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IndiGo airline under safety audit by India’s civil aviation regulator

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India’s civil aviation regulator will conduct a special safety audit of the low-cost carrier IndiGo following concerns about the snag-ridden Pratt and Whitney (P&W) engines, which power the airline’s A320 Neo aircraft.

While an annual audit of IndiGo was due in April, a special Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) review will also be done of the airline’s operations and engineering departments.

“We confirm that there is currently a DGCA audit of IndiGo, which is combined with the annual main base audit. IndiGo has received a limited number of show-cause notices. IndiGo has responded accordingly and we can only comment on this matter after we have a discussion with the DGCA,” the airline said in a statement.

An airline source, however, dismissed reports that show-cause notices had been served on two senior officials of the airline.

Indian carriers IndiGo and GoAir have been inducting the P&W engine-powered A320 Neo aircraft since 2016. The former has 72 of these planes and the latter has 30.

Problems in engine

There have been problems in different parts of the engine, including the combustion chamber, knife edge seal, lift-off seal, front hub corrosion and heating of oil near lift-off seal leading to smoke on board a flight, apart from vibration during climb.

The engine-maker maintains that the problems are taking place as the engines are new into operations.

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Wizz Air boosts Budapest Airport’s summer schedule

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The early days of the summer season see Budapest Airport welcoming two new connections with Wizz Air as the home-based carrier launches links to London Gatwick and Oslo.

Supporting the advancement of the Hungarian gateway, the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) added a daily service to London Gatwick on Sunday, which sees Budapest offer over 100,000 seats to the UK’s second-largest airport (in terms of passenger traffic) during S19.

Today, the ULCC also launched the airport’s third operation to Oslo, adding to Budapest’s growing connection with Norway’s capital city.

Seeing a 35% increase in flights to Oslo during the summer season, Wizz Air will offer close to 200 services in total to the Scandinavian country as the latest service joins the airline’s existing links to Stavanger.

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Budapest Airport launches new winter routes

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Launching 15 new winter routes in total, Ryanair route additions will see 3 new destinations on Budapest Airport’s route map. Facing no competition on its new operations to Lappeenranta, Luxembourg and Poznan, Ryanair will be providing further variety to passengers traveling to and from Hungary.

As Budapest Airport’s blistering summer schedule is launched this weekend, the Hungarian gateway continues its route network expansion into the winter timetable with Ryanair. Confirming the addition of another 6 new services – Catania, Gothenburg, Lappeenranta, Luxembourg, Poznan and Tel Aviv – the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) will be offering a total of 46 routes from Budapest during the winter season.

“In just three years Ryanair has come close to doubling the number of passengers it has welcomed to Budapest Airport as early forecasts predict the carrier will deliver more than three million travelers to our gateway in 2019,” said Balázs Bogáts, Head of Airline Development, Budapest Airport. “Even before this summer season has begun, it’s great to announce that Ryanair will once again be enriching our route network from the winter with new destinations, as well as increased services on proven successful routes.”

As the ULCC also confirms frequency increases on its existing links to Berlin Schönefeld (9 times weekly), Copenhagen (daily), London Stansted (25 times weekly), Milan Bergamo (11 times weekly) and Prague (9 times weekly), an estimated over 3 million Ryanair customers will pass through Budapest throughout the summer and winter seasons, recording a robust growth of 17% and significantly reinforcing the airline’s growth at the Hungarian capital city airport.

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