Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie said Friday that he’s urging all passengers and employees to get Covid shots, even though the low-cost carrier has no plans to implement vaccine requirements. “Rising case counts with regard to the delta variant obviously is a concern for everybody,” Christie said. "The answer to that, we believe, is to get your vaccine, make sure you get out there and get vaccinated.” Christie said the company does not have the authority to mandate vaccines for travelers, saying that he believes it’s going to be a “federal question.” Spirit, however, is still “strongly encouraging” employees to get vaccinated and use facial coverings, he said. The CEO said Spirit implemented facial covering requirements since early in the pandemic, which remain in place today as the highly contagious delta variant drives the latest surge in Covid cases across the United States. Even though some pandemic-based restrictions are slowly returning, Christie said the “market is still open” with airlines able to operate without limitations on travel.<br/>
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On 11 August, JetBlue will launch transatlantic flights that could rattle one of aviation’s normally most lucrative markets. The airline, one of the biggest in America but without the global presence of the “big four” US carriers, will launch its first services to the UK with the promise of driving down fares, particularly for the business traveller. It sounds a gamble but the CE, Robin Hayes, a Briton himself, stressed his airline was nothing like rival carriers, which promised to bring low fares to the transatlantic; Norwegian, for example, which went from minnow to global pioneer to bankruptcy on a similar offer. “It’s very different to Norwegian,” said Hayes. “We’re flying a plane we’ve always flown, and a third of our capacity is already international, to 25 countries. This is really just a very small step for us.” Where Norwegian pinned its hopes to a swiftly grown fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, JetBlue will cross the Atlantic in a single-aisle, narrow-body plane, the Airbus A321LR. That means fewer seats, but even lower costs. While other airlines generally use the model to maximise the number of economy seats in a single cabin, JetBlue will have an innovative layout including 24 seats in its version of business class, known as Mint. The small cabin arguably lends an even greater cachet for these seats: with just two per row, all have aisle access and their own sliding door for privacy. And Hayes claimed that the prices would be far below what rivals charge for business class, starting at less than $2,000 for a round trip from the US. “Fares will come down across the board,” said Hayes.<br/>
ExpressJet Airlines says it will resume service “within the quarter” after the US Department of Transportation granted the regional carrier permission to restart commercial operations under its own brand. Atlanta-based ExpressJet had shuttered in September 2020 after United terminated its exclusive flying agreement with the airline. It applied to the DOT for recertification on 15 April, saying at the time it planned to fly point-to-point routes to underserved cities that had lost air service ”as a result of US airline industry consolidation and Covid-19-driven route reductions”. “ExpressJet expects to resume service within the quarter with a focus on cities, markets, and customers that have seen diminished air service as a result of airline consolidation and an industry trend towards larger aircraft,” the carrier writes on its website on 30 July. “ExpressJet will leverage its 35-year history of having flown several hundred aircraft to most of America’s smaller airports and intends to provide high-quality, reliable, efficient point-to-point flying service in small and abandoned markets with unmet customer needs - avoiding needless overlap with the major airlines and ultra-low-cost carriers,” the airline adds.<br/>
Canada’s Air Transat resumed flying on 30 July after a six-month pandemic-driven pause. The Montreal-based leisure carrier, a unit of Transat AT, says on 30 July that three flights are scheduled for the first day of operations: a round-trip between Montreal and Punta Cana, Mexico, and a flight from Montreal to Vancouver. “It is with great joy and excitement that we return to the skies after these long months of suspension,” says CE Annick Guerard. The flights kick off the airline’s summer schedule, which will build to 24 routes to 16 destinations in Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe. Transat halted operations in January after the Canadian government of Justin Trudeau asked the country’s airlines to temporarily suspend flights to southern beach and resort destinations – places popular with Canadians during the country’s long winters. That move devastated carriers’ usually lucrative spring break business, hitting Transat particularly hard. In April, the airline broke off a planned tie-up with cross-town rival Air Canada. The deal, announced in 2019, was approved by shareholders twice – as conditions of the deal, including the share price, had changed – but was then shot down by the EC over competition concerns.<br/>
