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Air Canada is having two passenger Boeing 767-300ERs converted to freighters, and also selling the jets and leasing them back. US air cargo company Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) is buying the two aircraft from Montreal-based Air Canada and having them converted to freighters by Israel Aerospace Industries, Ohio-based ATSG says on 14 January. ATSG will then lease them back to Air Canada. The move comes after Air Canada said last year that it intends to expand its cargo business. The Montreal-based carrier also been pulling down its passenger fleet amid the Covid-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions, saying recently that its first-quarter 2020 passenger capacity will be 20% of its 2019 passenger capacity. The conversion work, which is to begin in March, includes reinforcing floor beams and installing main-deck cargo doors and barriers behind the jets’ cockpit doors, ATSG says. It expects to deliver both aircraft back to Air Canada by the end of 2021. ATSG does not disclose the purchase price. The acquisition is the first sale-and-leaseback agreement between ATSG and Air Canada.<br/>

Singapore Airlines has raised $500m in its first US dollar bond issue, which the company will use to buy new aircraft as the global aviation industry prepares for a post-pandemic travel rebound. The transaction was finalised early Thursday and the price was set at U.S. treasuries plus 260 basis points, according to a statement from the airline. The size of the 5.5 year deal was finalised after bookrunners received bids above $2.85b and the bond carries a 3% coupon rate, the statement said. “The issuance further strengthens the company’s liquidity position and provides SIA with the financial flexibility to capture medium to long term growth beyond the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said. There were 150 investors who bought into the deal, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters, and 76% of those were based in Asia. The majority 83% of investors were fund and asset managers, the document said. “The reality is that these businesses need capital and the expectation is that there will be more debt issuances to come from the airlines,” said one source, who had direct knowledge of the Singapore Airlines deal.<br/>

Korean Air filed a business combination report with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) on 14 January for its acquisition of Asiana Airlines. The application will be reviewed over 30 days and can be extended to 90 days if necessary, the commission said in a same-day statement. This does not include the time required for data reconciliation, it adds, and the entire process may exceed 120 days. KFTC further states that Korean Air has submitted applications for the acquisition to eight foreign competition authorities, including the USA, Japan, China, and the European Union.<br/>

Air NZ’s passenger numbers dropped by more than 50% in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite better than expected demand for domestic flights after the nationwide lockdown ended. The national carrier flew 8.4m passengers last year, down from 17.6m in 2019. With borders closed for much of 2020, the number of international flights fell from 30,000 to 9586. The number of domestic flight numbers was down by 50,000 to 105,000. Even without international tourists during what were its busiest months before the pandemic, the airline operated at close to 85% of its pre-Covid schedule between December 21, 2020 and January 10, 2021, a spokesperson said. “Kiwis have clearly been making the most of summer by exploring Aotearoa.” During New Zealand’s Alert Level 4 lockdown, 67 of the airline’s aircraft were grounded, and by the end of 2020 its 15 Boeing 777s had been sent to long-term storage facilities in Auckland, New Mexico and California. Customer service staff were busier than they had ever been, however, with the contact centre fielding more than 75,000 calls, emails and messages from customers on March 15 – the day after the Government announced that everyone entering New Zealand from destinations other than the Pacific Islands would need to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return. This compared to 9900 calls received on the contact centre’s busiest day in 2019. Most international passenger flights last year carried New Zealand residents who had either been stranded overseas or were returning to live here permanently.<br/>