New routes between mainland China and Europe are at risk as the coronavirus outbreak batters air traffic. Privately owned Juneyao Air has opted to postpone the launch of three new services from Shanghai Pudong to Dublin, Manchester and Reykjavik. These are to be operated as multi-leg, fifth-freedom routes, via Helsinki. "With careful consideration, Juneyao Air has decided to postpone the starting date for [the three] new services until further notice," the carrier says in a statement on its official Facebook page. "This has been a very hard decision for us, as we were excited at the prospect of strengthening the links between Europe and China." Cirium schedules data shows that over the next few months, two other Chinese carriers are planning to launch multi-leg flights that connect lesser-known Chinese cities with major airports in the country and onward European destinations.In March, Beijing Capital Airlines is scheduled to launch Hangzhou-Madrid via Chengdu. China Eastern is meanwhile planning to fly from Pudong to St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport in April and Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport in June, via Xi'an in both cases.

Source: Cirium

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating a landing gear issue and fire involving a Jazz Aviation turboprop in Montreal on 25 February. Jazz say no passengers or crew were injured in the incident, which occured after landing and involved a Jazz De Havilland of Canada Dash 8-300 arriving from Ottawa, according to FlightStats.com. The TSB is deploying an investigator following “an incident during the taxi phase of an Air Canada aircraft after landing”, the agency says. The TSB provides no additional details and did not respond immediately to requests for more information. Montreal-Trudeau airport also did not immediately respond to an inquiry. In a statement, Halifax-based Jazz confirms the incident involved flight 8970, which was carrying 48 passengers and three crew. “After a normal landing and while taxiing at Montreal international airport, the aircraft operating Air Canada Express flight AC8970 experienced an issue with the right landing gear. As per our standard operational procedures the crew requested emergency vehicles meet the flight, as a precautionary measure – the safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority,” Jazz says. “The fire department inspected and cleared the aircraft and the passengers deplaned normally at the gate. Our maintenance personnel will conduct a thorough inspection of the aircraft to determine the cause and proceed with the necessary repairs.” “Flames were seen on taxiing to the gate and were quickly extinguished. There were no injuries,” Jazz adds. The aircraft, registration C-GABO, touched down in Montreal at 05:58 local time on 25 February, says FlightStats.com. That aircraft was manufactured in 1990 and had logged 63,181h and 80,244 cycles as of September 2019, according to Cirium fleet data.

Source: Cirium

Rescue aid for Romanian flag carrier Tarom, amounting to nearly €37 million, has been cleared by European Commission regulators. The Romanian government had previously indicated that it was aiming to support the ailing operator with a funding package, and notified regulators earlier this month. Tarom faces an “acute liquidity shortage” arising from operating costs associated with its ageing fleet, says the Commission. “Absent the aid, Tarom will no longer be able to fulfil its payment obligations while keeping operations running,” it adds. Tarom’s funding will take the form of a temporary loan. “The measure will contribute to ensuring the orderly continuation of air transport services, in particular on numerous routes where Tarom is the only provider,” the Commission states. It says the loan will only cover the airline’s demonstrated liquidity needs for the next six months. Romania’s government will conduct “stringent monitoring”, says the Commission, to check how the funds are distributed. The Commission adds that the government has committed to ensuring full repayment of the loan after the six-month period. If this fails, Tarom will either be required to submit a liquidation plan or undergo extensive restructuring – with Commission approval – to become sustainable. Tarom recently started modernising its turboprop fleet with the initial delivery from a batch of leased ATR 72-600s. The Commission’s clearance of the state aid will avoid disruption to passengers and help maintain services. “At the same time, the strict conditions attached to the loan and its duration limited to six months will reduce the distortion of competition potentially triggered by the state support to a minimum,” it adds. Romania’s Timisoara airport has also benefited from a positive Commission verdict on public funding which was granted to the facility over the period 2007-09. Regional carrier Carpatair had formally complained about the funding and other measures in favour of the airport and budget operator Wizz Air, prompting an in-depth probe by the Commission in 2011. But the Commission says certain public funds were used either to finance non-economic activities or did not grant any economic advantage to the airport, and consequently did not constitute state aid. Discounts and rebates applied to all airlines at the airport, it adds, and were not selective, while agreements with Wizz Air were profitable and would have been concluded by a “prudent” market-economy operator.

Source: Cirium