The first A380 for Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) completed a maiden flight from the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse, France to the manufacturer’s site in Hamburg, Germany. The aircraft is now being prepared for cabin installation and painting in the airline’s special A380 livery. ANA Holdings placed a firm order for three A380s in 2016, becoming the first customer for the very large aircraft in Japan. First delivery is scheduled for early 2019; the A380 will initially be operated on the Tokyo-Honolulu route.<br/>
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From strutting past bright-coloured houses to exploring Istanbul's spice markets, Turkish Airlines new cabin crew uniforms are multipurpose -- at least if the glamorous photo shoot is anything to go by. Celebrating 85 years of criss-crossing the world, the airline has revealed a chic new look for its flight attendants courtesy of Milan-based haute couturier Ettore Bilotta. British photographer Miles Aldridge shot the looks in iconic destinations in Istanbul. The red-and-gray-accented symbolize a fusing of Eastern and Western influences, in acknowledgment of Turkey's position on the map. The launch of Turkish Airlines' new look will coincide with the opening of Istanbul New Airport. This under-construction transport hub has ambitions to be the biggest airport in the world and is due to open in late October 2018. Fashion designer Bilotta says he took the spirit of Istanbul as the starting point. "This city has been a melting pot for art and civilization for centuries and has a rare richness as a common heritage of many cultures," he says. "I wanted to bring elements from traditional calligraphy and mosaics together with the new interpretations of Turkish motifs, which emphasize modern lines, into foulards and ties to reflect a contrast and duality."<br/>
Brussels Airlines is considering whether to move its wet-lease arrangement from Ireland’s CityJet, following longer-than-anticipated delays in solving technical problems with its Russian-built Sukhoi Superjet 100s (SSJ100s). The Belgian airline has used four of Dublin-based regional CityJet’s SSJ100s on some services since April 2017. That contract is scheduled to expire in March 2019 and the carrier is at the request-for-proposals (RFP) stage of determining who will be capacity provider. Brussels Airlines said an aircraft of the SSJ100’s size is ideal for some of its destinations that are unsuitable for larger aircraft, or where it wishes to offer more flights per day than would be possible with a larger aircraft, such as the Airbus A320. “We have had very positive reactions from our passengers with the SSJ100,” a Brussels Airlines spokeswoman said, “but it is still a very young aircraft and it has had some ‘childhood diseases.’” Every time such teething problems cropped up, it took longer to get the aircraft back into service than it would have been with other types. This has affected reliability figures, she said.<br/>
Pilots with Singapore Airlines are not allowed to consume alcohol within 10 hours from their flight duty, and there are stiff penalties set out in the Air Navigation Act if they are found to be under the influence of any psychoactive substances. “Our flight crew are prohibited from consuming alcohol within 10 hours from their flight duty,” said an SIA spokesperson on Monday. “As the safety of our customers and crew is of utmost importance, substance or alcohol abuse will not be tolerated.” The issue of alcohol consumption surfaced after an SIA pilot was suspended on Saturday for failing a random alcohol test conducted by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority. This resulted in the cancellation of flight SQ247 from Melbourne to Wellington.<br/>