Ryanair clung to its full-year earnings outlook as a fare war and the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max jetliner ate into Q1 profit at the airline. Margins on ticket sales are shrinking, with a glut of seats hurting prices in Germany and concerns around Brexit weighing on UK demand, Ryanair said Monday. At the same time, a jump in revenue from food, extra bags and faster boarding should keep the discounter on track to meet fiscal 2020 targets. The impact of the fare war has been exacerbated by the global idling of the Max. CFO Neil Sorahan said Ryanair’s lower cost base means it’s still better off than European rivals, and stands to gain market share from any shakeout of the sector next winter. “Longer term...we’re in a very strong position to participate in the opportunities that will inevitably arise,” he said. <br/>
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Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary harangued Boeing over the grounding of the 737 Max jet, saying he’s concerned the carrier will receive zero planes by summer 2020. Ryanair, Boeing’s biggest European customer for the Max, has already slashed its estimate for the number of aircraft likely to be available for next year’s peak season. O’Leary warned Monday that even the revised figure is at risk if the manufacturer fails to get its act together soon. “We were originally expecting 58 aircraft for the summer of 2020, that’s now 30 at best. It may well move to 20, it could move to 10 and it could well move to zero,” O’Leary said. Boeing needs to put its fixes for the Max before regulators “pretty quickly,” he said. Ryanair had been due to receive the first Max of 135 on order in April, before the model was grounded worldwide. <br/>
WestJet returned to a Q2 profit this year, while also moving one step closer to being acquired by private equity firm Onex by the end of 2019. The carrier reported a net profit of C$44.3m (US$33.7m) for the quarter ending 30 June, recovering from a loss of $15.8m the previous year. This return to profit was primarily due to increased passenger revenue and the resolution of labour disputes, the airline says in its earnings report published July 26. On the same day, the company also announced that Alberta superior court approved its proposed acquisition by Onex, clearing the latest hurdle to complete the transaction following approval by WestJet shareholders. The airline reported that revenue spiked 11.5% to $1.2b, up from $1b during Q2 of 2018. RASM increased 8.5% year-on-year from 13.7 cents to 14.9 cents year-on-year. <br/>
WestJet Airlines has extended its route suspensions related to the grounding of Boeing’s Max 8 aircraft and is seeking compensation from the aircraft manufacturer for lost revenue. The airline, which owns 13 Max 8 planes for a total of 7% of its fleet, announced Monday it is now scheduling without the aircraft until at least Nov 4, as opposed to the previously stated Aug 29. Affected routes include Halifax-Paris, Vancouver-Regina, Toronto-Kelowna and Toronto-St. John’s. WestJet CE Ed Sims said while the airline has no intention of flying the plane again until it is “100% safe to do so,” the grounding is lasting longer than anticipated after US officials identified another flaw with the plane’s software in June. The airline had 9,225 Max flights planned since the grounding and has been able to cover off almost 6,000 of them. <br/>
After rapidly expanding its presence in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, IndiGo plans to add destinations such as Hanoi and Chengdu to its flight schedule from the September quarter onwards. IndiGo’s CCO William Boulter said that the airline has received clearances from the Vietnamese authorities to commence operations from India to Hanoi. The airline will soon “be putting the flight out for sale”. Besides Hanoi, the airline plans to operate flights to Ho Chi Min City. The airline is also reviewing its strategy for Europe whilst making “full use” of its Turkish Airline codeshare agreement which allows passengers to fly through Istanbul. In 2019, IndiGo entered into its first codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines, which provides passengers with extended connectivity to 12 destinations in Europe. <br/>
