United expects a delayed recovery in air travel this year as the coronavirus resurgence pressures business and leisure travel, slowing the carrier’s momentum after a robust holiday season pushed its fourth-quarter results above Wall Street’s estimates. The spreading omicron variant prompted United to lower its capacity forecast for 2022 to below the 2019 level, according to a statement Wednesday detailing quarterly results. The airline previously said it expected this year’s capacity to surpass 2019 by 5%. United expects a delayed recovery in air travel this year as the coronavirus resurgence pressures business and leisure travel, slowing the carrier’s momentum after a robust holiday season pushed its Q4 results above Wall Street’s estimates. The spreading omicron variant prompted United to lower its capacity forecast for 2022 to below the 2019 level, according to a statement Wednesday detailing quarterly results. The airline previously said it expected this year’s capacity to surpass 2019 by 5%. The surge in new infections has upended multiple industries and forced many employees to continue working from home, hurting business travel that’s a staple of United’s franchise. The Chicago-based company’s views on the delayed rebound echo comments last week from rival Delta. “While omicron is impacting near-term demand, we remain optimistic about the spring and excited about the summer and beyond,” United CEO Scott Kirby said.<br/>
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United on Wednesday reported a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss, helped by strong holiday travel demand. On an adjusted basis, the Chicago-based carrier reported a loss of $1.60 per share for the quarter through December, compared with a loss of $7.00 per share a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv, on average, had expected the airline to report a quarterly loss of $2.11 per share. Q4 revenue came in at $8.19b, compared with $3.4b a year ago, beating the consensus estimate of $7.97b. <br/>
State-owned airline South African Airways will fly between Johannesburg and Durban again from 4 March this year. SAA went into business rescue in December 2019 and exited business rescue 16 months later in April 2021. It started commercial flights again in September of that same year after it stopped 15 months before in May 2020. "We have been constantly evaluating our route performance and waiting for the data to guide us on the timing or the Durban relaunch. We are delighted that the time is now right to add this important route back to the SAA network and further support the recovery of South Africa's business and tourism sectors," SAA said Wednesday. Its goal is to match capacity with demand as closely as possible and add new routes only where and when it "makes sense". Since its restart, SAA has only been flying between Johannesburg and Cape Town domestically. It is currently also offering flights to Accra, Harare, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lusaka and Mauritius.<br/>
Singapore Airlines on Wednesday said that it has switched the aircraft used on some routes to and from the United States, based on guidance from Boeing and in consultation with regulators. This comes after a planned rollout of 5G mobile in the US triggered safety concerns, despite two wireless carriers saying they will delay parts of the deployment. SIA on Wednesday said flights SQ25 and SQ26, which travel between Singapore and New York via Frankfurt, have already been operated by the Airbus A350-900 instead of the Boeing 777-300ER since at least a day ago. From today, flights SQ11 and SQ12 plying the route between Singapore and Los Angeles via Tokyo will also be operated by the Airbus A350-900 aircraft instead of the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. SIA said it will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with regulators and Boeing on the matter.<br/>