Eastern Airlines is making a bet — a very big bet — that the seemingly insatiable demand for package freight is here to stay and will only grow. The Wayne, Pa.-based airline’s bet is to the tune of 35 Boeing 777 passenger-to-freighter conversions, expected to join its fleet in the next few weeks. The carrier has taken delivery of 10 of the 35 aircraft and expects the next 25 to be delivered in the next 8-12 weeks, CEO Steve Harfst said. The passenger 777s will be converted in-house at Eastern’s wholly owned maintenance facility, FMS, based at the Kansas City International Airport. Each conversion is expected to take about two weeks. Harfst declined to disclose the terms of the deal, but said Eastern bought the aircraft directly from airlines downsizing the widebodies from their fleets. Values for used 777s vary, and the widebody’s value has taken a hit as airlines retire their larger aircraft in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. But even at the low end, if Eastern paid less than $10m per aircraft — a price Delta is reported to have paid for a used 777 in 2016 — its deal would be worth $350m or, more likely, even more. Harfst said the deal has been fully financed by the privately held company’s investors but declined to elaborate. Eastern is putting its chips squarely on package freight. <br/>
unaligned
Eurowings has seen business class seats start to sell out again for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, prompting it to put on twice as many flights in September as in August. Eurowings will offer customers about 300 direct business connections from September, double the number in August, to destinations like Paris, London, Rome, Brussels, Zurich or Vienna, the airline said. It also said that 10 of its business lounges would reopen in September, offering food, drinks and free WiFi. “We are seeing business class sold out on numerous flights for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic - a clear signal that business travel is rebounding strongly after the end of the summer holidays,” said CE Jens Bischof. Lufthansa said earlier this week it aimed to win back business travellers by increasing the number of flights and improving catering. Bookings for the group were stronger than expected in July and August, said Harry Hohmeister, who is responsible for the group’s Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels airlines.<br/>
Ryanair and Wizz Air both today disclosed their highest monthly passenger numbers since the pandemic hit, but concerns around travel demand in Europe for the winter remain as Jet2 flagged continuing slower booking momentum for the period. Europe’s largest no-frills carrier Ryanair carried 11.1m passengers in August. That marked a further improvement on the 9.3m it carried in July as travel restrictions within Europe were further eased. It also represents a 4m improvement on August 2020, the carrier’s previous post-Covid high point for demand prior to the latest round of border relaxations. However, the number remains almost 4m lower than the 14.9m passengers Ryanair carried in August 2019 before the crisis. Ryanair’s load factor of 82% was also its highest since before the pandemic. Wizz also Thursday reported its highest monthly passenger number and load factor since the pandemic. Wizz carried 3.6m passengers at a load factor of 84% in August.<br/>
Ukrainian low-cost airline Bees Airline made its first flight from Kyiv to Samarkand on August 30, Trend reports citing Flight Radar data. Flight 7B801 lasted 4 hours and 29 minutes. The company opened ticket sales in early August. However, a few days later, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Transport issued a statement saying that Bees Airline did not apply for the launch of regular flights to Uzbekistan; also did not apply for charter flights on the Kyiv-Samarkand-Kyiv route. The ministry recalled that foreign airlines must obtain permission from the Civil Aviation Agency - only then can they start selling tickets. The agency asked foreign airlines to strictly observe the rights of passengers and the obligations of the carrier. They also recalled that now there is an agreement between Uzbekistan and Ukraine only in the direction of Tashkent - Kyiv. However, Bees Airline not only made the scheduled flight but is also selling tickets for the next flight, which will take place on September 6. Bees Airline is a new Ukrainian low-cost airline that made its first flight in March this year.<br/>
India's Punjab National Bank Thursday urged a tribunal to quash the rescue plan for defunct debt-laden Jet Airways=, alleging irregularities in it, a move that risks delaying any return of the airline grounded two years ago. A consortium of London-based Kalrock Capital and a UAE-based businessman last year agreed to pump in 10b rupees as working capital and give funds to creditors of Jet, which was hit hard due to piling up debt in 2019. PNB, the court-appointed official in charge of Jet's revival, Ashish Chhawchharia, and a spokesperson for the consortium investing funds into the collapsed airline did not respond to requests for comment. The country's second-largest state lender PNB argues that Jet's court-appointed rescue official had initially accepted its claim of nearly 10b rupees ($137m) from the airline's backers, but then reduced it by 2b rupees, according to its tribunal filing seen by Reuters.<br/>