The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has imposed a number of sanctions on North Korean operator, Air Koryo. The action comes after an Air Koryo Tupolev Tu-204 made an emergency landing at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport due to the presence of smoke within the passenger cabin. The source of the smoke was later discovered to have come from a malfunctioning flight attendant call button. The CAAC has issued a number of safety recommendations to the airline, including improvements to its flight crew emergency response procedures and its aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) arrangements. The CAAC also cited it would limit the operations of the airline until such improvements could be identified.

Major US carrier, Delta Air Lines, was forced to cancel over 600 of its regular scheduled flights after a power outage disrupted the airline’s computer systems on the 8th August 2016. The outage caused all domestic and international operations to be suspended whilst the airline worked to rectify the issue. Flights resumed approximately 6 hours later; however, the delays caused by the outage resulted in the cancellation of a further 700 flights over the subsequent several days.

As part of Iran’s air transport modernisation initiative, the Civil Aviation Organization of Islamic Republic of Iran (CAO.IRI) announced in August that a number of ageing aircraft types are to be removed from airline fleets across the nation. The CAO.IRI reportedly stated that several aircraft types, including the Boeing 727, Airbus A300 and Fokker 100 (among others), will be gradually phased out over a three month period. The modernisation program aims to improve the overall safety and efficiency of Iran’s aviation operations. Iran Air, Mahan Air, Iran Aseman Airlines and Pouya Air all operate the aircraft types earmarked for retirement.