Norwegian suspends flights with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, following recommendations by European aviation authorities

Norwegian has issued this statement:

Following the decision by the relevant aviation regulatory bodies to temporarily suspend operations of Boeing 737 MAX, Norwegian will not operate any flights with this aircraft type until further notice. We remain in close dialogue with the aviation authorities and Boeing, and follow their instructions and recommendations.

Norwegian has more than 110 Boeing 737–800 aircraft in its fleet, which are not affected by this temporary suspension.

We would like to apologize to customers who will be affected by temporary cancellations and delays, but the safety and security of our customers and colleagues will never be compromised, and once authorities advise to cease operations we will of course comply.

Tomas Hesthammer, Norwegian’s acting Chief Operating Officer said:: “In response to the temporary suspension of Being 737 MAX operations by multiple aviation authorities we have taken the decision to not operate flights using this aircraft type, until advised otherwise by the relevant aviation authorities. We would like to apologize to customers for any inconvenienced caused, however, safety will always remain our top priority.”

Norwegian has 18 Boeing 737 MAX 8 in its fleet today. The total order of these aircraft is 110.

Norwegian followed-up with the additional statement:

All aircraft that are currently airborne will continue to destination or return to home base. We are now working on re-allocating our fleet options with other aircraft types, re-bookings to other flights and combining flights to minimise inconvenience caused for our passengers. We would like to apologise to customers who are affected, but the safety and security of our customers and colleagues will never be compromised. Affected passengers will be informed via SMS and our web pages.

Top Copyright Photo: Norwegian.com (Norwegian Air International) (Ireland) Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 EI-FYI (msn 42834) (Arthur Collins, American radio communications pioneer) LGW (Antony J. Best). Image: 943737.

Norwegian (Ireland) aircraft slide show:

France’s DGAC civil aviation authority bans Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from French airspace

The Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) (France) has issued this statement:

“French airline companies do not have Boeing 737 MAX in their fleets. Nevertheless, given the circumstances of the accident in Ethiopia, the French authorities took the decision, as a precautionary measure, to prohibit any commercial flight carried out on a Boeing 737 MAX to, from, or over French territory.”

The United Kingdom bans the Boeing 737 MAX from UK airspace

The UK Civil Aviation Authority issued this statement:

A spokesperson for the UK Civil Aviation Authority said: “Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the tragic incident in Ethiopia on Sunday.

“The UK Civil Aviation Authority has been closely monitoring the situation, however, as we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying UK airspace.

“The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s safety directive will be in place until further notice.

“We remain in close contact with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and industry regulators globally.”

There are currently five 737 MAX aircraft registered and operational in the United Kingdom (TUI). A sixth is planned to commence operations later this week.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for certifying all Boeing 737 MAX models and it is the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) that validates this certification across the EU, including the UK.

Boeing 737-8 “MAX” and Boeing 737-9 “MAX” Limitation of Operations due to a Fatal Accident in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019

Description: This SD is made in the interests of safety of operation and to protect the public following the accident of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing Model 737-8 “MAX” aircraft on March 10, 2019. External reports are drawing similarities between this accident and Lion Air flight 610 on October 29, 2018 involving the same type of aircraft. Given the similarity of the two accidents, it has been decided that as a precautionary measure that all Boeing 737-8 “MAX” and Boeing 737-9 “MAX” operations in the United Kingdom, whether by UK AOC holders or foreign AOC holders and carriers, should stop until appropriate safeguards are in place.

TUI Airways UK operates its five Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft mainly from Manchester on routes to sun destinations.

TUI Airways UK issued this statement:

“Any customers due to fly home today on a 737 MAX 8 from their holiday will be flown back on another aircraft,” it read.

“Customers due to travel in the coming days will also travel on holiday as planned on other aircraft.”

Top Copyright Photo: TUI Airways (UK) Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 G-TUMF (msn 44599) BFI (Joe G. Walker). Image: 945812.

TUI Airways aircraft slide show:

Video: How to Tell You’re on a Boeing 737 MAX

Which airlines have grounded their Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft? (all MAX aircraft now grounded)

Here is a list of current known airlines that have grounded their Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft or have been ordered by their respective countries to ground their aircraft.

Aerolineas Argentinas – 5 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

AeroMexico – 6 Boeing 737-8 aircraft grounded

Air Canada – Canada closed its airspace to all MAX aircraft on March 13, 2019. 24 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8s grounded on March 13, 2019

Air China – 15 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Air Italy – 3 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded on March 12, 2019

American Airlines – FAA ordered all 24 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8s to be grounded on March 13, 2019.

