Since July 1, 2024, the South Korean flag carrier has wrapped up its in-flight services 40 minutes prior to landing on all medium to long-haul flights, 20 minutes earlier than the previous service policy.

Korean Air believes that the 20-minute change will allow in-flight services to end before the airplane begins its descent to land, thereby minimizing the risk of turbulence to passengers and crew members.

鈥淭urbulence has become a persistent and growing problem in recent years with the number of incidents doubling in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2019,鈥� the airline said in a statement.

鈥淭urbulence is becoming more frequent, especially as the aircraft descends, due to large temperature differences between altitudes,鈥� the airline said, adding that this is why it made the decision to shorten its cabin service procedure.

The airline said it is undertaking a comprehensive review of service strategies in light of recent turbulence to ensure the highest standards of safety and experience for its passengers.

The months of May and June 2024 saw a number of incidents where flights encountered severe turbulence, resulting in injuries, and in one tragic instance, the death of one passenger.

On May 20, 2024, a Singapore Airlines flight from London-Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) was forced to divert and perform an emergency landing at Bangkok精东影业 Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) after encountering severe turbulence. 

The incident caused the death of one passenger, with more than 30 others injured.

A few days after the incident, Singapore Airlines said that it will take on a 鈥渕ore cautious鈥� approach to managing rough air currents on flights by stopping all meal services in the cabin when the seatbelt sign is on.

Less than a week later on May 26, 2024, a Qatar Airways flight encountered severe turbulence while flying over Turkey on its route from Doha to Dublin, resulting in 12 injured passengers.

On June 30, 2024, an Air Europa flight from Madrid to Uruguay encountered turbulence so severe that one passenger went through the cabin roof, and a further 30 more passengers were injured. 

According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Reading in England, flight turbulence is bound to get stronger due to climate change. The study found that warmer air from CO2 emissions is increasing windshear in the jet streams, strengthening clear-air turbulence in flight routes over the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the South Atlantic.

Pax left stuck in overhead bin, 30 injured after B787 hit by severe turbulence

• Aviation Safety

byJean Carmela Lim

2024-07-02

101-year-old Rachida Smati was visiting friends and family in Dubai when the centenarian was offered a first class upgrade for the flight back to her home in Algiers. 

Smati was also greeted by a dedicated team ensuring she was fast-tracked through the airport before heading to the first class lounge for a relaxing experience before boarding her flight.

It was Smati精东影业 third visit to Dubai, a city she counts as one of her favorite destinations for its accessibility, high standards of medical care and vibrant attractions.

Born in Algeria in 1923, Rachida精东影业 first flight was to Paris when she was 21. She continues to be an avid traveler and prefers flying Emirates for its signature onboard experience and service, and focus on customer comfort on the ground and in the air.

“I had a great experience on my Emirates flight to Dubai, the cabin crew were very kind and helpful. I鈥檓 looking forward to flying back to Algiers aboard Emirates and experiencing First Class, and I鈥檓 ever so grateful for the warm welcome by all of the teams,鈥� Smati said in a statement.

Couple threatens to sue Emirates after unpleasant first class experience

• Airlines

byJean Carmela Lim

2023-06-13

The incident occurred on June 30, 2024, when flight UX 45 was en route from Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) to Carrasco International Airport (MVD) in Montevideo, Uruguay. 

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with 325 passengers onboard, was flying over the Atlantic Ocean when it was hit by severe turbulence, forcing the flight to make an emergency landing at Governador Aluzio Alves Airport (NAT) in Natal, Brazil.

Image: FlightAware

The aircraft landed safely at 02:30 local time and was met by ambulances and medics. 

The health secretariat from the government of the Rio Grande do Norte state, where Natal is located, said in a statement that 30 passengers had been taken to hospitals with minor abrasions or orthopedic traumas.

Video footage and photographs of the aftermath inside the cabin have been uploaded to various social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter).

Harrowing scenes show broken aircraft seats, aisles strewn with personal belongings, and aircraft ceiling panels hanging open, exposing wires, oxygen equipment, and electrical items. 

In another video clip that was later uploaded, a man appeared to have been thrown through the ceiling and had to exit via the overhead compartment bin. Fellow passengers are seen trying to dislodge the man from inside the overhead bin.

