Ryanair will soon connect Cyprus ans Israel

   Irish low-cost airline Ryanair will open its first route in Israel. From the end of March it will operate a daily flight between Tel Aviv – Paphos, Cyprus in each direction. The fare set at €30 for April and May. The price set as a special introductory fare, about a third of the “discounted” cost of a flight to Cyprus.  

   The airline, which up to now has operated flights to Ovda Airport near Eilat, expects to carry 100,000 passengers a year on this route. 

   RyanAir spokesperson said that in just days a large number of tickets on all flights between Israel and Cyprus through May have been grabbed. “We urge all travelers who are interested in getting tickets at the discounted price to act immediately and buy tickets,” he said. “We expect all of them to be gone in a very short time.”

   El Al subsidiary Sun d’Or announced that from the end of May 2017 it will fly twice weekly to Malaga. The flight will depart from Tel Aviv on Sundays and Thursdays, with fares starting at $450.

India to fine airlines for 'dropping' poo      

Image caption Human waste occasionally forms around the overflow outlets for aeroplane toilets before plummeting to the ground

Airlines in India will be fined 50,000 rupees ($736; £594) if their planes release human waste from toilets in the air, a court has ruled.
 

A petitioner had alleged that aircraft had been dumping waste over residential areas near the airport in Delhi.

Plane toilets store human waste in special tanks.
These are normally disposed of once the plane has landed. But international aviation authorities acknowledge that lavatory leaks can occur in the air.

A court has asked the aviation regulator to make sure that aircraft do not release human waste from air while landing or anywhere near the airports.

Why is human waste falling from India's skies?
The National Green Tribunal, an environment court, also directed the regulator to ensure "that aircraft on landing shall be subjected to surprise inspection to see that human waste tanks are not empty", the Press Trust of India reported.

"If any aircraft is found to be violating such circular or [their] tanks are found empty on landing, they shall be subjected to environment compensation of 50,000 rupees per default," the court said.
The order followed a plea by a retired army officer who accused airlines of dumping human waste over Delhi's residential areas.

The officer said the "walls and floors" of the terrace of his house near the airport "are splattered with large patches of excreta dumped by aircraft flying in front of the airport".

However, it could not be conclusively proved that the waste came from the flying aircraft.
Also, the aviation ministry contested the petitioner's claim and said the plane toilets stored the waste in special tanks that were normally cleared by the ground crew once the plane landed.

A senior pilot told the BBC these tanks were rarely emptied in mid-air apart from "a rare emergency measure like emptying fuel tanks".

Separately, frozen human waste often forms around the overflow outlets for aeroplane toilets, and then falls to earth.

They are called "blue ice" because of the chemicals added to the toilets in planes to reduce odour and break down the waste. Blue ice falls are unusual, but not unheard of.

MALTA AIRPORT HIJACK: 118 hostages taken with threats to blow up Afriqiyah Airways plane

MALTA Airport has a hijack situation as two men threaten to blow up a Afriqiyah Airways plane from Libya.

Malta Airport has a hijack situation as Afriqiyah Airways plane from Libya lands

The Afriqiyah Airways airbus A320 was on an internal flight in Libya with 118 people in board when the attack occurred.

It was forced to divert to Malta after two attackers hijacked the flight and threatened to blow up the plane.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted: "Informed of potential hijack situation of a Libya internal flight diverted to Malta. Security and emergency operations standing by -JM".

The plane, flight number 8U209, left Sabha in south-west Libya for Tripoli at 10.10am. 

The plane left Sabha in south-west Libya for Tripoli at 10am

It was scheduled to arrive at 11.20am, but was instead diverted to Malta International Airport, where it landed at 11:32am.

Early reports suggest there are two pro-Gaddafi hijackers on board who have threatened to blow up the plane and keep the passengers hostage if their unknown demands are not met.

The Malta International Airport said in a statement that there was an unlawful interference at the airport and that all emergency teams have been dispatched to the site.

The statement added: "All emergency teams have been dispatched to the site. Passengers are advised to follow www.maltairport.com for updates."

Armed police have been deployed to the airport

R

The plan has now been surrounded by armed police

Armed police and even counter terrorism units have reportedly been deployed to the scene this morning.

