EasyJet’s passenger count increased at less than half the pace of its low-cost rivals last year as the carrier struggled with its exposure to the British and French travel markets. Customer numbers increased 6.6% to 74.4m in 2016, EasyJet said Friday. That compares with a 15% gain at Ryanair and advances of 19% and 14% at Wizz Air and Norwegian Air Shuttle respectively. EasyJet is more exposed than its no-frills rivals both to the UK, where a weakening of the pound tied to the June 23 Brexit vote has reduced the spending power of holidaying Britons, and France, which has seen demand for flights hurt by a spate of terrorist attacks spanning Paris to the Mediterranean. EasyJet now lags almost 43m passengers behind Ryanair. <br/>
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Airbus said Sunday Iran's state airline IranAir had accepted its first new jet, marking a key step in opening up trade under a nuclear sanctions deal between Iran and major powers. The Airbus A321 jetliner has been painted in IranAir livery and is expected to be delivered later this week. Iranian regulators said the aircraft had been placed on the country's aircraft register, indicating IranAir had taken ownership of the aircraft: the first of around 200 Western aircraft ordered since sanctions were lifted. IranAir has ordered 100 passenger jets from Airbus and 80 from Boeing under the nuclear deal, which called for the lifting of most international sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear activities. Boeing also agreed last year to arrange the leasing of a further 29 aircraft. <br/>
SpiceJet is poised to order at least 92 Boeing 737 jetliners as the carrier plots rapid expansion. The transaction, which would more than double SpiceJet’s 49-plane fleet, may be closed within weeks after lengthy talks that pitted Boeing against rival Airbus, people with direct knowledge of the decision said. The deal includes firm orders for at least 50 of Boeing’s 737 Max, and renegotiated terms for 42 of the single-aisle jets that SpiceJet originally ordered in 2014, said the people. The 92 Max jets would be valued at about US$10.1b at current list prices. The order would be a record for SpiceJet, which was forced to shut down operations for a day 2 years ago after it ran out of money, prompting co-founder Ajay Singh to bail out the carrier. <br/>
Airlines are known to get into price wars. But domestic carriers in India seem to have got into a squabble over punctuality records. At least 2 domestic airlines, including SpiceJet, are set to meet the aviation safety regulator over the latter’s decision to review the computation of flight punctuality in India. The DGCA recently set up a panel to review the calculation of on-time performance of airlines days after IndiGo Airlines accused the Mumbai airport of inaccuracy. “SpiceJet has ensured that it maintains its impeccable operational standards even in harsh weather conditions to continuously emerge as the best on-time performing airline,” said the carrier. After discounts, on-time performance has become one of the primary yardsticks to woo passengers in India. <br/>
Airberlin Austrian subsidiary FlyNiki will cut 13 European destinations from Jan 30, as well as its daily Vienna-Abu Dhabi route from the end of March. The move is part of plans to create a new, yet-to-be named leisure airline group based in Vienna. The new leisure airline, which needs regulatory approval, will be 25% owned by Etihad Aviation Group and 24.8% owned by German holiday company TUI Group. The remaining 50.2% share is expected to be held by an Austrian foundation to ensure Austrian majority ownership and maintain international traffic rights. The new carrier will operate aircraft from TUI Group’s TUIfly airline and FlyNiki. It expects to operate 63 aircraft on point-to-point services in European tourist markets. <br/>
Turkish regional carrier BoraJet has been acquired by Istanbul-based investment group SBK Holding for US$258m, after it bought the shareholding of the airline’s founder Yalcin Ayasli. The airline operates a fleet of 7 Embraer E190s and 6 E195s to domestic destinations, as well as to 80 cities throughout Europe, Iran and Iraq. It also operates several executive jets on charter services. SBK Holding vice-chairman Umut Suna Uygun said that SBK appreciated that BoraJet was a small operation that did not have a significant impact in the airline industry but, “We are a young and ambitious organisation and willing to increase our asset in this industry.” The first objective was to restructure the airline, which had had “management issues” over the past 3 to 4 years, Uygun said. <br/>
A Boeing 737-700 operated by African carrier LAM Mozambique has sustained nose damage after colliding with an object on approach while operating a domestic flight. LAM said the aircraft was on approach when the crew heard a loud noise, suggesting a collision with a foreign object. The aircraft landed normally and the follow-up ground inspection revealed that the aircraft’s nose had been damaged. Photographs posted to social media show several serious dents and tears to the right-hand side of the 737-700’s nose cone. There is no obvious bird debris on the aircraft and unconfirmed media reports suggest the aircraft could have collided with a drone, although this has not been substantiated. LAM reported the incident to the Mozambique authorities and the aircraft has since been grounded. <br/>