Hainan Airlines plans to launch more than 40 international routes out of Hainan over the next 5 years, following China’s new policy to build the island as a free trade port. Earlier this month, Beijing also announced a 30-day visa-free policy for citizens from 59 countries into Hainan, to be effective from May 1. The carrier plans to raise the number of international services out of the province to 58 in 3 phases, and to drive inbound tourist numbers to 2m. The target is to build Haikou as a gateway for services to Japan and Korea, as well as Southeast Asia, building the inbound traffic for connections onto Europe and the US. It will also tap on the potential of Sanya, launching new routes to key cities in Southeast Asia. Hainan Airlines’ parent HNA Group owns 3 airports in Hainan: Haikou Meilan, Sanya Phoenix, and Qionghai Bo’ao <br/>
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Wow Air said it could seek to raise funds through a stake sale this year and that major airline groups have shown an interest. Wow needs to finance expansion plans that include services to Asia and its first direct Europe-US flights, and could alternatively seek a non-industry investor or opt for an initial public offering, founder and CE Skuli Mogensen said. Burgeoning bid interest in Norwegian Air Shuttle, which says it’s had a number of approaches since IAG revealed that it might pursue a takeover, has shown that major carriers are sold on the concept of discounted long-distance travel, Mogensen said. He declined to name possible suitors for Wow. Wow will announce its first Asian route from Iceland next month with the aim of connecting travellers to the eastern seaboard of North America via the shortest Arctic flight path. <br/>
InterGlobe Aviation’s billionaire director Rahul Bhatia has taken over as interim CE after its president and director Aditya Ghosh unexpectedly resigned before a board meeting Friday. Ghosh is leaving at a time when the airline is changing some of its most successful policies such as moving to a mixed fleet instead of operating a single aircraft class, buying planes outright instead of leasing them, and planning a new low cost, long haul service. Ghosh has been IndiGo’s public face over the years as media shy billionaire owners Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal remained away from the limelight. Ghosh has quit as director from April 26 and will step down as president from July 31, the airline said Friday. He led IndiGo for nearly a decade, growing it to be the nation’s biggest airline. <br/>
Southwest Airlines has ordered 40 Boeing 737 MAX jets worth US$4.68b at list price to help modernise its fleet, the airline said, making it the planemaker's largest global customer for the updated narrowbody. Southwest converted options it held over the MAX 8 jets into firm orders, with 10 to be delivered each year from 2019 to 2022, the airline said Thursday. "This is first and foremost an extension of our fleet modernisation strategy," Southwest CE Gary Kelly said. "We have a very strong business case to replace older 737-700 aircraft given the superior operating economics of the MAX 8." Southwest is the world's largest operator of 737 jets, with more than 700 of the airplanes. The airline has now ordered nearly 300 Boeing MAX jets, the most of any customer, a Boeing spokesman said. <br/>
Ongoing fleet transition at SkyWest continues to drive income growth for the parent of regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines. The company registered a net profit of US$54.4m for the Q1 of 2018, up 56.3% compared to $34.8m in Q1 2017. SkyWest CE and president Chip Childs said the results “reflect continued solid operating performance combined with the ongoing improvements in our fleet mix … we remain disciplined in our approach to risk and flying commitments and [are] focused on executing a strategy to improve our overall model.” SkyWest’s Q1 revenue totaled $783.4m, up 4.8% year-over-year, reflecting the “net impact of adding new [Embraer] E175 aircraft and improvement in the economics of SkyWest’s fleet mix since Q1 2017,” the company said. <br/>