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IndiGo expects passenger carrying capacity to slump 40% in the current quarter, showing that even India’s biggest airline can’t escape the coronavirus pandemic and a near shutdown in international air travel. IndiGo posted a loss of 11.95b rupees ($161m) for the three months ended Sept. 30. The deficit widened from 10.7b rupees in the year earlier period when it suffered foreign-exchange losses, a reassessment of future maintenance costs and muted passenger traffic growth. IndiGo is the world’s biggest customer for Airbus' A320neo jets. India has allowed local airlines to fly limited schedules since May after two months of a strict nationwide lockdown, gradually opening up the domestic market. IndiGo, which has a market share of close to 60%, still couldn’t fill a third of its seats in September, data from the country’s aviation regulator showed. Yield -- a measure of fares -- rose 8.9% to 3.83 rupees, the airline said Thursday. Yields will remain under pressure as a government cap on fares stays in force until late November, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. IndiGo may face persistent losses as it tries to recover, with maintenance costs for engines and older jets potentially eclipsing savings from lower plane usage, cheaper fuel and job cuts, BI analysts James Teo and Chris Muckensturm wrote Tuesday.<br/>

Malaysia's AirAsia X plans to revise its $15.3b debt restructuring plan to address concerns raised by a creditor as its cash is running out fast, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The budget carrier is seeking to reconstitute the $15.3b of unsecured debt into a principal amount of 200m ringgit ($48m) and have the rest waived. But creditor Malaysia Airports Holdings filed a lawsuit last week to claim 78m ringgit owed by AirAsia X and a separate application to be excluded from the restructuring scheme, arguing that its debts were secured. A source said the legal action against the airline could delay its debt restructuring plan and bid to stave off liquidation. The source said AirAsia X, the long-haul arm of AirAsia Group, has less than six months of cash left and has been looking to convene a meeting of creditors to vote on the scheme. "It needs to move on and have that meeting as soon as possible," the person said. “Fundraising is expected to take a couple of months at least so it’s imperative for the company to complete restructuring by January or February.” AirAsia X declined to comment. Airport operator MAHB said on Sunday its attempt to recover debt from AirAsia X would not derail the airline’s scheme. But the legal suit follows similar action taken by another creditor. Aircraft lessor BOC Aviation filed a lawsuit against AirAsia X and its subsidiary in August to claim $23m in debt and this month applied to intervene in the airline's court application for its scheme.<br/>

Spirit Airlines has reported a steep Q3 loss but is eyeing an upturn, anticipating a bump in demand for leisure air travel during the upcoming end-of-year holidays. The Miramar, Florida-based carrier lost $99m in the quarter ended in September, on revenue of $402m, the airline reported Thurdsay. Revenue was down 60% from the same period a year ago. That said, the leisure side of the industry is showing promising signs of recovery, as customers looking for cheap, easy getaways make travel plans for the all-important Thanksgiving and Christmas travel season. “History is repeating itself: leisure travellers are much more resilient and they clearly prefer products that offer the lowest price for travel,” said CE Ted Christie on the company’s quarterly analyst call. It is, he said, an “incredibly dynamic time” for the airline. The company’s average daily cash burn in Q3 was $2.3m, which it expects to reduce to $2m daily by the end of the current quarter. Christie said Spirit’s October load factor was “in the mid-70s” on reduced capacity. That shows that interest in travel by air is returning. Spirit’s network is traditionally strong to warm-weather destinations in the southern and the western USA. The airline’s home base is Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport, just north of Miami, and more than 50% of Spirit’s flights touch Florida.<br/>

Russian carrier Rossiya has established a new flight unit which will second pilots from parent Aeroflot Group to operate Sukhoi Superjet 100s on its network. Rossiya uses a mix of Boeing 747s and 777s for its long-haul services, as well as Boeing 737s and Airbus A320-family jets for short-haul operations. But Aeroflot Group is intending the airline to become its focus for Russian-built aircraft operations. Rossiya states that it is preparing to introduce the Superjet 100 into its fleet as part of this strategy. Aeroflot Group is planning a fleet modernisation involving large-scale expansion of domestically-produced aircraft capacity. Up to 10 Superjet 100s for Rossiya will be based at Moscow Sheremetyevo by the end of this year. Rossiya says this transition has required forming a “fourth flight unit”, to which Aeroflot pilots started being transferred in September. Aeroflot already operates Superjets and had 54 in its fleet at the end of June. Seven initial crews, as well as management personnel, have so far joined the unit. “The number of pilots in the unit will be significantly increased by the end of this year,” says Rossiya. “These pilots have already passed medical examinations and entrance testing, and are ready to start operating flights.”<br/>

Last week it was the return of the world's longest flight -- Singapore to New York JFK. This week comes another new aviation record: the world's longest flight in a single-aisle aircraft. Air Transat flight TS690 flew transatlantic from Montreal, Canada, to Athens, Greece, on Monday -- a journey of 7,600 kilometers. So far, so normal -- except the eight-hour, 32-minute flight was performed in a narrowbody Airbus A321neoLR. It was the longest commercial flight that a single-aisle aircraft has been used for. Although most people would flinch at the idea of a transatlantic flight in a single-aisle aircraft, economy class seats are 1.5 inches wider than in Air Transat's Airbus 310 -- though the seat pitch is a standard 31 inches. Club Class -- the premium economy section with recliner seats and a 38-inch pitch -- has an intimate 12 seats. While it may have broken the record, Montreal to Athens is not the furthest the A321LR has flown. In 2018 it completed a test flight from Mahé, Seychelles, to Toulouse, France -- an 11-hour, 5,466-mile flight. On that occasion, however, instead of passengers, the plane was equipped with heat-emitting dummies. Before this week, the record for a commercial flight was WOW Air's Reykjavik to LA flight in 2018 -- eight hours 40 minutes, and 6,927 kilometers. And it looks like the aircraft will be flying plenty more long-haul routes in the future -- especially with demand at a historic low due to Covid, and a slow recovery predicted.<br/>

Airbus has delivered its first A330-800s, both aircraft being handed over to Middle Eastern operator Kuwait Airways. The -800 is the smaller of the two A330neo family members. Kuwait Airways had ordered eight of the twinjets, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, in late 2018 as part of a deal which involved trimming its A350-900 order. At the time it had been the variant’s only customer. Airbus has since secured overall orders for 14. Kuwait Airways chairman Ali Mohammad Al-Dukhan says the introduction of the A330-800 “strengthens [our] position as a prominent airline in both the regional and global aviation sector”. “Arrival of the A330neos commences a new phase in the services we provide to our passengers on board, in addition to efficient and comfortable air transport,” he adds. Kuwait Airways has configured the twinjets with 235 seats in two classes, including 32 lie-flat beds in the business cabin.<br/>

Airbus has delivered the 500th Airbus A320 family aircraft built in its Tianjin plant in China, more than a decade after the Chinese final assembly line began operations. The aircraft, an A320neo registered B-30FX, went to China Southern. It is equipped with CFM International Leap-1A engines and is configured to seat 166 passengers. Cirium fleets data indicates China Southern to have 35 A320neos in its fleet, with two more on order. The carrier has more than 31 A321neos as well, and operates the A320ceo family aircraft, with more than 200 examples of the type in its fleet. The Tianjin A320 final assembly line began operations in 2008, and is the first Airbus production line outside Europe. Tianjin is also home to an A330 completion and delivery centre, which opened in 2017.<br/>