A spokesperson for the Malta Air Traffic Services told MaltaToday that it is far too early to release any information.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said: "Following news of plane hijacking with grave concern. My full cooperation to Govt to protect #Malta security and the safety of passengers."

On 19 December, one of Afriqiyah Airways’ planes was shot at while on the ground at Tripoli Mitiga.

Senior citizens pay for airlines’ errors

The airline said they are trying to locate passengers’ luggage

Air travel may be the safest mode of transportation but it definitely is not the most hassle-free way, as a group of senior citizens discovered recently. Two senior citizens who flew down to Ahmedabad from Guwahati on Saturday to attend a wedding had to skip the event after the airline allegedly misplaced their luggage. In a separate incident, a group of elderly tourists from Ahmedabad had to wait at the Chennai airport for 10 hours after their return flight got delayed. They complained that their airline did not inform them of the delay till they reached the airport.

In the first incident, Chandra Parmar and Niru Rathod, who were travelling from Guwahati by Indigo flight, claim they were made to wait for three hours while the airline tried to figure out where their luggage had gone. Naresh Parmar, 45, who was travelling with the elderly women, said, “We were supposed to attend a wedding in Bhavnagar on Saturday and had to reach there by 10.30 am. But when we landed at Ahmedabad airport at 6.30 pm, my aunts couldn’t find their luggage. The airline took three hours to figure out where the luggage was.

Later, they told us that we will have to come back because they suspected the luggage might have been left behind at the Guwahati airport.” He rues that because of the airline’s oversight, they were forced to miss the wedding of a close relative. Indigo official told Mirror that they were still trying to locate the bags and are hopeful to find them by Sunday. “We tried to reach out to the passengers in the evening to give them a update but they were not reachable.” the official said. In another case, 67-year-old Shyamal Joshi and four others from his family who had travelled to Tamil Nadu had to spend 10 hours at the Chennai airport after their air carrier allegedly failed to inform them of delay in flight.

The passengers allege that the airline also failed to make alternative arrangements for the passengers. Joshi said, “We boarded a flight from Madurai as per schedule and reached Chennai around 12.30 pm on Friday. We were to board the 4.35 pm SpiceJet flight to Ahmedabad. But at the airport, it was announced that the flight had been rescheduled to 9.15 pm. Later, another announcement was made that the flight would be further delayed. The airline did not give us any prior information and they had also made no alternative arrangement for the passengers of the delayed flight.”

He further claimed that the airline staff was casual about the delay of the flight and allegedly told him that it was not just his flight but other flights were also delayed or cancelled. Joshi says he checked other airlines and found that their flights were operating as per schedule. According to sources, the passengers were given the option of claiming refund on their tickets but the group refused refund.

Joshi justified this, saying, “We booked the flight two month ago, when the tickets were selling at Rs 6,000. Now, what is the point of claiming refunds when the new booking would cost me anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000? We had to spend the whole day in the airport because the boarding pass was issued and we couldn’t leave the airport.” Mirror sent emails to SpiceJet regarding the issues faced by their passengers but the airline did not respond to the mails.

Santa Claus is coming to London on Norwegian Air

                                                                           

Santa Claus is coming to town - well to Norwegian Airlines as it becomes the first to offer direct scheduled flights from the UK to the big fella in red’s hometown - Lapland.

Today, the airline launched the UK’s only scheduled direct flight to Rovaniemi - the capital of Lapland and home to Santa Christmas.

There will be two weekly flights departing on a Monday and a Friday.

The schedule has been designed to allow traveller to have a long-weekend break and meet Father Christmas.

Prices to the Finnish state start from £69.90 one way and depart from London Gatwick Airport at 5.50am.

Norwegian will operating it¹s brand new 186 seat aircraft on the flights, which offers free in-flight Wi-Fi.

Whilst it is well-known for being the home town of Santa Claus, Rovaniemi, also has a lot more to offer than just the Christmas festivities. 

As it is situated on the artic circle, it is also a great place to witness one of natures  - the Northern Lights.

There is also an abundance of outdoor activities from snowmobiling, skiing and much more.