Norwegian Air Shuttle aims to exit Irish insolvency proceedings in April as the carrier jettisons its low-cost long haul business to focus on flying in the Nordics. The airline expects to raise as much as $580m in capital. Secured creditors that contribute to the equity raise will boost their holdings, the company said. Norwegian will also “rightsize” its fleet through the Irish examinership process and issue fresh equity at the end of February or early March, it said. The write down of leased and financed aircraft assets is set to reduce equity by about 10 billion kroner before exiting the restructuring, with all large creditors expected to take losses and their debt converted into equity, according to the presentation. At the end of the process, new investors, which could include the Norwegian government, will own 70% of the equity. Converted creditors will hold a 25% stake and current shareholders 5%, the company said.<br/>
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Transat is suspending all flights out of Toronto through April 30 as the travel and tour company continues to face diminished demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. Transat spokesperson Debbie Cabana confirmed on Wednesday that the company has revised its winter flight schedule and suspended all flights out of Toronto. The airline has also suspended some routes from Montreal, but will continue to operate flights to six international destinations. “Continued travel restrictions and the numerous measures imposed by the federal government, including the requirement to present a negative COVID-19 test and to quarantine upon return to Canada, have had a significant impact on our bookings,” Cabana said. “We must, therefore, revise our winter flight schedule, as we have been doing since the beginning of the pandemic, based on the evolution of the situation and demand.”<br/>
A Malaysian court ordered Wednesday the immediate release of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane detained in the Southeast Asian nation nearly two weeks ago over a British court case about its lease. Malaysia seized the Boeing 777 aircraft on Jan. 15 after a court allowed an application by lessor Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited to keep it grounded until the result of a $14m lease dispute with PIA in Britain. The Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the release after both sides said they had reached an amicable settlement of the dispute, involving two planes leased to PIA, a lawyer for the airline said. “Peregrine has agreed to withdraw its suit against Pakistan International Airlines Corp (PIAC) and for the injunction orders to be set aside,” said its lawyer, Kwan Will Sen. “With this, the two Boeing aircraft operated by PIAC would be released with immediate effect.” Pakistan’s national carrier is now readying a crew for the plane to resume a passenger flight home by Friday, its spokesman, Abdullah Khan, said.<br/>
Virgin Australia said on Wednesday it was operating at 40% of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity in January, missing a forecast of 60% due to state-based travel restrictions that are hampering an aviation market recovery. Australia recorded a 10th straight day of no new local COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, but many states have left some travel restrictions in place following an outbreak in Sydney last month. Qantas expects to run at 60% of pre-pandemic domestic capacity in the March quarter, below its previous forecast rate of nearly 80%, due to the state travel curbs, CE Alan Joyce said this month. Virgin Australia, now owned by US private equity group Bain Capital, added it had informed employees on Wednesday that it would cut up to 350 head office roles in the coming months to finalise 3,000 job cuts announced in August. “The challenging environment shows the need to finalise our restructuring and reduce costs in line with our simplified business model,” a Virgin Australia spokeswoman said. Virgin Australia has shifted away from being a full-service carrier to occupy a mid-market position between Qantas and its budget arm Jetstar.<br/>
Flyr intends to operate its first services at the start of June using Boeing 737 aircraft, as the start-up seeks to become a new low-cost carrier for the Norwegian market. “We can build a lean organisation from the ground up,” said CE Tonje Wikstrom Frislid Wednesday. “We will have the advantage of starting without the heavy burden of an oversize, complex, inefficient organisation or tech structure.” Flyr intends to ramp up its operations from two aircraft in June to five in July and six to eight in the autumn, enabling it to operate from Oslo to seven destinations within Norway plus Copenhagen, Nice, Barcelona, Malaga and Alicante. Further routes across Scandinavia and Europe will follow. The start-up has secured the necessary airport slots to begin services, and ticket sales are set to begin in mid- or late April, depending on the progress of the pandemic. Flyr’s management envisages a 30-strong fleet of leased aircraft that is right-sized to its home market, meaning the carrier “is not dependent on expanding into less profitable markets in the Norwegian region”, says Wikstrom Frislid, who is a former vice-president for crew management at Norwegian.<br/>
Canadian discount carrier Flair Airlines will lease 13 new Boeing 737 Max 8s from Miami-based private equity company 777 Partners, with deliveries starting in “early 2021”. The Edmonton-based airline, which disclosed the news Wednesday, currently operates three 737-800s, according to Cirium fleets data. In 2019, 777 Partners acquired 25% of Flair. The move puts Flair on track to achieve a goal of operating 50 aircraft within five years, the carrier says. The 737 Max will carry 186 seats. In disclosing the fleet expansion, Flair says that 777 Partners “recently entered into an agreement with Boeing for 24 new Boeing 737-8 aircraft along with options to purchase another 60”.<br/>