Canada’s largest airline has resumed flights to Costa Rica. Following a seven-month absence due to the Canadian government’s coronavirus recommendations, an Air Canada flight landed Saturday afternoon at Guanacaste Airport in Liberia, Costa Rica. “Great news! Today Air Canada resumed its direct flight from Toronto to Guanacaste,” the airport said in a Facebook post. By the end of 2021, all of Air Canada, Air Transat, Sunwing and WestJet plan to return to Costa Rica. They will offer nonstop service from Toronto, Montreal and Calgary with an emphasis on routes to the northwestern province of Guanacaste. Air Canada returned to Guanacaste from Toronto on October 9 and will add a flight from Montreal in November. Flights to SJO on Air Canada will resume October 13 from Toronto.<br/>
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Lufthansa said Monday it had wrapped up a E2.16b capital increase and used the proceeds to repay E1.5b euros in state aid as it banks on a rebound in air travel. The German airline paid back the first of two tranches of hybrid capital, dubbed silent participation, it received as part of a 2020 bailout, it said. The company added it also intends to fully repay the second tranche, worth 1 billion euros, before the end of this year. "Today, we are keeping our promise and paying back a large part of the stabilization funds earlier than expected. We are increasingly confident about the future," said CE Carsten Spohr. He added demand for flights, especially from business travellers, was growing daily, though the market remained challenging. The airline also aims to terminate an unused portion of the first participation tranche before the end of 2021. A state loan of E1b was repaid in February. Lufthansa said last week its rights issue was 98.36% subscribed by investors, and the remainder was quickly sold in the open market. The airline last year received a E9b government bailout to stay afloat through the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the German state's Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF) taking 15% of Lufthansa's shares. That stake was trimmed in the rights issue to 14.09%. Lufthansa said on Monday the ESF had committed not to sell any shares over the next six months, but would divest them completely in the 24 months after the capital increase, provided the airline repays the two participation tranches, among other contractual requirements.<br/>
Swiss International Air Lines will launch its first-ever non-stop service between Zurich and the Lebanese capital of Beirut on 2 December. Lebanon’s economic and cultural centre will receive two SWISS flights a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. The new service is primarily aimed at travellers visiting friends and relatives. “As the airline of Switzerland, we strive to offer our customers a route network that is tailored as closely as possible to their air travel needs,” says SWISS CCO Tamur Goudarzi Pour. “We are proud that, for the first time in its history, SWISS will now connect the capital of Lebanon directly with Switzerland and our Zurich hub. We hope that our new services will also help the city of Beirut in its reconstruction. And we look forward to bringing more people and more cultures together.”<br/>
Sabre Corporation and Ethiopian Airlines have renewed their long-term strategic partnership for another seven year with minimum commitment of US$110m. Under the agreement, Ethiopian Airlines will continue to use Sabre’s passenger service system, SabreSonic, enabling it to automate sales and service, helping it to maximize revenue opportunities and create efficient airport experiences for travelers. Furthermore, Sabre’s Intelligence Exchange will help enhance the airline’s passenger experience through providing intelligent real-time insights to help make more informed business decisions. “Despite the effects of the pandemic, Ethiopian Airlines continues to be one of aviation’s greatest success stories,” said Dino Gelmetti, Vice President EMEA, Sabre Travel Solutions. “COVID-19 has accelerated airline competitive pressure and the need for digital transformation, and as Africa’s strongest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines was able to quickly adapt to the changing landscape, further strengthening its position as recovery gains momentum.”<br/>
Singapore Airlines' website was temporarily down over the weekend and travel agencies are seeing a surge in demand for flights after the city-state announced a plan to start quarantine-free travel with more countries as early as next week. Inquiries jumped more than five times the usual on Chan Brothers Travel’s website, according to the travel agent’s senior marketing communications manager Jeremiah Wong. South Korea and European countries are among the favorite destinations, he said. “Demand has been overwhelming,” Wong said. “Singaporeans are travel-starved and they are really looking forward to an overseas holiday and some of them may think this is long overdue.” Singapore Airlines said it has seen “very high demand” for flights and may take longer to respond to queries from customers. Fares on some travel lane routes have increased, the carrier’s website shows. The airline’s shares jumped as much as 9.6% Monday, their biggest gain in 11 months. “Our website temporarily experienced technical issues for a few minutes on Oct. 9,” a spokesperson for the airline said. “Customers have since been able to access the Singapore Airlines website and check on our flight schedules and book flights.” Singapore has moved away from a Covid-Zero approach and is opening its borders to several countries including the US and UK, backed by its high vaccination rate -- more than 80% of the population is fully inoculated against the virus. Transport Minister S. Iswaran said Monday evening that unvaccinated children aged 12 and under will be allowed to use the travel lanes. <br/>
Singapore Airlines will fly four times a week to Vancouver in Canada and Seattle in the United States from Dec 2 to Feb 15 next year, said the carrier on Monday. Announcing the seasonal services, SIA said two of these weekly Seattle-Vancouver-Singapore flights will operate as vaccinated travel lane (VTL) services, providing eligible customers entry into Singapore without COVID-19 quarantine. Sale of tickets through various distribution channels will begin on Tuesday at noon. SIA indefinitely suspended its thrice-weekly service between Singapore and Vancouver via Seoul on Apr 25, 2009, ending the airline’s more than 20 years of flying to Canada. In a press release on Jan 14, 2009, it attributed the move to the global economic downturn. For this seasonal service, flight SQ28 will depart from Singapore Changi Airport at 9.15am and arrive at Vancouver International Airport at 7.30am. It will then leave for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 8.40am to arrive at 9.30am. Flight SQ29, SIA’s twice-weekly designated vaccinated travel lane service, will depart from Seattle at 11am and arrive at 11.45am in Vancouver, before departing again at 1.15pm to arrive the next day at 10.05pm in Singapore. SIA will also operate SQ27, a twice-weekly Seattle-Vancouver-Singapore service, for customers who are not eligible to enter Singapore under the vaccinated travel lane arrangement.<br/>
Air NZ will receive up to $170m in subsidies as the Government extends its air freight support scheme. The Maintaining International Air Connectivity scheme was announced in March, to ensure a regular schedule of international air services during Covid-19. Under the scheme, the Government supported the cost of international flying by airlines that participated in cargo flights. The MIAC scheme was an extension of a $600m Government package to support the aviation industry during Covid-19. So far, $321m of Government subsidies had been given to Air NZ in support of the continued transportation of air freight. Over the next five months a further $170m of subsidies will be awarded to the ailrine. Air NZ general manager of cargo Anna Palairet said over the summer New Zealand produce would be in high demand. “Our busy export season runs from November through to March, so it’s excellent to see the MIAC financial support scheme extended to cover this five-month period,” Palairet said. Transport Minister Michael Wood said the scheme allowed for airline support to reduce as passenger numbers increased. “Securing our recovery is a key focus for the Government and we are carefully watching the international aviation market,” Wood said.<br/>