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Avianca’s new CEO Adrian Neuhauser in April took over a carrier that was a year into its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in the US, and which all but shut down early in the pandemic. It faced increasing competitive pressures from low-cost carriers in its home Colombian and Central American markets. Six months later, and travelers are returning. Avianca plans to fly 65 percent of its 2019 capacity this winter. A bankruptcy exit is in its sights before the end of the year, and Neuhauser has a vision for a very different travel market once the Covid-19 pandemic is in the past. Business travel, long the bread-and-butter of legacy carriers like Avianca, is gone in a significant way, Neuhauser said at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Boston on September 5. He disagreed with the optimistic outlooks of the likes of Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, and shook his head before declining to comment on Emirates President Tim Clark’s prognosis of a full business recovery by the end of 2022. “The threshold for a meeting to be in person has gone up,” he said. “We don’t think it’s a [down] 20% issue or 30% issue, we think it’s a 50, 60% issue of business travel going away. That impacts the entire design of our network, it impacts the entire design of our cabin — our commercial strategy.” That severe — but possibly realistic — outlook shaped the reorganization plan that Avianca submitted to the court in August. Under that plan, the airline will add seats to its Airbus A320 family narrowbodies — A320s will go to 176 seats from 150 seats today — add more point-to-point routes from secondary bases like Medellin, Colombia, and San José, Costa Rica, and implement a long-planned commercial partnership on U.S.-Latin America routes with United.<br/>

Germany has cut its stake in Lufthansa by slightly less than a percentage point to 14.09%, the German state finance agency said on Wednesday, after the airline completed a capital increase. Lufthansa received a E9b government bailout last year to keep it afloat through the COVID-19 pandemic under a deal which saw Germany’s Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF) taking a stake in the group. The finance agency said ESF contributed to the E2.16b capital increase with the aim of ending state support more quickly. It said ESF will hold a 14.09% stake in Lufthansa after the capital increase, down from 15% it held before.<br/>

Lufthansa received strong investor backing for a E2.14b rights issue, providing some encouragement for travel companies looking to weather the after effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The company said on Wednesday that its rights issue was 98.36% subscribed by investors, and the remainder was quickly sold in the open market soon after. The cash will be used to repay a chunk of the E9b government bailout it received last year to stay afloat throughout the COVID pandemic, which resulted in the Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF) taking a 15% stake in the group. This was cut slightly in the rights issue to 14.09%, the German state finance agency said on Wednesday. Sentiment towards the airlines and travel sectors was boosted in September by the lifting of restrictions on travel between the United States and Europe in particular.<br/>

Ethiopian Airlines Group denied it ferried arms to neighboring Eritrea, whose troops fought in the Tigray region. The state-owned carrier was responding to a report by Cable News Network that it’s been shipping weapons from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, since the violence broke out in November. CNN’s report cited cargo documentation, manifests, photographs and eyewitness accounts. “Ethiopian Airlines would like to confirm that to the best of its knowledge and its records, it has not transported any war armament in any of its routes by any of its aircraft,” Group Corporate Communications Manager Ali Mohammed said in an emailed response to questions. Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s biggest carrier and a major source of foreign currency for the Horn of Africa nation. US President Joe Biden in September signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against individuals and entities prolonging the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. <br/>

Korean Air’s plan to acquire financially-troubled rival Asiana Airlines is facing a bumpy road as the deadline for the 1.8t won ($1.6b) deal has been pushed to the end of this year. The takeover plan was first announced in November last year, making headlines that the two South Korean full service carriers would merge, giving birth to one of the world’s ten biggest airlines. In recent months, however, slow progress for the deal -- which was initially set to be complete by the end of June -- has been met with frustration and concern from those involved in the process including airline staff and the Korea Development Bank, Asiana’s main creditor. Once seen as Korean Air’s rival, Asiana has short-term liabilities worth over 5t won set to mature within a year. “As the review of the merger has been delayed, there is a sense of unrest and concern among Asiana staff over unstable management. They want the process to wrap up swiftly for financial stabilization,” one industry official, who wished to stay anonymous, said. In a press conference last month, Lee Dong-gull, the chairman of the state-run bank said integration of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines is “inevitable” and “essential” for the Korean airline industry to survive and gain competitiveness in the global market. He also said it was “regretful” that the approval process has been slow. “I hope the (local authority) will approve the deal as soon as possible,” he said. On Tuesday, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said in a report to the National Assembly that its review of the acquisition will be complete within this year. <br/>

Emergency services were on standby at Christchurch Airport on Thursday morning after reports of an incident onboard an inbound aircraft. There are scant details available about the incident which took place just before 8am. Fire and Emergency NZ confirmed they were called to the airport at 7:45am after reports of smoke in the cockpit of an inbound aircraft. Police told Newshub they received reports of an "airplane in distress", but it has since landed without incident. It's understood the aircraft involved was an ATR, an aircraft type used by Air New Zealand on regional routes. A spokesperson for Air NZ said there was a “a momentary haze observed in the flight deck” onboard Flight NZ8761 from New Plymouth to Christchurch. As is procedure, the flight was met with emergency services on arrival into Christchurch. The flight landed safely at its intended location.<br/>