One of Air China's Airbus A330-300s has suffered serious damage during a fire at Beijing Capital airport. Air China says passenger boarding had been under way for the aircraft, which was due to operate the CA183 service to Tokyo Haneda. It says that, during the boarding process, the cargo area at the front of the aircraft "smoked" and the crew "quickly executed firefighting measures" and evacuated the passengers. "The specific cause of the incident is under investigation," says the carrier. Images from the scene circulating on social media show thick smoke billowing from the twinjet, and indicate that the crown of the fuselage has suffered substantial damage. The airport's operator states that there were no passengers on the aircraft as the emergency developed, and that the incident resulted in smoke from the cargo hold. It adds that the accident occurred at about 16:00. Preliminary indications from the social media footage suggest the aircraft involved is B-5958, a 2014 airframe powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, which had previously arrived from Singapore.

Source: FlightGlobal

Virgin Australia will axe 750 jobs and seek other cost savings after reporting an underlying loss of A$75 million ($50.7 million) for the year to 30 June. The loss is a contrast to the A$64.4 million reported in the previous fiscal year, but was expected after it warned in May that it expected the result to be down by at least A$100 million. Fuel and currency movements added A$159 million in costs over the year, while increased depreciation due to product investment and the drawdown of Tigerair Australia's Airbus A320 fleet also dragged the results down. Revenue rose by 7.6% despite the airline experiencing a "deterioration in revenue conditions" during the second half of the year. RASK improved 2.1%, while group load factor was up marginally to 80.2% as RPK growth accelerated ahead of capacity growth. Despite the fall to an underlying loss, Virgin's net profit halved to A$315 million, although that was largely due to lower charges for deferred tax assets that were recognised in the previous financial year.

Source: FlightGlobal

JOHANNESBURG - SA Express has confirmed to Eyewitness News that several flights have been canceled nationally, citing operational reasons.

Management is currently locked in a meeting to discuss the matter.

SA Express said passengers who had been affected by the grounding of flights had been notified and alternative arrangements had been made.

It's not clear when operations will resume.

The company said it could not comment on claims that it owed Airports Company South Africa millions of rand.

Source: EWN