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Newfoundland and Labrador Welcomes First Airlift of Ukrainian Refugees Today at St. John’s International Airport the Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills, welcomed the first Ukrainian refugee airlift sponsored by any level of government in Canada to date. The airlift that departed Katowice, Poland and landed in St. John’s is the culmination of the work of the Ukrainian Family Support Desk, a Provincial Government initiative launched on March 2, 2022, and on the ground in Poland since March 17, 2022, to provide safe haven to Ukrainians fleeing the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Refugees were carried on a Smartwings charter flight. Smartwings, (formerly Travel Service) is a Czech low-cost leisure airline with its head office on the property of Václav Havel Airport Prague in Ruzyně, 6th district, Prague. It is the biggest airline in the Czech Republic and it operates scheduled and chartered flights, mainly to leisure destinations, and also wet and dry leases its aircraft to other airlines. It also owns 98% of Czech Airlines, and has subsidiaries in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartwings |
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B-747 BBJ With 42 Hours Sent To The Desert
According to the FAA registry, Boeing became the owner of the aircraft, which has 42 hours on it, the day before it was flown from Basel, Switzerland, to Pinal Air Park, a desert storage site near Tucson. Once they arrive there, aircraft seldom leave intact, but Boeing hasn’t announced any plans for the plane. Speculation is that it will be parted out, which is the fate of most aircraft at Pinal. But the Saudis long ago abandoned the aircraft, simply because no one in the royal family wanted it. The plane was ordered by Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for about $275 million and was being fitted with its executive interior in Basel when he died in 2011. The aircraft was never finished and none of his relatives showed any interest in it. At one point it was up for sale for $95 million but there were no takers. It sat on the ramp in Basel for 10 years before taking what might have been its final flight on April 15, 2022. The aircraft currently has a temporary certificate of registration that expires May 14, 2022. Source: avweb.com |
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Early May 2022, a KLM B-787 landed at Edmonton International Airport. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines president and CEO Pieter Elbers said this is the first flight of its kind for the company, setting a record for "using the largest amount of sustainable aviation fuel ever on a commercial flight. Using this different type of fuel our CO2 footprint is much lower." The aircraft carried two per cent less fuel but had 76 more passengers than normal. The company said it equals about 26 per cent less C02 emissions per passenger. The KLM flight was a long-haul entry for the Sustainable Flight Challenge by Skyteam. Sixteen airlines are taking part in the friendly competition and the goal is to take steps to create the most sustainable flight possible. Source: globalnews.ca/news |
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