Higher travel demand and low fuel costs offset lost revenue opportunities as Panama’s Copa Airlines continues to post strong earnings even while struggling with the ongoing effects of the Boeing 737 Max crisis. For the full year 2019, net profit came in at $247m, compared to a net profit of $88.1m a year earlier, an almost three-fold increase, Panama’s flag carrier said Thursday. Full year revenue was $2.7b, a 1.1% increase from 2018. The grounding of Copa’s six 737 Max aircraft, which is central to the airline’s growth strategy in the region, has prompted the carrier to reduce its capacity increase expectation for 2020 to 1%, and to rethink its plans to phase its 14 Embraer E-190 jets out of the fleet. They had been slated for retirement on an accelerated time plan. "We have reduced our capacity growth expectations for 2020 and will have to slow down the Embraer transition, with most of the aircraft leaving in 2021,” CE Pedro Heilbron said.<br/>
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South African Airways may sell its two prized nighttime operating slots at London’s Heathrow as the state-owned carrier battles to stave off financial collapse, according to people familiar with the situation. The national airline is currently using only one of the two takeoff and landing slots and could shift London-Johannesburg flights to a cheaper daytime schedule, said the people. That would reduce costs as the turnaround time would be shorter and free up the more valuable night time slots for potential sale. “SAA continues to operate to London and this has been confirmed by network changes recently announced by the business rescue practitioners,” a spokesman said Thursday. “This means the current Heathrow slots remain within SAA’s overall portfolio.” The slots do not have to be used to fly between the UK and South Africa as they are merely time slots for Heathrow. Nevertheless, overnight flights to and from Johannesburg are convenient for the 11-hour journey and are likely to attract customers. <br/>
Avianca is a “victim” in the global scandal surrounding years of alleged bribes paid by manufacturer Airbus to bolster sales of its planes, Avianca’s CE said Thursday. The airline is conducting an internal investigation and is the subject of a probe by Colombian authorities related to a $4b settlement between Airbus and prosecutors in the US and Europe over bribery and corruption stretching back at least 15 years. French prosecutors have said Airbus documents show multi-million dollar commissions paid to an agent for jet sales to Avianca, including some meant for a high-ranking executive at parent company Avianca Holdings. “We were made aware of the issue around 10 days ago, it came out in France, it is obviously something very serious for us and that’s why we launched our investigation,” CE Anko van der Werff said. “It’s clear Avianca is a victim here.” Avianca is the target of a separate investigation by Colombian authorities related to tickets allegedly given to officials from El Salvador. The attorney general’s office searched the airline’s offices on Wednesday, seeking documents related to that case and also possibly to the Airbus probe.<br/>
Greece’s largest carrier Aegean Airlines unveiled a new livery as it took delivery of three Airbus A320neo aircraft, the first of 46 planes that will renew its fleet. Aegean expects to receive the new A320neo and A321neo jets by 2025 and has an option for an additional 12 as it expands its fleet, aiming for lower fuel and maintenance costs, executives said on Thursday. “2020 brings a new beginning, new momentum and opportunities and a new look,” said Aegean’s CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis. “The new aircraft are a platform for our people to create an even better travel experience for our passengers.” Aegean ditched its seagull logo for a new livery of deep blue and white wavy lines, inspired by the Greek sky and seas, it said. For the next six years, it will invest more than $500m a year on its fleet expansion and renewal, executives said.<br/>
A popular street in the centre of Copenhagen was shut down for several hours by police over a bomb threat targeting an advertising company that authored a controversial campaign for SAS. The police were alerted by &Co., the company behind the airline’s ads, which according to Danish media reports had received the threat via email. Police searched a few buildings but no explosive was found, according to Danish broadcaster TV2. SAS has faced a backlash in social media after the airing of a commercial that seeks to encourage the locals to travel by challenging the received wisdom of what is actually Scandinavian. According to Danish broadcaster DR, the criticisms originated from online forums typically frequented by right-wing nationalists. Regional rival Norwegian Air was quick to react to the controversy by publishing an image on Facebook of a cheese slicer, which the Norwegians are positive they invented.<br/>