Ukraine International Airlines is resuming some flights

 

Ukraine International Airlines is operating charter to generate revenue during the Ukraine Crisis.

A Boeing 737-900 (reg. UR-PSL) will begin operations from Katowice Airport but may also flight from other airports such as Warsaw, Krakow & Rzeszow.

The airline will operate charter flights to Malaga, Arrecife, Antalya, Tenerife, Tirana, Las Palmas and Djerba.

Back in May, the airline announced that it would be leasing one of its Boeing 737 aircraft to airBaltic.

Ukraine International Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer, Evheniy Dykhne said about the agreement:

“We are sincerely glad that our European partners are helping both the Ukrainian state and businesses with a clear, absolutely transparent support for Ukraine.”

A dad captains his daughter’s first flight as Southwest pilot.

 

Mackenzie was a kid the first time she rode on a Southwest plane flown by her dad, Captain Kyle.

Last month, they had another special “first” together: sharing the flight deck for Mackenzie’s first flight as a Southwest pilot!

Father/Daughter bonding time.

INCIDENT: LATAM A320 landed with its landing gear locked at a 90-degree angle

 

A LATAM flight was forced to return to proceed an emergency landing following a nose landing gear issue.

The Airbus A320-200 (reg. CC-BAS) was performing flight LA4292 from Medellín-José María Córdova Airport (MDE) to Cartagena-Crespo Airport (CTG) in Colombia.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilots detected an issue with the nose landing gear. After notifying ATC, the aircraft entered a holding pattern to burn enough fuel.

The aircraft landed with its landing gear locked at a 90-degree angle.

“The landing was carried out in a controlled manner in safe conditions for the occupants of the aircraft and the personnel on the ground,” reported Aerocivil, the Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia.

Operations at José María Córdova Airport were suspended while the passengers were deplaned, and the aircraft was removed from the runway.

No injuries among the crew or passengers were reported.

Qatar Airways A350 diverted to Pakistan due to smoke in cargo hold

 

A Qatar Airways Airbus A350 en route to Doha was forced to divert to Karachi after cargo hold smoke indication.

The A350 was performing a flight from Delhi to Doha as flight QR-579 when the occurrence forced it to divert to Karachi. The aircraft was met by emergency service in Karachi, and they found evidence of heat and fire in one of the containers.

In a statement, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority’s spokesperson said:

“The pilot requested to make an emergency landing, and the control tower and CAA personnel responded immediately given the nature of the problem.”

No injuries were reported, and the passengers disembarked the aircraft via mobile stairs and were bussed to the terminal. Passengers reached Doha on replacement flight QR3139 with a delay of about 9 hours.

“Qatar Airways flight QR579 from Delhi to Doha on March 21 diverted to Karachi, having declared an emergency due to the indication of smoke detected in the cargo hold. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi where it was met by emergency services, and passengers disembarked orderly via stairs,” Qatar Airways said.

BREAKING KLM suspends all flights to Ukraine, effective immediately

 

Dutch airline KLM announced it will stop flying to Ukraine because of the urgent travel alert issued by the Netherlands on Saturday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Dutch citizens not to travel to Ukraine, and said those who are there, including residents, should leave the country.

The new travel advice was issued because of growing fears that Russia will invade Ukraine.

The airline already stopped flying over the eastern regions of Ukraine and Crimea since 2014. KLM was a codeshare partner with Malaysia Airlines when flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile while flying over eastern Ukraine.

The next flight to the capital, Kyiv, was scheduled to depart at 1 a.m. on Sunday, but it was cancelled. The decision was not only prompted by the new travel advice, but also on the basis of an “extensive safety analysis,” according to KLM.

For the analysis, the airline made use of information that is shared within a group of experts. All Dutch airlines, the Dutch intelligence services, the Ministries of Defence, the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Foreign Affairs, Infrastructure and Water Management and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) participate in the expert group.

JAMES G. WAWERU

Senior aviation Editor,

James is a navigator/FOM2 currently blogging at airbizafrica. 

He is an aviation ethusiast and has an eye for details that 

often helps him spot the best stories of the day...