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JetBlue Airways CEO Robin Hayes expects the US to reopen to foreign travelers before the Nov. 25 Thanksgiving holiday, he said Tuesday at an IATA media briefing. Significant number of customers have already made bookings so tens of thousands would have to cancel if the US does not open by then, Hayes says. Overall demand is correlated to case counts and people who didn’t get a chance to travel last summer will begin booking, he says. In same briefing, IATA chief Willie Walsh says there’s sustained demand for travel, not just pent-up demand after restrictions are lifted. On what airlines have learned for next pandemic, Walsh says the industry was “probably too sympathetic” to governments<br/>He sees resistance to certain measures if there were to be another pandemic.<br/>

Hawaiian Airlines intends to restore much of its service to the Asia-Pacific region this year as countries around the Pacific Rim begin dismantling their coronavirus-driven mobility restrictions. CE Peter Ingram expressed optimism the Honolulu-headquartered carrier will soon be able to again tap into its biggest non-US markets. “I think we should see some greater ability for international travel from the Pacific region to Hawaii starting at the end of this year and accelerating through the first quarter and the first half of next year,” Ingram says. “It’s difficult to put a specific number on it right now, but what we’re preparing for is to restore our network throughout the Pacific,” he adds. Fleet preparation, staffing and training are in full swing so that Hawaiian will be “in the position to be ready for a strong recovery throughout the first half of 2022”. Coronavirus protocols – including entry bans, quarantines and testing regimes – in the airline’s important international markets like Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are constantly evolving. But there now are more signs the countries will ease such requirements, allowing for more tourist activity, toward the end of 2021. “As those restrictions come off, and the conditions are falling into place, with vaccination rates rising in all of those countries, we expect to see a strong recovery internationally,” he says.<br/>

Air Europa remains confident that IAG can close its acquisition of the company within the agreed timeframe, but the Spanish carrier could continue to operate should the deal fail to complete, its aircraft fleet manager Xisca Mateu Brunet has indicated. During a panel session at the ISTAT EMEA conference in Edinburgh on 5 October, Brunet said that Air Europa remained “optimistic” that its acquisition by IAG could be completed within the 12 to 24 month timeframe agreed when the tie-up was announced in November 2019. While the pandemic has complicated and delayed the process, she says that, based on the latest developments, the deal should be completed no later than the beginning of December, subject to EU approval. “We are optimistic. We see that there is a lot of work both parties to make that happen. Obviously the EU has the last say on that,” she says. But should something happen that curtails the deal, Brunet says the Madrid-based carrier could continue operations. “What would happen if IAG doesn’t succeed? Well, we think that we are able to continue, that we are capable to continue in the market,” she says.<br/>

British airline and holiday group Jet2 said Tuesday it would buy 15 more Airbus A321 NEO aircraft, valued at $2b at current list prices, as airlines gear up for a travel rebound in Europe. The order is in addition to Jet2's first-ever Airbus purchase in August, when it booked 36 firm aircraft, along with the flexibility to extend up to 60 aircraft, switching loyalties from Boeing. Pandemic travel restrictions have lasted longer in Britain than the rest of Europe and while demand has started to recover, fears over last-minute rule changes have hampered many bookings. Jet2 said the additional aircraft will be delivered between 2026 and 2029, with the terms of the agreement almost similar to the August order. The company added it has negotiated significant discounts from the list price for the latest order, which will be financed through a combination of internal resources and debt.<br/>

The head of Dubai airline Emirates piled pressure on planemaker Boeing Tuesday over delays to its 777X jetliner, warning that the uncertainty would cause significant disruption for one of the world's biggest carriers. Emirates President Tim Clark said he wanted "another grown-up conversation" with the U.S. planemaker over the timing of the twin-engined jumbo, which is running at least two-and-a-half years behind its originally planned arrival of June 2020. "We work to precision. I struggle with others who can't get that," Clark told reporters shortly before he was due to meet Boeing leaders on the sidelines of an airline industry summit. Clark, an airline industry veteran who was closely involved in the development of the current 777-300ER model, has lambasted Boeing this year over repeated delays to its 777X. The company has previously said it plans to start delivering the new, larger version of the 777 wide-body jet by late 2023, three years later than originally planned, partly owing to a longer certification process after fatal 737 MAX jet crashes. Clark emphasised that the uncertainty over Boeing's progress with the programme would hamper his airline's complex fleet plans which include Airbus jets. Emirates, which has 126 777X jets on order, is a launch customer for the new aircraft that will replace the current 777 jets that are the backbone of its wide-body fleet. Clark said that Emirates still did not know when the first 777-9 version of the twin-engine jumbo would arrive, nor whether the smaller 777-8 version would be built at all.<br/>

