The World of Aviation

Iceland’s newest low-cost airline PLAY has officially acquired an air operator’s certificate from the Icelandic civil aviation regulator, Icelandic Transport Authority (ICETRA). The airline, founded in 2019, has said it is now set to begin operations in June this year, with its first Airbus A321neo leased from AerCap due to be delivered in early June.

Host Adam Thorn and guest Hannah Dowling discuss the latest on why the UK is still refusing to open up to much of the EU and US, and what this means for the industry.

The airline said there was “growing optimism” due to the increased pace of vaccines being rolled out but warned border restrictions caused by new waves of the virus are still having an effect.

The confusion surrounds whether Britons are allowed to go on holiday to ‘amber list’ countries – which require home quarantine on return – or only visit them for essential purposes.

Emirates has again suggested it might reduce its orders of the Boeing 777X, in light of ongoing program delays and the ongoing affect of the COVID-19 pandemic on air travel. Airline chief executive and chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has now suggested that the airline is considering converting some of its Boeing 777X

British Airways has conducted its first quarantine-free flights to ‘green list’ destinations for eager British holidaymakers and business travellers, as the UK government lifted travel restrictions on Monday. The first BA flight out of Heathrow on Monday morning was flight BA492 to Gibraltar, which took at 7:10am. Throughout the day, the British flag carriers performed