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NATS Technical Failure At Prestwick Disrupts UK Flights; CAA Rules Out Compensation

Aviation Today News Desk September 22, 2026

Prestwick, United Kingdom: A technical failure at National Air Traffic Services’ (NATS) Prestwick Centre in Scotland disrupted flights across parts of

Singapore Airlines Reclaims World’s Best Airline Title At 2026 Skytrax Awards

Aviation Today News Desk September 21, 2026

London, United Kingdom: Singapore Airlines has been named the World’s Best Airline for 2026 at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, reclaiming

Qantas Ground Workers Set 24-Hour Strikes Across Australia Over Pay And Conditions

Aviation Today News Desk September 19, 2026

Sydney, Australia: Hundreds of Qantas ground workers will stage 24-hour strikes across Australia on 23 and 24 September 2026 over pay,

Saudi Arabia Approves Air Arabia-Led Consortium For New Dammam-Based Low-Cost Airline

Aviation Today News Desk September 18, 2026

Dammam, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia has cleared an Air Arabia-led consortium to launch a new national low-cost carrier from Dammam, after

Lagos, Nigeria: The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s August 2026 domestic flight-disruption report has come under challenge from Air Peace, United Nigeria Airlines and ValueJet, with the carriers questioning the regulator’s flight-count data and its failure to distinguish delays caused by airlines from those linked to airports, weather, infrastructure and other external factors. The NCAA, in its report released on 13 September 2026, said 15 domestic airlines operated 7,961 flights in August, of which 4,765 were delayed and 36 cancelled. Air Peace was listed with 1,864 flights and 1,330 delays, giving it a 71.4% delay rate, while United Nigeria recorded 943 delays from 1,231 flights, the highest delay rate at 76.6%. ValueJet recorded 435 delays from 767 flights, or 56.7%. The NCAA said 2,801 delays lasted between 16 minutes and one hour, 1,322 lasted one to two hours, 407 lasted two to three hours and 235 lasted at least three hours. Air Peace accounted for 108 of the longest delays. Air Peace challenged the figures on 17 September 2026 through a statement signed by its Chief Operating Officer, Oluwatoyin Olajide. The airline said it actually operated 2,564 flights in August, rather than the 1,864 recorded by the NCAA, arguing that the omission of more than 700 flights distorted its performance metrics and inflated its reported delay rate. “By omitting over 700 fully operational flights from the data pool, the NCAA’s calculations skew our actual performance metrics and artificially inflate the reported delay percentages,” the airline said. Air Peace also questioned why the NCAA began its monthly disruption series with August instead of July, after publishing its first- and second-quarter disruption reports on 31 July. “Why did the NCAA start the monthly series with August rather than July, immediately following the publication of Q1 and Q2 on 31st of July?” the airline asked. It also questioned the publication of detailed August data only 13 days after the end of the month. Another major issue raised by Air Peace was the absence of an airline-by-airline breakdown of the causes of delays. The NCAA report provided the number and duration of delays but did not publicly attribute individual delays to internal airline factors or external circumstances. Air Peace argued that this presentation could leave the impression that the disruptions were primarily caused by airline operations. The airline said its own review found 391 flights affected by internal factors, mainly technical issues requiring unscheduled maintenance and fuel-related problems. It attributed the remaining disruptions to external factors including airport congestion and traffic, infrastructure deficiencies, adverse weather, bird strikes, aviation-union industrial action and aircraft damage by a ground-handling company. Air Peace said airport congestion and traffic accounted for more than 51% of its externally caused delays. Air Peace also pointed to a bird strike involving aircraft 5N-BYG in Abuja. The airline said the strike damaged the aircraft’s inlet cowl beyond acceptable limits, cost about US$1.8 million to repair and kept the aircraft out of service for more than a week. It said the aircraft normally operated at least eight sectors a day and carried about 1,000 passengers, meaning its removal affected subsequent rotations. The airline further said adverse weather during the rainy season caused safety holds and diversions, creating consequential delays across later flights. It also said aviation-union picketing that began on 11 August, 2026 affected its operations for more than 14 days, causing rescheduling, delays and cancellations. The NCAA had separately acknowledged the industrial action on 11 August, 2026 saying it was affecting passengers and other stakeholders and urging the unions to resolve the dispute. United Nigeria Airlines raised a similar methodological concern during the Aviation Day of the 23rd Akwaaba African Travel Market in Lagos on 15 September, 2026. Its Chief Commercial Officer, Adedayo Olawuyi, said the NCAA figures should distinguish between controllable and uncontrollable delays before carrier performance is assessed. “The first problem we have with that data, personally speaking, is that the data was not presented in a way where we have removed controllable delays and uncontrollable delays,” Olawuyi said. Olawuyi cited airport congestion, inadequate infrastructure, technical problems and weather as causes of disruption. He said aircraft can be ready for departure but remain blocked on ramps or delayed before accessing the runway because several operators are using limited airport capacity. He also described a recent United Nigeria Lagos-Kano flight affected by bad weather. According to Olawuyi, the flight eventually departed Lagos at about 10:30 p.m., but a thunderstorm at Kano disabled runway lighting before landing. The aircraft returned to Lagos and landed at about 1 a.m. “That’s not the fault of the airline,” he said. Olawuyi said many Nigerian airports have limited night-operating capability, meaning an earlier delay can extend beyond operating hours and result in cancellation. He argued that the regulator’s figures should therefore be assessed across the wider aviation system rather than attributed solely to carriers. ValueJet’s Chief Commercial Officer, Trevor Henry, made a similar argument at the same Lagos event. He cited presidential movements, weather, congestion at check-in and security points, crowded boarding lounges, boarding-gate congestion and taxiway and runway congestion as factors affecting schedules. “Delays and cancellations are usually caused by issues like presidential movements, weather, airport congestion at check-in, congestion in the boarding lounge due to security checks, and congestion at the boarding gate,” Henry said. The discussion also produced a proposed operational response from Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2. MMA2 Chief Operating Officer Remi Jibodu said more than 10 airlines can schedule flights around 7 a.m., creating pressure on airport facilities. He proposed better coordination and staggered departure times, including consideration of a slot system to spread peak-hour traffic. The dispute therefore centres on two separate questions: whether the NCAA’s flight-volume figures accurately captured individual airline operations, and whether raw delay totals are sufficient to assess airline performance without identifying the causes of each disruption. The NCAA has not publicly responded in the sources reviewed to Air Peace’s specific claim that 700 flights were omitted from its August total. Its published report remains the regulator’s official August disruption dataset, while the airlines’ alternative figures and causal breakdowns remain claims from the respective carriers pending reconciliation with the NCAA.