Air Europa told media outlets that another aircraft was sent from Madrid to collect the passengers and take them onwards to Montevideo, while the turbulence-stricken B787 is currently being examined for damages.聽

Singapore Airlines offers up to $25,000 to passengers injured during turbulence

• Airlines
• Aviation Safety

byJean Carmela Lim

2024-06-11

Emirates鈥� partnership with LVMH has now stood for 32 years, and the airline describes the champagne selection as 鈥渢he most valuable airline offering in history鈥�.

The eight champagnes in the selection are:

• Dom P茅rignon Vintage 2013
• Dom P茅rignon Vintage Ros茅 2008
• Dom P茅rignon Pl茅nitude 2 2004
• Mo毛t & Chandon Brut Imperial
• Mo毛t & Chandon Imperial Ros茅
• Mo毛t & Chandon Grand Vintage Blanc 2013
• Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label
• Veuve Clicquot Vintage Blanc 2015

Emirates claims that, as part of the 鈥榝ly better鈥� promise, it purchases more champagne than any other airline in the world.

For the last 16 years, the airline has invested more than $1 billion into its wine program, buying exceptional wines and champagnes at the earliest opportunity, to mature and express their full potential before serving them on board.

Champagne enthusiasts can learn more about the airline精东影业 collection and the process of making champagne on the inflight Emirates Wine Channel. 

Emirates cabin crew are also provided with food pairing and technical notes for each champagne onboard, as well as on-the-ground training, to ensure that customers are immersed in the elite experience of Emirates鈥� 鈥榝ly better鈥� hospitality.

Is drinking champagne any different when you fly?

• Airlines

byClement Charpentreau

2023-12-22

The new year-round route will see Qantas operate to the French capital for the first time in nearly two decades, cutting around three hours from the current fastest travel time from Perth to Paris. 

The Australian flag carrier said the new onboard items, created especially for the Paris flights, will kickstart European summer holidays for its customers.

Chic limited-edition pajamas created by Australian designer Martin Grant with matching French-inspired amenity kits will be on offer for business class customers traveling on the new Paris route.

The navy pajamas display the flight number, QF 33, along with a decorated journey route from Perth to Paris. 

Grant considers Paris to be the fashion capital of the world and his love for the city made this collaboration with Qantas particularly special.

鈥淎fter living in Paris for the past 30 years, the direct Perth-Paris flights will make it easy to fly from one home to another. I was thrilled to be able to team up with Qantas again to create the pajamas and amenity kit to celebrate these new flights and the simplicity of French design,鈥� Grant said in a statement.

French curated menu

Passengers on the Perth-Paris flights will be treated to popular French classics curated by Qantas Creative Director of Food, Beverage and Service, Neil Perry.

Perry said the new dishes pay homage to the great qualities of French cooking.

鈥淔rench cuisine is made up of so many amazing classic dishes, we spent a lot of time developing a menu that captures the balance of richness and freshness in French flavors whilst also keeping an element of familiarity that our customers love,鈥� Perry said.

French bistro favorites including cr猫me caramel and goats cheese salad with walnut vinaigrette will also be on offer across selected Qantas First and Business lounges throughout Australia.

Qantas French menu highlights: 

• Beef fillet with pomme puree, snow peas and Caf茅 de Paris butter.
• Fresh tuna Nicoise salad with olives, green beans, and lemon dressing.
• Coq au vin with pancetta, mushrooms, potato puree and snow peas.
• Duck and pistachio p芒t茅 en cro没te with cornichons, radishes and watercress.
• Rum Savarin with berries and chantilly cream.

From July 12, 2024, the 17-hour Perth-Paris flights will initially operate four days per week (during the peak European summer) with the airline精东影业 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Services will then move to three per week from mid-August 2024. 

The launch of the new route comes just in time for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.聽

Qantas restarts Shanghai flights and reveals plans for new Paris route in 2024

• Airlines

byIan Molyneaux

2023-10-30

Journalist Mathures Paul was traveling on flight AI 175 from Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) in Bengaluru to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on June 9, 2024 when the incident took place.

During the flight, Paul was horrified to discover that his meal contained what appeared to be a sharp metal blade. Paul took a photograph of the object and posted it to X (formerly Twitter).

鈥淎ir India food can cut like a knife,鈥� Paul wrote, adding that he felt the object after chewing on the dish, a roasted sweet potato and fig chaat.

In the post Paul said he had not been injured or harmed, but raised questions about what would have happened if the dish had been served to a child.

