The incident occurred on July 4, 2024, flight CA2754 was preparing for departure from Quzhou Airport (JUZ) to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU).

It is believed that during this time, the passenger went looking for the aircraft lavatory, found the emergency exit door and opened it after thinking it was the toilet. 

When the emergency slide deployed, all passengers had to exit the aircraft via the slide and the flight was eventually canceled. 

As it was the last flight to Chengdu and the incident happened late in the evening, all passengers were booked into a hotel by the airline and were flown the following day. Passengers were also given compensation worth $55. 

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the passenger was in tears when she was told she would need to pay for damages.

The incident highlights the importance of the passenger safety briefing and being aware that, despite flying being a common mode of transport, some people are on board for the first time

British Airways pilot accidentally deploys A320 emergency slide: report

• Airlines
• Aviation Safety

byJean Carmela Lim

February 5, 2024

The airline精东影业 schedule commenced with flight SA317, which took off from Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International (JNB) to Cape Town International (CPT) with 123 passengers on board. Flight SA343 took off on the same route and was operated by the airline精东影业 Airbus A320. Flight SA357 is scheduled to depart on an Airbus A319.

SAA 317 JNB – CPT took off this morning with 123 passengers on board 鉁堬笍. Thank You for your continued support.

鈥� SAA – South Africa (@flysaa)

From September 27, 2021, the airline will begin its intra-continental schedule to major African capitals in central and southern Africa, namely Accra, Ghana, Kinshasa, DRC, Harare, Zimbabwe, Lusaka, Zambia and Maputo, Mozambique.

In , SAA Board Chairperson, John Lamola praised the efforts of SAA staff preceding the relaunch of the flag carrier. He also acknowledged the responsibility and national expectation of the now solvent airline.

Lamola states: 鈥淚t is due to the wonderful trait of resilience that we South Africans are known for, that we have been able to reach this point of SAA rising from the ashes as a solvent company.鈥�

Lamola proposes that the airline精东影业 return will provide more flight options for passengers by inciting price competition and addressing the reduced capacity from local airlines.

He continues: 鈥淪ince SAA went into and then out of business rescue, there has been less local capacity and that means tickets have become more expensive. Our return to the skies will mean more competitive pricing and will enable more South Africans to fly.鈥�

For well over a decade, SAA has garnered a reputation for creating losses. Subsequently, the airline精东影业 return to operation was an uphill battle. The airline spent almost 15 months in administration following its entry into business rescue on December 6, 2019.

However, after undergoing restructuring of its business model, which saw the airline significantly reduce its debt and cut its workforce by approximately 80%, SAA exited business rescue on April 30, 2021. Soon after, the airline secured a new strategic equity partner.

South African Airways names Takatso Consortium as new equity partner

• Airlines

byMichael Jonga

June 11, 2021

With the backing of Takatso Consortium, a 51% SAA shareholder led by industry veteran Gidon Novick, who is also Co-founder of recent startup, Lift Airline, and former CEO of Comair, SAA can now move away from its prior legacy model, which was notorious for its dependency on government fiscus.

Lamola says: 鈥淎s a global airline, SAA will no longer be constrained by the complexities of state governance and have the competitive agility of a partially privately-owned business.鈥� 

Today, South African Airways operates a fleet of eight aircraft, compared to a previous fleet count of 32. Despite ongoing travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline received positive demand for its regional and intra-continental flight services prior to its relaunch. However, there are some signs that further fleet restructuring will be required if the airline is to compete on international routes.

Prior to entering administration, the airline served international routes to cities such as Beijing, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London and Frankfurt. The airline精东影业 long-haul capacity is enabled by a fleet of Airbus A330s and A340s.

Thomas Kgokolo, Interim Chief Executive Officer at South African Airways, recently noted that fleet modernization would be the key to SAA becoming more competitive on its former international routes.

According to, Kgokolo said: 鈥淚f we get the right fleet for those particular trips, we should be able to minimize costs and become competitive.鈥�

The 15-year-old aircraft, registered as N949FR, made the final flight from Nashville International Airport (BNA) to Denver International Airport (DEN).

Frontier operated 52 Airbus A319s over the last 15 years, with its first induction of the aircraft type in May 2001.

“The retirement of Frontier’s last Airbus A319 aircraft is a proud and symbolic moment for our team as we look ahead towards a greener future,” said Daniel Shurz, senior vice president of commercial, Frontier Airlines. 

Frontier Airline’s A319 phase-out initiative is part of a fleet modernization plan to replace the old aircraft with the new Airbus A320neo and the A321neo.  

“Our ultra-modern fleet is already the most fuel-efficient in the U.S. skies and, as we continue the transition to A320neo (New Engine Option) and A321neo aircraft, our fuel savings and operational efficiencies continue to evolve,” Shurz added.

Frontier currently operates a fleet of 108 aircraft, including 87 Airbus A320s, 21 A321s. The airline has 147 more planes on order.

