Breeze Airways Airbus 220-300Breeze Airways Airbus 220-300© Airbus<br/>07.12.2021 - 17:08 UTC<br/>Breeze Airways sees potential to serve Brazil from its bases in Florida using its forthcoming A220-300s, founder David Neeleman said during the World Aviation Festival in London. "There's just a lot of capitalism in Brazil if we can get that range up to where we think we can. We can serve 10 or 12 cities in Brazil from Florida, which would be incredible," he said. He added that the carrier would also contemplate other unspecified destinations in South America, as well as services to Hawaii. However, Breeze Airways is unlikely to enter the transatlantic market which Neeleman considers too seasonal and competitive. Breeze does not have any bases in Florida at this moment. The ch-aviation PRO airlines module shows that it bases its crews out of Salt Lake City and Norfolk Int'l, VA. Currently, the carrier focuses on domestic operations within the mainland US with its fleet of ten E190s and three E195s. The bulk of its flights is up to 2.5 hours long. The airline said previously that it would continue using the Embraers for short-haul regional routes, while the A220s will be used for medium-haul services. Breeze Airways has eighty A220-300s due from Airbus (including twenty more ordered in September 2021). <br/>
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The Zimbabwean government has allocated ZWL1.5b (US$4.1m at RBZ rate) for the recapitalisation of Air Zimbabwe, to be used towards the acquisition of new aircraft, route expansion, digitalisation, and a lean workforce. This was disclosed by Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube during his 2022 national budget speech on November 25. He said the recapitalisation was in support of the national airline’s six-year strategic turn-around plan. “Air Zimbabwe is now a commercially viable company following the conclusion of the scheme of reconstruction in June 2021. This was achieved after approval by Cabinet of the national airline’s debt assumption and the settlement of its domestic debt and part of its foreign debt,” Ncube said. As reported previously, Harare had approved the airline's reconstruction scheme in May 2021. The carrier's liabilities had amounted to US$30m in foreign debt and ZWL349m (US$873,000) in local exposure. Domestic creditors were actually owed US$349m, but their debts were converted to new Zimbabwe dollars at the official 1:1 rate. “Going forward, the thrust is implementation and execution of the airline’s plan to ensure that it acquires requisite equipment, routes network expansion, invests in appropriate information communication technology (ICT) systems, and strengthens its competitiveness through the strategic deployment of a lean and professional workforce. In support of the turnaround plan, the 2022 National Budget is allocating ZWD1.5b for recapitalisation of the national airline towards operational costs and the acquisition of aircraft.”<br/>
HNA Group has officially handed over control of its core airline operations to Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial, marking the end of an era for the Chinese conglomerate as it continues to restructure one of the country’s biggest piles of corporate debt. Gu Gang, head of a government taskforce in charge of HNA’s restructuring, will no longer serve as the group’s leading secretary for the Communist Party after the key handover of Hainan Airlines Holding, the company said on social media Wednesday. The taskforce will continue its remaining work in handling the group’s reorganization, according to the statement. “We wish Hainan Airlines and all the brother airlines a safe landing, and rebirth after nirvana!” the group said. The handover is the latest step in the long dissolution of one of China’s biggest conglomerates. HNA acquired luxury properties and major stakes in firms from Deutsche Bank to Hilton Worldwide Holdings several years ago after a rapid expansion that saw it amass around $310b of debt. Efforts to offload assets and refocus on aviation failed to salvage the company, particularly as Covid wreaked havoc on airlines, leading to HNA’s epic downfall. <br/>
Jetstar Asia has received approval from the authorities to operate designated flights from Thailand and Cambodia into Singapore under a quarantine-free travel scheme, ahead of the scheme's expansion to six more countries next week. The carrier said Tuesday that it will operate up to five vaccinated travel lane (VTL) flights a week from Bangkok to Singapore from Dec 15. It will also operate five weekly VTL flights from Phnom Penh to Singapore from Dec 16. Under the VTL scheme, inbound travellers who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not have to serve stay-home notice on arrival in Singapore. But they will have to book designated flights, and undergo several Covid-19 swab tests.<br/>Singapore will extend the VTL scheme to travellers from Thailand from 11.59pm on Dec 13. The scheme will be further expanded to travellers arriving from Cambodia, along with Fiji, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Turkey, from 11.59pm on Dec 15. As Thailand and Cambodia have earlier opened up their borders to vaccinated travellers from Singapore, the Republic's move to expand the VTL to them paves the way for quarantine-free round trips to these countries.<br/>
New budget Australian airline Bonza said on Wednesday it planned to operate up to eight Boeing 737 MAX jets in its first year of operations as part of an aircraft leasing deal with its parent, US private investment firm 777 Partners. The fleet growth will be dependent on regulatory approval. The airline has been talking to Australia's aviation regulator and expects to lodge a formal licence application soon, Bonza CE Tim Jordan said. The airline hopes to start domestic flights with two to three planes from the second quarter of next year. It will compete against Qantas, Virgin Australia and Regional Express Holdings in the domestic market, taking aim at leisure routes that are not served by its rivals or are underserved. The initial routes will be chosen partly based on which airports offer better financial incentives. "From our initial expression of interest to 46 different airports across the country we received positive feedback from between 35 and 40 airports," Jordan said. "That response has given us the confidence to make the announcement today." Some analysts have expressed scepticism about the airline's ability to fill 186-seat 737 MAX planes on thin routes in a market dominated by flights between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, where regional routes are often flown by small turboprops. "These are big aircraft for small markets that are going to have to be flying very frequently … to keep them in a way that is economic," CAPA Centre for Aviation Chairman Emeritus Peter Harbison said in October. Jordan said Bonza, whose parent's investment portfolio includes Canadian-low cost carrier Flair Airlines, would keep its aircraft utilisation high by operating a large number of routes.<br/>