The owner of British Airways is considering legal action after Heathrow Airport was given permission to sting passengers for hundreds of millions of pounds to cover pandemic losses. Bosses at IAG, the FTSE 100 company that also owns Aer Lingus and Iberia, are furious that regulators are allowing Heathrow to raise an extra GBP300m through increased passenger charges. They are understood to be mulling the launch of a judicial review to block the decision by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). A spokesman for IAG said: “The airport has deliberately rewarded its investors at the expense of consumers and now the regulator is asking passengers to bail it out." The firm's criticism was echoed by former BA boss Willie Walsh, now head of airlines trade body IATA, who described the plans as "madness". Heathrow has been battered by the pandemic, plunging to a GBP2b loss last year as restrictions were imposed on international air travel and a golden age of flying came to a crashing halt.<br/>
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Aeromexico is doing the work in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Mexican carrier has renegotiated labor agreements, secured up to $1b in new debtor-in-possession funding, and pruned its fleet to 106 aircraft. But that’s not all for the Mexico City-based carrier. The airline and Boeing have reached a deal to slash its orderbook and in the process saving Aeromexico almost $2b in future capital expenditures. All of this while continuing its shift towards new, more efficient aircraft, namely the Boeing 737 Max. Before the US bankruptcy court judge in New York is a plan to replace the 54 737 Max commitments Aeromexico had before the crisis with an order for just 20 737-8s and -9s, court filings show. All of the Maxes from Boeing will be financed with sale-and-leaseback transactions that have yet to be finalized. In addition, the airline has a deal with Air Lease Corp. to add another four 737 Maxes and four Boeing 787-9s. If approved, all of the jets will be delivered by the end of 2022. In addition, the judge will review separate rejigged agreements with AerCap and other lessors that together will save Aeromexico another $800 million in lease-related expenses. “This continues [Aeromexico’s] process of realigning the composition of their fleet with expected operations and adding more fuel- and cost-efficient Boeing 737 Max aircraft that will offer an upgraded customer experience and improved profitability,” the airline said in the court filing on April 24.<br/>
Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia Bhd have won their appeals to quash the RM10mil fine imposed on each of them by the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) for breaching a market-sharing prohibition. A Court of Appeal three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Hanipah Farikullah allowed the appeals by both carriers to reinstate the decision of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) which found that they did not infringe Section 4 (2) of the Competition Act 2010. Justice Hanipah, who delivered the court’s decision, said CAT is an appellate authority and MyCC must abide by its decision. “It (MyCC) cannot ignore or challenge the decision of the appellate authority unless it is provided by Parliament, ” she said. Justice Hanipah said the court was of the view that MyCC was not a person who is adversely affected by CAT’s decision.<br/>