JetBlue has not yet experienced a decline in demand for flights around the upcoming holidays despite increasing coronavirus cases across the US, CE Robin Hayes said Tuesday. “We continue to see a fair bit of interest for travel around the Thanksgiving and holiday period,” Hayes said. “You’ve got a lot of kids coming back from college. A lot of people are seeing friends and family they haven’t seen for a long time. ... We’ve been in a rising case count here for a couple weeks, and so far, we haven’t seen an impact on bookings.” Hayes’ comments Tuesday came after the airline reported Q3 results before the bell. Its loss per share of $1.75, excluding items, was better than the $1.96 analysts had forecast. Revenue of $492m surpassed estimates of $466m. Shares of New York City-based JetBlue closed down more than 5%. Earlier Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the city’s residents not to travel outside of the state for the upcoming holidays. “Realize that by doing that, unfortunately, you could be putting yourself and your family in danger and also the risk of bringing the disease back here,” he said earlier Tuesday. De Blasio asked that those who do travel get tested for the coronavirus and comply with the state of New York’s policy that requires people to quarantine for 14 days if they arrived from states that have certain rates of infection. As of Tuesday, more than 40 states were on the quarantine list. Physical testing sites will be in operation at LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport around the holidays. “We want to make it easy and clear that anyone coming off a plane should immediately get tested as well,” de Blasio added.<br/>
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EasyJet has raised GBP300m through selling and leasing back part of its fleet as the low-cost carrier tries to shore up its finances. The push for new cash comes after the airline carrier revealed earlier this month that its losses soared to more than GBP800m this year, the first in its 25-year history, and called for more government support for the aviation industry. The sale and leaseback of nine of its workhorse A320 aircraft will raise just over GBP306m, and is the second time the airline has sold off planes this year. EasyJet said it would continue to look for future funding opportunities, and that it had seen “high levels of demand” in the multibillion-dollar leasing market. The carrier still owns 152 aircraft, about 45% of its fleet. A boom in aircraft financing helped support the airline industry’s rapid growth before the pandemic. As crisis has hit, lessors have typically sought to do deals with stronger airlines including, easyJet, which offer a more secure rental stream. Five of easyJet’s planes have been sold to lender and wealth manager Wilmington Trust for $191.1m, and will be leased back for an average of 117 months. A second deal with Ireland’s Sky High 112 Leasing Company, will generate $207.5m in cash, with the aircraft leased for an average of 116 months. Mark Simpson, an aviation analyst at Goodbody, said the sale and leaseback deals announced on Tuesday “extend the period over which easyJet can survive” the crisis. He estimated they would lead to monthly leasing rates of $275,000 for the first five aircraft and $303,500 for the following four. The terms are “not especially attractive”, but the extra cash “will outweigh that factor in the shorter term,” Simpson said. <br/>
Israir Airlines & Tourism is in advanced talks with Etihad Airways to use its flight training facility in Abu Dhabi, an arrangement that would allow the airline to transfer its pilot simulator training from Europe to the Gulf. Israir plans to begin flying to Abu Dhabi in December, it said. The potential plan to move periodic pilot training would reduce hotel, flight and training costs, Israir said. The carrier operates four Airbus 320 planes and its 32 pilots currently undertake their periodic training in Amsterdam. Talks with Etihad were made possible due to the normalization pact between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in September. Last week, the two countries signed agreements on visas and aviation. A second Israeli carrier, Arkia Israeli Airlines, said it will begin service to Dubai on December 20, two weeks earlier than planned due to high demand. <br/>
State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines is facing a claim in London's High Court filed last month by a Dubai-based financial services firm over an alleged breach of lease agreements of 50 Airbus aircraft, court documents showed. Alif Segregated Portfolio Company, which specialises in shariah-compliant aircraft leasing, has filed a complaint against the Jeddah-based carrier, also known as Saudia, in which it could seek at least $460m in unpaid rent and maintenance cost. Alif also demands other damages and costs, the documents showed. London’s High Court said the claim has been filed but not yet acknowledged by the defendant. The airline said it would stand by its contractual commitments and was also prepared to defend itself against inaccurate claims. It declined to comment on specific details of claims made against it but said that active legal proceedings had not begun. “We are currently in discussions with the lessor to resolve contractual differences, and we believe that common sense will prevail in the end.” The deal between Alif and Saudia, announced by Airbus at the 2015 Paris Airshow, was hailed as the largest aviation deal to be secured via Islamic financing. The 50 aircraft, which account for a third of Saudia’s fleet, were worth around $8.2b when the deal was announced. Under the deal, Alif’s managing unit International Airfinance Corporation (IAFC) bought the planes, which included 30 A320neo and 20 A330-300 aircrafts and leased them to Saudia. Alif claims in the documents that Saudia has failed to pay basic rent after seeking to reduce its payments and engaged in “unauthorised and unnotified engine and part swaps”. Saudia has been struggling since the coronavirus pandemic brought global aviation to its knees. Saudi Arabia in March suspended flights and banned Muslims abroad from performing pilgrimages in the kingdom. The Gulf Arab state restarted domestic flights in May and has recently resumed international flights including to cities in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa and the United States. But Saudia does not expect flight operations to return to normal until the end of the year and has asked some cabin crew employees to suspend their contracts until then.<br/>
