easyJet enters Macedonian market

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Aegean cuts Beirut over jet damage

Greece's largest carrier Aegean Airlines said it had suspended all flights to Beirut pending the results of an investigation into the cause of damage to one of its planes that flew to the Lebanese capital. Ground crew at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport found external damage to the fuselage of a plane that flew from Athens on January 10, prompting the airline a day later to suspend all flights to and from Beirut, a company statement said. It gave no further details about the damage found on the aircraft's exterior. Lebanon's transport ministry dismissed what it said were comments on social media and in the media that suggested a bullet could be to blame. Lebanese Transport and Public Works Minister Ali Hamie published an email on Twitter, dated January 15, covering a technical assessment of damage found below the cockpit. "After close examination, it was determined that it was not the result of a bullet", the email said. Aegean said it had notified Greek authorities and Beirut Airport authorities and expected to give an update on resuming flights to Beirut in the coming weeks. Beirut Airport is in a bustling residential area of the capital, where festive gunfire is not uncommon.

easyJet enters Macedonian market

NEWS FLASH

Low cost carrier easyJet entered the Macedonian market yesterday by introducing flights from Geneva to Skopje. The service will initially run twice per week, increasing to three weekly from mid-December. Geneva becomes the third destination in Switzerland to be served out of Skopje, complementing Zurich and Basel. Commenting on the new route launch, the General Manager of operator TAV Macedonia, Metin Batak, said, “This is the first route from Skopje to be introduced by the low cost airline, a decision taken despite the global aviation crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the fact that many countries still have air travel restrictions in place”. In total, easyJet will operate 106 flights from Skopje this winter season (return service included) and has 17.436 seats on sale. Services will be operated by a mix of Airbus A320 and A319 aircraft.