Avianca Brasil, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December, experienced another setback this week when an appellate judge lifted a restraining order against the deregistration by Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) of some of the carrier’s leased Airbus A320s at the demand of unpaid lessors. Should the agency proceed with the deregistration before an appellate panel decides on extending the protection until a creditors’ assembly in the first half of April, the resulting loss of about 30% of Avianca’s fleet would mean chaos for the carrier and for passenger transport in general, just as the high-travel Carnival holiday approaches and as a new president struggles to bring order to his administration and the country. <br/>
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United Airlines is struggling to fill transatlantic economy class seats at reasonable fares, but is making up the difference by capitalising on a robust market for premium seats, an executive said Wednesday. The admission is not a surprise. Many airlines have increased transatlantic capacity in the past 3 years. “The economy class transatlantic has been challenging,” Dave Bartels, United’s VP for revenue management, said. “That is a weaker spot relative to others in our network.” However, “the business class side still looks good,” Bartels said. “That has helped consistently through this time.” It’s important, as United is placing a big bet on premium transatlantic cabins. United soon will introduce a new configuration for 21 of the Boeing 767-300 jets it flies from the Midwest and East Coast to Europe. <br/>
ANA has launched a new route to Vienna and sees further growth potential for its European network. “We definitely believe more European destinations will be required in the future. We have some white spots in Europe, but this depends on the available airport slots,” ANA SVP-Europe and GM-London Akira Nakamura said. “The new route from Haneda to Vienna is looking very promising and I expect it will become profitable within year one,” he said. Besides a strong point-to-point tourism demand on the route, Nakamura said he expects 60% to 70% of passengers will connect at the Vienna Star Alliance hub to other destinations. ANA’s JV with Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and SWISS has been an important factor in the carrier’s success in Europe, Nakamura said. <br/>