Allegiant Air is close to ordering 50 Boeing 737 Max jets worth $5b at list prices, people familiar with the matter said, as the low-cost US airline eyes a rebound in tourism. The deal for dozens of new jets would stem a series of commercial setbacks for Boeing For Allegiant, it marks a shift from the airline’s previous strategy of picking up second-hand jets at bargain prices, which has helped it accumulate more than 100 jets built by Europe’s Airbus. The airline’s change to Boeing comes after two of the planemaker’s key customers, KLM and Australia’s Qantas, late last year switched to Airbus, heightening competition between the two planemakers. Such “flips” are rare due to the cost of retraining pilots, but reflect fierce competition for new business as the aerospace industry seeks to recover from its worst-ever recession. Boeing, Airbus and Allegiant Air, a unit of Allegiant Travel, all declined to comment. It is the latest sign of accelerated growth among “ultra-low-cost” carriers that combine rock-bottom fares with a menu of optional charges. Carriers like these are expected to emerge in a position of relative strength from the Covid-19 pandemic. “The leisure market is coming back in droves relative to the business market,” said one of the sources familiar with Allegiant’s plans.<br/>
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Hackers targeted a Tuesday virtual news conference held by lawyers and family members of victims of the Iranian military's downing of a passenger jet two years ago. The family members, along with their legal team, had begun a video media availability to discuss a court decision that awarded them millions. An Ontario court awarded more than $107 million to families of six victims of the downing of the commercial airliner by Iranian missiles. Lawyers Mark Arnold and Jonah Arnold called the damages decision "unprecedented in Canadian law." Mark Arnold would not divulge how the legal team planned to collect money from the Iranian government, but said they knew where Iran's Canadian and international assets could be found. "If anybody from the Islamic Republic of Iran is on this call, if the Supreme Leader is on this call, we're coming after your assets, gentlemen, in Iran," said Arnold. "We would encourage you to contact us and co-operate with us so that we can do it in an efficient and timely manner." Moments later, the Zoom news conference exploded with heavy metal music and pornographic images that lasted for nearly three minutes before the lawyers ended the call. The lawyers did not attempt to reboot the news conference later Tuesday. The court decision made public Monday followed a May ruling that the missile strikes amounted to an intentional act of terrorism, paving the way for relatives of those killed to seek compensation from Iran.<br/>
Canada's minister of transport on Tuesday called for an investigation into reports of maskless revelers on a recent Sunwing Airlines flight to Cancun, as the country battles soaring cases of COVID-19. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said on Twitter he had asked regulator Transport Canada to investigate media reports of passengers snapping selfies, drinking alcohol and congregating close together on the Dec. 30 flight from Montreal. "I am aware of the reports of unacceptable behavior on a Sunwing flight," Alghabra said. "Transport Canada has been in contact with the airline concerning this flight," the regulator said late on Tuesday, adding that the passengers could be fined up to C$5,000 per offence if Transport Canada determines they were not complying with regulations. The Toronto-headquartered leisure operator said by email that the behavior of a group of passengers on the private charter flight "was unruly and contravened several Canadian aviation regulations as well as public health regulations."<br/>
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air ended 2021 with passenger numbers in December up on the previous month, although the figure of nearly 22m customers carried during the calendar year was still 45% below pre-crisis levels. Wizz flew 21.7m passengers last year, an increase of 30% on the prior year. However, it was still only a little over half the nearly 40m passengers the airline flew in the 2019 calendar year as Covid restrictions again took their toll. Wizz has been one of the most proactive European carriers in returning capacity since Covid-related travel restrictions began easing after the tight lockdowns of the first part of 2021. Monthly passenger levels reached almost 3.6m in August during the summer peak and were still at around 3m in September and October. The low-cost carrier flew 2.2m passengers in November, as the first impact of Omicron-related restrictions hit demand in what is already a low-season travel month. Those restrictions further dampened demand in December, though holiday related travel helped Wizz carry 2.6m passengers for the month. Load factor of 75.4% for December was four points down on October levels, illustrating the tougher demand climate.<br/>
A Paris judge has charged the former chief of Egypt's Flash Airlines over a 2004 crash off the Sinai Peninsula that killed 148 people, most of them French, a judicial source said Tuesday. The chartered Boeing 737 plunged into the Red Sea on January 3, 2004, just minutes after take-off from the coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, with all on board perishing, including 134 French citizens. Mohamed Nour, managing director of the low-cost airline at the time, is the first person to be charged after years of investigations into the causes of the accident. After long refusing French judicial summons, Nour agreed to appear before a judge for questioning in September, when he was named an official witness in the case. But in December the judge notified Nour that he would be charged with involuntary manslaughter, the legal source said, confirming a report in Le Parisien newspaper. An expert report from 2009 found that the pilots aboard were inadequately trained and suffering from fatigue due to their intense working hours in the weeks leading up to the accident. France's aviation authority, the BEA, also determined that the pilot had suffered "spatial disorientation" before the crash, meaning he was unable to properly assess the plane's speed or altitude. That led prosecutors to drop the case in 2016, saying a trial was unnecessary as the pilots were among the dead. The move infuriated many victims' families, who in 2019 secured a reopening of the investigation with a Paris appeals court.<br/>
A video circulating online of two shirtless and maskless men and a woman in a flight attendant uniform has prompted Scoot to launch an investigation, the airline confirmed on Tuesday. About 15 seconds long, the video appears to have been shot in a plane and also shows more than 10 small bottles of alcohol on a seat tray table. The woman, whose uniform looks similar to that worn by the airline's cabin crew, is seen donning disposable gloves, a face shield and mask. One of the men holds a bottle in one hand while drinking from a cup. The other man appears to be dancing while the woman signals for them to be quiet. In another shot, several empty bottles of wine and cups can be seen on a tray table. In response to queries from The Straits Times, a Scoot spokesman said that investigations are being carried out. "Scoot treats the safety and well-being of passengers and crew with utmost importance. We are aware of the edited video posted to social media, and are investigating to ascertain the facts."<br/>
AirAsia Group’s Philippines unit is optimistic of a “strong 2022”, especially as domestic travel demand gains momentum amid rising vaccination rates. The carrier outlined its key priorities for the year, including growing its network to include medium- to long-haul destinations in Australia, the Middle East, as well as the USA, but did not elaborate further. Sister long-haul group AirAsia X does not have a presence in the Philippines, but has units in Malaysia and Thailand. AirAsia Philippines also expects to add four more cities to its domestic network, bringing the total cities served to 18 by the end of the year. The carrier also promises to manage its liquidity “to support recovery strategies enroute to profitability”, as well as manage and rationalise costs for commercial flight operations. “There is strong pent-up demand for travel and Filipinos are ready to get back in the air. And compared to the previous two years, all stakeholders – airlines, government units and customers – are now much more conscious of the key strategies and measures needed to properly approach traveling amid the pandemic,” the carrier says in a 3 January statement. <br/>