Fastjet will switch to a fleet of Embraer regional jets from larger Airbus planes as new CE Nico Bezuidenhout seeks to stem losses by better matching capacity to demand. The fledgling carrier also plans to move its headquarters to Johannesburg from London to pare expenses and bring the company closer to its key markets, Bezuidenhout, who took over as CE last month, said. Fastjet will have returned 3 leased 145-seat Airbus A319 jets by the end of September and plans to sub-lease 2, with a sixth, which it owns, up for sale. The carrier has agreed short-term leases on 3 Embraer E190s with 108 seats apiece, the first of which is due in Tanzania within 2 weeks. Based on current projections Fastjet should break even in terms of its cash flow from Q4 of next year, Bezuidenhout said. <br/>
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Plans for a new ultra-low-cost airline with a maintenance hub in Winnipeg are in jeopardy as the federal govt stalls on a decision about lifting foreign investment limits to let the airline get off the ground. Transport minister Marc Garneau refused to say Monday when he would make a decision about the exemption requested by Canada Jetlines in May. Jetlines wants an exemption to the 25% foreign ownership investment in Canadian airlines, with the limit being raised to 49% in its case. The airline has investors lined up to raise the required capital to obtain an operating license but many of them are in Europe and the US and bring the foreign ownership level beyond 25%. Transport Canada is consulting to determine if the exemption is in the public interest. <br/>
Firstnation Airways resumed flights Sept 18 after its Airbus A319 fleet was grounded for more than 3 weeks for maintenance work. Firstnation Airways operates 2 CFM56-powered Airbus A319s. Firstnation Airways head of commercial Serah Awogbade announced Sept 1 the airline had suspended operations to perform maintenance work, a situation that was further compounded by currency issues. “Current foreign exchange constraint, coupled with over 70% devaluation of Naira, partly contributed in no small measure,” Awogbade said. The maintenance suspension had been planned, the airline said, and passengers were notified well in advance. Originally, flights were meant to resume on or before Sept. 15, but according to local media reports, the grounding was extended because the parts were delayed by customs clearances. <br/>
JetBlue Airways will purchase from Philadelphia-based biofuel provider SG Preston over 33m gallons of blended jet fuel per year for at least 10 years, the airline said Sept 19. The fuel will consist of 30% hydro-processed esters and fatty-acids (HEFA) renewable jet fuel blended with 70% traditional Jet-A fuel. JetBlue expects to take first delivery of the fuel in 2019. Financial terms of the purchase agreement were not released. Additionally, JetBlue said it is “progressing forward and working through the process” to supply New York metropolitan airports with renewable jet fuel. “The fuel is expected to meet the [US] Environmental Protection Agency qualification for renewable fuel standards, as well as the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials certification standard for sustainable production of biofuels,” JetBlue said. <br/>
As it evaluates flying to Europe and deeper into South America, JetBlue is studying whether it should buy widebody aircraft or add a next-generation model of the single-aisle Airbus A321 it already flies, an airline executive said Monday. For JetBlue the most obvious choice is the A321LR, an aircraft Airbus expects will be available in 2019. JetBlue already has orders for a shorter-range model of A321, and its contract with Airbus allows it to switch to the long-range version. “We are very open to seeing all the options that are out there,” said David Clark, JetBlue’s VP for network planning. “We are certainly looking at widebodies. It’s less that we are looking at every widebody right now and more sort of [evaluating] widebodies in general versus the [A321LR]. We want to see which might be a better fit for us.” <br/>