Hawaiian Airlines expects its recovery to begin in earnest next summer, when it believes its essentially shuttered international network will spring back to life. Although the Omicron variant has roiled its recovery timeline, the carrier forecasts that key international markets will ease travel restrictions in time for peak summer demand. The most important of these markets for Hawaiian is Japan, which had taken tentative steps toward reopening, but has since begun to lower the portcullis again to stay the Omicron variant’s advance. The year has been a series of setbacks for the Japanese market, as the country’s leaders had “anxiety” around the Olympic Games and parliamentary elections, Hawaiian CEO Peter Ingram told analysts during the airline’s investor presentation on Monday. Hawaiian has been in talks with its local distribution partners and partner Japan Airlines on when the country may begin to relax its entry restrictions, but no definite timeline has emerged, he said. Ingram derided policymakers’ reaction to the Omicron variant as “chaotic.” Governments reacted too quickly to re-impose restrictions without waiting for the science to emerge. Quarantines, in particular, are unnecessary and stifle demand for leisure travel. “Quarantines make it very difficult for someone to take a leisure trip,” he said. “They add immeasurably to the time burden of travel... We have demonstrated with domestic [flights] that people are willing to provide information on vaccine status. They are willing to be tested before or after travel.” Domestic demand this year on mainland routes exceeded 2019 levels, soaring after Hawaii relaxed its strict entry rules.<br/>
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Ukraine International Airlines is preparing next year’s budget for board approval after claiming that its cost-saving measures have returned the carrier to substantial profitability after the first nine months of 2021. CE Yevhenii Dykhne took over the carrier in September 2019, a year in which it made a net profit of Hr1.65b ($59m) compared with the previous year’s loss of Hr2.7b. But after the onset of the pandemic the company’s performance suffered heavily, and its full-year net loss for 2020 amounted to more than Hr4.5b. Dykhne says, however, that the company has continued a transformation process initiated after he took over. It scrapped unprofitable routes which, he says, had generated total losses of $216m in the previous five years. Ukraine International has subsequently adopted a “hybrid” business model, raising its share of charter traffic and retaining a fleet of up to 28 aircraft – mainly Boeing 737s and Embraer regional jets – to adapt to the demand. It has cut long-haul routes and its long-haul fleet, including a Boeing 777-200ER and 767-300ERs, has been in storage. But it has preserved a two-wave operation at its main base, Kiev Borispol, in order to encourage transit traffic.<br/>
Latvian carrier Air Baltic is to open a base in the southwestern Finnish city of Tampere, expanding its footprint beyond the Baltic states for the first time. From May 2022, Air Baltic will operate direct flights from Tampere to Oslo, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich, Malaga and Rhodes, alongside its established Riga service, the carrier said Tuesday. One aircraft from the airline’s all-Airbus A220-300 fleet will be based at Tampere, Air Baltic states, complementing those based at Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius. “We have been performing direct flights from Tampere to Riga for almost five years now,” says Air Baltic CE Martin Gauss. “Our decision to open a new base in Tampere shows our strong commitment to this city, and will offer more convenient and affordable travel options for many Finnish passengers.” In late 2019, Gauss noted the airline’s intention to potentially “place aircraft outside the Baltics”, saying that there was a “50 aircraft limit” on A220s based in the Baltic states “for the year 2025”, according to demand projections at the time.<br/>
As part of its network expansion plans, low-cost Oman airline SalamAir has announced the launch of flights to Bishkek and Osh in Kyrgyzstan. The Muscat-Bishkek and Muscat-Osh direct routes mark the airline’s first entry into the Kyrgyzstan market. The low-cost carrier will operate one flight a week to Osh every Monday, departing Muscat at 08:25 local time and arriving at the destination at 14:20 local time. The flight will depart Osh on Friday at 15:05 local time arriving in Muscat at 17:35 local time. The flight to Bishkek will leave every Tuesday from Muscat at 18.00 local time arriving at the destination at 0:10 local time. The flight will depart Bishkek on Wednesday at 0:55 local time arriving in Muscat at 3:35 local time. Both routes will have two flights a week starting January 1.<br/>