Few airlines exist around the world left unscathed by the coronavirus pandemic, with most drastically slashing schedules and operations, but few have gone into hibernation. That’s what Canada’s Porter Airlines has done, grounding its flights on March 21 last year and now extending its shutdown till May 19. The carrier, based in Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport, blamed continued travel restrictions for the latest delay. In January, Porter delayed its restart to March, but has said US-Canada border restrictions, internal travel bans, and a resurgent virus are not enough to offset the pace of vaccination, at least for now. The carrier also warned that the date may slip again. Porter is using this pause to work feverishly to ensure it returns in a healthy enough state to avoid future peril. “We remain optimistic that things are moving in the right direction, but it is possible that this tentative date may also need to be modified if vaccinations don’t accelerate to enable the easing of travel restrictions,” Porter CEO Michael Deluce said.<br/>
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Norwegian Air has withdrawn requests to repudiate a total of 36 aircraft leases after reaching agreement with the lessors in question as part of a restructuring process, Ireland’s High Court heard on Tuesday. The budget airline was late last year given protection from bankruptcy in both Norway and Ireland, where most of its assets are registered, and is aiming to emerge from the process with fewer aircraft and less debt. The airline, which aims to cut its fleet to 53 aircraft from 140 and withdraw from the long-haul market, last week said both the Irish and Norwegian processes were going as planned and were expected to end during the second quarter. As part of the Irish process, which is due to conclude by April 16, the Irish High Court will rule on Friday on whether to allow the airline to repudiate liabilities, including three aircraft subleases and 25 guarantees tied to aircraft leases.<br/>
Ryanair and Wizz Air passenger numbers were down 95% and 87%, respectively, in February as the two European low-cost airlines carried less than a million passenger between them during the month. Europe’s biggest budget operator Ryanair carried 500,000 passengers in February, compared with 10.5m a year ago, while Wizz flew a little under 400,000 passengers, compared with over 3m in February 2020. The carriers are the first European operators to release traffic data for February and it underlines another bleak month for European air transport amid widespread travel restrictions in place to tackle the pandemic. Ryanair operated just 6% of its normal February schedule, while Wizz flew 17% of the capacity it had flown in February 2020 – a base figure slightly inflated by the leap year effect. For Ryanair it marked a sixth consecutive month of lower passenger numbers since European markets briefly opened up last summer, though a load factor of 78% is its highest since the crisis began. It also marks a full 12 months of year-on-year falls in passenger levels for Ryanair since the coronavirus crisis began – it reported its last year-on-year increase in passengers in February 2020.<br/>
Breeze Airways’ co-founder and CE David Neeleman expects his new Salt Lake City-based low-cost airline will be operating flights before this summer, in the process acclimating travellers to an app-centred customer experience. Breeze, which will fly nonstop routes between underserved and as yet undisclosed small and midsize US cities, has been conceived as an Amazon of the skies. Interaction with the airline will be managed primarily through a “super app”. Breeze customers will be able to book, upgrade, change and cancel flights as if they were ordering and returning products on Amazon or reserving cars on Uber. Further iterations will enable customers to use the app to book hotel rooms, rent cars and order food while in-flight. Breeze would receive a cut of the profits from all products purchased through its app.<br/>
AirAsia has launched its food delivery service in Singapore as it continues to seek alternative sources of income outside of the battered aviation sector. Its airasia food platform will initially feature about 80 restaurants, including Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant and No Signboard Seafood. About 300 other restaurants are in the process of being brought on board, AirAsia said on Tuesday. The platform will charge restaurants 15 per cent commission per delivery, instead of going ahead with plans for a zero-commission model. The rate is still lower than those offered by the three major food delivery operators - GrabFood, foodpanda and Deliveroo. AirAsia said the lower commission would in turn lead to lower charges for customers. AirAsia also said it had recruited about 500 delivery riders, and aims to double that number by the third quarter of the year.<br/>