Emirates will begin reactivating its Airbus A380 fleet in mid-July with the reintroduction of the superjumbo on flights to Europe. The Dubai carrier said in a tweet on 23 June: “The iconic Emirates Airbus A380 will return to the skies with flights to London Heathrow and Paris starting from 15 July.” The airline’s fleet of 115 A380s has been parked since late March in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Emirates operates the aircraft in various seating configurations, one of which is the densest A380 layout in service at 615 seats. The plan to reintroduce A380 services follows the announcement of new protocols which will enable Dubai to be open to business and leisure visitors from 7 July. These protocols for travel into and out of Dubai airports were announced under the directives of the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Emirates Airline president Tim Clark gave the double-decker his backing in a webinar interview earlier this month, amid speculation that the A380 would be a major victim of the crisis. He said it “would be folly to exclude large widebodied aircraft in the future. The A380 has proven to be a hugely successful aircraft and if fuel prices were forever to stay at today’s levels, this aircraft is hugely potent.”

Source: Cirium

Alaska Airlines will add Embraer 175 regional jets to its fleet flying within the state of Alaska, bringing in the smaller-gauge aircraft on routes that would not be profitable using larger jets. The Brazilian-made aircraft, operated by Alaska’s regional partner Horizon Air, will begin service in Alaska in October 2020. The airline says the smaller jet will allow it to serve more destinations more often, and open further opportunities. “This jet gives us the flexibility to increase daily frequency between Anchorage and Fairbanks up to seven times a day, and to provide year-round service to King Salmon and Dillingham,” Alaska’s regional vice-president Marilyn Romano says. “In time, the new mix of aircraft will unlock other markets in the state for future service.” these routes had previously been flown with larger Boeing 737's, but that has become a costly proposition after the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions caused a sharp decline in passenger demand since the beginning of the year, motivating the airline to swap out the 737's for smaller jets. The change also allows Alaska to add frequencies in the void created on some routes when regional carrier Ravn Air ceased operations on 5 April. The E175's are configured with 12 first-class seats, 12 premium-economy seats and 52 economy seats, Alaska says. Air travel is the most reliable and regular form of transportation for both passengers and cargo to remote communities across the state, which is the USA’s largest by area and closest to the Arctic Circle. Ground- and sea-based transportation networks are often only able to operate at certain times of the year or in specific weather conditions. In May, Alaska Air Group – the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air - reported a $321 million operating loss during the first quarter, down from a $25 million operating profit in the same period a year earlier. The airline has said it hopes to reduce monthly cash burn to $200 million by June, down from $400 million in March. It collected $992 million in payroll support as part of the CARES Act, passed by the US Congress in March, designed to support airlines and prevent redundancies as they manage through the global crisis.

Source: Cirium

Iranian authorities appear set to send the flight recorders of the Boeing 737-800 shot down over Tehran to France for download of their data. The issue of reading the data following the event involving the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, operating from Tehran to Kiev on 8 January, has been mired in political discussion. But Iran’s foreign affairs ministry states that minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has informed Canadian counterpart Francoias-Philippe Champagne that the Iranian authorities will transfer the recorders to France “in the coming days”. “A decision has been made regarding the sending of the [recorders], which will be implemented soon,” the ministry adds. It states that the coronavirus outbreak – which badly affected Iran – has complicated the situation. French authority BEA has the capability to retrieve the recorder information at its Paris facilities. None of those on board the 737-800 survived after two missiles from a Tor-M1 anti-aircraft system were launched shortly after the aircraft took off. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation indicates that secondary radar contact with flight PS752 was initially lost about 3min after departure, as the aircraft climbed through 8,100ft, and that primary radar tracked it for a further 3min before it came down about 9nm from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.

Source: Cirium