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IndiGo has told its pilots to stop pushing engines on its new Airbus jets to the limit when the planes are climbing, after India’s aviation regulator said the practice may have contributed to turbines failing in the air. All the budget airline’s A320neo aircraft now use a lower thrust setting following take off, according to a spokeswoman from IndiGo, which has suffered 13 engine shutdowns during ascents this year. The decision was taken “in order to make every possible effort to minimize exposure of engines,” she wrote in an email, adding that manufacturer Pratt & Whitney stated there’s no evidence of a connection between climbing procedure and engine incidents. Ascending at maximum power can help burn less fuel as it takes less time to reach cruising altitude. IndiGo made the switch only after India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation found in a probe that full-thrust climbs could wear down the engines and probably contributed to the shutdowns, people familiar with the matter said earlier. IndiGo instructed pilots of the A320neo-family of jets last month to use no more than 93% thrust on the Pratt engines until they reach 7,622m, the people said. The airline spokeswoman said the change had “hardly any difference” in day to day operations, beyond taking two to three minutes longer for aircraft to reach optimum flight level due to lower thrust settings. “Difference in fuel consumption is marginal,” she said.<br/>

Ryanair heads to court Tuesday to try to prevent operations chief Peter Bellew from joining arch-rival easyJet until 2021. Europe’s biggest budget airline said in July that the former Malaysia Airlines boss would step down at the end of the year. But after easyJet announced Bellew’s appointment as its new chief operations officer a week later, Ryanair launched legal proceedings in Ireland’s High Court. Ryanair argues that all its senior executives commit to non-compete clauses barring them from joining a competitor for 12 months after leaving the Irish airline. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said in September that the only issue was whether Bellew, who is currently working out his notice, can join easyJet on Jan. 1, 2020, or Jan. 1, 2021, a full 18 months after easyJet announced his appointment. O’Leary has said the timing of Bellew’s switch is sensitive because of the problems Ryanair is currently having with Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX jet, which have slowed down its growth plans. Bellew left his role as CEO of Malaysia Airlines two years ago to return to Ryanair where he was director of flight operations before leaving for Kuala Lumpur in 2014. Tasked with tackling a pilot revolt that resulted in Ryanair’s first ever strikes, Bellew has helped patch up relations with staff and agree deals on pay and conditions with trade unions that have quelled the unrest.<br/>

Cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate HNA Group said on Monday it has agreed a deal to restructure its low-cost carrier West Air with a Chongqing-based asset management firm. Chongqing Yufu Asset Management Group and its affiliates will together hold at least 70% stake in West Air, becoming the biggest shareholder, HNA said. West Air, established in 2007, operates about 160 domestic and international routes with a fleet of 35 airplanes. It has been directly controlled by HNA, whose affiliates also own struggling Hong Kong Airlines as well as Hainan Airlines. Hong Kong Airlines was ordered by Hong Kong’s air transport regulator on Monday to shore up its financial position by Dec. 7 or risk the suspension or loss of its license. Hainan Airlines, which has seen declining profits, said in a Shanghai stock exchange filing on Monday that it will seek 4b yuan ($568m) in loans from eight banks led by China Development Bank. The funds will be used to cover the costs of fuel, maintenance charges, staff salaries and operational expenses, it said in the filing.<br/>

Norwegian has provisionally been allocated slots at London Heathrow for the summer 2020 season. Heathrow's slot co-ordination organisation, ACL, has disclosed that Norwegian requested 14 weekly slots but has been given six, the equivalent of three weekly departures. Norwegian has not indicated plans for Heathrow routes. The airline already operates from London Gatwick, through its Norwegian Air International division, as well as Manchester and Edinburgh. The Heathrow slots will provide sufficient access for 178 traffic movements over the season. Tunisair and Turkmenistan Airlines have each had slot allocations reduced. Tunisair has been given two slots compared with its previous eight. The summer season commences on 29 March.<br/>

Airline food has long been the butt of travellers’ jokes, but Malaysia’s AirAsia Group is seeking to turn that notion on its head - opening its first restaurant on Monday featuring dishes based on its in-flight menu. AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes is so confident the carrier’s Southeast Asian fare will be popular with diners on the ground that he is aiming to franchise the concept internationally, with a New York outlet an ultimate goal. “Our dream is to have one in Times Square,” he said. The carrier, which pioneered the budget airline model in Asia - including charging extra for food - launched its flagship Santan and T&CO restaurant at a mall in Kuala Lumpur, marking its first foray into the retail food business. GM of Santan Restaurant and T & CO Cafe, Catherine Goh, said 30% of the restaurant’s menu come from AirAsia’s existing in-flight menu, which includes classics such as Pak Nasser’s nasi lemak, a signature Malaysian rice dish with chili condiment. The name “Santan,” already used on AirAsia’s in-flight menus, is taken from the coconut pulp milk that is a staple in Southeast Asian cooking. Goh said a product development team of five chefs and culinary arts students took 9 months to come up with the rest of the menu. AirAsia plans to open five outlets this year, and 100 over the next three to five years.<br/>

With the merger with Vanilla Air complete, Japanese LCC Peach Aviation is now looking to hire more pilots as it works to expand its capacity and network. The carrier’s 29 Airbus A320 aircraft are currently flying around 10 hours daily, compared to the targeted 12 hours, and the priority after the Vanilla Air integration is to speed up expansion and pilot recruitment, CEO Shinichi Inoue said. The airline now hires pilots from 26 countries, and Inoue said Japanese regulators are becoming more relaxed with the rules for hiring foreign pilots. Unit costs can be reduced by increasing aircraft utilization and adding capacity and routes, CFO Junya Okamura said, instead of by cutting costs and overhead. Peach — a subsidiary of All Nippon Airways, as was Vanilla Air — x opted to take 13 of Vanilla’s 15 A320s to ensure the aircraft are optimally utilized. The seven-year old airline has 10 A320neos and four A321LRs on order, with deliveries set to begin in 2021. Peach plans to use the A321LRs on six-to-seven-hour routes, such as connecting Tokyo and Osaka to Southeast Asia. Inoue said inner China is also a market the carrier is exploring with the long-range narrowbody.<br/>