Porter Airlines is once more pushing back its tentative date for resuming flights. The airline, which has delayed its restart date several times during the pandemic, now plans to resume flying on June 21. Porter had most recently been set to resume flights on May 19. Porter CE Michael Deluce says the airline is looking ahead to summer and preparing for the possibility of some travel restrictions unwinding. Deluce says Porter will begin the process of rebuilding its operations as soon as conditions allow based on government decisions. Porter suspended operations on March 21, 2020, due to the pandemic.<br/>
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Norwegian Air has won approval from creditors in Norway to restructure its debt and an Oslo court has approved the plan, the airline said on Monday, clearing the way for it to raise new capital and emerge from bankruptcy next month. Financed largely by debt, Norwegian Air grew rapidly, serving routes across Europe and flying to North and South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East before the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the airline into crisis. Its survival plan announced last year brings an end to its long-haul business, leaving a slimmed-down carrier focusing on Nordic and European routes. “Today the judge of the Oslo Byfogdembete (County Court) has approved the scheme for an exit of the reconstruction of the company,” Norwegian Air said . Ireland’s High Court has already approved the airline’s restructuring scheme in a parallel process.<br/>
Norway's Norse Atlantic, a recently formed long-haul budget airline that plans to launch operations this year, made its Oslo stock market debut on Monday, trading up 5% in early trade. Norse traded at 21 Norwegian crowns ($2.46) per share at 0731 GMT, up from a price of 20 crowns in a private placement late last month. “The global economy has been hit hard by the pandemic but a new era is coming. People will once again travel for business and pleasure,” Norse founder and CE Bjoern Tore Larsen said. The airline aims to fill a gap left by Norwegian Air, which offered low-cost transatlantic flights until mounting debt and the collapse of travel due to the COVID-19 outbreak forced it to exit its long-haul business. Seeking to benefit from a glut of cheap aircraft as established carriers scaled back amid the pandemic, Norse signed contracts for nine Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets from Irish lessor AerCap Holdings.<br/>
Grecian Air Seaplanes said on Monday it will launch seaplane flights in September, connecting islands to the mainland after the first seaports were licenced to operate after years of bureaucratic delays. The company said it plans to start flights with three 19-seater seaplanes from seaports at the Ionian Sea in western Greece and gradually grow its fleet of aircraft. With its polynesian geography and a 16,000 kilometre coastline, Greece is an ideal place for seaplane service. Operators can improve access to many holiday resorts and poorly connected islands, a potential boost to its tourism industry. Grecian Air Seaplanes said its flights will fill a void, helping to connect islands to one another and to the mainland by air. Its business plan calls for a mixed fleet of owned and leased aircraft as the cost of a seaplane is about $7m.<br/>
Withdrawal of the UK from the European Union has not substantially affected Wizz Air UK’s operations, the airline has disclosed in its latest full-year financial statement. Wizz Air UK was set up in 2017 following the UK ‘Brexit’ referendum on leaving EU membership, and the withdrawal was completed at the end of December 2020. “Business is not expected to be restricted in any material way behind Brexit either from a commercial or operational point of view, which is consistent with the operating environment experienced in the first month post-Brexit,” the carrier says. Wizz Air UK’s revenues for the year to 31 March 2020, the point at which the pandemic crisis began to set in, reached just under GBP250m. The airline generated a pre-tax profit of GBP2.2m. At the end of March 2020 the carrier had built up a fleet of 10 aircraft, and it has since extended its operations from London Luton to include bases at London Gatwick, Doncaster-Sheffield and Cardiff.<br/>
UK long-haul start-up carrier Flypop has agreed to lease an Airbus A330-300, as part of a deal involving several aircraft with Irish-based lessor Avolon. Flypop’s management team has been attempting to establish a new carrier for services between the UK and India for several years – originally being named ‘POP’ for ‘People Over Profit’ with a view to launching in 2016. CE Navdip Singh Judge says Avolon has offered “the most competitive rate” and a “pipeline” of aircraft to 2023. FlightGlobal understands that, along with the initial A330, two more aircraft are under consideration, potentially for introduction in 2022. Judge says the lease agreement has supported an application for an air operator’s certificate to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. “[We] expect our first flights to commence by October,” he adds.<br/>
Pakistan International Airlines has turned in a full-year pre-tax loss of Rs35.5b ($224.6m), the airline’s latest financial statement reveals. The flag-carrier’s loss to 31 December 2020 was lower than the previous Rs53.3b despite the effects of the air transport crisis. PIA’s revenues for the year nevertheless were down by 35% at just under Rs95b. Fuel costs were down by 58% and while the airline’s gross profit was heavily reduced, its operating loss, at Rs680m, was substantially lower than that of 2019. PIA’s net loss for the year reached Rs34.6b.<br/>