Hawaiian Airlines posted a $97m loss in Q3 as the state’s coronavirus-driven quarantine requirements hampered air travel demand – and the airline’s recovery. The Honolulu-based carrier on 27 October also detailed the agreement it reached with Boeing earlier this month to delay deliveries of its long-awaited 787-9 Dreamliners. Hawaiian has ten orders with the Chicago-based airframer, which were due to begin delivering in early 2021. Now, the carrier says the first example will arrive in September 2022 and enter service the following year. The rest will be delivered by 2026. “The 787 is a terrific airplane and will be a vital part of our fleet in the future,” CE Peter Ingram says during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “But we don’t need it in 2021.” The aircraft were due to replace the airline’s Airbus A330-200s on long-haul routes to Asia, as well as to Boston and New York City, two of the longest domestic flights in the world. “It’s less about a change in our view of the long term and more about the fact that short-term we are just in a dramatically different demand environment than we were at the beginning of this year,” Ingram says. “The complexity of entering a new fleet into the business, and the inherent inefficiency – it’s a lumpy process when you go through it. We wanted to move that to the right a bit to allow us to focus in 2020 and 2021, to stabilise and restore the business, and we will be in a much better place in 2022.”<br/>
Myanmar Airways International (MAI) has taken delivery of its first of two Embraer E190s, which it will utilise on domestic routes. The aircraft arrived at Yangon on the morning of 26 October, having flown in from Guangzhou. The carrier signed a lease agreement with CDB Aviation in February for two E190s. Cirium fleets data indicates that M-ABNH previously operated with China Southern, with the latter taking delivery of the regional jet in April 2012. The aircraft is scheduled to be re-registered and enter service in mid-November. Saravanan Ramasamy, MAI CE, says, “The arrival of the E190 marks an important milestone in MAI’s fleet expansion strategy. This high-performance aircraft not only enables us to achieve operational efficiency but also provides our customers with a significantly enhanced passenger experience.” MAI will operate the E190s domestically from its Yangon hub, ”as part of its strategic plan to promote air travel within Myanmar”. It will fly to points such as Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, as well as Sittwe. It states that these are ”cities with a high volume of passengers or inefficient travel options”. Raul Villaron, Asia-Pacific VP for Embraer Commercial Aviation, says: ”We welcome Myanmar Airways International to the Embraer family and wish them all the best as they prepare for the start of their E190 commercial flights. The E190 brings performance and efficiency to Myanmar Airways International as they expand their network, and offers an excellent cabin for passengers to travel in comfort.” MAI is the second airline in Myanmar to operate the E-Jets – compatriot Myanmar National Airlines has two E190s in its fleet.<br/>
Taiwanese carrier Starlux has announced three new destinations in Thailand and Japan to bolster its fledgling operation. Starlux started flying in January with three routes from Taipei Taoyuan, to Macau, Da Nang and Penang. It was due to start Cebu in the Philippines as its fourth destination but the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to rethink its routes and it is currently flying only to Penang and Macau in Malaysia. The new flights, to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Osaka Kansai and Tokyo Narita, will commence in December, the carrier announced on 26 October. Starlux said it will fly to Bangkok and Osaka twice a week, with flights commencing on 1 December and 15 December respectively. The Tokyo route, also twice a week, is due to commence on 16 December. The carrier says in a statement that strategic changes are necessary and that it will select destinations with strong demand to fly to as the industry recovers. The carrier’s fleet currently comprises four Airbus A321neo aircraft.<br/>
Nok Air looks set to be allowed to restructure under court supervision, after nobody raised objections during a court hearing today, according to a 27 October filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The Thai budget carrier says the order on its business rehabilitation petition will be issued at 09:00 on 4 November by Thailand’s Central Bankruptcy Court, after which Nok will provide further details to the stock exchange.<br/>The court had accepted the company’s petition on 30 July and set the hearing for 27 October. The airline said in September that it plans to improve fleet efficiency, seek alternative revenue streams, and adjust its marketing efforts in a bid to reduce costs. This will include adding more night flights, improving maintenance scheduling and adjusting its fleet. It will also embark on debt restructuring through negotiations with its creditors to improve cashflow. Meanwhile, Nok announced on 22 October the appointment of Rewadee Phochan as its new chief financial officer, who takes over from acting CFO Wutthiphum Jurangkool.<br/>