Russia’s new unified carrier to serve the eastern side of the country, which is being based on the operator Aurora, has started conducting test flights ahead of opening a full initial schedule on 20 routes in mid-August. PM Mikhail Mishustin stated during a 30 July government meeting that a test service was flown on 26 July. This flight operated from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and was followed the next day by Nogliki-Khabarovsk and Khabarovsk-Shakhtersk services. Aurora general director Konstantin Sukhorebrik says the full flight programme will open on 18 August. He says Aurora will operate on the network in co-operation with Yakutia, Khabarovsk Airlines and Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise – adding that the unified operation is loosely named ’Aurora Group’. Mishustin had been presented with details of an airport terminal construction project in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, as well as plans for the carrier, a few days before the meeting. The terminal is set to be commissioned on 31 December 2022 and will be capable of handling 250 passengers hourly on international flights and 550 on domestic. Mishustin signed an order in June allocating Rb1.58b to subsidise passenger air transport in the far eastern federal district. The unified airline is intended to provide more accessibility to citizens and increase connectivity in remote areas.<br/>
Gulf Air is set to launch daily flights to Turkish capital Istanbul starting from August 2. Thanks to its growing popularity and relaxed entry restrictions, Istanbul has merged as one of the airline’s favourite destinations for Bahrain and GCC customer base. Gulf Air began the summer season with flights to 80% of its pre-pandemic network and is now trying to restore services to all cities in its original 2019 destination network. The airline has also announced that it has successfully launched all of its seasonal destinations for the summer of 2021 with direct flights to Mykonos and Santorini in Greece, Malaga in Spain and Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt as well as recently resuming Tbilisi in Georgia. <br/>
Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's plan to launch an ultra-low-cost airline, could give planemaker Boeing a chance to regain lost ground in India after the fall of one of its biggest customers, Jet Airways, two years ago, industry executives say. Jhunjhunwala, known as "India's Warren Buffett" for his successful stock investments, plans to team up with former CEOs of IndiGo, the country's biggest carrier, and Jet Airways to tap into demand for domestic air travel. While Jhunjhunwala's Akasa Air comes at a time when India's aviation industry is reeling from the impact of the pandemic, with airlines losing billions of dollars, the sector's long-term prospect makes it a hot market for planemakers Boeing and Airbus. "There will be a big fight between Airbus and Boeing," said Nitin Sarin, managing partner at law firm Sarin & Co, which advises lessors and airlines. "For Boeing this is a great opportunity to step in and up their game, considering they don't have any other major operator for their 737 aircraft in India apart from SpiceJet," Sarin said, referring to Boeing's narrowbody aircraft. One industry source said the new venture was already moving towards what could be one of the biggest deals of the year outside the United States to acquire purchased or leased 737s. Boeing did not comment on Akasa's plans, but said it always seeks opportunities and talks to current and potential customers about how it can best support their fleet and operational needs. Details of the venture, including any decision on plane orders, have not been formally disclosed, but Jhunjhunwala told Bloomberg he plans to have a 40% stake in Akasa, which will have 70 aircraft of up to 180 seats within four years.<br/>
Indonesia's biggest budget airline operator Lion Air Group announced plans on Saturday to furlough around 8,000 employees as travel businesses suffer disruption due to COVID-19 restrictions. Lion Air Group will furlough between 25% and 35% of its 23,000 employees, it said in a statement, after having to reduce its flight operations due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. The group operates Lion Air, Wings Air and Batik Air. The decision was taken to "maintain the business and company's sustainability, streamline company operations, reduce costs and restructure the organization amid aviation operational conditions that have yet to return to normal from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the statement said. Lion Air Group's operation have been reduced to 10%-15% of its normal capacity of 1,400 flights per day, it said. Indonesia suffered one of the worst coronavirus outbreak in Asia, with more than 3.4 million infections and over 94,000 deaths.<br/>
Thai AirAsia (TAA) has suspended all flights this month and deferred paying its staff either wholly or partially until September. The airline, regarded as one of the most robust domestic carriers, has faced a financial crunch from consistently low passenger volumes since the Covid-19 pandemic began early last year. All domestic airlines including this one also suffer from a lack of cash flow. The airline stopped flying after the restrictions were launched last month. It says all flights will stay grounded for now after efforts to secure loans were in vain. Another factor in the decision to keep flights grounded is that the latest lockdown order includes travel restrictions. The wider aviation business in the country is also facing depleted liquidity and cash flow. TAA announced a deferment of the whole or part of the salaries of its employees as part of an effort to ease cost pressures. The July salaries for executives will be paid in September. Active employees at operational levels will be paid 50% of their July salaries this month and the rest in September. Inactive employees will receive 25% of their salaries in September as well. <br/>