Azul, the Brazilian airline led by JetBlue Airways founder David Neeleman, filed for an IPO in the US, following at least two previous delays because of slumping Brazilian stocks. The Sao Paulo-based airline filed Monday for a $100m IPO, a placeholder amount used to calculate fees that may change. Proceeds from the offering will be used to repay debt and for general corporate purposes, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Brazilians are anticipating an economic recovery in 2017 after the country’s deepest recession on record, the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff and a corruption scandal that has lasted almost three years. In June, Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras, Brazil’s third-biggest airline by passengers, said it was studying another reduction to its fleet as air-travel demand shrank to the lowest in five years. The country’s aviation industry contracted 5.5% last year, according to Abear, the Brazilian airline association. The airline plans to list American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange and preferred shares in Brazil. <br/>
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JetBlue Airways cut back on 2017 expansion plans, joining other US carriers in the effort to keep the number of seats and flights in check to gain more control over pricing. The New York-based carrier is trying to catch up with larger US airlines, which have been slowing growth to stanch bleeding in the closely watched measure of revenue from each seat flown a mile. The industry benchmark, also known as unit revenue, typically declines when capacity grows faster than demand and carriers are forced to cut fares to fill seats. JetBlue’s relative delay in cooling capacity growth prompted some investors to dump the shares, pushing them to the biggest decline this year on a Bloomberg index of 11 airline stocks. The carrier estimated last month that unit revenue would fall as much as 9% in January and said it would review expansion plans. On Monday the airline cut its target for capacity growth by 1 percentage point to a range of 5.5 to 7.5% above last year. Plans for this quarter remained unchanged, the carrier said. “The net impact, along with incremental revenue initiatives not discussed on the call, should positively impact earnings, particularly in second half 2017,” said Savanthi Syth, a Raymond James Financial analyst. “We believe investors will view favorably the quick response by JetBlue,” she said. The cuts are focused on April and May, which aren’t months of peak demand, and overnight transcontinental flights, Syth said. As a result of the capacity change, costs for each seat flown a mile excluding fuel will rise 1.5 to 3.5% this year from 2016, one-half percentage point more than originally expected, JetBlue said.<br/>
Ryanair Holdings reported an 8% drop in three-month earnings and said it’s “cautious” about meeting full-year targets as a capacity glut and stuttering economies cause fares to tumble. Net income fell to E95m in Q3 ended Dec. 31 from E103m a year earlier, Ryanair said Monday. Analysts had estimated the figure would be barely changed at E102m. Europe’s biggest low-cost airline saw prices tumble 17% in the quarter as it sought to undercut rivals, and said that trend is set to continue. While 12-month profit should still be in the range of E1.3b to E1.35b, the Dublin-based company said it can’t be more specific and that any “security events” impacting near-term bookings could cause it to fall short. “We are cautious into the balance of the year,” CFO Neil Sorahan said. “Any other shocks to the market, be it air traffic control strikes or terrorism, if we were to see any major events than clearly all bets would be off.” The winter decline in ticket prices was steeper than the 13 to 15% previously forecast, though the reductions helped lift Ryanair’s passenger tally 16% so that its load factor reached a record 95%. The company has also stepped up efforts to pare expenses and lifted its full-year target for unit cost cuts to 4 from 3%. Q4 yields will decline as much as 15% and fares will remain “challenging” into fiscal 2018, Ryanair said, with rivals that have quit Egypt and Tunisia following terror attacks there saturating the market in Portugal, Spain and Italy, according to Sorohan. Ryanair reiterated that it expects to grow more slowly in the UK than it once planned following the country’s June 23 vote to quit the EU. <br/>
HNA Group subsidiary Hainan Airlines has completed the acquisition of a 48.2% stake in Tianjin Airlines, also an HNA subsidiary. The deal makes Hainan Airlines the controlling stakeholder in the Tianjin-based carrier with an 87.3% stake. Hainan purchased a 39.1% stake in Tianjin in 2013 and 2014 through a cash investment in an effort to increase Tianjin’s competitiveness. In September 2016, Hainan collected more than CNY16.5b ($2.4b) by circulating nonpublic A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, of which CNY5.6b was used to pay for the 48.2% stake. Tianjin Airlines has two other shareholders: Tianjin Chuangxin Investment Partner Co., which has an 8.5% stake, and Tianjin Bonded Area Investment Co., which holds a 4.2% stake. Launched in June 2009, Tianjin Airlines is a joint venture set up by HNA Group and the Tianjin municipal government. The carrier operates more than 90 aircraft on more than 200 domestic and 30 international routes to over 100 destinations. In 2015, Tianjin transported more than 11m.<br/>
Thai Lion Air is pursuing a reserved expansion plan this year in a move seen as a response to overcrowded skies and intensifying competition. For the time being, the low-cost carrier subsidiary of Indonesia's Lion Group has only one additional aircraft, a Boeing 737-900ER, confirmed to enter its fleet this year. That is a marked slowdown from last year, which saw six B737s join TLA's fleet, which reached 24 by year-end. In 2015, the airline added 10 aircraft, and the original fleet plan for 2016 had included an additional 10 aircraft. TLA still hopes to secure three more B737-900ERs in the course of 2017 if the market warrants it. "The airline business is very dynamic, and we have to be flexible in adjusting our plans to suit the demand and supply conditions," TLA CE Aswin Yangkirativorn said. <br/>