Spirit Airlines said Monday it was resuming regular operations after a computer issue forced a temporary halt to airline operations. FlightAware, an airline tracking site, said US low-cost airline Spirit on Monday had delayed 31%, or 225 flights. The FAA said it lifted a nationwide ground stop issued for internal equipment issues for Spirit after the airline's operations were back to normal. Spirit said in a Facebook post it "experienced temporary IT issues that impacted our website and other systems, creating some delays and cancellations."<br/>
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South American airline Latam is resuming services to New Zealand in March, two years after it suspended the service because of the coronavirus pandemic. Latam Oceania country manager Chris Ellis said it would resume flights from Sydney to Santiago, via Auckland, on March 29, servicing the route with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The Chile-headquartered airline would operate the flights three times a week and look to increase the schedule to five flights weekly from July 1, he said. “We look forward to recommencing flights between New Zealand and Chile and once again connecting passengers with all of the adventures and beauty that South America has to offer,” Ellis said. The flights are now showing on Latam’s booking website with a one-way Auckland-Santiago fare on April 10 starting from US$1817.The Government has a five stage plan for reopening New Zealand’s border, starting on February 28 when eligible travellers from Australia will be allowed to return to New Zealand and self-isolate for seven days on arrival. At step four, earmarked for July at the latest, travellers from countries which did not normally require a visa, could start visiting, with the need to self-isolate. Ellis said passengers starting and ending their journey in Australia, who were not eligible to enter New Zealand, would transit only through New Zealand until restrictions were lifted. Latam paused services between Auckland and Santiago at the end of March 2020, at the same time airlines around the world were suspending services and grounding aircraft as the spread of Covid-19 and international border closures caused international travel to grind to a halt.<br/>
Latvian state-owned airline airBaltic has scheduled two additional flights from Kyiv to Latvian capital Riga to cope with demand, after the United States warned that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time. The flights, on Tuesday and Wednesday, are scheduled “to address the significant passenger demand”, the airline said. “airBaltic is continuously evaluating the current situation and ... is flexible and ready to adjust its flight schedule if necessary,” the statement said. The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday took to Twitter to advise its nationals still in Ukraine to “use this opportunity”. Russia has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, and Washington has repeatedly said an invasion is imminent.<br/>
Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier operator in the Middle East and North Africa, on Monday announced a record a net profit of AED720m ($196m) for the full year ending December 31, 2021, despite the prevailing impact of Covid-19 pandemic that continued throughout the year. The profit is an increase of 475% compared to AED192m net loss registered for the full year 2020, which was heavily impacted by Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on air travel. The airline’s turnover for the full year 2021 reached AED3.17b, an increase of 71% compared to AED1.85b registered for the full year 2020. In Q4 ending December 31, 2021, Air Arabia reported a net profit of AED467m compared to AED20m in the same period last year. The turnover for the last quarter 2021 reached AED1.3b, an increase of 143% compared to the same quarter last year. The financial and operational results achieved in 2021 were backed by ease of travel restrictions and recovery in demand for air travel. Air Arabia served more than 6.7m passengers in 2021 from its five hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Egypt, an increase of 54% compared to the 4.3m passengers carried last year. The average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – for the full year remained strong at 73%.<br/>
Kuwait's Jazeera Airways aims to increase its fleet to 60 planes by 2025, Chairman Marwan Boodai said Monday. It currently has 17 planes in operation, according to the latest available data on website Airfleets.net. Boodai also said the airline has liquidity of 50m dinars ($165m) to be used in investments and dividends.<br/>
New Australian budget airline Bonza said on Tuesday it would service 16 destinations across the country through 25 routes and named airports in Queensland and Victoria as its first bases. The carrier’s home base will be the Sunshine Coast airport and Melbourne airport will serve as a second base, allowing it to fly to destinations in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales state. The airline will compete with Qantas Airways, Virgin Australia and Regional Express Holdings and focus on leisure-driven routes not served or under-served by rivals. Bonza said it was targeting its first flight in mid-2022 subject to regulatory approvals, including its license to fly from Australia’s aviation regulator. <br/>