BA owner IAG chose Paris as a second base for its discount airline Level, which will offer transatlantic flights to destinations like New York and the Caribbean as carriers compete to lower prices on longer routes. CEO Willie Walsh unveiled the plan Tuesday in the French capital, which won out over Rome for the designation. Level plans to start offering in the coming months one-way tickets from Paris to New York for 129 euros and to Montreal, Guadeloupe and Martinique for 99 euros, he said. "We believe long-haul, low-cost routes can be profitable," Walsh said. The airline, which currently operates only from Barcelona, will progressively replace the premium ‘OpenSkies’ brand and operate out of Paris’s Orly airport, which is also a hub for the group’s other low-cost airline, Vueling. IAG is using Level to defend its markets against similar discount long-haul operations at Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, as well as specialist low-cost operator Norwegian Air Shuttle. The unveiling of a hub in France comes the same week as Air France prepares to roll out a new airline called Joon that it says will have lower fares than its flagship brand. IAG picked Paris because of the number of tourists flocking to the city, OpenSkies head Patrick Malval said.<br/>
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For a second straight day customers of Southwest Airlines ran into problems Tuesday when trying to use the airline's website to manage their travel plans. Southwest posted an apology to customers who were having difficulty on the website or the carrier's mobile app. Some customers said on Twitter that they were unable to check in online for flights. A Southwest spokeswoman said the airline fixed a broken link in customer emails that led to check-in problems, and the airline removed the apologetic advisory from its website around midday. On Monday, the Southwest spokeswoman blamed difficulties in making or changing reservations on a problem with the airline's new reservation system, which uses information technology from Madrid-based Amadeus IT Group. An Amadeus spokesman said some airlines' booking capabilities were affected Monday but the problem was fixed and systems were operating normally Tuesday. British Airways and Lufthansa, both Amadeus customers, said that they had not experienced new problems on Tuesday.<br/>
AirAsia India expects revenue to double to 12b Indian rupees ($186m) this calendar year, and triple to 18b rupees in 2018, its CE said Tuesday. The airline, a tie-up between Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd and India’s Tata Sons conglomerate, made revenue of 6b rupees in 2016, CE Amar Abrol said. Air passenger traffic in India, the world’s fourth biggest market, is growing at over 20% annually. Abrol declined to say when the airline expected to turn a profit, but said it was targeting to launch its first international route in January 2019 which would most likely be to either Malaysia or Thailand. Under new rules, domestic airlines can fly overseas as long as they deploy 20 aircraft or 20% of capacity in India, whichever is higher. Airlines previously had to wait five years before they were permitted to fly on foreign routes.<br/>
Thai AirAsia X (TAAX) expects to finish 2017 with a profit for the second year in a row, paving the way for its planned listing on the bourse. The country's first medium- to long-haul low-cost carrier expects to declare a net profit of 80m baht this year, up from 40m in 2016, its first profit since beginning operation in 2014. TAAX aims to increase earnings next year and continue profitability so it can be eligible to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said TAAX chief executive Nadda Buranasiri. SET rules require companies wishing to list to declare a profit for five consecutive years. TAAX expects a stronger balance sheet next year as it seeks to revive a growth plan that was bogged down by restrictions imposed by the International<br/>Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in June 2015. TAAX, a joint venture between AirAsia X of Malaysia and Thai AirAsia, wants to increase its fleet of Airbus A330-300s to 10 next year from six and introduce new routes in northern Asia.<br/>
Taiwanese carrier Mandarin Airlines took delivery of the first of three ATR 72-600 Nov. 24 on long-term lease from Singapore-based lessor Avation. The turboprop aircraft, in a single-class, 70-seat configuration, will operate on Taiwan’s domestic network, which ATR has described as a competitive, highly challenging market. Mandarin Airlines is a regional subsidiary of Taiwanese flag carrier China Airlines. “With ATR 72-600s joining the fleet, Mandarin Airlines will significantly increase the flight frequencies on each domestic route and then introduce some potential new sectors afterwards,” Mandarin Airlines president Jenny Tsao said. “The ATR 72-600 contributes to increased flight frequencies … for example, three to five daily flights instead of one to two daily currently. Intensive flight frequency is a main goal as we introduce ATRs into our market.” ATR indicated it is also willing to provide engineering and technical support to China Airlines and its subsidiaries to set up in-house capabilities for ATR heavy maintenance, up to C checks.<br/>
State-owned Air India's low cost airline Air India Express will continue to expand before the group's privatisation next year, in a bid to increase its valuation, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Air India Express is considering adding new routes from Gujarat to either Dubai or Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, CE K. Shyamsundar said. "If you had more profitable routes, more (take-off and landing) slots, it increases the value of the company," he said. Shyamsundar said the airline could also add more aircraft to its fleet, though major decisions would have to be approved by the board and potentially the government. Air India Express committed before the privatization plans to taking two additional Boeing 737 jets next September, which will increase its fleet to 25 single-aisle Boeing aircraft. However, Shyamsundar said the airline was able to add more flights without expanding its fleet as it had increased the average daily utilization of its aircraft by an hour to 13 hours. <br/>