Virgin Australia is starting to look at revenue management and other opportunities with HNA Group as part of their alliance on China-Australia routes. “They’ve been working with us at an operational level. We’re deepening the conversation around revenue management,” says Virgin group executive Rob Sharp. HNA holds a 20% stake in the Australian carrier, which was initially acquired via an equity injection into Virgin in 2016, and subsequently maintained through a series of additional capital raisings. Last year Australia’s competition regulator cleared HNA and a number of its airline units to enter into an alliance with Virgin on Australia-China routes. That included Hong Kong Airlines and HK Express. Sharp says that the Hong Kong Airlines partnership in particular has been delivering strong feed for its Melbourne-Hong Kong flights. <br/>
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JetBlue Airways has selected Vantage Airport Group and RXR Realty to lead its proposed multibillion-dollar terminal expansion at John F. Kennedy International. JetBlue’s planned expansion, estimated to cost between US$2b and $3b depending upon the final design, is intended to add gates that can accommodate modern, wide-body planes. The airline currently operates out of JFK’s Terminal 5, which has 29 narrow-body gates. The expansion could add 12 larger gates, according to Steve Priest, JetBlue’s CFO. Priest said the airline received bids from 10 companies to partner on the development. JFK is among the busiest airports in the country and private companies saw “potentially great returns on a long-term lease in a high-demand environment,” Priest said. <br/>
Ryanair will begin flights to Ukraine from Oct 2018 with 10 new routes from the capital Kiev and 5 new routes from Lviv. The move comes after Ryanair walked away from previous plans to begin operating to and from Ukraine from Oct 2017, citing a disagreement with Kiev’s Boryspil International. It said in July 2017 that Kiev airport had chosen to protect high-fare airlines, including Ukraine International Airlines, and it was cancelling plans in the country because of the airport’s “failure to honour a growth agreement” reached in March 2017 with the ministry of infrastructure and airport officials. The dispute appears to have been resolved with Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary saying March 23: “Ryanair is pleased to announce that low fares have officially arrived in Ukraine, our 36th country of operation.” <br/>
Air Malta will launch 15 new routes this summer, marking its biggest growth ever. The carrier has also secured the lease of 1 Airbus A320neo to help with the network expansion. The carrier resumes flights to Casablanca, Malaga and Lisbon. Thirteen new destinations will be added, including Cagliari, Comiso, Kiev, Tarbes–Lourdes, St Petersburg, Venice, Manchester, Frankfurt and London South End. Air Malta CCO Paul Sies said the airline is expanding operations “not just by concentrating on point-to-point connections, but also by tapping into new markets through a series of intra-European services.” This year, Air Malta will operate 18,230 flights; up 30% or an increase of 4,155 flights compared to 2017. <br/>
Vietnamese start-up Bamboo Airways has placed a tentative order for up to 24 Airbus A321neos. The carrier’s parent company, Vietnamese conglomerate FLC Group, signed an MOU for the aircraft in Paris March 26. Bamboo Airways plans to start operations in 2019 with leased aircraft before taking delivery of its new A321neos. The new airline will focus on linking international markets to Vietnamese leisure destinations, as well as on selected domestic routes. FLC Group is one of Vietnam’s largest conglomerates with interests ranging from real estate development, hotel construction and management, financial services and mining. “This decision once again underscores the position of the A321 as the aircraft of choice in the mid-market segment,” Airbus CCO Eric Shulz said <br/>