Lufthansa said its supervisory board has approved plans to acquire the remaining 55% stake in Brussels Airlines via the exercise of a call option as part of its plan to boost Eurowings via acquisitions. The supervisory board is also expected to discuss plans for Lufthansa to take on more jets for Eurowings from Air Berlin, sources have said, to help make Eurowings the third largest low cost-carrier in Europe. Lufthansa acquired 45% of Brussels Airlines owner SN Airholding in 2009 for E65m (US$73m), taking the option of acquiring the remaining 55% from 2011. Brussels Airlines is strong on routes to Africa, where the Lufthansa network has gaps, and Lufthansa previously said it will look at ways to keep some of the branding. <br/>
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Bombardier appears to have found a patient launch partner in SWISS. The first customer to place a firm order for the aircraft, Swiss also (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to be the first airline to fly it. Now, SWISS is shrugging off delivery delays that mean it will receive fewer aircraft than it expected this year, saying it has a painless fall-back plan in place. Bombardier revealed this month that it will deliver only 7 CSeries jetliners this year, less than half its earlier forecast of 15, due to problems at engine supplier Pratt & Whitney. Peter Koch, SWISS fleet chief and program manager for the CSeries, isn’t frustrated by the delay. He said Bombardier has been in constant communication with Swiss and the airline has access to plenty of other aircraft to help fill the gap. <br/>
Ethiopian Airlines is in talks with the govts of Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda with a view to assisting them in establishing new national carriers. The carrier’s CE Tewolde Gebremariam says it has submitted formal proposals to all 4 countries and that some of these “are at an advanced stage”. Gebramariam says the discussions are heavily influenced by the strategy being adopted by each govt such as “what type of airline they want, what type of routes, and what type of co-operation, joint venture, equity [they want]”. He adds: “So in our case we are open to all kinds of cooperation because we really want them to develop their national airlines.” Ghana, Uganda and Zambia do not currently have state-owned airlines, while Zimbabwe is served by Air Zimbabwe which began operations in 2013. <br/>