United’s agreement for 70 Airbus A321neos finally lifted the airframer into positive net orders for the first half of the year. Airbus’s net orders had languished in negative territory over the course of 2021 until the United order was recorded on 28 June. The deal meant Airbus’s gross orders for the half-year of 165 aircraft exceeded the 127 cancellations. Only two cancellations were listed in June, both of them A220-300s removed from the backlog of Macquarie Financial Holdings – leaving the customer with 29 of the type still on order. Airbus also obtained orders for a single long-haul aircraft in June, an A330-300 for a private client, as well as an A321neo and single A220-300 for an undisclosed customer. It took deliveries for the first six months to 297 aircraft – compared with 196 at the same midway point last year – after it handed over 77 aircraft in June.<br/>
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Lufthansa plans to reactivate nearly all its routes by late summer, CAPITAL magazine cited the head of the airline's network management on Thursday. "We have decided to operate nearly all routes by September to have a fully-fledged offer for personal and business travellers," Heiko Reitz was quoted as saying.<br/>
Aegean Airlines’ losses almost halved year on year in the first quarter of 2021, and the Greek carrier aims to restore 75-80% of its capacity in Q3. The Star Alliance member has reported a Q1 net loss of E44.5m, compared with an E85.4m net loss in the same three-month period of 2020. Revenue declined 70% to E44.3 million. Aegean carried 460,000 passengers in the first three months of 2021 – 78% fewer than the same period last year. It operated 58% fewer flights and its load factor dropped 28.5 percentage points to 47.5%. “The group’s flight activity stood at particularly low levels in the first quarter of 2021, due to the second wave of the pandemic and the restrictive measures which have impacted our results,” states Aegean CE Dimitros Gerogiannis. This trend continued until the beginning of June when leisure traffic started to show “gradual signs of recovery”, adds Gerogiannis. The pace of Covid-19 vaccinations “will play a vital role in the demand trend and the results during the second half of the year”.<br/>
Singapore Airlines, flush with US$16b raised since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to help from a state investor, is in a position of dominance among its South-east Asian rivals as they downsize and restructure. The crisis threatened the survival of hub carriers that lack domestic markets such as SIA, Cathay Pacific Airways and Emirates. Indeed, Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong last year said the government would "spare no effort" to ensure SIA made it through the pandemic. Its majority shareholder, government-owned investment arm Temasek Holdings underwrote one of the world's biggest airline rescue packages. Thanks to that, SIA's has enough funds to keep going for at least two more years without cuts, and is modernising its fleet to save fuel, reduce maintenance costs and meet environmental goals while other airlines shed aircraft. "The crisis shows the importance of having a cash-rich state investor as its main backer," said a banker, who was not authorised to speak with media and spoke anonymously. SIA's cash pile is the envy of rivals like Thai Airways and Garuda Indonesia, which have received little government support. Many of SIA's rivals are trimming fleets to a level that could ultimately weaken their hubs and send more connecting traffic to Singapore. "Basically what these airlines are trying to do is they are trying to ward off their debtors," said Subhas Menon, DG of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.<br/>
Like most air carriers, Singapore Airlines has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic. But since December, passengers flying the airline from Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur have received a lift from a digital health tool developed by a small startup owned by Temasek -- Singapore's state-owned global investment giant. Singapore Airlines is one of a number of carriers using travel pass software from Affinidi, one of Temasek's little-known startups. The software verifies the authenticity of flyers’ COVID-19 test results. One of its main features is that it supports different health passports, making it simple for airlines to screen passengers. Temasek has been a prolific investor in tech companies. But what differentiates Affinidi from Temasek's other holdings is that it is homegrown, established by the state-owned investor as part of a move to fund ventures at the earliest possible stage. Temasek is not just backing promising young companies, it is also making them. "As an investor, we have full flexibility to either invest in existing solutions or create new ones, depending on the opportunities we have identified," said Chia Song Hwee, deputy CE of Temasek International. Temasek International is the commercial arm of Temasek Holdings, created to undertake investments so that its parent can focus on stewarding Singapore's reserves. This month Temasek International is expected to reveal the performance of its portfolio over the 12 months to March.<br/>