Frontier Airlines receives final two Airbus A320neos

• Airlines

byVyte Klisauskaite

August 20, 2021

The Air France flight, operated with an Airbus A319, took off at 10 am, only to spend over 3 hours in the air before returning to the very same airport from which it departed. The strange flight was captured by flightradar24.com. 

While the official reason for the strange AF1146 flight path is unknown, Polish media reports suggest it could have been an empty flight, sent to repatriate French citizens from Warsaw to France.  精东影业 News has reached out to Air France for comment. 

On March 15, 2020, Poland closed its borders for foreign citizens as part of the country精东影业 measures to contain the coronavirus COVID-19 spread. On that day, Air France flight AF1146 from Paris to Warsaw was canceled. AF1146 flights on March 17-19 are also currently canceled, based on flightradar24.com data. 

On March 16, 2020, Air France revealed it was gradually cutting its flight by 90% due to a growing list of travel restrictions and a strong fall in ticket sales. 

Air France flight from Paris to Warsaw made a U-turn just before starting its descent into Warsaw and is now returning to Paris

Reason is currently unknown

鈥� Flightradar24 (@flightradar24)

A Spirit Airlines Airbus A319 was damaged during a heavy check inspection in Lufthansa Technik facility in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, on December 6, 2019. 鈥淭he left hand wing jack penetrated the wing trailing edge of the aircraft when the plane slipped from the jack,鈥� Lufthansa Technik has confirmed to 精东影业 News.

Three workers were slightly injured during the incident, the spokesperson has also confirmed. They were taken to hospital for preventive medical treatment, but released on the same day. One worker has already returned to work.  

Lufthansa Technik Puerto Rico is now 鈥渋n permanent exchange with the customer and the aircraft manufacturer to handle the situation accordingly. LTPR will fully support the quality investigation of the customer to determine the cause of the event.鈥� 

Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) has confirmed the incident to 精东影业 News, but refrained from giving further comments. 鈥淲e are aware of the incident and we are working with our partners to find out what happened,鈥� Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) spokesperson has stated in an email. 

The news about the incident broke out on December 9, 2019, when published six photos showing the damaged airframe of an Airbus A319 in Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) livery. 

Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) , an ultra-low-cost carrier from the United States, operates an all-Airbus fleet of 143 aircraft, based on planespotters.net data.  Among them, it has 31 A319s, the average age of them is a bit over 13 years. The A319-100 in question, registration number N533NK, made its first flight in January 2008. Spirit has been leasing it since February of the same year. 

In October 2019, the airline has shaken hands with Airbus to double its current fleet by adding up to 150 A320neo planes. The carrier has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for 100 aircraft, a mix of A319, A320, and A321 models, as well as an option for 50 more. Deliveries are planned through 2027. However, the deal has not yet been firmed up, Airbus order book (as of November 30, 2019) indicates.

On November 25, 2014, Bulgaria Air精东影业 A319, registered LZ-FBB, has just arrived to Paris from Sofia (Bulgaria), while an A320, belonging to Turkish charter airline Freebird Airlines, registered TC-FBJ, was getting ready to take off on a flight to Istanbul (Turkey). 

To reach their terminal, Bulgaria Air had to cross the 08L runway, used for take offs. The A319 entered the intersection at 08:20:17, after the crew were given instruction 鈥淏ulgaria 4 3 1, number one, keep on taxiing鈥�.

At the same time as Bulgaria Air plane entered the intersection, approximately 1,500 m away Freebird Airlines was performing the take-off run at an indicated airspeed of 139 kt. An airport system, which monitors ground movements, detected the conflict and sounded a warning, but 鈥渃ontrollers considered that it was then too late to intervene,鈥� the report . 

Twenty second later, Freebird Airlines passed the intersection at a height of around 500 ft. The A320 aircraft flew over Bulgaria Air A319 at a height of around 100 ft, Freebird Airlines captain later estimated. The report states that as A320 was passing the intersection, A319 had already crossed it and was stopped on a taxiway. Bulgaria Air crew did not see Freebird Airlines A320, as noted in the report.

The situation was not helped by the fact that a third airplane, belonging to Air France, was taxiing behind Bulgaria Air, on the left. Air France crew, well familiar with the airport, knew that controllers here usually 鈥渆xplicitly鈥� give crossing clearances. After hearing 鈥淏ulgaria 4 3 1, number one, keep on taxiing鈥�, they asked whether they were cleared to cross the runway 鈥� LOC controller said no. However, this conversation was little help to Bulgaria Air, as it was carried out in French. 

Thus, BEA deems that because ATC 鈥渋nadequately鈥� communicated taxiing priorities and a reminder to hold short of runway 08L did not accompany the message, Bulgaria Air crew 鈥渆rroneously鈥� interpreted the message as a clearance to cross the runway. 

The incident happened during a period of dense inbound traffic when aircraft were arriving with a reduced separation.