Cayman Airways – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

China Eastern Airlines – 3 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

China Southern Airlines – 24 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Comair (British Airways franchise) – 1 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Copa Airlines – 6 Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 aircraft grounded on March 13, 2019

Enter Air – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Easter Jet – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft to be grounded on March 13, 2019

Enter Air – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft are currently not operating

Ethiopian Airlines – Remaining 4 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Fiji Airways – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft affectively grounded as Australia bans the aircraft type from Australian skies (except the New Zealand market). Fiji later banned.

flydubai – 11 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8s and 3 Boeing 737-9 MAX 9s grounded on March 12, 2019

Fuzhou Airlines – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft ground

Garuda Indonesia – 1 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 grounded

Gol Transportes Aéreos – 7 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 are grounded

Hainan Airlines – 11 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Icelandair – 3 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded on March 12, 2019

Jet Airways – 8 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft are stored

Kunming Airlines – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Lion Air – 10 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

LOT Polish Airlines – 5 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded on March 12, 2019

Lucky Air – 3 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Mongolian Airlines (MIAT) – 1 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Norwegian – 18 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft were grounded on March 12, 2019

OKAir (Okay Airways) – 1 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Oman Air – 5 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Royal Air Maroc – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Shandong Airlines – 6 Boeing 737-8 aircraft grounded

Shanghai Airlines – 11 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Shenzhen Airlines – 5 Boeing 737-8 aircraft grounded

SilkAir – 5 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

Smartwings – 7 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft were grounded on March 12, 2019

Southwest Airlines – FAA ordered all 34 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8s to be grounded on March 13, 2019.

SpiceJet – 13 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft were grounded on March 12, 2019

Sunwing Airlines – 4 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft we’re grounded on March 13, 2019

S7 Airlines – 2 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft were grounded on March 12, 2019

Thai Lion Air – 3 Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 aircraft were grounded on March 13, 2019

TUI Airlines Belgium – 4 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft were grounded on March 12, 2019

TUI Airways UK – 5 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft were grounded on March 12, 2019

TUI fly Netherlands – 3 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded on March 12, 2019

TUI fly Nordic – 2 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded on March 12, 2019

Turkish Airlines – 11 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8s and one Boeing 737-9 MAX 9 ground on March 13.

United Airlines – FAA ordered all 14 Boeing 737-9 MAX 9s to be grounded on March 13, 2019.

WestJet – Canada closed its airspace to all MAX aircraft on March 13, 2019. 13 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 grounded on March 13, 2019.

Xiamen Air – 10 Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

9air.com (Jiu Yuan Airlines) – 1 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft grounded

In total, we currently show around 360 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft are now being impacted or grounded. In addition, the affected airlines also have over 800 aircraft on order from Boeing and various leasing companies.

Note: We now believe that all Boeing 737 aircraft have been grounded worldwide except for test flights (by Boeing) or ferry flights without passengers. This list will not longer be maintained.

Emirates to launch a second daily flight to London Stansted

Emirates today announced the launch of a second daily flight from Dubai (DXB) to London Stansted (STN) starting July 1, 2019. The additional flight means that Emirates customers will now have 11 daily flight options to and from three London airports.

As with the first, the second daily flight to Stansted will also be operated by Emirates’ ‘game changing’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration with 6 private suites in First Class, 42 fully-flat beds in Business Class and 306 seats in Economy Class. The aircraft offers customers an enriched travel experience across all cabins with newly designed seats and upgraded inflight entertainment systems. Customers will also enjoy new levels of comfort with fully enclosed private suites in First Class as well as refreshed Business and Economy Class cabins.

Beginning July 1, 2019, the first daily flight from Dubai to London Stansted will operate as EK65, departing Dubai at 0900hrs and arriving in London Stansted at 1330hrs. The return flight, EK66 will depart London Stansted at 1500hrs and arrive in Dubai at 0105hrs the following day. The second daily flight from Dubai to London Stansted will operate as EK67, departing Dubai at 1415hrs and arriving in London Stansted at 1845hrs. The return flight, EK68 will depart London Stansted at 2110hrs and arrive in Dubai at 0710hrs the following day.

Emirates second daily flight to London Stansted brings Emirates’ total weekly flights to the UK to 140 – six services a day from Heathrow, three daily from London Gatwick and Manchester, two daily from Birmingham, Glasgow and London Stansted, and a daily service from Newcastle and Edinburgh. Emirates serves a global network of 158 destinations.

