unaligned

Mexican budget airline Interjet plans to resume flights in 2022 with 10 leased Airbus airplanes after shutting down a year ago when its already-suffering finances were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, company representatives said on Friday. The pandemic's toll on the global tourism industry had exacerbated operational and debt problems at Interjet, putting the company on the brink of bankruptcy. "The plan is to restart operations with 10 Airbus 320 (planes)," said Luis Bertrand, the newly appointed CE said, adding that the company "is alive, is viable, and we're going to get it ahead." Interjet must first wrap up negotiations with creditors through a judicial process that has been slowed by a strike by the airline's union, comprising 5,000 employees, that began in January. Ivan Romo, managing partner at SOELI Consulting, the firm managing Interjet's restructuring, said the company is working with creditors to reach agreements that can be formalized once the legal process begins. Romo said the goal is to "start again in the coming year," aiming for forgiveness between 90% and 99% per creditor. Interjet is set to lease the Airbus planes, with six slated to depart from Mexico City, two from Toluca and two from the partially built airport at Santa Lucia, just outside Mexico City. Bertrand, who previously ran the Toluca International Airport near Mexico City, said work is moving ahead to restart operations while negotiations are underway on the financial, legal and labor side. Part of that includes a plan to give 22 Sukhoi aircraft back to Sukhoi in exchange for cancelling 6.3b pesos ($296.28m) in debt, Bertrand said.<br/>

Even as the outlook darkens for the airline industry, Johan Lundgren has decided it is time to be more ambitious. The easyJet boss is switching to a bolder strategy to take on freewheeling rivals Ryanair and Wizz after his notably cautious approach to the pandemic. The UK low-cost carrier is buying up slots at busy airports, including London Gatwick, and predicting a return to close to pre-pandemic levels of flying by next summer in a significant about-turn. Lundgren hopes the change will shore up easyJet’s battered share price and satisfy some “underwhelmed” investors, who have been calling for a more aggressive strategy. It shows that the Swedish executive, who has emphasised being “credible and trustworthy”, is hoping to step up his challenge to Ryanair and Wizz, Europe’s two other big, low-cost carriers. “In times of uncertainty, there will always be a space for big mouths who fill the vacuum with endless expectations of growth in the long term. And that is attractive, perhaps, for some people to listen to,” he told the Financial Times as he took a swipe at Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and Wizz’s József Váradi, who have both been bullish in their predictions for growth. Lundgren’s new approach, bolstered by easyJet’s bigger-than-expected £1.2bn capital raise in September, comes at a key moment for the airline as uncertainty sweeps though the industry after the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant last week. He was speaking before the UK government announced new travel restriction on Saturday evening, in a blow to the aviation industry’s recovery hopes.<br/>

Saudi Arabian Airlines has signed an agreement with CFM International worth $8.5b at list prices, the carrier said Saturday. The state-owned carrier, also known as Saudia, said “it has ordered CFM International LEAP-1A engines to power its new fleet of 35 Airbus A321neo and 30 A320neo aircraft.”<br/>

Belarusian state-run airline Belavia said on Friday it had been forced to reduce its fleet of planes by almost half after the European Union targeted it with sanctions. The EU sanctioned Belavia on Thursday, accusing it of flying in migrants as a tactic to destabilise European states, punitive measures that were coordinated with Washington. The sanctions mean EU companies can no longer lease planes to the airline, EU officials have said. "Due to the imposition of restrictions, the airline has been forced to reduce its fleet," Belavia said, adding it currently had 15 aircraft. It did not specify which of its previous 14 Boeing and 15 Embraer aircraft were no longer part of the fleet. As of the end of last year, the airline owned 15 planes, including 5 Embraer and 8 Boeing aircraft, with the same number on lease. One of Belavia's biggest suppliers of leased planes has been the Air Lease Corporation. Belavia, the only airline in the ex-Soviet economy of 9.5m people, said it planned to rebuild its fleet by purchasing planes and also by leasing them from non-EU based companies. It has been banned from much of Europe's airspace after an international outcry over the grounding of a Ryanair jet in Belarus and arrest of a dissident. <br/>

India’s Jet Airways has confirmed that it is in “advanced discussions” with Airbus and Boeing over the acquisition of aircraft, but stopped short of stating how much the order would be worth. Addressing media reports that it was talks with the two airframers for an order worth $12b, the carrier — once India’s largest privately-owned airline before its collapse in 2019 — says “no fixed value can be determined” as discussions are ongoing. On 2 December, BloombergQuint, citing Bloomberg News, reported Jet Airways was in talks for 100 aircraft, worth around $12b, and that it would be investing around $200m via equity and debt over the next six months. In a stock exchange filing, Jet Airways says: “Financials mentioned in the news piece are purely based on speculative calculations for over 100 aircraft purchased as per industry standards. Details around negotiations with the OEM or events related to these negotiations have not been shared with the media house as indicated in the media reports.” The carrier, revived from collapse by new owners Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital, adds that the discussions were “in the ordinary course of business of the company as per its approved [resolution] plan”. ”[The] information shared by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium was a reiteration of the information already shared through a press release issued on 13 September 2021. The information shared with media centered around the approved plan and stated that the successful resolution applicant aims to have an operational fleet of over 100 aircraft within the next five to six years of operations,” states the carrier. <br/>

Hong Kong health officials have asked airlines to begin maintaining separate teams that will fly exclusively to and from mainland China to further reduce the risk of Covid-19 entering the country. The decision to separate China aircrew from those working international routes was made in light of the emerging Omicron variant, sources said, as officials weigh even tougher rules and fewer exemptions for flight personnel, the South China Morning Post has learned. The new measures, which come as Hong Kong rushes to meet Beijing's requirements for reopening the mainland border, will add yet more cost and operational complexity for city flagship carrier Cathay Pacific. The airline is already pushing ahead with contingency measures that could see some of its pilots relocated overseas. In a memo to staff on Wednesday night, Cathay general manager of operations Mark Hoey said the company was poised for the government to act on the new rules imminently. "Expect the final decision on how our crew exemptions will be affected by these changes, if at all," said Hoey, who went on to say the airline had flown as many crew members as it could back to Hong Kong before midnight to beat potential new quarantine rules. "Given the uncertainty that currently exists, we made the decision last night [Tuesday] that, until we have a decision and can adjust the operation accordingly, we will protect our crew as a priority," Hoey added. In response, the Transport and Housing Bureau said: "We will continue to closely monitor the situation and will review the anti-epidemic measures for aircrew as and when appropriate." Hong Kong, one of the first places to record an imported case of Omicron, has reacted dramatically to the situation - branding more than a dozen new countries as high-risk, or Group A, which requires a 21-day quarantine for arrivals and bars all non-residents. The prospect of every region where Cathay operates, other than mainland China and Taiwan, being reclassified as Group A has grown rapidly in recent days as the government weighs how to react to the newly emergent variant. Plans are also being advanced for airlines to arrange for Covid-19 testing for aircrew to take place in their homes so they will not need to enter the community at all during their medical surveillance period.<br/>