Aviation info.

Mr. Trump's game apparently has dropped the airfare in this region.
Two weeks ago, I checked the business class Cairo - Jakarta for mid Jan was vary between euro 1700 - 2100. Two days ago, we booked Oman air for euro 1306 only. Very cheap for 12 hours flights excluding transit,
the cheapest biz class we ever booked.
Never use Oman air before. Let see, hope they serve good meal, champagne and wine.
 
Oman wasn’t bad at all, just a bit 70-ies style of the business class (Camry interior colors of 20 years ago). But food and functions all okay.

Only one issue; in Oman it seems nobody ever heard of pre boarding for business class etc. They just opened the gates for everyone. Hectic.
 
As many suspected but Iran (obviously) still denies, it does seem they have some amazing morons in their air defense.

Unlike KLM and some other Airlines who avoid now flying over Iran/Iraq, Qatar Airways doesn't have a lot of alternatives because they're not allowed in the airspace of Qatar's neighboring countries.


For me this is really something to consider for our next trip.
 
Hi!
Any pilots in here? I'm a PPL holder about to visit my wife's home town Madiun for the first time (we currently live in Sweden). Would be fun to explore the region a bit from above, so: does anyone know if there are any small local airfields where one can rent a single engine plane for a few hours?
 
And Garuda does it again....

A couple of weeks before the change of 1 October they announced the direct flight between Amsterdam and Jakarta will be replaced by a flight Amsterdam - Medan- Bali.

You can imagine the chaos and disbelief with the many customers who booked this flight already.

Example of someone I know:

departure
29/12 AMS-CGK 11:05-06:45 uur (30/12)

new flight:
29/12 AMS-DNP 11:05-11:05 uur
30/12 DNP-CGK 14:30-15:35 uur

So two stops and many more hours in the plane.

Smart to announce it more than two weeks in advance to avoid EU claims. But the amazing and scandalous thing is you could still book the ‘direct flight’.


On the site of Garuda a pop up screen appears:

Non-Stop Amsterdam - Jakarta from February 19, 2020
From February 19, 2020, Garuda Indonesia will resume the former schedule, the non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Jakarta (with departure from Jakarta on February 18).
 
The Italian government will nationalize Alitalia.

KLM is cancelling 2.000 jobs and does not use the 747 anymore. Air France is doing the same for the Airbus A380.

Lufthansa is planning to cancel 23.000 flights in April.

And Garuda is one of the few airlines that says it's 'business-as-usual' and does not waive any rebooking fees.
 
I'm going to predict that at the end of this there will only be national carriers left. I wouldn't mourn Lion Air but I'd be sad to see AirAsia go, I hope they survive (or get nationalised).
 
l5LEOiF.jpg

Debris of the crashed plane are seen at Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on Sunday. (Manila International Airport Authority Media Affairs Division via Reuters

Plane explosion in Philippines kills eight, including two foreigners

Manila, Philippines
Mon, March 30, 2020


A medical evacuation plane exploded during takeoff in the Philippine capital on Sunday, killing all eight passengers and crew, including an American and a Canadian, officials said.

The plane, owned by a Philippines-registered charter service Lionair, had been bound for Haneda, Japan, but burst into flames at the end of the runway around 8 p.m. (1200 GMT), Manila's main airport said.

Indonesian carrier Lion Air issued a statement making clear that it is unrelated to Manila-based Lionair.

 
Malaysia Airlines to reinstate some international flights to China, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand
Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail said in a statement today many customers comprising Malaysians and foreigners have reached out to its global offices requesting for flights between Kuala Lumpur and Australia, New Zealand besides London in the UK.

For Australia, Malaysia Airlines said in the statement it will reinstate flights between Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne, as well as Sydney and Perth.

For New Zealand, Izham said the airline will reinstate its flights to Auckland.

For Indonesia, the airline will restart its Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta flights, and for China, it will reinstate its flights to Guangzhou.