Paul tagged Air India in his post, which has now been shared more than 81 times. Air India responded to Paul, who tagged the airline his post, and said the incident does not represent the level of service it aims to provide to passengers.

After initiating a probe into the incident, the airline confirmed that the object had been identified as part of a “vegetable processing machine” used by the airline’s catering partner.

鈥淎ir India confirms that a foreign object was found in the meal of a guest aboard one of our flights. After investigation, it has been identified as coming from the vegetable processing machine used at the facilities of our catering partner,鈥� Air India Chief Customer Experience Officer Rajesh Dogra told local media. 

Dogra said the airline has worked with its catering partner to strengthen measures to prevent any recurrence, including 鈥渕ore frequent checking of the processor especially after chopping off any hard vegetable鈥�.

Air India added that it had already reached out to Paul and apologized for the experience.

Malaysia Airlines faces in-flight meal criticisms while searching for new caterer

• Airlines
• Civil Aviation

byJean Carmela Lim

2023-09-07

On June 10, 2024, flight QR 204 was scheduled to depart Athens International Airport (ATH) in the early afternoon, bound for Hamad International Airport (DOH) in Doha. 

However, due to a technical issue, the B777 aircraft had to be grounded in temperatures that came close to 40 degrees Celsius, amid a that enveloped Greece throughout the week. 

To make matters worse, the aircraft精东影业 air conditioning system was not working, and the flight精东影业 captain reportedly refused to let passengers deboard while the issue was being fixed.

Passengers onboard took to social media to share their ordeal, with some filming footage of the scene inside the cabin and uploading it to various platforms.

One of the videos uploaded to social media platform Instagram shows passengers looking extremely uncomfortable. Many are seen fanning themselves and others seem to have passed out from the heat. Some passengers could not bear the heat and resorted to taking off their shirts.

Another video clip taken by the same passenger, sports massage therapist Garth Collins,, focuses on a man in the cabin looking very distressed. The video uploader identified the man as Damian Collins, a martial artist and personal trainer. 

The post caption said:

鈥�3.5 hours with the doors closed, no air cooling, and zero sustenance. People were passing out, and panic ensued. Damian is a fit, conditioned athlete, imagine the stress and danger for any normal individual.

Currently the passengers are queueing at the check in counters to find out when they will be flown out of Athens, and what will be done about their connecting flights in Doha.

Passengers were eventually given a cup of water and small soft drink, completely insufficient to rehydrate an individual after the enforced sauna on the plane.鈥�

Following strong protests, passengers were finally allowed to disembark the aircraft after 3.5 hours. 

They were then provided with overnight accommodation and boarded the flight the following day, at 10:30 local time to Doha. 

In a statement sent to various media outlets, an airline spokesperson said: 鈥淨atar Airways sincerely apologizes for the delay to passengers traveling on flight QR204 from Athens (ATH) to Doha (DOH) on Monday, 10 June 2024, which was due to a technical issue.鈥�

The incident resulted in the death of one passenger and multiple others were injured.

In a Facebook post dated June 11, 2024, the airline apologized for the 鈥渢raumatic experience鈥� endured by passengers on SQ321 on May 20, 2024.

The carrier also confirmed it had sent out compensation offers to passengers on June 10, 2024.

What compensation is Singapore Airlines offering to passengers?

For passengers who sustained minor injuries from the incident, the airline said it is offering $10,000 each. 

For more serious injuries, the airline said it had invited passengers to discuss a compensation offer that would meet each specific circumstance. 

For passengers who have been medically assessed to have obtained serious injuries requiring long-term medical care and are requesting financial assistance, Singapore Airline said it had offered an advance payment of US$25,000 to address their immediate needs. That amount will be part of the final compensation. 

Additional compensation

In addition to the categorized offers, Singapore Airlines will provide a full refund of the air fare to all passengers who flew on SQ321 on May 20, 2024, including those who did not suffer any injuries. 

All passengers will also receive delay compensation in accordance with the relevant European Union or United Kingdom regulations.

The airline said it has also provided all passengers with SGD1,000 ($740) to meet their immediate expenses upon departure from Bangkok, where the flight performed an emergency landing after the turbulent episode. 

The Singaporean flag carrier had also been covering the medical expenses of the injured passengers and arranged for their family members and loved ones to fly to Bangkok where requested.

The airline said it remains committed to supporting the affected passengers. 