The end of one airline is the beginning of a new one. , it was announced that the Z眉rich-based charter airline Germania Flug has been re-branded as Chair Airlines.

The re-branding and change of name to Chair Airlines (effective July 1, 2019) were key markers of an 鈥渋ntensive transformation process鈥� that Germania Flug has been undergoing since the start of the year, the statement indicates.

鈥淲e have used the challenging situation over the past few months to prepare our relaunch, and our new brand is now cutting a fresh figure in the world of Swiss aviation,鈥� commented Chair CCO and Supervisory Board member Urs A. Pelizzoni.

The beginning of this year saw the downfall of the carrier精东影业 parent airline, Germania. After over 30 years in operation, an intense struggle over liquidity problems, following what it called a “particularly challenging year” for the aviation industry, finally led the carrier to declare insolvency in February 2019.

With that, the airline joined the growing list of low-cost carriers like Primera Air, Small Planet and others that had suffered the same fate previously.

What remained of Germania were its two subsidiaries: Germania Flug and Bulgarian Eagle. Once the latter unit went bankrupt as well, the future of Germania Flug was put into question.

Nevertheless, the carrier continued to operate under new owners. Albex Aviation bought out the company already in February and took a 100% stake in the carrier. Several months later, in May, Polish charter airline Enter Air also purchased a stake in the airline.

“With us, the business continues as usual. We are on course, i.e. the ongoing winter timetable and the 2019 summer timetable will be maintained as planned, and planning for the winter of 2019/20 is already under way,鈥� Pelizzoni.

The cosmetic change

Chair Airlines is retaining the same strategic positioning and business model of its predecessor airline. “Tour operators have always been our main customers and we want it to stay that way. The aim is to use the new brand to further develop this business area while also optimizing our utilization through the sale of individual seats. ACMI and ad-hoc business round off our fields of activity,” the Chair CCO is quoted as saying by.

The re-branded carrier will also continue its former strategy regarding destinations. With a fleet of three 150-seater Airbus A319 aircraft, Chair Air is set to fly to popular Mediterranean destinations in Europe and North Africa, such as Antalya (Turkey), Beirut (Lebanon), Hurghada (Egypt), Palma de Mallorca (Spain), Rhodes (Greece) and others; as well as to Pristina (Kosovo), Ohrid, and Skopje (North Macedonia) in partnership with tour operator Air Prishtina. The company has hopes to expand the range of flight destinations in the future.

Chair Airlines Airbus A319 in new livery (Image: )

According to the carrier, its first A319-100 is already repainted in the new livery, with the other two due to follow shortly, replacing the green-and-white color palette of former Germania with a new red-white-and-blue design.

And why 鈥淐hair鈥� you ask? The Swiss carrier said its new name 鈥渞epresents the seat that you book on one of our flights鈥�; it 鈥渁lso represents our Swiss heritage 鈥� but above all is a clever play on words鈥�, explains Pelizzoni (the letters “ch鈥� represent the country code for Switzerland, while 鈥渁ir鈥� represents the airline).

As for the ownership, the structure also remains the same as Chair精东影业 predecessor: Schweizer Albex Aviation AG retains the majority 50.01% share in the airline, while Enter Air holds the remaining 49.99% stake. At the helm of Chair Airlines is CEO Tobias Somadien.

Although the oldest still operating airline in the world is considered to be the Dutch KLM, turning 100 this year, many modern airlines can trace their roots a century back. British Airways is no exception, tracing its history to an 鈥渁ncestor鈥� Aircraft Transport and Travel airline, which began operations on August 25, 1919.

Boeing 747 in BOAC livery

British Airways introduced the first purposely-repainted airliner last month. It is a Boeing 747 painted in the livery of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), which was 聽formed by the country精东影业 government in 1939. The aircraft is painted in style used between 1964 and 1974. It began service on February 19, 2019 and will remain in these colours until retirement in 2023.

Airbus A319 in BEA livery

On March 4, 2019, another BA精东影业 aircraft in historic livery began service. This time it is an Airbus A319, registration G-EUPJ. It is painted in BEA livery, which flew predominantly on domestic and European routes between 1959 and 1968.

Because of the current wing paint reflectivity requirements, the livery of A319 is not exactly the one that BEA used, though. Instead of red upper wing it has a grey one. The aircraft is going to be flown on routes across the UK and Europe, with the design remaining until the aircraft retires next year.

Boeing 747 to follow

It is already known how the following historic design will look like. Yet another Boeing 747 (G-BNLY) is already being painted in British Airways fleet design from 1984-1997.

The Landor design includes the British Airways coat of arms with the motto 鈥淭o Fly. To Serve.鈥� on the tail fin, with a stylised section of the Union Flag. The aircraft itself will be re-named 鈥楥ity of Swansea鈥�, as this is the name the aircraft had when it originally flew in Landor livery.

It will enter service later in March 2019 flying to long-haul destinations, with the design remaining on the aircraft until it retires in 2023.