Cleared To Approach: The Aviation Blog

  NEWS HEADLINES THIS WEEK: Major Plane Crash in South Korea: Jeju Air Flight 2216 suffered a fatal incident on 29 December 2024, due to a front landing gear failure, leading to an attempt at a belly-landing.  This caused the Boeing 737-800 to skid on the runway and burst into flames. At least 176 of the 181 people on board lost their lives, with only 2 confirmed survivors. Early investigations suggest that the crash was caused due to a combination of bad weather and a bird strike. Massive IndiGo Delay: An IndiGo flight (6E17) scheduled at 6:55 AM, on the 28th of December, from Mumbai to Istanbul (BOM-IST) was significantly delayed, allegedly leaving passengers stranded at the airport without much communication or compensation.  The flight was eventually cancelled, but this decision was later overturned when it took off at 11PM the same day. Another 737 Mishap- This Time KLM: An Amsterdam bound KLM 737-800 suffered a hydraulic failure and veered off the runway during an e...

  NEWS HEADLINES THIS WEEK: Kolkata Airport Celebrates 100 Year Anniversary: On the 21st of December, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport held its 100 year anniversary, with the Civil Aviation Minister (CAM) and other such important guests present, The CAM said that Kolkata airport should be operating more than a hundred daily flights soon.  MH370 News: Malaysia mentioned that they will be resuming search for the infamous Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight, which vanished over the ocean with a soul count of 239, from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014. The search is soon to restart with up to 70,000,000 USD of funding. Alhind Air Starting Operations Soon: Alhind Air will be starting regional operations soon, in mid-2025, operating 2 ATR-72 Turboprop aircraft.

 NEWS HEADLINES THIS WEEK: Air India Orders 100 Aircraft:  Air India has order 100 Airbus jets, including 10 A350s and 90 A320-family jets. This totals up their orders to 570 aircraft, including both Boeing and Airbus, widebody and narrowbody. CREDIT (for image): AIR INDIA Record Hoax Bomb Threats: Airlines in India have reported a record 719 hoax bomb threats. Since 2020 (excluding this year), there have been an average of 22.5 hoax bomb threats per year (4 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 13 in 2022, and 71 in 2023). This year, we've seen an increase of an astounding ~3095.5% . IndiGo Emergency Landing in Karachi: An IndiGo flight (6E63) bound to Jeddah made an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan, under humanitarian grounds, The aircraft was flying over Pakistani airspace when a medical emergency was faced on board.

  NEWS HEADLINES THIS WEEK  Indigo Sues Mahindra: Indigo, India’s leading and largest airline has sued Mahindra after it launched its new car, the BE 6E, over a trademark infringement as 6E is Indigo’s airline designator code and an imperative part of its branding and identity  Mahindra, for now has changed the name to the BE 6, but will challenge indigo in court. The case is being heard in the Delhi High Court. CREDIT FOR IMAGE: carblogindia Parliament Passes Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024 : This act replaces the Aircraft Act, 1934, to improve the ease of business in the rapidly growing aviation sector. CISF Quality Control Unit: The CISF has set up a quality control unit to improve efficiency of its aviation security wing, which provides counter-terrorism measures to airport in India. The International Civil Aviation Day was celebrated yesterday, the 7th of December.

  NEWS HEADLINES THIS WEEK: Emirates Receives its First A350: Emirates, known to be one of the world's leading airlines, only operated 777s and A380s. On the 25th of November 2024, Emirates took delivery of its first A350, registered A6-EXA, from Toulouse to Dubai. This aircraft is an imperative addition to its fleet, as it will be able to operate out of smaller airports with shorter runways, as compared to the enormous A380s and 777s, thus increasing its connections and route network, previously dominated by Qatar Airways, which has a variety of aircraft, including A320 family jets and 737s. The A350 will fly its inaugural flight to Edinburgh in January 2025, and will also fly to Mumbai and Ahmedabad, in terms for India. The cabin will accommodate 312 passengers in 3 classes of service. The new-generation business class, of the new 777s, will be in 1-2-1 configuration, 21 premium economy seats, as well as 259 economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. British Airways Unveils New Firs...

 Introduction: The Airbus A321-XLR presents a compelling concept within the aviation industry. In a nutshell, it's a narrow-body, diminutive (compared to other aircraft which fly its routes) aircraft, with much lesser seating, but can fly long-haul routes. Airlines such as JetBlue have introduced transatlantic flights with the A321-XLR. Disadvantages: The A321-XLR has a limited cargo capacity as well as a much smaller cabin size, so, airlines are unable to maximise on customers in premium-cabins, due to lesser available seats. They will not be able to add first-class suites either. Some of these passengers, who are willing to pay a premium for better service, will drift towards wide bodies.  The single aisle also prevents airlines from offering amenities such as lounges/bars or larger bathrooms prevalent on widebodies, for premium cabins. Moreover, the smaller aircraft significantly decreases the number of crew on board. This is an issue as on long-haul flights, crew need to r...