One death, dozens of injuries

The flight encountered a dramatic drop of almost 6,000 feet when it encountered an air pocket over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar. 

The turbulence resulted in the death of one passenger, 73-year old Geoff Kitchen, a retired British grandfather from Thornbury, near Bristol in southwest England.

Among the dozens of passengers hurt, one of the most seriously injured is 52-year old Kerry Jordan, from Adelaide Australia. Jordan suffered a break in her spine at the C7-T1 segment, which joins the neck with the upper back. She also suffered a brain bleed, fractures of the C1 and C2 vertebrae at the top of the spine, and fractured ribs.

The injuries have left Kerry, a dance teacher, paralyzed from the chest down. 

Positive feedback 

After posting its compensation offers on its Facebook page, the airline was met with mostly positive feedback from social media users.

One comment said that while the traumatic experience cannot be compensated with any monetary value, the 鈥済ood effort鈥� and immediate action of the airline should be commended.

Many comments also praised the airline精东影业 transparent and regular communication and timely updates via Facebook and other social media pages since the incident occurred.聽

Emirates serves over 45 million luxury chocolates per year to its passengers 聽

• Airlines

byLuke Peters

2024-07-04

A report by Channel News Asia stated that the airport saw four to nine times more migrant worker arrivals, as the Immigration Department of Malaysia reported that 2,500 migrant workers arrived each day since May 22, 2024, with this figure increasing to between 4,000 and 4,500 on May 27, 2024.

According to the department, the usual daily arrivals of migrant workers range between 500 to 1,000.

The influx of migrant workers comes amid the government精东影业 decision to place a temporary freeze on companies to bring in foreign employment. The government initially gave a deadline of September 30, 2024, but unexpectedly brought it forward to June 1, 2024.

Video clips of the state of the airport on the days leading up to the deadline have been captured and uploaded on various social media channels, including Facebook.

The clip shows an unspecified terminal at KUL airport filled with migrant workers, many of them sitting and lying on the floor, while hundreds more are lined up.

Despite the rush to enter the country, State Minister Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury told Malaysian media that over 16,900 workers missed the deadline to reach Kuala Lumpur.

Statistics from the International Organization for Migration show that Malaysia has approximately 3 million migrant workers, making up 8.9% of the country精东影业 population of 33.4 million. 

Migrants in Malaysia mainly come from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, with many engaged in industries including manufacturing, plantation, agriculture, hospitality and security services, and domestic work.

Tender for Kuala Lumpur International Airport精东影业 Aerotrain in its final stage

• Airport

byJean Carmela Lim

2021-08-30

The men allege the airline forced them and other black male passengers to disembark a plane after a complaint about body odor.

Plaintiffs Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal, who were not known to one another, boarded American Airlines Flight AA 832 from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to New York精东影业 John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on January 5, 2024.

The claims that prior to takeoff an American Airlines representative approached the plaintiffs, who were not seated together, and ordered them to deboard the aircraft without explanation.

Five other passengers were approached and were also removed from the flight. The plaintiffs said that all eight passengers removed from the flight were black men.

Once they were off the plane, an airline representative advised the men that they would need to be rebooked on another flight. 

The complaint alleges that when asked for an explanation, the airline representative said they were removed from the flight because a white male flight attendant had complained about an unidentified passenger精东影业 body odor.  

When the plaintiffs pointed out that it looked like they were being targeted because of their skin color, at least one American Airlines鈥� representative responded that she did 鈥渘ot disagree鈥�.

The complaint also claims the pilot announced to the remaining passengers that the men had been removed due to a complaint over body odor.

The plaintiffs and the other removed passengers were informed that the airline could not find an alternative flight and that they were allowed to return back to the aircraft. 

According to the complaint, as the men reboarded the flight, they were 鈥渆yed with suspicion by the predominantly white passengers鈥� who remained on board. 

Nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, which represents the plaintiffs, filed the lawsuit in the federal court in the Eastern District of New York on May 29, 2024.

American Airlines told SkyNews that it was looking into the claims.

“We take all claims of discrimination very seriously and want our customers to have a positive experience when they choose to fly with us,” the airline said in a statement. “Our teams are currently investigating the matter, as the claims do not reflect our core values or our purpose of caring for people.”

Southwest sued for discrimination over free ticket program for Hispanic students

• Airlines

byJean Carmela Lim

2024-05-30