Air Canada’s plan to purchase tourism provider Transat AT cleared its first regulatory hurdle by gaining approval from Quebec’s superior court. The court heard no objections to the application, Air Canada said in an announcement reporting the milestone on 29 August. The takeover bid must also clear scrutiny from Canada’s Competition Bureau. A 95% majority of Transat's voting shareholders approved the agreement for Air Canada to buy the parent company of Air Transat for C$18 ($13.53) per share, which would make the cash transaction worth C$720 million. Air Canada, that nation's largest airline, has promised to maintain Transat employees and headquarters in Montreal. The carrier has said that passengers would benefit from more destinations, connections and frequencies under the combination. The Montreal-based carrier expects the transaction to close in 2020, pending further regulatory approvals and closing conditions. The carrier in a previous announcement specified the deal may close in “early 2020”, but that timeline has been questioned after an 26 August announcement revealed that regulator Transport Canada could take until 2 May to consider how the transaction will affect the public interest. The assessment will include consultation scheduled to begin 4 November with the aviation industry and related stakeholders to weigh economic benefits and challenges associated with the takeover. Air Transat, which specializes in vacation packages, would continue to operate flights under its own brand after the deal closes. Transat offers vacation packages, hotel stays and air travel to 60 destinations in the Americas and Europe, which could give Air Canada Rouge a chance to counter tourism packages from competitors including Canada's second-largest carrier Air Canada. Air Canada firmed an agreement to acquire Transat AT on 27 June. Montreal real estate developer Group Mach made a previous bid to acquire Transat, which was blocked by the Quebec Administrative Court of Financial Markets on the grounds that it was "abusive" and aimed at preventing the Air Canada takeover.

Source: FlightGlobal

Russian investigators have disclosed that the right-hand main-gear tyres of an Antonov An-24 began to fail within moments of touchdown before the aircraft eventually veered off the runway and fatally collided with obstacles at Nizhneangarsk. The Angara Airlines aircraft, arriving from Ulan-Ude on 27 June, had suffered failure of its left-hand Progress AI-24 engine while descending to 10,000ft, about 13min before it landed. Its crew – comprising a captain, who was an inspector pilot, a first officer being assessed for captaincy, and an engineer – feathered the propeller and turned off the autopilot. Airport services at Nizhneangarsk were put on standby to receive the aircraft, which was cleared for landing on runway 23. The wind direction was given as 060° at 4kt, indicating a tailwind. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee says the aircraft touched down initially on its left-hand main gear some 540m from the threshold. Traces of destruction of the right-hand main-gear tyres began to emerge after the An-24 had rolled just 130m along the runway, says the inquiry. The aircraft continued for a further 760m before it began to veer to the right and exit the runway edge, moving over rough ground and losing the outer right main-gear tyre. It travelled about 470m after leaving the runway before striking an airfield fence. The right-hand main-gear strut collapsed and the aircraft continued across a road, hitting obstacles and overturning a car before its left engine collided with a sewage-treatment building. The impact badly damaged the cockpit and spilled fuel ignited. While the first officer managed to escape through the left forward emergency hatch, he was unable to help the captain or the engineer, says the inquiry, and neither survived the accident. Fire destroyed most of the aircraft. The 43 passengers were evacuated through the rear, nine suffering serious injuries.

Source: FlightGlobal

United Airlines' fleet of 14 Boeing 737 Max aircraft are set to take off again – but without paying passengers. The Chicago-based airline has received regulatory approval to ferry the otherwise-grounded narrowbodies from Los Angeles and Houston to the Arizona desert, where they will be placed in "short-term storage." United says it started the relocations today, flying the aircraft to Goodyear airport near Phoenix. The carrier has three 737 Max jets at Houston's Intercontinental airport, nine at Houston's Hobby airport and two at Los Angeles International airport, it says. The airline wants to move the aircraft away from Houston due to the threat of hurricanes, which occasionally make landfall along the Texas coast. Airport construction and space constraints at Los Angeles make that airport a less-than-ideal storage choice, United says. "Arizona is a much better place to store aircraft due to lack of humidity and other more-favourable weather conditions," says United. United's flight schedules still have the 737 Max returning to revenue service after 3 November, though exactly when regulators will clear the aircraft to fly remains subject to speculation. American Airlines' schedules also have the Max returning in November, but Southwest Airlines has been less optimistic, leaving the Max out of its schedules until 6 January. Boeing has said it hopes to submit a certification-related package to the Federal Aviation Administration in September, starting a review period that experts say could take four to six weeks.

Source: FlightGlobal