Emirates, the world's largest long-haul airline before the pandemic, has signed a $750m five-year dual-tranche financing facility with Emirates NBD, the bank said on Tuesday. "The landmark transaction remains competitively priced and marks a first for Emirates Airline as a sales-receivable backed financing structure, aimed to diversify their liquidity pool," said Emirates NBD, Dubai's biggest lender. Emirates has received $3.1b in state support from Dubai since the start of the pandemic. That includes $1.1b in June, when it reported a $5.5b loss for the year ended March - its first annual loss in more than three decades. It was the airline's biggest annual loss, and only its third ever following losses in 1987-88 and 1985-86, its first year in operation, an Emirates representative has said. Emirates has said the government, its sole shareholder, would continue to support the airline that has transformed Dubai into a major international travel hub over the past three decades. Dubai, the regional tourism and business hub, is hoping to attract millions to the Expo 2020 world fair, which opened on Friday after a year-long delay due to the pandemic. "As Dubai gears up to be the most visited city by 2025, we look forward to playing our part in achieving this goal through more of such landmark transactions with Emirates Airline," said Ahmed Al Qassim, Emirates NBD's head of corporate and institutional banking. "Emirates can confirm that we have signed a five-year dual-tranche financing facility with Emirates NBD," an Emirates representative said.<br/>

A senior airline executive warns that a further casualty of the coronavirus crisis – in addition to at least two years of financial pain – will likely be innovation and new products. Speaking on the sidelines of the IATA World Air Transport summit in Boston on 5 October, Emirates Airline president Tim Clark says passenger carriers must first sort through financial woes before they can again test the waters of new investments, especially in the premium segment of their businesses. “We are all in the same boat,” he says. “The next two to three years are going to see a focus on restoration of profitability, and cash positivity. And the recovery will continue on that basis until such time.”“Part of the casualty of that will be innovation - in design, and the adoption of new products,” he says. Risk-aversion will be rampant. Fleet replacement will also suffer, as might the eagerness of executives to embrace new technology, he adds. Part of the challenge, he says, is that numerous governments took a stake in their countries’ air transport companies in order to supply them with liquidity during the crisis last year. Public servants, he says, are not known for readily embracing untested, future-oriented technology that requires large upfront investment. These carriers are now looking to rid themselves of the inevitable caution that comes with having government representatives on their boards.<br/>

SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh wants to expand the company’s fleet of passenger jets and cargo haulers as the Indian airline’s financial performance recovers after a punishing stretch during the pandemic. Singh said the no-frills carrier has a “reasonable chance” of reaching break-even this quarter through December thanks to a combination of cost cuts, renegotiated aircraft leases, an uptick in air travel traffic in India and the growth of the company’s new cargo operation. “We are easily the largest player in that space in our part of the world,” he said in an interview at an annual International Air Transport Association meeting in Boston. “We, like other airlines, made losses in this period but on the other side we built out this asset.” SpiceJet posted a loss of 7.3b rupees ($98m) in the June quarter, missing analyst estimates of a 6.3b shortfall. Salaries have now been restored for all employees, Singh said, after the company deferred pay for many earlier this year, a move that prompted a strike at Delhi airport in September. SpiceJet rose 1% Tuesday morning in Mumbai. The shares are down 20% this year. Singh said he expects SpiceJet’s cargo business to reach $1b in revenue in two to three years from roughly $350m expected this year. The business needs “at least” 10-15 more wide-body jets to expand capacity from its existing fleet of nine, he said, with the first additions coming as early as next month.<br/>

Malaysia’s AirAsia Group has received approval from Danajamin Nasional Berhad for a club facility of up to 500m ringgit ($120m), it said Tuesday. The loan, 80% of which is guaranteed by the government, is earmarked for working capital purposes, which will support staff costs and key operating expenses such as aircraft maintenance as the group prepares to ramp up operations, it said. The loan, disbursed as part of a COVID-19 economic stimulus package from the government, has been approved by the airline’s lenders under a club deal term financing, it said. Danajamin Nasional, the country’s only financial guarantee insurer, is half-owned by the finance ministry. Malaysia is looking at allowing interstate domestic travel and international travel for its citizens when 90% of its adult population is fully vaccinated. The rate stood at 88% on Monday.<br/>

Malaysia's AirAsia Group has reached a deal with Airbus to restructure an order for 362 narrowbody planes including switching 13 A320neos to the larger A321neo model, the airline said on Wednesday. Deliveries of the 362 A321neos are now planned through 2035, the airline said, without providing details of previous plans. Reuters last month reported Airbus had agreed to cut prices or reschedule delivery to salvage a contract worth tens of billions of dollars with its largest Asian customer, according to industry sources. AirAsia received its first A321neo in November 2019 and currently has four of the planes in service after halting deliveries during the pandemic, which has led to a plunge in travel across Southeast Asia. Airbus sold six A321neos that had been built for AirAsia last year, according to industry sources. Airbus CCO Christian Scherer said that the deal with AirAsia announced on Wednesday was an example of how the planemaker had worked with customers to find solutions to adapt to the impact of the pandemic.<br/>

THE holiday season, which is usually the busiest time of the year for airlines, will continue to be challenged by government-imposed restrictions, especially the compulsory 10-day quarantine, but embattled Philippine Airlines remains hopeful that air passenger traffic would increase. “As long as we are allowed to fly more passengers…, we should have an uptick. We are now entering what typically will be the peak period for travel in the Philippines, the so-called ‘Ber’ months,” PAL President and COO Gilbert F. Santa Maria said. “The challenge will be, if you are a Filipino living overseas…, and you have two weeks of vacation that allows you to go home for Christmas and New Year, but you have to spend 10 days in a hotel for quarantine, you probably will not travel,” he noted. “If that quarantine is reduced to five days, then you will, and so we anticipate an uptick.” PAL officials said last month that international travelers find requirements such as testing and quarantine periods to be “very burdensome,” forcing them to put off their travel plans.<br/>