.W.T. and Nunavut as well as charter service for the resource industry, is currently owned by the Makivvik Corporation and the Inuvialuit Development Corporation. It operates out of Edmonton and Ottawa. The sale, if approved by the Competition Bureau and Transport Canada, is expected to be finalized later this year. EIC president Carmele Peter said the acquisition had been in the works for a while. She said Calm Air — an EIC subsidiary — currently serves the Kivalliq region in Nunavut, while Canadian North offers similar service to the east and west of that region. "So when you look at the landscape, obviously we saw an opportunity to be able to look at providing that service holistically across the whole region by the addition of Canadian North," Peter said. "We thought it was a good fit, a good opportunity, and hopefully the communities will benefit from it."<br/>

Ryanair could have as many as 5m passengers per year in Ukraine within a year or two of reopening its skies, CEO Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday, as the low-cost airline prepared for a return to the war-torn country. With U.S. President Donald Trump vowing to bring the war in Ukraine to an end soon, airlines including Ryanair and its low-cost competitor Wizz Air are getting in position to benefit from flights resuming. "Straight out-of-the-box... we have two million seats in there within six weeks (of the sky reopening) and then I think we would want to open bases both in Kyiv and Lviv within 12 months and then I think we could go from two to five million passengers within a year or two," O'Leary told Reuters.<br/>He said returning to some other airports in Ukraine could take longer due to greater damage from the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine. He said that the airline wanted to have 6-8 routes to Ukraine from Poland. Ryanair will launch 24 new routes from Poland this summer. It expects summer fares overall to rise 4-6% this year, O'Leary said at a press conference in Warsaw on Tuesday.<br/>The Irish airline experienced a 10% fall in fares over its two summer quarters last year, in part due to a dispute with online travel agents, which has been largely resolved.<br/>"Fares will grow between 4% and 6% this year, so you'll still be traveling at slightly cheaper prices than in the summer of 2023, but you'll be a little bit up on 2024," O'Leary said.<br/>He thought the situation at Boeing was improving and that the planemaker would catch up on its delivery backlog in time for summer 2026.<br/>

An older generation of adventurers are finding a new career in the skies by joining an initiative launched by EasyJet to train as cabin crew at Gatwick Airport. The budget airline's campaign hopes to encourage people over 50, career-changers, and those looking to "unretire" to apply and take up the new challenge. "Get out of that armchair, get into that aircraft. Life is supposed to be an adventure and this certainly is," said 65-year-old retired grandfather, Race Welch. EasyJet said 74% of over-50s in the UK that it asked said it was the perfect time for a new career, and 67% considered returning to work. The number of new recruits aged over 50 has more than doubled, and those joining as cabin crew over 60 has quadrupled, EasyJet said. Of the 2,000 people surveyed by the airline, 71% believed that their age would stop them being accepted for the job of cabin crew, while 16% believed they could not apply above the age of 30.<br/>

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways aims to announce the launch of a $1b initial public offering this week, two sources told Reuters, in what would be the first IPO of a major Gulf airline in nearly two decades. The airline plans to offer 20% of the business by selling new shares to fund its growth ambitions, said the sources, declining to be named as the matter was not public. Etihad, which is owned by Abu Dhabi's $225b wealth fund ADQ, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ADQ declined to comment. The IPO comprises 2.7b in primary shares, the sources said, in which proceeds go back to the company rather than the main shareholder. The Gulf listing could be a bright spot for investors in an airline sector that has faced problems in other regions, including Europe, where airlines have struggled with plane delivery delays, engine troubles, labour disruption and surging costs. Last week, Etihad Airways reported a net profit that more than tripled last year to $476m. The carrier, which started operations in 2003, has been through a multi-year restructuring and management shake-up but has expanded under new CEO Antonoaldo Neves. It is planning to expand its destinations to over 125 airports by 2030 as part of Abu Dhabi's efforts to become a global travel hub as the oil-rich emirate invests to diversify its economy. That has included the launch of a multibillion-dollar new terminal at Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport in 2023 that tripled the hub's annual capacity to 45m passengers. Etihad would be the second company this year to launch an IPO in the UAE after technology services firm Alpha Data said this month it was offering a 40% stake to investors.<br/>

Indian operator IndiGo will initially put damp-leased Norse Atlantic Boeing 787 capacity on the Delhi-Bangkok route, the carrier has disclosed. IndiGo says the 787-9 lease is part of an “internationalisation strategy” ahead of its receiving long-range Airbus A321XLRs next year and A350s in 2027. The first 787 will be deployed on the Bangkok sector from 1 March, subject to regulatory confirmation. IndiGo will offer its ‘Stretch’ business-class product on the daily flights. The 787 is configured with 56 ‘Stretch’ seats while the economy cabin will have 282 seats. “Early induction of our widebody aircraft marks a significant milestone in our journey,” says CE Pieter Elbers. He says the carrier’s focus will subsequently “shift to Europe” around mid-summer. IndiGo states that it will “continue exploring opportunities” to contract additional aircraft. “As India’s aviation sector undergoes rapid transformation to keep pace with unprecedented growth in demand for travel, IndiGo is well-positioned to lead this expansion,” says Elbers.<br/>