Passengers have evacuated a Ural Airlines Airbus A321 which carried out an emergency landing in a field after a severe bird-strike on departure from Moscow. The aircraft had been operating flight U6178 from Moscow's Zhukovsky airport to Simferopol. Upon take-off the aircraft sustained "numerous strikes from birds" to its powerplants, and "made an emergency landing", says the carrier. It came down in a field, apparently a few moments after take-off from runway 12. "The crew and passengers were not injured," adds the airline. Russia's federal Investigative Committee has opened a routine criminal probe into the event, stating that the aircraft made a "hard landing" in a field in the Ramenskoye district. It says an investigative team is organising the necessary actions with the aim of establishing "all the circumstances and causes" of the accident. Images from the scene, showing the A321 in a field of tall crops with evacuation slides deployed from multiple exits, indicate that the aircraft suffered substantial damage to its engines. Zhukovsky's official flight information states that flight U6178 departed for Simferopol at 06:05. Meteorological data from Zhukovsky show that weather conditions were good. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee has yet to provide further details of the accident.

Source: FlightGlobal

Hong Kong International airport has been forced to close check-in and cancel flights for a second time in two days after pro-democracy protesters returned to occupy part of the terminal buildings. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s largest airline, says it has been informed that "all check-in has been suspended as a result of the public assembly at Hong Kong International airport, which is ongoing. There is potential for further flight disruptions at short notice. Customers are therefore encouraged to postpone non-essential travel from Hong Kong on Tuesday 13 August and Wednesday 14 August and should not proceed to the airport." The airline and its Cathay Dragon unit have been forced to cancel hundreds of flights to and from Hong Kong, mostly to points in Asia. British Airways states: "Like all airlines, our flights on Tuesday 13 August from Hong Kong to London are affected by the disruption at Hong Kong International Airport. If you are due to fly from Hong Kong today, please do not travel to the airport." The airport's operations had been starting to stabilise after having been forced to close by protesters for several hours on the afternoon and evening of 12 August.

Source: FlightGlobal

Norwegian is to end all flights between Ireland and the USA from 15 September as it looks to cut loss-making routes. "As the airline moves from growth to profitability, we have conducted a comprehensive review of our transatlantic operations between Ireland and North America and considering the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, we have concluded that these routes are no longer commercially viable," says Matthew Wood, senior vice-president long-haul commercial at Norwegian. The airline began operating six routes from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the USA in July 2017. Norwegian's operations from Ireland have been hit by the ongoing grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which has seen it wet-lease aircraft in order to maintain its schedules. However, the continued uncertainty over when the aircraft will be able to return to the skies means that "this solution is unsustainable". The airline says it will ensure passengers are still able to travel to their destinations after 15 September by re-routing them onto other Norwegian services, as well as offering a full refund to those who no longer wish to fly with the carrier. "We are proactively engaging with our pilots and cabin crew at our Dublin base, including their respective unions, to ensure that redundancies remain a last resort," Wood explains. Norwegian will continue to offer scheduled services from Dublin to Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen and the airline's 80 Dublin-based administrative staff at Norwegian Air International and Norwegian Group's asset company, Arctic Aviation Assets, will not be affected by the route closures.

Source: FlightGlobal