Nigerian Airlines Challenge NCAA Delay Data Over Missing Flights And External Factors

Aviation Today News Desk September 18, 2026

Lagos, Nigeria: The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s August 2026 domestic flight-disruption report has come under challenge from Air Peace, United Nigeria

Poland Temporarily Closes Two Airports As Russian Drone Strikes Hit Western Ukraine

Aviation Today News Desk September 17, 2026

Rzeszów, Poland: Poland temporarily suspended civilian flight operations at Lublin Airport and Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport on 16 September 2026, as Polish military

Malaysia Reviews Airline Contingency Plans As AirAsia Faces Mounting Financial Pressure

Aviation Today News Desk September 17, 2026

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Malaysia’s government has asked Malaysia Airlines and Batik Air whether they could absorb AirAsia’s domestic market share as

Korean Air Finalize Record 103 Aircraft Order Covering Four Boeing Jet Models

Aviation Today News Desk September 16, 2026

Seoul, South Korea: Boeing and Korean Air on 16 September 2026 finalized an order for 103 aircraft, covering four Boeing models

New York, United States: Latvia’s national airline airBaltic voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in New York on 14 September 2026, seeking to restructure its debt after soaring jet fuel costs and stalled negotiations with creditors pushed the carrier into acute financial stress. The airline said it had secured a commitment for €350 million ($405 million) in financing from Strategic Value Partners, Barclays, Hayfin Capital Management, Morgan Stanley and Oaktree Capital Management to support operations during the restructuring. The financing carries an interest rate of about 12% and remains subject to court approval. AirBaltic said it expects the court-supervised restructuring to be completed by June 2027, while flights will continue as scheduled. The filing comes as the aviation industry faces severe pressure from the Iran war that has doubled jet fuel prices and triggered the sector’s worst crisis since the COVID-19 pandemic. AirBaltic’s board said in a bankruptcy-court filing that the airline was experiencing “acute financial stress due to a combination of financial and geopolitical factors.” AirBaltic had been negotiating with creditors to secure additional financing, but the talks failed to produce an agreement. Before the bankruptcy filing, bondholders were due to vote on a proposal to raise up to €257 million through new super-senior debt due in February 2027, carrying an interest rate of 25%. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said bondholders representing more than 70% of the value of the airline’s debt chose liquidation instead of approving the financing required to keep the company going. “I view this solution as one of the best options for ensuring airBaltic’s viability, as it provides the necessary tools and time to implement the restructuring plan,” Kulbergs said. The Latvian government is continuing to search for a strategic investor while airBaltic reduces its fleet and reorganises its financial obligations. AirBaltic’s financial problems had been building before the latest fuel shock. The airline said it had about $583 million in funded debt and finance lease liabilities, while it owed €106 million in payroll taxes, airline taxes and fees. The carrier generated about €779 million in revenue in 2025. Kulbergs said airBaltic had “burned through” €380 million raised through bonds issued in 2024 by April 2026. A €30 million emergency government loan provided to the airline ran out in June. The airline had also attempted to lease out excess aircraft as it sought ways to improve its financial position. AirBaltic had previously planned to expand its fleet to 100 aircraft. However, the company’s growth strategy was hit by the loss of potential transit traffic from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine through Riga, while higher fuel costs made its financial position more difficult to sustain. Aviation analyst Simonas Bartkus said, “This is no longer available, and the company became too large for its market. The rise in fuel costs made