Mumbai airport main runway still shut

The main runway of the international airport here remained shut this morning as incessant rains hampered towing away of a Turkish Airline plane stuck in mud near the taxiway, officials said.

Continuous rain in the airport area has made the ground near the main runway slushier, preventing movement of equipment for towing away the stranded plane. Therefore, the main runway is likely to resume operations only by noon, a Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson said.

A Turkish Airlines aircraft from Istanbul, with 104 passengers and crew on board, skidded off the taxiway at the international airport in the wee hours on Friday. The landing gear of the Airbus 340-300 got stuck in mud near the runway, disrupting flight operations.

The arrival and departure of flights from the second runway is getting delayed by around 30 minutes, the spokesperson said.

Boeing Introduces 737 MAX With Launch of New Aircraft Family

Boeing has unveiled the 737 MAX, the name of the new engine variant of the market-leading 737 launched today.

The new family of aircraft – 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 – builds on the strengths of the Next-Generation 737.

“The 737 MAX offers airlines the right solution and the best choice for creating the most successful future with improved profitability,” said Nicole Piasecki, vice president of Business Development and Strategic Integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The 737 MAX will deliver maximum efficiency, maximum reliability and the Boeing Sky Interior will continue to offer maximum passenger comfort. We call it the 737 MAX because it optimizes everything we and our customers have learned about designing, building, maintaining and operating the world’s best single-aisle airplane.”

The 737 MAX will deliver big fuel savings that airlines will need to successfully compete in the future. Airlines will benefit from a 7 percent advantage in operating costs over future competing airplanes as a result of optimized CFM International LEAP-1B engines, more efficient structural design and lower maintenance requirements.

Airlines will continue to benefit from maximum reliability. The 737 MAX will build upon the Next-Generation 737′s highest reliability performance of any airplane in the world – 99.7 percent on-time departure rate.

The 737 MAX will deliver passenger appeal through the new 737 Boeing Sky Interior. The powerful appeal of the new interior comes from the most spacious cabin headroom, overhead bins that disappear into the ceiling yet carry more bags and LED lighting that brings any color into the cabin.

The Boeing 737 is the world’s most popular and reliable commercial jet transport, with more than 9,000 orders to date. Boeing forecasts global demand for more than 23,000 airplanes in the 737′s market segment over the next 20 years at a value of nearly $2 trillion.

Two jets in near miss over Brisbane

A near miss between two commercial jets over Brisbane is being investigated by the national air safety bureau.

Two Boeing 737s, one a Qantas plane and the other Virgin, were en route to Brisbane from Melbourne when they were ordered into a holding pattern about 91km from Brisbane Airport on the morning of July 29.

The planes were required to maintain a vertical distance of at least 1000 feet (305 metres) or lateral distance of at least nine km. However, both planes breached those requirements.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says an investigation is underway to identify what was breached, who is responsible and how close the planes were flying. ”One of those (the vertical or lateral distance) were infringed,” an ATSB spokesman said today.

However, a Qantas spokeswoman says the planes were flying one above the other. She said it was a Qantas pilot who observed the breach and alerted air traffic controllers. Virgin Australia spokeswoman said flight crew in both aircraft were aware of the other’s location at all times. She said there was no safety risk to either plane.

Gulf Air A320 skids off runway in Kochi

A Gulf Air A320 aircraft has skidded off the runway while landing at Kochi International Airport in southern India, injuring one passenger and causing the aircraft’s front landing gear to collapse.

The incident occurred at 03:15 India time on 29 August when flight GF270 landed in darkness and heavy rain at Kochi, said Gulf Air. The registration of the aircraft involved is A9C-AG.

The flight originated in Bahrain and was carrying 136 adults, one infant, and six crew.

“Gulf Air can confirm that one passenger, an Indian national, was injured,” said the carrier. “He was given immediate medical aid and was take to the hospital for further treatment. His condition is not critical.”

The aircraft’s nose gear collapsed during the skid, said Gulf Air. The emergency slides were also deployed to evacuate the passengers.

After evacuating via the slides, all passengers and crew were transferred to the airport terminal.

Gulf Air is working with authorities to investigate the incident.

Monarch Airlines launches Sharm el Sheikh from Gatwick and Manchester this winter

Image via Wikipedia

Monarch, the scheduled leisure airline, is this week launching new scheduled flights to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt’s popular Red Sea resort. The flights are available to book now via the Monarch website.

Monarch’s new scheduled flights to Sharm el Sheikh will operate three times per week from Gatwick and Manchester airports on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, starting from 03 November 2011.

Qatar Airways moves launch of flights to Azerbaijan and Georgia

Image via Wikipedia

Qatar Airways is switching the launch date of its new flights to Azerbaijan and Georgia to the New Year due to operational reasons. Originally slated to start operations on November 30, the new services to the capital cities of Baku and Tbilisi respectively, will now begin on February 1.

“With capacity increases planned on many routes, we face constraints on aircraft availability, therefore decided to revise these two route launch dates and move them to February.

We regret the inconvenience caused, but all steps are being taken to look after passengers already holding bookings,” said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker.

Passengers with tickets and confirmed bookings to and from both cities will be rebooked on alternative flights to their final destination.

Qantas Doubles Annual Profit To $263 Million

Image via Wikipedia

Qantas Airways Ltd. has announced it has more than doubled annual net profit to 250 million Australian dollars ($263 million) and warns that the general operating environment is challenging and extremely volatile.

The Australian flagship carrier’s result for the 12 months through June announced on Thursday compares with AU$112 million in the previous year.

The result was below the market consensus of AU$322 million, according to a median of four analysts’ estimates published by Australian Associated Press.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement: “This result reflects the strength of the Qantas Group’s portfolio and is our best performance since the global financial crisis.”

Lion Air launches Jakarta-Lampung route

Image via Wikipedia

Privately owned airline Lion Air is launched its new Jakarta-Lampung route on Wednesday. This new daily flight will run daily from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport [Jakarta] to Radin Inten II Tanjung Karang Airport, Bandar Lampung using Boeing 737-300, 737-400 and 737-900 ER aircraft.

As per the press statement, this new route was opened to meet passenger demand, particularly for businesspeople and government officials flying to Lampung every day.

British Airways to slash Australia flights

Image via Wikipedia

British Airways is to slash its number of flights to Australia by half. The changes that effect from March 2010 will cut direct flights between London and Australia to once daily. The carrier is however expected to continue its service from London’s Heathrow Airport to Sydney via Singapore and drop the long-standing service via Bangkok.

Instead, it will offer a service from London to Bangkok, where passengers will be transferred to Qantas flights under a new agreement between the airlines.

Delta Air Lines to order 100 Boeing 737

Image via Wikipedia

Delta Air Lines confirmed on Monday it was in negotiations to buy new aircraft, but declined to comment on a report that it was planning to buy 100 Boeing 737 planes.

The board of the Atlanta, Georgia-based airline will vote on an order for the 737-900ER extended-range jets, in a deal with a list price of about US$8.58 billion (S$10.37 billion), later this week, Bloomberg news agency reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. This is expected to replace the existing Boeing 757s in its fleet

‘Delta does not currently have any information to release regarding new aircraft,’ a company spokesman said in an email to AFP.

‘As previously announced, Delta has been holding discussions with major manufacturers on a long-term plan to replace older aircraft, in order to maintain a flexible, cost-efficient fleet that meets our customers’ needs in the years to come,’ spokesman Trebor Banstetter said.