Hello and welcome to the 127th iteration of Simple Flying’s ‘Sunday Reads’ weekly digest! The unstoppable tide of time has swept us into October, so let’s start the month in style by looking back at the top stories from September’s last week.
Parts Of Air France’s 1st Airbus A380 Are Now On Sale
Parts of the 1st Air France Airbus A380, F-HPJA, have gone on sale 3.5 years after the aircraft’s last flight. The jet was scrapped in Tarbes, France, after Air France decided to ditch the type at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, parts of the former giant’s fuselage have been turned into bag tags by Aviationtag, becoming the 100th aircraft to be partially upcycled by the German company. You can learn more here.
Work Underway: New Photos Show Destroyed Antonov An-225 Without Nose & Wings
Photos have emerged from Hozumel, where the remains of the world’s largest aircraft lie under the shell of an airplane hangar. Following the Antonov’s An-225’s destruction last year, there has been much speculation as to what will become of the aircraft and if it will ever fly again. You can take a look at its latest state here.
Photo: photowalking/Shutterstock
Airbus has taken an interesting step in the evolution of its management team by nominating Christian Scherer as the new Chief Executive Officer of the company’s Commercial Aircraft division. Scherer will report to Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury in this role, which is his latest in a string of positions at Airbus, having joined in 1984.
Photo: Skycolors/Shutterstock
9 COMAC Demo Planes Descend On Urumqi Airport Amid Xinjiang Tour
Recently, COMAC conducted a low-profile month-long demonstration flight in Xinjiang, a northwestern province of China. On September 23rd, as part of this demonstration, an ARJ21 aircraft from COMAC’s own fleet, known as the “COMAC Express,” flew from Kuche Qiuci Airport (KCA) to Urumqi Diwopu International Airport (URC), marking the official conclusion of its demonstration flight program.
Photo: COMAC
Delta Air Lines Offers Passengers $4,000 To Give Up Seats On Boston-Rome Flight
A recent video posted to TikTok revealed an enticing offer for an overbooked flight. The TikTok, originally posted by @michaela_romanosmith, showed a flight attendant announcing new offers to encourage passengers to exit the aircraft and take the next flight. The flight attendant reached the offer of $4,000 with the addition of a hotel room for the night before a passenger finally jumped at the offer.
Photo: Davidi Vardi/Shutterstock
Air New Zealand Rolls Out Bag Tracking In Air NZ App
After successfully trialing its new bag tracking feature with more than 8,000 customers, Air New Zealand rolled it out this week to all users of the airline’s Air NZ app. The new feature tracks a passenger’s checked baggage as it moves from check-in to arrival on the destination carousel. You can learn more about the feature here.
Photo: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock
If you’d like us to send you the week’s top stories in a weekly e-newsletter, you can sign up for the mailing list here. See you next week!
What was your favorite story this week? Let us know what you think in the comment section.