Southwest Airlines expects to take delivery of 10 of the latest version of Boeing’s 737 before it begins flying the aircraft commercially next year, a consequence of the plane’s smoother-than-expected development. The airline is still discussing a delivery schedule for the Max 8 with Boeing and plans to take the planes by late August or early September of next year, Southwest COO Mike Van de Ven said Friday. Boeing has said the plane will be ready to make its debut in Q2. The Max 8 will allow Southwest to fly farther than it can now, a benefit as the carrier begins to expand its young international operations. It also offers a fuel-efficiency improvement of about 14% over current models and will be the first with the Leap-1B engine built by CFM International. <br/>
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A Samsung Note 2 phone emitted smoke and sparks on a flight from Singapore to southern India, IndiGo said. The phone was found in the bag of a passenger in an overhead bin after other passengers reported smelling smoke in the plane. The airline said there was no fire but sparks and smoke were coming from the phone. The crew used a fire extinguisher and then placed the phone in a container filled with water in a lavatory. The aircraft made a normal landing at the Chennai airport and all passengers deplaned normally, it said. The phone will be examined to determine the cause of the incident, the airline said. Samsung has recalled 2.5m newer Note 7 phones after dozens of reports of battery fires attributed to a manufacturing flaw. Authorities in several countries have banned their use in aircraft. <br/>
TUIfly has denied suggestions that the airline is planning to link up with EasyJet but declined to comment directly on a report that another European airline was interested in buying the airline. A German magazine report said Thursday that EasyJet was close to taking a stake in TUIfly, part of travel and tourism group TUI, as a way to secure flying rights within the EU should Britain leave the EU and not agree access to the bloc's single aviation market. But a TUIFly board member representing the labour force said Friday a second European carrier could be interested in buying the airline. Martin Locher, a TUIfly pilot and supervisory board member declined to name the airline Friday, but said it was a non-EU carrier. He also said it was not clear if talks with EasyJet were continuing. <br/>
Volotea plans to increase the pace of its re-fleeting plans, which include switching from Boeing 717s to Airbus A319s in 2017, as it moves toward an all-European fleet over the next few years. The airline, which specialises in linking secondary and tertiary European cities, said it had taken 4 A319s on strength this year, but anticipated acquiring a further 6 in 2017. By the end of next year, its fleet will consist of 18 717s and 10 A319s. The carrier has grown rapidly in its first 6 years of existence, having carried 2.5m passengers in 2015; it expects to carry 3.3m to 3.5m passengers this year. That figure is expected to jump again in 2017 to the 4.3m to 4.5m mark. It also anticipates growing its route network substantially, adding more than 40 new sectors next year. This will give it a route map of around 240 sectors. <br/>
Alaska Air Group said Friday that it agreed to give the US Justice Department “some additional time” to complete its antitrust review of the carrier’s planned merger with Virgin America Inc. But the carrier also said it is “confident” it will address any regulatory concerns and is “sticking to our timeline of closing” early in Q4. The parent of Alaska Airlines declined to say how much more time. Alaska in early April announced a US$2.6b offer to acquire Virgin America. The two carriers in mid-May received a request for more information about the deal from federal antitrust regulators. As part of that commonplace “second request” for information, the two airlines agreed not to close their deal before Sept 30. <br/>
Air Astana wants to strengthen the connection between Thailand and its Kazakhstan home base. The airline intends to ramp up its frequencies on the Bangkok-Almaty and Bangkok-Astana routes, now at 5 and 2 flights a week, respectively, to a daily basis by the end of 2019 or mid-2020. The move is consistent with the airline's plan to introduce a new fleet of the A321neo Long Range aircraft, the first of which is due to arrive around June 2019, said Peter Foster, the airline's CE. The planned increase in frequencies and introduction of new aircraft reflects the importance of Bangkok as a top destination in Southeast Asia to the carrier. Air Astana has a load factor of 80-90% in the high season and 70% in the low season for its Bangkok-bound services, said airline officials. <br/>