FAA grants Santa Claus special operating authority for Christmas Eve flight

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Wednesday it has granted Santa Claus and his reindeer special operating authority to perform air-cargo-delivery services directly to rooftops throughout the United States on Christmas Eve.

In addition, for the first time ever, the FAA issued Santa a special commercial space license to visit the International Space Station using his StarSleigh-1 space capsule powered by the Rudolph Rocket. The mission license includes both launch and reentry operations and will occur from a U.S.-based spaceport.

Being a world humanitarian, Santa knows this Christmas is different from other years and he wholeheartedly agrees with the FAA decision to give priority to flights carrying COVID-19 vaccines and other cargo critical to the nation’s response to the ongoing public health emergency.

In addition, Santa has informed the FAA he will fly healthy during his journey by wearing a face mask on his flight to set a good example for everyone who is traveling by air this holiday season.

To ensure Santa and all other pilots have a safe trip, the FAA is asking the public for assistance and avoid creating a serious safety risk with drones and lasers. Sending up a drone to take a picture or video of an aircraft or sleigh is distracting to the pilots and will scare the reindeer, while holiday laser-light displays aimed into the sky can temporarily blind pilots.

Follow Santa’s progress as he travels across the U.S. by visiting the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) website, where NORAD tracks Santa’s Christmas Eve voyage.

airBaltic takes delivery of two Airbus A220-300 aircraft

Chorus Aviation Inc. announced Wednesday the delivery of two new Airbus A220-300 aircraft to airBaltic of Latvia. The aircraft (MSNs 55094 and 55095) are the final two of five units placed on long-term lease with the airline through a committed sale and leaseback transaction announced on November 20, 2019.

In December 2013, airBaltic became the first operator of the A220-300 aircraft and in May, the carrier re-launched as an all Airbus A220 airline. airBaltic is offering flights to more than 65 destinations from all three Baltic countries.

"We applaud airBaltic's successful resumption and expansion of services across Europe," stated Joe Randell, president and chief executive officer, Chorus.