That Two Birds Leave the Big Durian Too Fast

F-GSQJ, an Air France Boeing 777-300ER landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta from Paris with a stop in Singapore

9K-AND, a Kuwait Airways Airbus A340-300 waited for takeoff at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta

Air France, the major and also flag-carrier airline of France announced if they would stop to fly to the "Big Durian" (the nickname of Jakarta City). Air France is flying to Jakarta daily from Paris via Singapore since 10 July 2014. This route is operated by Boeing 777-300ER. The Paris-Singapore-Jakarta sector is operated by flight AF254 while AF259 operated Jakarta-Singapore-Paris sector. The last Air France flight from Jakarta will occur on 28 March 2016. After that, Air France will keep flying to Singapore with Boeing 777-300ER. But, the flight number will be changed. The Paris-Singapore sector will be operated as flight AF256 and the Singapore-Paris sector will be operated as flight AF257. The flight time also will be changed. The Air France's reasons to stop to fly to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta are Low demand and Garuda Indonesia, the flag-carrier airline of Indonesia became the member of SkyTeam in March 2014. So, after Air France stop to fly to Jakarta, the flights from Jakarta to Paris and flights from Paris to Jakarta will be listed as code-share flights with Garuda Indonesia or the other SkyTeam members on Air France's website.

Kuwait Airways, the national airline of Kuwait also announced if they would scrap flights to Jakarta. The last flight from Jakarta will be occurred on 28 March 2016, at the same date when Air France would fly from Jakarta for the last time. Kuwait Airways operates flights from Kuwait City to Jakarta via Kuala Lumpur with Airbus A340-300 aircraft. But, unlike Air France, Kuwait Airways also would fly to Kuala Lumpur for the last time on the same date. The reason is Kuwait Airways is waiting for the new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft that will arrive in April 2016. So maybe Kuwait Airways will fly to Jakarta again in late December. Selamat tinggal dari Jakarta, Air France dan Kuwait Airways, sampai ketemu lagi nanti! (Goodbye from Jakarta, Air France and Kuwait Airways, see you again later!)

FlyDubai flight 981 Crashed near Rostov-on-Don International Airport

Debris field on the crash site

Again, disaster strikes Russian Aviation. A6-FDN, a FlyDubai Boeing 737-800 crashed near Rostov-on-Don International Airport after aborted to land on today, 19 March 2016. FlyDubai flight 981 was flying from Dubai International Airport to Rostov-on-Don International Airport. There were 55 passengers and 7 crews on board. There were no survivors.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia; "wind speed in the vicinity ranged from 14–22 m/s (27–43 kts; 31–49 mph). Just before the crash, ATC reported to Flight 981 that wind direction was 230 degrees, wind speed 12 m/s (23 kts; 27 mph) with gusts to 18 m/s (35 kn; 40 mph), and visibility was 3,500 m (11,500 ft). According to ATC communications published online, before the aircraft was established on the localizer, the instrument which indicates the centerline of the runway when pilots are landing using instruments rather than visually, pilots reported to ATC that in case they will need to make another go-around, they will climb to flight level 80—approximately 8,000 feet (2400 m). They then reported that they were established on the localizer and continued their descent. At 5.5 kilometers (3.4 mi) before the runway threshold, when the aircraft was at 1500 feet, it started climbing again. After reaching the altitude of 4,050 ft (1,230 m), it began a rapid descent with a vertical speed reaching more than 21,000 ft/min and crashed close to the runway less than a minute later, at 03:42 local time. ATC records appeared to show that the aircraft was going to moments before it crashed. The pilots reported their intention to abort the landing with "Going around, SkyDubai 981". ATC advised Flight 981 to switch to another air traffic controller ("SkyDubai 981, contact Rostov Radar on 121.2"). Flight 981 acknowledged this with "121.2, bye-bye", which was their final transmission."

A6-FDN lifted off from Dubai International Airport

According to Wikipedia, the aircraft, A6-FDN was five years old, first to fly on 21 December 2010 and delivered to FlyDubai on 24 January 2011. Rest in peace for all those who perished on FlyDubai flight 981.