A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner operating flight TOM156 from Manchester Airport (MAN) to Punta Cana (PUJ) made an immediate return to Manchester after experiencing smoke in the cockpit on April 19, 2024. Due to the urgency of the situation, G-TUIL returned to the airport without dumping fuel, leading to an overweight landing. Our friends at Airliners Live captured the aircraft’s return, you can view the footage below. All aircraft have a maximum landing weight (MLW). This is a mass (typically measured in tonnes) which the aircraft should reach before landing in order to stop in the appropriat ..read more

On March 26th at 16:26 local time, the last scheduled flight of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 747-400 landed at Seoul Incheon Airport. The plane, with registration HL7428, arrived from Taipei, Taiwan, under flight OZ 712. The South Korean company bids farewell to the 747-400 passenger aircraft after a 31-year operation, having introduced its first 747-400, registered HL7418, in June 1993, fresh from the factory. Asiana will continue operations with 10 Boeing 747-400s in its fleet, but configured for cargo services. Furthermore, on April 17th, Jetstar’s first Airbus A321neo built in Toulouse perfo ..read more

As Iran launched a retaliatory attack on Israel last weekend, airspace in the region was restricted, impacting thousands of flights that normally navigate the busy airways of the Middle East. Comparing the days preceding the attack to the days after gives an idea of the importance of the region to global air travel as well as the gravity of the dangers facing flights in the area. Closing airspace FIR boundaries and airways in the region. Click to enlarge When Iran launched hundreds of projectiles in the direction of Israel, Jordan was the first to close its airspace, “for operational reas ..read more

On this week’s episode of AvTalk, escalating retaliatory attacks between Iran and Israel and their effects on global air travel, congressional hearings sharpen the focus on Boeing’s problems, and United Airlines makes big changes to its order book. Plus, we’ve got stolen gold, expensive eels, and a unique competition. Thank you for listening! Thank you so much for listening to AvTalk! Like the podcast? Have suggestions for future shows? Let us know by leaving a review on iTunes. Reviews on iTunes not only help us make a better show, they help more people find the podcast! Want to send us addit ..read more

Heavy rain has caused significant disruption to commercial aviation activity in the United Arab Emirates, and led to the flooding of large areas of Dubai Airport (DXB). We used our data to take a look at the airlines and flights most affected by the disruption. Diversions FlyDubai (FZ) experienced the highest number of in-flight diversions between April 16 – 17, 2024, with 14 inbound flights diverting to airports including Muscat (MCT), and local airports such as Abu Dhabi Al Bateen Executive Airport (AZI) and Dubai World Central International Airport (DWC). 6 Emirates flights were diverte ..read more

British Airways (BA) is, obviously, mainly associated with the United Kingdom. However, throughout the airline’s decades of operation, it also had other airlines carry the brand around the world. This includes airlines based in France, South Africa, Kenya and Gibraltar. However, only one of these still operates under the BA brand, Sun-Air of Scandinavia. So, why are they still flying for British Airways? Why does Sun-Air use the BA brand? Sun-air of Scandinavia (often abbreviated to Sun-air) first struck a deal with the British flag carrier in August 1996. As part of this, Sun-air would us ..read more

Dubai International (DXB) is the main airport in the United Arab Emirates, and the busiest in the world based on the number of seats offered per month. The airport, located 13 kilometers from downtown Dubai, has two runways almost 4,500 meters length and three passenger terminals. In addition, it is the hub for two of the country’s most important airlines, Emirates and flydubai. Emirates has 261 aircraft in its fleet, including Airbus A380-800, Boeing 777-200(LR), Boeing 777(F) and Boeing 777-300(ER). For its part, flydubai has an all Boeing 737 fleet, with a mix of the 800s and MAX versions ..read more

Air China (CA/CCA) is one of the three largest airlines in China, and is third-largest in terms of fleet size behind China Southern (CZ/CSN) with 675 aircraft and China Eastern (MU/CES) with 638 aircraft.  The airline was formed in 1988 following the Chinese government’s decision to split the divisions of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC Airlines) into separate airlines, one of which was Air China. The airline was initially given chief responsibility for intercontinental flights, but developed a more diverse range of operations as time proceeded.  China's growin ..read more

Between late March and early April, many European airlines launched several new routes, a number of which will be operated during the summer 2024, while others will remain year-round. Additionally, some carriers have released their schedules for the winter 2024/25, also featuring the start of new connections. In terms of aircraft additions, Wizz Air, easyJet and ITA Airways have been the leaders according to the number of jets taken out of the factory during the last month. Twenty airplanes were incorporated between different European companies, including 17 Airbus, 2 Boeing and 1 ATR 72-600 ..read more

Thousands of extra planes take to the skies and New Jersey experiences an earthquake. And that’s just through Monday this week. We then hear from a fresh whistleblower at Boeing who alleges that some 787 and 777 aircraft could experience structural failures. Plus, the NTSB issues its preliminary report on the United flight that went off the runway in Houston, Spirit Airlines announces pilot furloughs, and a Southwest 737 loses its engine cowling. Thank you for listening! Thank you so much for listening to AvTalk! Like the podcast? Have suggestions for future shows? Let us know by leaving a rev ..read more