Investigators have disclosed that a new Air Baltic Airbus A220-300 which diverted to Bordeaux on 12 February had suffered an engine failure. While the details of the failure, in the left-hand Pratt & Whitney PW1500G powerplant, have yet to be disclosed, the incident follows a series of engine failures on the type involving Swiss aircraft. The Air Baltic twinjet involved, YL-AAU, had only been delivered to the airline in early December – the aircraft was the 100th of the type to be produced and carried ceremonial markings. French investigation authority BEA says the jet had been operating a service from Riga to Malaga when it diverted. The aircraft had been close to entering Spanish airspace at the time of the incident, and landed at Bordeaux around 10:30. Investigators probing three previous occurrences of low-pressure compressor rotor failure to Swiss A220s had cautioned operators to limit engine power at cruise altitudes. Inspection regimes have also focused on engines which have accumulated relatively few cycles since installation of a particular engine-control software version.

Source: Cirium

Just five days after it extended the cancellation of flights between the United States and Hong Kong, American Airlines was once again forced to revise its schedule in light of coronavirus fears and subsequent customer cancellations. The Forth-Worth-based airline, with service from two US hubs to China and Hong Kong, becomes the second carrier after Delta Air Lines to announce cancellations well into April. “Due to the reduction in demand, American Airlines has extended the suspension of flights to and from mainland China and Hong Kong from our Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles hubs,” the airline says on 11 February. All flights between Dallas and Hong Kong will be cancelled through 23 April, with flights from Dallas and Los Angeles to Hong Kong and mainland China cancelled through 24 April, the airline says. The airline operates service to Shanghai and Beijing on Boeing 787 Dreamliners and uses its 777 aircraft for the flights to Hong Kong. Previously, the airline had cancelled Dallas-Hong Kong service through 21 February, and Los Angeles-Hong Kong as well as mainland China service through 27 March. By Tuesday morning, the death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 1,000, with infections at almost 44,000 in 24 countries as well as numerous cruise ships. The vast majority of these are in mainland China, where the virus originated.This week’s Singapore Air Show has proceeded as planned, even as several large manufacturers cancelled their participation. On Tuesday, several countries extended a travel ban to the southeast Asian city-state, which has reported 45 cases of the disease so far.

Source: Cirium

Air Italy is being liquidated and will cease operations on 25 February. Flights that were scheduled to be operated by the airline between 11 and 25 February will be flown "by other carriers", while passengers with flights booked after 25 February will receive full refunds, says the carrier in a statement. The airline, which is 49% owned by Qatar Airways Group, says that the decision to go into liquidation was taken following a shareholders' meeting earlier today. The carrier's majority shareholder is Alisarda. Air Italy was previously known as Meridiana before Qatar Airways took a 49% stake in its parent company in September 2017. The Milan-based airline relaunched under the Air Italy brand in March 2018 with a plan to operate three Boeing 737 Max aircraft along with five Airbus A330-200s leased from Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways had big ambitions for the carrier but the Doha-based carrier's accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2019 showed that Air Italy had incurred a loss of QR542 million ($149 million). The decision to liquidate Air Italy appears to have been taken by Alisarda, with Qatar Airways noting in a statement that it had been "ready once again to play its part in supporting the growth of the airline, but this would only have been possible with the commitment of all shareholders". Qatar Airways adds: "Despite our minority shareholder's role, Qatar Airways has continuously provided all possible support to Air Italy right from the beginning, from releasing aircraft from our fleet and ordering new aircraft for Air Italy, to backing management choices and injecting capital and investment as required and permitted. "Even with the changing competitive environment and the increasingly difficult market conditions severely impacting the air transport industry, Qatar Airways has continually reaffirmed its commitment, as a minority shareholder, to continue investing in the company to create value for Italy and the travelling public and to provide support for Air Italy and its staff." Cirium fleets data shows that Air Italy operates a fleet of 15 aircraft, comprising four A330s, one A320, four Boeing 737-800s, three 737-300s, one 737-700 and two Embraer 190s. It has five 737 Max 8s on order and five of the grounded jets in storage.

Source: Cirium