Frontier Airlines shares rose more than 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the budget carrier posted better-than-expected quarterly results, despite warning about weaker travel demand because of the coronavirus delta variant. Frontier said it expects at most to break even in the third quarter compared with a previous forecast to post a profit because of the fast-spreading variant. “Within the last week, we have noted softening in the level of bookings over seasonal norms that we believe is directly related to the increased COVID-19 case numbers associated with the Delta variant,” the carrier said in a quarterly report. “The impact of the Delta variant on bookings, and the duration of that impact, are difficult to predict.” CEO Barry Biffle said the widespread availability of vaccines will likely blunt the effect of the delta variant. Denver-based Frontier, which went public this spring, reported net income of $19m for Q2, thanks to a boost in federal aid. That compares with a loss of $50m a year earlier. Revenue nearly tripled to $550m in the second quarter from a year earlier. That was above the $548.4m analysts expected.<br/>
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Spirit Airlines apologized on Wednesday for disruptions that have upended its flight schedule for three days and counting. "The last three days were extremely difficult for our Guests and Team Members, and for that we sincerely apologize," the airline said. "We continue to work around the clock to get our Guests where they need to be." As of mid-day Wednesday, more than 50% of the airline's schedule -- nearly 350 flights -- had already been canceled, according to the aviation tracking website FlightAware, marking a fourth consecutive day of severe disruptions. The low-cost carrier canceled 61% of its schedule on Tuesday and another 20% of its schedule was delayed, FlightAware reported. On Monday, cancellations and delays disrupted 71% of Spirit's schedule, and Sunday saw 60% of its schedule canceled or delayed, FlightAware said. The airline cited overlapping weather challenges, system outages and staffing shortages as causes for the widespread cancellations and delays."Cancellation numbers will progressively drop in the days to come," Spirit said. The airline has performed "a more thorough reboot of the network," which it said will ease some of the operational challenges. The peak summer travel season with very high aircraft load factors across the industry has intensified the issues, Spirit said. Spirit has enlisted staff members from other areas of the company to help with tasks such as processing of vouchers for meals and hotels. The airline confirmed that problems with a crew scheduling IT system have contributed to the disruptions. A union representing some crew members, the Association of Flight Attendants, said Spirit's schedulers were locked out of a staff scheduling system on Tuesday "for over an hour."<br/>
US start-up carrier GlobalX Airlines hopes to begin passenger charter flights this week. “We will put an airplane into the air and get revenue from it, if it’s by Friday or over the weekend, it will happen very, very soon,” says chief executive Ed Wegel during a 4 August investor call. “A number of people have called to see if they could be the first ones to fly with us. We will be in the air very shortly.” The airline announced earlier on 4 August that it received an aircraft operating certificate from the FAA. It is waiting final approval from the US DoT, which executives say could come as early as today. Formed by a Canadian company, Miami-based GlobalX has received FAA clearance to fly under Part 121 rules, which apply to large scheduled airlines. The airline has a single Airbus A320 and has started the process of adding a second aircraft – an A321 – to its flight certificate, it says. The carrier expects to receive two more aircraft this year – one in the third and one in the fourth quarter. Its first aircraft (registration N276GX) was manufactured in 2006 and previously operated by Frontier Airlines, according to Cirium data. Wegel says the company, which already has 121 employees, “could be at 14 airplanes by the end of 2022”, and 25 by the end of 2023.<br/>
Volaris, the Mexican ultra low cost airline that flies to the Caribbean, Central America and the United States, published yesterday its operating results for the month of July. In this month of 2021, the demand in the national and international markets increased 23.2% and 10.3% compared to the same period of 2019. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the company added capacity both nationally (23.3%) and international (7.3%). The load factor, on the other hand, remained at an impressive 89.5%. In July 2021, Volaris carried 2.3m passengers. This is a record for the company and represents an increase of almost 16% from pre-pandemic levels.<br/>
RoyalJet Bermuda, a subsidiary of United Arab Emirates' business charter specialist Royal Jet, has obtained its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) from the Bermudan authorities. "We at RoyalJet Group are proud to announce that our wholly-owned subsidiary in Bermuda has been granted an AOC by the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority. This is the Group’s first foreign AOC, and it expands our service offering to our existing customers while helping us continue our growth in the global market”, CE of Royal Jet, Rob DiCastri, said. The new Bermudan unit operates a single B737-700(BBJ) which was registered in the UK Caribbean territory before the certification of the local subsidiary. Royal Jet said the aircraft would remain based in Europe. Royal Jet itself is co-owned by Abu Dhabi Aviation and Presidential Flight.<br/>
A Chinese cargo carrier with links to e-commerce giant JD.com has received preliminary approval from civil aviation regulators to launch operations. Jiangsu Jingdong Cargo Airlines, which will be based in the eastern Chinese city of Nantong, will launch with CNY600m in capital, states the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in a 3 August notice. It will be 75% owned by Suqian Jindong Zhanrui Enterprise Management, a company controlled by JD.com founder Richard Liu. Nantong Airport Group will contribute the remaining 25% in capital. The CAAC notice states that the airline will be headed by Li Jiangshi, a former general manager at aerospace company Sichuan Haite High-tech.<br/>