Southwest on Monday said it agreed to buy 100 of Boeing’s 737 Max 7 planes as it plans to retire older jets, sticking with the manufacturer that has been the backbone of its fleet for 50 years. The airline said under the agreement it would also convert 70 of its firm orders for Max 8 planes to the smallest and slower-selling jets, the Max 7s. It also added 155 options for 737 Max 7 or Max 8 airplanes through 2029. Southwest, which operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet, said its order, the largest Max sale since two crashes caused a worldwide grounding in March 2019, is a vote of confidence in the planes. US regulators lifted the 20-month grounding of the 737 Max in November and many other countries have followed suit since then. The carrier had said it was weighing whether to add Airbus A220 planes to its fleet to replace older Boeing jets, but in October, Southwest’s COO Mike Van de Ven said having two types of planes would be “a big undertaking for us,” citing issues with pilot training and maintenance.<br/>
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Norse Atlantic Airways, a long-haul budget carrier recently formed in Norway, has agreed to lease nine Boeing Dreamliner jets from Irish lessor AerCap Holdings, the two companies said on Monday. First deliveries will take place ahead of the airline's maiden flight, scheduled for December 2021, and the order will be completed no later than the end of Q1 2022, Norse said. The global airlines industry has experienced heavy losses as the coronavirus pandemic discouraged flying, leaving a glut of used airplanes available for those willing to start new carriers. The leasing agreement covers six Boeing 787-9 aircraft for a period of about 12 years and three Boeing 787-8 aircraft for around eight years, at "attractive rates and payment terms", Norse said. The company was set up by airline industry veterans, including founder and former CE of Norwegian Air, Bjoern Kjos, aiming to crack the long-haul discount market. <br/>
Emirates said on Monday that over 85% of its pilots and cabin crew had been administered both doses of a coronavirus vaccine. The global take-up of coronavirus vaccines is seen as key to the reopening of borders and lifting social restrictions that have hit travel demand over the past year. Over 35,000 Emirates employees have taken a vaccine shot, the company said in a statement. Emirates has around 80,000 staff across the group, which includes airport operator dnata. The Dubai carrier has provided employees with free vaccines since January, and more recently told staff to get vaccinated or pay for regular tests to prove they are not infected.<br/>
Emirates is adding the Airbus A380 and raising the number of flights to Amman from May 9. The Dubai carrier will operate 12 flights a week. “The increase of capacity and frequencies are a testament to strengthened travel demand to and from Amman,” said the airline. Customers can fly the Emirates A380 from Dubai to Amman on flight EK 903 which departs Dubai at 14:05 and arrives in Amman at 16:00 local time. The return flight, EK 904, departs Amman at 18:00 and arrives in Dubai at 22:00 local time. Emirates flight EK 905 departs from Dubai at 22:10 and arrives in Amman at 00:15 the next day. The return flight, EK 906 departs Amman at 02:05 and arrives in Dubai at 06:05 local time. Starting from July 1, the airline will open up double daily services to and from Amman.<br/>
Tanzania’s national carrier posted a $26m loss in the financial year 2019/20, according to a government audit. "We have discovered that [the airline] has made losses of up to 60bn [Tanzanian shillings] but also in the past five years this company has been making losses annually. There are several challenges that the government ought address immediately,” Auditor General Charles Kichere was quoted as saying by The Citizen news site. Reviving Air Tanzania operations was a flagship project of the late President John Magufuli who embarked on an ambitious state-backed plan in 2016 aimed at boosting tourism, trade and investment. He also oversaw the construction of a new airport in the commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, approved another in the north-western town of Geita and also one in the outskirts of the capital, Dodoma. As part of the revival Air Tanzania acquired two Boeing 787 Dreamliner, but critics say they have not been deployed to operate in lucrative routes.<br/>
More than 1,500 creditors are hoping to claim more than CNY201 billion ($36 billion) from Hainan Airlines, the embattled flagship airline unit of China’s HNA Group, as a creditors’ meeting draws nearer. Creditors have also filed claims for other HNA-linked aviation units, such as China Xinhua Airlines, Fuzhou Airlines, Lucky Air, as well as Chang’an Airlines, with claim amounts ranging between CNY3.1 to 38b. The highest court in China’s Hainan province in early February approved applications from creditors to place these carriers into bankruptcy reorganisation. The latest update comes a day before the claims window closes. “After the creditor’s rights are confirmed, part of [the claims] will be transferred to related parties for settlement, in order to resolve the company’s losses caused by non-operating funds, undisclosed guarantees that require liability, as well as assets that require attention,” Hainan discloses. A creditor’s meeting — the first to be held since the HNA Group was placed under bankruptcy reorganisation — is slated for 12 April. <br/>
AirAsia Group posted a record loss in Q4 and said revenue plunged 92% from a year earlier as coronavirus restrictions affected travel demand internationally and in Malaysia. The airline, a low-cost pioneer in Asia, posted a net loss of 2.4b ringgit ($590m) for the three months through December, taking its loss for the year to 5.1b ringgit. “While international borders remained closed, the group focused on resuming limited domestic operations in the areas we operate,” the company said Monday. “Lockdowns announced in Malaysia for the month of October and November further dampened sales.” The October-December period was AirAsia’s sixth-straight quarterly loss, and also marred by 391m ringgit in fuel-hedging losses. Bookings and load factors have gradually improved more recently, with the lifting of some restrictions on interstate travel and domestic tourism, the airline said.<br/>