The South African flag carrier South African Airways (SA/SAA) is increasingly slipping into crisis. While the airline applied for Business Rescue, the country’s pendant to the American Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the airline is still waiting for the second payment of $136 million from the South African Government to keep its operations stable. The money was supposed to be transferred to the airline on January 19, but nothing occurred. “We are still in talks with the government about how and when it will transfer the 2 billion Rand it has committed to,” Louise Brugman, a spokeswoman for the airline ..read more

On January 21, Boeing announced further delays regarding the recertification of the ill-fated Boeing 737 MAX series after two fatal crashes resulting in a world-wide grounding of the jet in March 2019. This was due to faulty software called MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System). “We are informing our customers and suppliers that we are currently estimating that the ungrounding of the 737 MAX will begin during mid-2020,” the US manufacturer stated. This is the best possible estimate given the current procedure for recertification of the aircraft. Earlier in the day, US media ..read more

In late September 2019, Slovenian carrier Adria Airways (JP/ADR) went into bankruptcy. Since then, the news has become relatively quiet regarding the former Slovenian national airline. In late December 2019, Adria Airways’ liquidator Janez Pustatičnik announced his plans to sell the Air Operator Certificate (AOC), as well as other licenses and permits, at an auction in mid-January. The starting bid for the auction of the old Adria licenses is 45,000 euros. On January 20, EX-YU Aviation stated that the auction would take place on January 23. The liquidator announced that at least two foreign ..read more

Frankie Wallace is a freelance journalist with an interest in aviation news and politics. Wallace graduated from the University of Montana’s Journalism School and currently resides in Boise, Idaho. The views expressed in this article are solely his and do not represent those of Aeronautics Online. As we coast into the ‘20s, the global travel industry is booming, and with it comes an increased demand for airline seats. In 2018, tourism and travel grew by 3.9%, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council homepage. The tourism industry also helped support 319 million jobs in 2018 and cre ..read more

Australia’s CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) and the ATSB (Australian Transport Safety Bureau) is currently probing a near-miss event which occurred last August between two Qantas (QF/QFA) aircraft. The near-miss, which was between a Qantas Airbus A330 and Boeing 737 was a result of an air traffic controller trainee misdirecting flight paths. The incident, which has been classed as serious in the preliminary report, occurred when the Airbus A330 was cleared to take off at the same time a 737 was going to land. The A330 traveled 499 feet below the 737 for a “tense few seconds”. After t ..read more

Air Greenland (GL/GRL) has announced that it will take delivery of one Airbus A330-800neo in the fourth quarter of 2021. The aircraft will be used to replace the carrier’s current Airbus A330-200, which is used to operate all long-haul flights from Greenland. The new aircraft will replace Air Greenland’s current A330-200, which is 22 years old, having been in operation since 1998. The plane initially began flying with Sabena and was taken over by Greenland’s flag carrier in 2002. Currently, the A330 features 278 seats, including 30 in business class and 248 in economy class. Business class ..read more

Delta Air Lines announced today that it will expand its operation in Miami. In addition to flights to four new destinations, the airline will also add frequencies to its existing flights from Miami. By doing so, Delta will offer travelers more options to connect to and from South America via its new airline partner, LATAM. The airline will launch flights from Miami to its hub in Salt Lake City, Orlando, Raleigh Durham, and Tampa. The Orlando and Tampa service will begin May 4 and will be flown using an Embraer E175 aircraft. Both routes will be served five times per day in each directi ..read more

Since December 29, Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa (LH/DLH) has begun using the newest generation of the Airbus A320 family of aircraft from its second-largest base at Munich. The first four Airbus A320neo aircraft to be based in Munich were transferred from Frankfurt to the Bavarian city, while the next two will be delivered directly to Munich from the Airbus factory in Hamburg Finkenwerder. The airline plans to further increase the number of this aircraft type at Munich to nine by the end of 2020. In total, Lufthansa will increase the size of its short- and medium-haul fleet in Munich by tw ..read more

As of June 2020, northern Germany’s Lübeck airport will begin seeing scheduled flights once again. The airport has founded Lübeck Air, which will start with twice-daily weekday flights to Munich as well as daily weekday flights to Stuttgart, in addition to one flight to Munich on Sundays. On Saturdays, the airline’s aircraft will be available for charter flights. The airline will use an ATR 72-500 from Air Alsie (6I/MMD), as the airline has no Airline Operator Certificate of its own. Lübeck Air will only include 60 seats on-board, instead of the available 74, thus achieving a seat pitch of ..read more

British airline Titan Airways (ZT/AWC) has announced that it will retire its fleet of two Boeing 757-200 aircraft in autumn as it prepares to take delivery of new Airbus A321LR aircraft. Titan currently operates its two-strong fleet of 757s on behalf of TUI as well as luxury tour operator TCS World Travel in an all-business-class configuration. However, the 757 fleet is already 20 years old, so the carrier has been looking for a replacement. The Airbus A321LR offers additional range over the standard A321neo, with a similar range and slightly smaller capacity compared to the 757 it is ..read more