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Budget airlines Allegiant and Viva Aerobus said Wednesday they will seek antitrust immunity from the US and Mexican governments to work together on setting prices, schedules and routes on flights across the border. Las Vegas-based Allegiant said it will invest $50m in the Mexican carrier as part of the deal, which it said was the first of its kind involving two ultra-low-cost airlines. The airlines said they expect to begin flights under the alliance in the first quarter of 2023, pending approvals from the US DoT and Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission. Maurice Gallagher, chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Co., is expected to join the board of Viva Aerobus, which is based in Monterrey, Mexico. Gallagher said the deal should lead to lower fares for cross-border travel. Allegiant aims to add new destinations in Mexico including Cancun, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta. Viva Aerobus flies to some U.S. destinations but admits it has failed to catch on with American travelers, who don’t know the brand. CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua said the U.S.-Mexico market has become the world’s largest international market and has outperformed others during the coronavirus pandemic.<br/>

The embattled Mexican airline Interjet is planning a return to operations by next year with a new fleet comprised of 10 Airbus A320 jets and potentially 10 Czech-made Let L-410 planes. The plan to fly again depends on the company’s ability to navigate a “distressed investing” strategy that will be separated into three tranches, said insolvency specialist Ivan Romo, who is helping with Interjet’s restructuring. The company is in talks with four firms for close to $750 million in financing, Romo said. Interjet is seeking as much as $50 million in a first tranche in order to restart operations next year. That would be followed two separate tranches totaling as much as $700m over five to 10 years. The company’s current liabilities are 40b pesos ($1.8b), and the largest creditors are the government and lessors, incoming CEO Luis Federico Bertrand said. The airline owes close to $700m in back taxes but expects to reach an agreement with the government to reduce this amount. Interjet hasn’t flown a plane in nearly a year after the pandemic slammed the travel industry hard. Covid proved too much for the airline, which was already in trouble before the crisis hit. Shareholders approved a filing for bankruptcy protection in April. <br/>

Belarusian national carrier Belavia and Syria’s Cham Wings Airlines are among entities the European Union is planning to sanction over a migrant crisis that the bloc blames on Minsk. EU member states are expected to approve sanctions on 17 individuals and 11 entities this week, according to two people familiar with the measures, who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t yet public. Nitrogen fertilizer producer Grodno Azot and oil producer Belarusneft, as well as Belarusian border officials and judges, are also on the list, one of the people said. Belarusian national carrier Belavia and Syria’s Cham Wings Airlines are among entities the European Union is planning to sanction over a migrant crisis that the bloc blames on Minsk. EU member states are expected to approve sanctions on 17 individuals and 11 entities this week, according to two people familiar with the measures, who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t yet public. Nitrogen fertilizer producer Grodno Azot and oil producer Belarusneft, as well as Belarusian border officials and judges, are also on the list, one of the people said. <br/>

European low-cost carriers EasyJet and Wizz Air are remaining focused on their plans for a strong summer season, despite the near-term uncertainty created by the emergence of the Omicron variant of concern of the coronavirus. The appearances of EasyJet CE Johan Lundgren and Wizz Air president Robert Carey at the World Aviation Festival in London today came with the industry still waiting to understand the scale of impact of the Omicron variant, which has already prompted governments to at least temporarily tighten travel restrictions. For Lundgren it marked a second consecutive day fielding such questions after the airline’s full-year results announcement yesterday was overshadowed by the fresh concerns. ”Normally when you present the full-year results there is a lot of discussion about the full-year results, and I don’t think I’ve ever done one like that where there was very little focus on the year gone by and a lot of focus on the recent developments,” says Lundgren. He reiterates his message from yesterday that it is too early to tell what the long-term impact of the latest developments on travel demand will be. ”There is a softening, we have definitely seen that,” he says, though noting the impact has not been as severe as followed previous travel restriction announcements and that it has largely hit very near-term bookings. ”There were some people transferring out into the early part of next year, we saw leisure destinations are holding up better than city routes, and we saw domestic [routes] holding up better.<br/>

Troubled Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air narrowed its half-year operating loss, as a decline in revenue outpaced a fall in costs. The carrier, which is in the middle of a court-led business rehabilitation process, posted an operating loss of Bt2.72b ($81m) for the six months to 30 June. This compares to the record Bt3.75b operating loss it made in H1 2020. Among other factors, the carrier cites the third wave of coronavirus infections in Thailand in April — the country’s worst to date — for the poorer showing. Revenue for the half-year fell 64% to Bt1.2b. Passenger revenue plunged 63% year on year to just over Bt1b, amid domestic travel restrictions imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus. Consequently, Nok saw a 68% drop in passenger numbers to 670,000. Traffic plummeted about 71% year on year, while capacity fell 61%. Meanwhile, costs fell 27.8% year on year to Bt3.9 billion, as administrative and transportation-related costs shrank amid reduced operations.<br/>