Airlines

Cabin crew sex ring is busted by cops after ‘bedding clients for £2,000-a-night’

An illegal sex ring reportedly operated by aircraft cabin employees who also worked as sex workers was discovered by Vietnamese police.

Following a raid where reportedly illegal sexual activities were taking place, several men and women were spotted being frogmarched out of an expensive hotel in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday night. According to reports, the ring’s participants were billing passengers up to $3,000 (£2,362) per night.

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The raid also resulted in the arrest of a 26-year-old woman who is suspected of being the ring’s leader. It is alleged that Vo Thi My Hanh, a member of the flight crew for Vietnam Airlines, gave prospective customers images of the women.

Ms. My Hanh was detained on suspicion of brokering sex services and prostitution, both of which are prohibited in Vietnam. Four individuals were discovered indulging in illegal activity in the room during the raid, according to a statement from the police department in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday.

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Officers carried out an investigation of the hotel on Le Thi Rieng Street in the Ben Thanh district of District 1, where they discovered four prostitution-related subjects in four separate rooms. All four were in their twenties: three were flight attendants and one was a model.

The four women asserted to being engaged by the suspect at the police station who sold them for sex at the hotel for $1,000–$3,000 USD. Currently, the situation is being investigated by the Investigative Police Department, City Public Security, and Criminal Police Department, who are strictly addressing it in accordance with the law.

“The Investigation Police Agency invites the suspect’s accomplices to come to the Criminal Police Department’s headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City to surrender and be granted leniency.”

Source

Airlines

S7 Group Begins Fan Blade Production for Western Engine Models

The privately-owned Russian aerospace giant S7 Group has reportedly commenced production of blades for Western-built aero engines at its subsidiary, the Berdsk Electromechanical Plant (BEMZ), located in Novosibirsk.

This development, reported by the Russian aviation publication ATO.ru, marks a significant step for the company amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.BEMZ has started manufacturing composite fan blades compatible with jet turbine engines, including the CFM International CFM56, which powers popular aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family.

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The technology for restoring blades of gas turbine engines used in Airbus and Boeing aircraft was previously developed by the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and is now being implemented in the production of new aircraft parts at BEMZ.

Currently, BEMZ focuses on producing parts essential for maintaining the airworthiness of civil aircraft. Over the past year and a half, the plant has manufactured approximately 3,500 structural elements and components for replacement on foreign aircraft, which are utilized by airlines such as S7 Airlines, Pobeda, Aurora, and Aeroflot.

The facility is undergoing expansion, with two stages of an investment program totaling 2 billion roubles already completed. These developments are likely geared toward producing blades for the CFM56 engines, which equip more than half of S7’s operational fleet, including 28 Airbus A320-family aircraft and 19 Boeing 737-800s.

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Vasily Yurchenko, CEO of Berdsk Electromechanical Plant, emphasized the shift in focus towards maintaining the airworthiness of the Western-made fleet. The plant has delivered thousands of components to S7 and other Russian carriers since 2022. Notably, according to Russia’s Air Operators Association, 89% of the country’s passengers in 2023 traveled aboard foreign-made aircraft.

Future plans include serious investments to transform the plant into a modern, high-tech aircraft manufacturing facility. In addition to engine blades, BEMZ is also known for producing various spare parts for aircraft, reinforcing its role in the Russian aviation industry as it adapts to new manufacturing needs.