JetBlue Airways reported improved March and Q1 passenger traffic figures Wednesday. JetBlue carried 3.49m passengers in March, a 5.3% increase on the same month of 2016. For Q1, passenger numbers were up 6.5% to 9.7m. Passenger traffic in revenue passenger miles was up 2.9% for the month and 3.9% for the quarter to end March. Available seat miles capacity increased by 4.2% in both periods. Load factor dipped by 1.1 percentage points to 85.7% in March and by 0.3 percentage points to 83.9% for the quarter. JetBlue said revenue per available seat mile increased by about 0.5% in March, excluding the expected 7 point impact from the timing of Easter. Q1 RASM is now expected to decline by approximately 4.8%, the carrier said. <br/>
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Will 2019 be the summer of British staycations? The answer is yes if you believe Ryanair. The carrier has been one of the most vocal about the disastrous impact Brexit could have on the aviation market. Ryanair has repeatedly warned that the worst-case scenario could be no flights between the UK and Europe for a period of weeks or even months if the govt fails to strike an early Brexit aviation deal with the EU. “There could be a situation where you’re going to have to get comfortable with staycations for the summer of 2019. Those trips down to Portugal and Spain…aren’t really going to happen,” says Neil Sorahan, Ryanair’s CFO. While many will brush this off as scaremongering, the airline’s warning does highlight the huge uncertainty, and upheaval, Britain’s aviation industry faces following the UK’s triggering of Article 50. <br/>
New Omani LCC SalamAir plans to rapidly expand its route map as it inducts more aircraft to its fleet. The airline began operations in January with flights between the Omani capital Muscat and the nation’s second city, Salalah. It followed this in February with its first international service to Dubai. The airline now has 3 leased Airbus A320s, with a fourth scheduled to arrive by July 2017. The airline now intends to move into Saudi Arabia, which has the Gulf’s largest population, rapidly growing demand for air services and is the site of the world’s largest religious pilgrimage. It will start flying 4X-weekly from Muscat to Jeddah from April 16, with the frequency increasing to daily from May 1. Plans are underway to increase connectivity to Saudi Arabia during Ramadan by adding flights to Taif and Madinah through Muscat and Salalah. <br/>
Air Arabia plans to fly more passengers, further, with its 2 recent deals to increase its fleet size, according to group CE Adel Ali. The carrier has now received all the aircraft from its original order for 44 Airbus A320s. Last year it went back into the market to top up its fleet with 2 new orders. First was a long-term lease with ALC for 6 Airbus A321neos, with deliveries due between January and Oct 2019. That was followed last November with conversion of 5 options for A320s into firm orders. These will be for the current A320ceo version, with deliveries anticipated to be completed by the end of year. The airline began services to Urumqi, in northwest China, in 2015 and the new aircraft –the long-range variant of the A321neo – will help with flying to China, certain central Asian and eastern European destinations. <br/>
Hainan Airlines has moved one step closer toward LCC Shen Niao Airlines after securing approval from China’s State Administration for Industry & Commerce (SAIC). According to Hainan Airlines, the Chengdu-based LCC venture has a registered capital of CNY3b (US$435m). Its Kunming-based subsidiary Lucky Air will hold a 35% stake with a CNY1.05b investment, Yunnan Lucky Investment Co. will own a 45% stake with a CNY1.35b, and Chengdu Communications Investment Group will hold the remaining 20% stake with CNY600m. However, local industry analysts said the new entity may face difficulties in receiving approval from CAAC as the Chinese regulator began tightening its grip on approving new entrants last year. Currently, 10 new domestic carriers are awaiting CAAC approval. <br/>