unaligned

After months of teasing, Alaska Airlines has bad news for loyal customers of Virgin America — their airline's name is being dumped. Alaska announced late Wednesday that it will retire the Virgin brand, probably in 2019, adding that name to a list including Continental and US Airways that disappeared in the past decade. Launching a new airline takes lots of money and patience — one reason that Virgin America's debut in 2007 was so eye-catching. The other was its hip vibe including mood lighting and young, attractive flight attendants. So when Alaska announced last year that it was buying Virgin for $2.6b, it was like asking Virgin customers to trade in their sports car for a minivan — a solid, reliable ride, but not exciting. Alaska Airlines knew it, too. Last June, CEO Brad Tilden held out hope to Virgin fans that he might keep the Virgin America brand, and run it as a separate airline under the same corporate umbrella. Tilden said he believed in "the power of the Virgin America brand, and we don't want to lose all that loyalty." But running an airline within an airline adds complexity and costs. Alaska flies only Boeing jets; Virgin uses Airbus planes. Sometimes a split personality works in the airline business, sometimes it doesn't — remember Ted, by United Airlines? And so Alaska's announcement came as no surprise to people in the business.<br/>

Dubai International Airport's duty free operator estimates that it will lose about $2m in sales this year from the ban on carrying most electronic devices on United States-bound flights, a senior executive said Thursday. Under new security measures announced this week, electronics larger than a mobile phone will be banned from passenger cabins on direct flights to the United States from airports in eight Muslim-majority nations, including the United Arab Emirates, starting Saturday. "We estimate that the ban will cost us around $2m in revenue for the year," Dubai Duty Free's COO Ramesh Cidambi said. The estimate is based on sales of electronics to US-bound passengers, excluding mobile phones and accessories, for 2016 and if the ban runs until the end of the year. US officials have said the ban is indefinite. Dubai Duty Free made $1.85b in total sales last year, Cidambi said. The CE of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, had earlier told DubaiEye radio that the ban on electronics covers goods sold in the airport, including duty free stores. The regulations, prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets, state that electronics larger than a mobile phone -- including laptops and tablets -- must be stowed with checked baggage on US-bound passenger flights.<br/>

A ban on most carry-on electronics on flights to the United States will not significantly affect passenger numbers at Dubai International, where flights depart to 12 US cities daily, the airport's CE said Thursday. The US announced Tuesday new restrictions on flights from airports in eight Muslim-majority countries, including the United Arab Emirates, affecting international airline Emirates which flies from Dubai. The restrictions apply to any device larger than a mobile phone, according to US officials, such as a laptop, tablet and portable DVD player. Industry experts say the ban starting this Saturday could see business travellers who use laptops to work during flights switch to unaffected carriers. "If we are very, very diligent in both communicating exactly what the restrictions are and actually have an efficient process to deal with the situation, I don't suggest it will have an impact on numbers," Dubai Airports CE Paul Griffiths said, adding that a "very tiny proportion" may choose to switch airlines. Dubai International, the world's busiest international airport, is targeting 89m passengers this year.<br/>

A little-known South Korean group is in advanced talks to acquire a stake in AirAsia's aircraft leasing unit, according to three people familiar with the matter. Two of the people said a deal would value AirAsia's fully-owned unit, Asia Aviation Capital, at roughly $900m. Privately-owned KOTAM, or Korea Transportation Asset Management, has been picked as the preferred bidder, the people said, with one adding that state lender Korea Development Bank (KDB) was tapped to provide funding, though it was not clear whether the bank had agreed to back the deal. KOTAM is part of Kukje Maritime Investment Corp, known as KMarin, which was founded in 2005 and has a fleet of 46 ships, according to its website. KOTAM, KDB and AirAsia did not have immediate comment. A successful deal would mark South Korea's biggest move into the $256b global aircraft leasing sector, which has attracted others in Asia, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, BOC Aviation, China's acquisitive HNA Group, and Japanese banks. KOTAM and AirAsia are negotiating final terms of the purchase of a majority stake in the leasing unit, one of the sources said. Asia's biggest budget airline has sought buyers for its subsidiary since last year, and has said it aimed to close a sale early this year. A deal with KOTAM could still fall through, and two sources said that AirAsia has not closed the door to a deal with a Chinese bidder.<br/>

Emirates will serve Nice on the French Riviera using an A380 superjumbo this summer, signaling a revival in tourist demand eight months after a terrorist drove a truck into crowds on the resort’s promenade, killing more than 80 people. The Dubai-based carrier will deploy the Airbus Group jet on daily services to Nice Cote d’Azur Airport as of July 1, providing a 44 percent capacity boost compared with the Boeing Co. 777-300ER that’s currently used, it said Thursday. The Emirates announcement comes a week after Abu Dhabi-based rival Etihad Airways said it would use an A380 for one of its two daily Paris services during the peak July 1 to Oct. 28 period after an upsurge in demand. Travel to France fell amid a series of attacks that began in 2015, with hotel bookings in Nice slumping 30 percent in immediate aftermath of the July 14 deaths. Nice airport has upgraded its boarding bridge and juggled operations to accommodate the double-decker, Dominique Thillaud, its president, said in the release, while Emirates Chief Commercial Officer Thierry Antinori predicted that deployment of the A380 will provide a further boost to visitor numbers.<br/>