Sunday Reads: Our Most Notable Stories This Week

It's that time of the week again, when we take a look back at some of our most popular stories from the last seven days. Larger aircraft feature heavily this week, with the A380, 747, and even the Antonov An-225 making an appearance!

World’s Largest Jet Returns To The Skies

This week marked the enormous Antonov An-225's first mission for nearly a year. The colossal six-engine aircraft flew from its base in Kyiv to Afghanistan, where it picked up three Puma helicopters as part of the RAF's withdrawal from the country. Having taken them to the UK, the An-225's powerful departure destroyed part of RAF Brize Norton's fence!

Delta And Virgin Launch Health Passport

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic are among the companies clamoring for transatlantic travel to re-open. As part of their efforts, they have launched a digital health passport which they hope could be key to unlocking such journeys. You can read more about it here.

Virgin Atlantic, Anniversary, Bad Year — The airline will focus on rebuilding its transatlantic market before a stock market listing. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

4 Day Old Emirates A380 Operates First Flight

Earlier this week, Emirates deployed its newest Airbus A380 on a flight from Dubai to Frankfurt. The aircraft bears the registration A6-EVO, and it had been with the airline for just four days at the time of its first revenue-earning service. You can read more about it here.

Emirates, Airbus A380, A6-EVO — A6-EVO arrives in Frankfurt on its first revenue flight. Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

Kalitta 747 Engine Shut Down Over The Atlantic

Details have emerged regarding an incident from earlier in the month involving a Kalitta Air Boeing 747-400 freighter. The plane suffered engine issues over the Atlantic, causing one of them to be shut down. It eventually made an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport, in the UK. It had been operating a flight from Los Angeles to Brussels.

Kalitta-Boeing-747-Engine-Shutdown — Kalitta's Boeing 747-400 N401KZ experienced engine problems over the Atlantic earlier this month. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Lufthansa Replaces Shortest Route With A Bus

Owing to the aviation industry's present struggles, Lufthansa has shelved its shortest route, an intra-Bavaria hop between Munich and Nuremberg. However, it will still connect the two cities going forward, albeit, with a 2.5-hour bus journey instead of a flight.

Lufthansa, Shortest Route, Canceled — Lufthansa is to cut its shortest route between Munich and Nuremberg. Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

Televangelist’s 747 Unlikely To Leave Pinal

Simple Flying took a look this week at the story of an ex-TWA Boeing 747SP that has had a very interesting service life. It most recently flew for Ernest Angley Ministries, a company headed by the former televangelist of the same name. However, with Angley having recently passed away, it seems unlikely that it will ever leave its storage in Pinal Airpark, Arizona.