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has issued Hainan Airlines a warning about the level of guarantees it provided to subsidiaries in 2018. In a stock exchange disclosure, the company said it received a letter from the CSRC Hainan Branch July 25, pinpointing CNY5.67b (US$823m) in guarantees to HNA Group, and CNY900m to HNA Industry. The amounts were disclosed in Hainan’s 2018 annual report, and were recently repaid, but exceeded the Commission's limit of 50% of the company's net assets. It was also criticised for not making timely disclosures about the guarantees to the two companies. By issuing a warning letter, the Commission requested Hainan strictly abide by the securities laws and prevent such incidents from happening again. <br/>
China National Aviation Fuel (CNAF) has filed a lawsuit against HNA Group’s Tianjin Airlines seeking to freeze CNY89m (US$13m) of the carrier’s funds. No reason for the litigation was disclosed in the public notification from the court to which the state-owned fuel company made its application. The court is in Haikou, home of HNA. CNAF has a monopoly on supplies of aviation fuel at Chinese airports. In Feb 2018 one of its subsidiaries similarly applied to a court in Urumqi to freeze CNY31m of Tianjin Airline’s funds. Heavily indebted HNA has been selling assets, including large stakes in its airlines to local govt partners. It remains the majority owner of Tianjin Airlines, however, with 96% of the shares. A Tianjin city govt company owns the rest. <br/>
Spain’s Air Nostrum reported a 2018 net profit of E19m (US$21m), up 46% compared to 2017. Air Nostrum, which is an Iberia franchised carrier for regional flights, took in E501m in revenue, up 9.4% year-over-year. The airline cited pricing effects, cost reduction and flight program redesign strategies for the results. In addition, the company said the improved numbers were because of a concentration on profitable markets and routes, as well as the increase of load factors. Air Nostrum president Carlos Bertomeu said the results reflect “that we must persevere in the fight for competitiveness to consolidate the company as the leader of European regional aviation.” July 26, The EC approved the proposed merger of Air Nostrum and CityJet, a move that brings the creation of what will be Europe’s largest regional airline one step closer. <br/>
New African flag carrier Uganda Airlines expects to launch initial services in August, after the country’s aviation regulator awarded an AOC. The last airline to bear the Uganda Airlines name, a state-owned entity, collapsed in 2001, while privately owned Air Uganda closed its doors in 2014. Since then, Ugandans have had to rely on foreign carriers. The new Uganda Airlines is state-run and the east African nation hopes the presence of more competition for local passengers will drastically cut the cost of air travel. Services are scheduled to start in late August, using 2 Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets to neighbouring nations. Two more CRJ900s are scheduled to arrive this fall, followed by a pair of Airbus A330-800s for long-haul services to destinations such as London and Mumbai. <br/>
Scoot will add 16 Airbus 321neos to its fleet, starting in Q4 2020. The aircraft are part of the airline's growth plan to expand its fleet by the end of fiscal year 2020/2021. Six aircraft will be upgraded from the airline’s current A320neo order, and the remaining 10 will be leased. The narrowbody aircraft will be configured in a single-class cabin, seating 236 passengers, 50 more than the A320neo. Scoot said the A321neo would be used primarily on medium-haul routes within 6 hrs. Hence, it is likely to eventually replace some leaner routes currently operated by the Boeing 787-9 or upgauge popular A320 services. The A321neo is finding its place in Southeast Asia, with almost all airline groups in the region placing orders for the type. <br/>
Virgin Atlantic plans to end its Airbus A340 operations by the end of the year, a spokeswoman said July 29. The 4-engine aircraft, which the carrier has used since July 2002 in its -300 and -600 variants, has been instrumental in creating the company’s long-haul network. Virgin currently has 6 A340-600s in service, which will be phased out as the A350-1000 enters service. The airline has 12 A350-1000s on order, with 4 expected to be in operation by the end of the year. First flight is scheduled for Sept 10 between London Heathrow and New York JFK. The airline’s fleet transition also includes phasing out its 8 Boeing 747-400s by 2021. The Virgin fleet has been bolstered by the delivery of 17 787-9s, and its A330-200s and -300s will be replaced with 14 A330-900neos ordered at the Paris Air Show in June. <br/>