All photos by Emirates.

Boeing to “enhance” the 737 MAX software, other airlines ground its MAX aircraft

Boeing has made this announcement:

The Boeing Company is deeply saddened by the loss of Lion Air Flight 610, which has weighed heavily on the entire Boeing team, and we extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families and loved ones of those onboard.

Safety is a core value for everyone at Boeing and the safety of our airplanes, our customers’ passengers and their crews is always our top priority. The 737 MAX is a safe airplane that was designed, built and supported by our skilled employees who approach their work with the utmost integrity.

For the past several months and in the aftermath of Lion Air Flight 610, Boeing has been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer. This includes updates to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight control law, pilot displays, operation manuals and crew training. The enhanced flight control law incorporates angle of attack (AOA) inputs, limits stabilizer trim commands in response to an erroneous angle of attack reading, and provides a limit to the stabilizer command in order to retain elevator authority.

Boeing has been working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on development, planning and certification of the software enhancement, and it will be deployed across the 737 MAX fleet in the coming weeks. The update also incorporates feedback received from our customers.

The FAA says it anticipates mandating this software enhancement with an Airworthiness Directive (AD) no later than April. We have worked with the FAA in development of this software enhancement.

It is important to note that the FAA is not mandating any further action at this time, and the required actions in AD2018-23.5 continue to be appropriate.

A pitch augmentation control law (MCAS) was implemented on the 737 MAX to improve aircraft handling characteristics and decrease pitch-up tendency at elevated angles of attack. It was put through flight testing as part of the certification process prior to the airplane entering service. MCAS does not control the airplane in normal flight; it improves the behavior of the airplane in a non-normal part of the operating envelope.

Boeing’s 737 MAX Flight Crew Operations Manual (FCOM) already outlines an existing procedure to safely handle the unlikely event of erroneous data coming from an angle of attack (AOA) sensor. The pilot will always be able to override the flight control law using electric trim or manual trim. In addition, it can be controlled through the use of the existing runaway stabilizer procedure as reinforced in the Operations Manual Bulletin (OMB) issued on Nov. 6, 2018.

Additionally, we would like to express our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. A Boeing technical team is at the crash site to provide technical assistance under the direction of the Ethiopia Accident Investigation Bureau and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. It is still early in the investigation, as we seek to understand the cause of the accident.

In other news, Australia and Singapore have also suspended all MAX aircraft registered in their countries.

Additionally, Aerolineas Argentinas, AeroMexico and Gol Transportes Aéreos have all grounded their MAX aircraft.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Boeing): Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 ET-AVJ (msn 62450) BFI (Preston Fiedler). Image: 945949.

Ethiopian Airlines aircraft slide show:

FAA’s updated statement on the Boeing 737 MAX

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued this short statement and CANIC:

Comair temporarily takes its new MAX 8 aircraft out of schedule

Comair has just issued this statement:

Comair has decided to remove its 737 MAX 8 from its flight schedule, although neither regulatory authorities nor the manufacturer has required it to do so, Wrenelle Stander, executive director of Comair’s airline division, said on Monday afternoon.

While Comair has done extensive preparatory work prior to the introduction of the first 737 MAX 8 into its fleet and remains confident in the inherent safety of the aircraft, it has decided temporarily not to schedule the aircraft while it consults with other operators, Boeing and technical experts.

“The safety and confidence of our customers and crew is always our priority,” Stander said.

The MAX 8 is the latest iteration of the most common commercial aircraft ever manufactured. It is well-established around the world, particularly in the fleets of large carriers in the United States. There are currently over 370 Boeing 737 MAX 8s in operation, with 47 airlines. The type operates approximately 1 500 flights a day and has accumulated over 250 000 flights in total with an excellent record of daily reliability.

Top Copyright Photo: British Airways-Comair (South Africa) Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 ZS-ZCA (msn 60432) BFI (Joe G. Walker). Image: 945738.

British Airways-Comair aircraft slide show: CLICK HERE

Le One is a new Maltese charter airline, planning to start operations on June 1 from Naples

Le One is a new Maltese charter airline. Le One is the brand of Aerospace Engineering Service Limited of Malta.

The new airline is expecting its first Boeing 737-400 in May 2019. It is planning to commence operations on June 1, 2019 from Naples’ Capodichino Airport pending certification. Le One will operate charters to Egypt and Greece.

The airline is partnering with broker Astra Charters of Rome.

Image: Le One.