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KLM on Thursday confirmed that 20 people were injured when one of its aircraft hit heavy turbulence a few hours after it took off from Amsterdam to Japan.

17 passengers and 3 crew were injured when a sudden drop in air pressure over St Petersburg (Russia) caused the Boeing 777-200ER (PH-BQA) to drop 50 metres.

Pilots of the aircraft carrying 262 passengers and 14 crew, noticed a cloud front and immediately urged passengers to return to their seats and tie their seat belts. The crew was serving dinner at this time and was not able to do so as well.

But the turbulence began quicker and was heavier than expected and within seconds, the aircraft dropped and trolleys with coffee and tea rolled through the plane, a spokesman said.

Several passengers and crew sustained burns when hot meals scattered, hot drinks spilled and glasses were shattered.

Despite the incident, pilots continued the journey and Flight 867 landed at Kansai International Airport in the western Japanese city of Osaka at 9.17 am (0017 GMT), nearly 11 hours after takeoff.

Reports said pilots had decided to proceed to Japan after the incident because all the injuries were minor. 9 passengers and 3 crew were taken to nearby hospitals and released within a few hours. 1 passenger suffered serious burns.

The Dutch carrier has offered to reimburse passengers for damages they may have suffered due to the turbulence and provided emergency phone numbers for passengers wanting psychological assistance.

KLM and the Japanese Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Thursday said checks at Osaka showed the aircraft had suffered no damage and the Boeing began its return flight to Amsterdam.

A thick cloud of bees forced a passenger jet pilot to abandon a holiday flight and ground passengers for 11 hours, an airline executive said on Saturday.

A Palmair Boeing 737 travelling from Bournemouth, on the southern English coast, to Faro, in Portugal, was forced to turn back when a swarm of the insects was sucked into an engine.

“The pilot experienced an engine surge about an hour into the flight,” Palmair managing director David Skillicorn said. “He returned to Bournemouth and we found what appeared to be a large number of bees smeared inside the engine.”

Skillicorn said a huge cloud of the insects was seen off the Bournemouth coast shortly before the flight on Thursday. “Some witnesses claimed there were around 20 000 bees,” he said.
Around 200 passengers were delayed while the company carried out repairs and eventually replaced the aircraft, Skillicorn said. -AP

A new european low-cost airline is being launched this summer.
The Verona based airline “Air Italy” is offering cheap flights to Verona in Italy from Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, London-Stansted, Madrid, Moscow, Praha, Sophia, Warsaw for as little as €35 including taxes, from June 1st 2007.

“The city’s focal point, the arena, is the largest Roman amphitheatre in northern Italy and it plays host to an array of superb concerts throughout the year. The highlight is the Verona Opera Festival which sees hundreds of music lovers from across the globe flock to the city for a series of summer events,” the airline explained.

More info: http://www.airitaly.eu/

(China Daily) A Chinese investor has paid one billion yuan (US$130 million) to buy Parchim Airport in Germany, and the unprecedented deal has opened a new investment chapter in Chinese aviation history, reported the Orient Today Thursday.

This is the first time a Chinese company wholly owns a European airport. Pang Yuliang, chairman of the board for LinkGlobal Logistics announced the news after beating out 10 other global competitors, including Hamburg Airport and Emirates Airline in an international tender.

Brought up in the poverty-stricken Shangcai County, Central China’s Henan Province, Pang’s logistics business covers more than 800 cities in mainland China and some 90 countries worldwide.

“There will be no need for my fellow-villagers heading towards Germany to transfer in Beijing or Shanghai once a charter flight is organized,” Pang said. He is already in negotiations with aviation officials to link Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province to Parchim Airport.

“We will make full use of the tariff free zone and bonded logistic distribution centers attached to the airport where we can foster the growth of our provincial automakers, aviation industry and high-tech enterprises,” Pang added.

The purchase was confirmed by a German representative from Schwerin who was attending a meeting in Zhengzhou on economic links between Henan Province, Lagos in Nigeria and southern Germany.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) also welcomes the acquisition, and will develop its European transferring network based on the China-owned Parchim Airport.

According to the report, Parchim Airport has an annual capacity of 180,000 flights and can handle all kinds of civil aircrafts, including the Airbus A380. It is close to Hamburg and Berlin.

The British Airways Airbus A319, flight #767, came from London Heathrow to Oslo with around 100 passengers.

Hans Holmgrunn of the Gardermoen police station told local newspaper Eidsvoll Ullensaker Blad that around 20 of the passengers were ill with nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

Jo Kobro of Oslo Lufthavn Gardermoen said that a public health official was heading for the airport to go on board the fight and evaluate the situation.

In the meantime, all passengers were held on board.

Holmgrunn indicated that many of the passengers had come from Burma and had landed in both Thailand and England on their way to Oslo.

Source: http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1799411.ece

Indian Civil Aviation Minister just launched the new colours of Air India.

Sorry for the bad image quality, the bad original source is to blame.