AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*BRITISH AIRWAYS is prepared to invest heavily in its all-premium transatlantic operation OPENSKIES, after deciding against both selling the division and seeking external investors. Earlier this year the carrier recruited a specialist investment bank, to look at options for disposing of a controlling share in OpenSkies. But while BA attracted strong bidding interest from 5 investors, the assessment of OpenSkies has shown that the subsidiary has a more promising future than originally suspected. "We have no plans to sell OpenSkies or seek 3rd party investment," a BA spokesman said. "It still has very strong strategic and financial value." OpenSkies operates Boeing 757 on the Paris-New York route, the Airline's only service after it axed flights from Amsterdam. But the spokesman says that the Paris operation is "still strong". There still is talk that BA may expand OpenSkies to other cities such as Frankfurt, Milan and Brussels.

*An ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES Boeing 767 had to make an emergency landing at Lagos, Nigeria, yesterday. Flight 901 was on International Service from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Lagos, with 180 passengers and crew onboard, when the incident took place. The aircraft was on approach to Lagos, when the Air Traffic Control's radar and communication systems failed. Unable to establish communication, the crew of Flight 901 entered into a holding pattern overhead. After 2 hours of circling, the crew declared a fuel emergency and landed safely in Lagos without clearance. According to Nigerian media, several other aircraft also had to land without clearance due to low fuel supplies. Nigerian Government officials have confirmed the incident and said that the Nigerian CAA has launched an investigation.

*A LION AIR Boeing 737 overran the runway upon landing at Pekanbaru, Indonesia, yesterday, December 13. Flight 391 was on Domestic Service from Batam to Pekanbaru, with 160 passengers and crew onboard, when the incident took place. According to media reports, the 737 overran runway 18 upon landing at 2:00pm. No one onboard was injured and the aircraft is said to have sustained no damage. The Airport was closed for 1 hour so that passengers could deplane and the aircraft then was towed off the runway. Media reported that after an inspection, the 737 was returned to service.

*An OLYMPIC AIR ATR42 approached the wrong Airport for landing, on Saturday, December 12. Flight 6 was on Domestic Service from Athens to Naxos, Greece, believed that it was on visual approach to Naxos runway 36. The crew was in contact with the Naxos Tower. However, the aircraft was seen in full landing configuration for runway 35 to the adjacent island of Paros. Paros Tower contacted the Naxos Tower and the ATR42 was ordered to abandon its approach. With direction from the Tower, the aircraft was brought in for a safe approach and landing at Naxos. Olympic Air has not commented on the incident, however it is expected that Greek officials will investigate.

*An AIR WEST GEORGIA Ilyushin IL76 touched off an international incident over the weekend, due to the cargo it was carrying. On Saturday, December 12, Flight 732 was on Cargo Service from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Colombo, Sri Lanka, with 5 crew members onboard. The crew requested diversion to Bangkok, Thailand, due to the need for more fuel. Once on the ground, the aircraft was found to be carring 35 tons of weapons, including grenades and missles. Thai officials impounded the aircraft and arrested the crew members. The crew reported that they had been hired to fly civilian cargo, however the U.S. had been tipped off to the flight, and requested Thai officials to intervene. Yesterday, Thai officials said that the aircraft originated in the Ukraine, before going to North Korea, and was due to return to the Ukraine. However, other media reports say that after picking up the weapons on Pyongyang, the aircraft could have been headed to Pakistan, Yemen or Afghanistan. It is believed that the scheduled Sri Lankan stop was for re-fueling only. The 5 crew members, 4 from Kazakhstan and 1 from Belarus, are to be detained without bail for a further 12 days while investigations continue.

*An EASYJET A319 had to make an emergency landing at Nice, France, on Friday, December 11, due to problems with the landing gear. Flight 1385 was on International Service from Geneva, Switzerland, to Nice, with 144 passengers and crew onboard, when the incident took place. On approach to Nice, the crew received an unsafe gear alert for the right hand gear, and abandoned their approach. The crew entered a holding pattern to troubleshoot, and performed a low flyover to confirm that gear was down. Unable to determine if the gear was fully deployed, the crew brought the A319 in for a safe landing, about an hour after the incident began. According to media reports, passengers were prepared for an emergency landing with instructions to assume the brace position. Once the aircraft landed, the passengers reportedly broke into applause.

*A SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS A319 had to reject takeoff from Durban, South Africa, on Friday, December 11, due to a bird strike. SAA Flight 601, on Domestic Service to Cape Town, rejected takeoff after a Yellow billed kite was ingested into an engine, causing smoke to pour from the engine. Emergency Services responded, and there were no injuries. The A319 was removed from service for repairs. According to multiple media reports from South Africa, a passenger on another aircraft saw the incident. He reported that their Flight Attendant said: "If you look out the left hand window's, you will notice the SAA's engine on fire. Aren't you glad you're not flying SAA"?.