Airlines are taking extreme measures to survive the pandemic, with Asiana Airlines Inc. flying the world’s biggest commercial plane more than 20 times, going nowhere and carrying no passengers, just to keep trainee pilots certified.
Keeping crew flight-ready is one of the challenges carriers face as they grapple with the unprecedented crisis that keeps more than a third of the world’s fleet grounded.
The empty Airbus SE A380 flew over South Korea for a few hours a day for three days in May to enable pilots of the 495-seat superjumbo to practice taking off and landing. The alternative — a trip to Thailand to use a simulator owned by Thai Airways International Pcl — was blocked because of travel bans, an Asiana spokesman said.