 
18 Month Closure For Singapore’s Changi Airport T2
Changi Airport in Singapore has announced that they will be closing Terminal 2 for a period of 18 months from May 1. The suspension of operations from the 30-year-old terminal has been brought about due to the global impact on travel and aviation from the spread of COVID-19.

Singapore’s Minister for Transport, Khaw Boon Wan announced in Parliament on April 6 that airlines will be relocated to the airport’s other terminals and all of the nation’s flag carrier operations at Singapore Airlines will be consolidated in Terminal 3.

 
I imagine they are just taking the opportunity to renovate and improve the runway and terminal buildings rather than directly as a result of this. Smart move
 
Travellers allowed to transit through Changi Airport from June 2
SINGAPORE: Singapore will gradually allow travellers to transit through Changi Airport from Jun 2, as it prepares to ease some COVID-19 restrictions and reopen its borders.

"Stringent measures" will be put in place to ensure that the passengers remain in designated facilities in the transit area and do not mix with other passengers at the airport, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Wednesday (May 20).

 
What happens when a passenger deliberately violate aviation safety rules?

Are they banned for life from flying?

I remember Lion Air once banned a passenger, but I forgot about the case.

Anyway, Ahmad Mumtaz Rais (son of Amien Rais) squabbled with Garuda cabin crew when he was asked not to use his mobile phone while the plane is refueling. Later, he got into a quarrel with another passenger who tried to explain why he should not be using his device.


I wonder why the captain didn't eject him from the flight, is it because of who he is?
 
To me, much more scary than the risk of catching Covid while travelling, is the fact that many airlines have been mothballed for so long.

The first risk is that flight crews are no longer current on their training, as this Lion Air incident investigation shows. Only 1 pilot has flown in the last 90 days, and then only for 3 hours. There have been exemptions given from the normal recency requirements, but that's just paperwork, and does not translate to actual skill.

The second risk is the airplanes themselves have to be brought back from mothballing. While aircraft can be stored safely indefinitely, bringing them back to airworthy conditions requires diligent maintenance work, which I am not convinced all airlines are doing.

The NTSC also found that prior to the incident, that the co-pilot had not flown in the last 90 days, while the pilot-in-command, an A330 instructor, had only flown close to three hours in the last 90 days.

“The absence of guidance may place the two pilots, who were not recently [assigned as flight crew], as a hazard for flight safety,” NTSC investigators note.


 
You would think even during PSBB in March-May, airlines would have been allowed bring in small groups to work on training/maintaining the aircrafts. Then slowly bring in more groups in June and July for training. Even if they had the pilots use software/online training, it would be better than nothing.
 
More than 400 KLM passengers have been stuck in Singapore for days because of a defective plane.

The aircraft departed Bali on Wednesday to fly to Amsterdam via Singapore. But in Singapore, travelers were notified that the engine's dynamo was broken. After waiting for 3 hours the passengers had to disembark.

"The repair of the aircraft is taking longer than initially expected, which is why the aircraft could not depart on Thursday," KLM said.

The duped travelers are not happy and complained they were left to their own devices and had to enter Singapore on their own. “The KLM crew left waving at us, taking a bus to their own hotel and we were standing there.”

Now obviously the latter makes sense since KLM changes the crew in the stop. It was the same at the Kuala Lumpur stop between Amsterdam and Jakarta. They have a maximum amount of consecutive working hours for the flight attendants. So, weirdly enough, for the last (or first) leg that would not even take 2 hours extra they install a new crew.

According to KLM, all passengers have now been rebooked on other flights and will fly home today, tomorrow and Monday.

Last September a very similar situation occurred btw.

1673078880272.jpeg
 
Things break
Better it breaks there than 38000 ft up
 
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Well, according to the EU regulations these passengers can claim €600. Besides the compensation of a hotel and other related expenses. Which is not bad of course.
 

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