the situation acute, they had no time to find a solution.” Kulbergs said, “Serving Baltic and Latvian routes requires only 30 aircraft, not 100.” AirBaltic currently operates about 50 Airbus A220-300 aircraft. As part of the Chapter 11 process, the airline plans to cancel or defer outstanding deliveries from a $3.5 billion order for 40 additional Airbus aircraft. It also plans to address $106.7 million worth of additional aircraft engines ordered from Pratt & Whitney. AirBaltic said it had already begun discussions with Airbus about deferring additional aircraft deliveries beyond 2026. Airbus did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, while RTX, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, declined to comment. AirBaltic employs more than 3,000 people and has been expanding its global workforce for about a decade. CEO Erno Hilden said the airline was in talks with labour unions about “an adjustment in the workforce”, which he described as a natural consequence of the carrier’s existing capacity-reduction plans. Hilden said the largest operational changes during the Chapter 11 restructuring would involve reducing airBaltic’s wet-lease business, under which the airline provides aircraft and crews to other carriers for a fee. Despite the financial difficulties, Hilden said he remained confident about the underlying business. “I do think that the underlying business for airBaltic is a very healthy one. So after we really execute on our new business plan, I do see a bright future for the company,” he said. AirBaltic said the Chapter 11 filing is intended to provide protection from creditors while it negotiates a restructuring of its debt. The airline has said its flights will continue to operate as scheduled throughout the court-supervised process. The restructuring is expected to be completed by June 2027. Hilden, who previously led Scandinavian airline SAS through its own Chapter 11 restructuring between 2022 and 2024, said airBaltic is “targeting the same process”. The Latvian government remains the majority owner of airBaltic, while Germany’s Lufthansa holds a 10% minority stake. The government is continuing to seek a strategic investor as the airline restructures its debt, reduces its fleet and adjusts its operations. AirBaltic’s Chapter 11 filing makes it the second airline casualty linked to the economic impact of the Iran war after Spirit Airlines, although Spirit had entered bankruptcy months before the conflict began. The immediate challenge for airBaltic is to stabilize its finances while maintaining its network and operations. The airline now has until the planned completion of the Chapter 11 process in June 2027 to implement its restructuring plan, reduce costs and establish a more sustainable financial structure.

AirBaltic Seeks Chapter 11 Protection In US Amid Rising Fuel Costs And Debt

Aviation Today News Desk September 15, 2026

New York, United States: Latvia’s national airline airBaltic voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in

Russia’s 26 Major Airports Face Aircraft Refuelling Restrictions Amid Fuel Crisis

Aviation Today News Desk September 14, 2026

Moscow, Russia: At least 26 major Russian airports had introduced aircraft-refuelling restrictions according to an analysis of aeronautical-information-system notices by independent

Civil Aviation

NATS Technical Failure At Prestwick Disrupts UK Flights; CAA Rules Out Compensation

Singapore Airlines Reclaims World’s Best Airline Title At 2026 Skytrax Awards

Qantas Ground Workers Set 24-Hour Strikes Across Australia Over Pay And Conditions

Saudi Arabia Approves Air Arabia-Led Consortium For New Dammam-Based Low-Cost Airline

Nigerian Airlines Challenge NCAA Delay Data Over Missing Flights And External Factors

Poland Temporarily Closes Two Airports As Russian Drone Strikes Hit Western Ukraine

Malaysia Reviews Airline Contingency Plans As AirAsia Faces Mounting Financial Pressure

Korean Air Finalize Record 103 Aircraft Order Covering Four Boeing Jet Models

AirBaltic Seeks Chapter 11 Protection In US Amid Rising Fuel Costs And Debt

Russia’s 26 Major Airports Face Aircraft Refuelling Restrictions Amid Fuel Crisis

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