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Turkish operator Corendon Airlines Group is introducing nine Boeing 737 Max jets over the course of the next 18 months. All nine are being brought in through US lessor Air Lease. The company is to receive five 737 Max 8s in the spring of this year, with another to follow in the first quarter of 2023. Corendon will also take three Max 9s over the first half of next year. “We appreciate and thank [Air Lease] for the…co-operation and fleet support,” says Corendon Group chairman Yildiray Karaer. The aircraft, which are on long-term lease, will be delivered to the carrier from Air Lease’s backlog for the 737 Max, the lessor states. Corendon has Turkish, Maltese and Dutch operations which primarily focus on the 737-800. Air Lease is already a “major lessor” to the carrier group, says the lessor’s executive chairman, Steve Udvar-Hazy, and the new Max fleet will “greatly enhance” the operator’s fleet and passenger experience.<br/>

An airline has become the first to be fined for failing to ensure that passengers complied with Covid-19 regulations in England. The Romanian carrier Blue Air pleaded guilty to five offences at Uxbridge magistrates court on Tuesday, including not checking that passengers arriving at Heathrow had completed a passenger locator form (PLF). The firm also admitted to not checking whether a passenger arriving at the London airport produced the required evidence of a negative pre-departure coronavirus test. It was fined GBP40,000 for the breaches. The ruling marked the first prosecution of an airline under the Covid Enforcement Regulations, which gave fresh powers to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to regulate Covid rules for international travel. Blue Air had previously received fixed penalty notices for breaking the rules, but did not seek to resolve them with the CAA – or to pay them. The CAA consumer director, Paul Smith, said: “While we generally observe high levels of compliance from airlines against the regulations, it is important for consumer confidence and public health that failures to follow the requirements are dealt with appropriately. “It is important that airlines including Blue Air continue to engage with us going forward. The UK Civil Aviation Authority will always look to prosecute breaches of compliance where necessary.” The requirement for people entering England to take a pre-departure test before they travelled was scrapped by the Department for Transport in January for fully vaccinated travellers, while the “day 2” test taken after arrival in the country was scrapped for double-jabbed arrivals earlier this month. However, unvaccinated travellers are still expected to comply with the regulations and all arrivals must continue to complete a PLF, which has since been made easier to complete. The legal requirement to self-isolate for those who test positive for Covid will end on Thursday, the UK government announced this week.<br/>

Former Swoop CE Steven Greenway is to take up the same role at Romanian low-cost carrier Blue Air from the start of March, with incumbent Oana Petrescu remaining as president of the airline. Greenway, formerly CCO at SIA Group budget carrier Scoot before joining WestJet low-cost arm Swoop in 2018 ahead of its launch, has been working with the Romanian carrier in recent months. Petrescu, who has served as chief executive for almost three years, says: ”During the last six months Steven has been an essential part of our team of experts that supported us to put together the last touches of our ambition to become a major low-cost player in Europe, the company’s post-pandemic recovery plan and the strategy for financing this plan. ”Steven has over 25 years of experience in the low-cost aviation industry, with key roles in Europe, as well as in the United States, Australia and Canada. He has an impressive track record in delivering the best customer experience and financial results for low-cost airlines, and an integrated vision of the future of low-cost aviation.” Blue Air, which expects to return to pre-pandemic activity levels by June, has since the pandemic notably expanded into major hubs in Europe including Amsterdam Schiphol, London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gualle. It also accelerated fleet renewal plans after taking delivery of Boeing 737 Max 8s. Cirium fleets data shows it operates five Max jets with a further five on order.<br/>

China’s sole Airbus A380 operator is reportedly retiring its fleet of superjumbos by the end of the year, becoming the latest carrier in the Asia-Pacific region to do so since the pandemic first struck. An article that first appeared on Chinese media site Sohu — citing internal meeting documents — says China Southern has signed “relevant contracts” to exit its fleet of five A380s, after chalking up more than a decade of losses with the type. Cirium fleets data indicates two A380s (B-6136 and B-6137) are in storage at the airline’s Guangzhou hub. The report, which FlightGlobal has not been able to independently verify, comes nearly a year since the airline said it was reviewing the future of the superjumbos amid uncertainty about international travel recovery. In mid-April 2021, China Southern senior vice-president of international and corporate relations Guoxiang Wu said the aircraft was “maybe…too large and the operation cost [is] very high”. It was the clearest indication yet from the carrier, which had always been coy about the status of its small A380 fleet. The Sohu report goes deeper into apparent challenges faced by the carrier in operating the A380, including its inability to secure operating slots for the type at Beijing. In recent months — and amid a pandemic-driven travel decline — the A380’s excess capacity had also become an issue for the carrier, the article states. <br/>

AirAsia X is reactivating its fleet as borders start to reopen in the Asia-Pacific. Airline chief Benyamin Ismail says the carrier had three aircraft in service as of 31 December 2021, and that this will grow to seven by 31 March. By year end, the carrier aims to have 15 aircraft in service. The carrier operates Airbus A330-300 widebodies. “Flying three planes in the quarter ended 31st December, we sharply narrowed our operating loss to MYR12m as we ramped up our cargo business post the successful restructuring vote by creditors in November last year,” he says. “We expect to have seven planes fully operational by the end of this quarter with the current fleet of 11 wide body A330’s all flying by the end of October 2022. Discussions are also being held for AAX to lease at least another four planes in preparation for a full resumption of passenger flights when borders open with a targeted fleet strength of at least 15 A330s.” Ismail made the fleet statements as part of an announcement that the company will conduct a rights issue to raise MYR166m ($39.7m). The company had earlier obtained approval for a larger rights issue to raise MYR300m as part of its restructuring programme, but carrier chief financial officer Andrew Littledale says this is not required because the average monthly cash burn over the last 14 months is just MYR3 million monthly. “We will be able to sit through any eventualities in the next couple of years even if borders do not open, which however will not be the case,” says Littledale. “A larger fund raise is now not only unnecessary but will also be punitively dilutive particularly to existing retail shareholders who may not be able to fund a bigger rights issue at this difficult time.” The airline recently bolstered efforts to build cargo revenues under its restructured business model with a belly-space utilisation deal covering a third of its Airbus A330-300 fleet with the logistics venture of Capital A, formerly AirAsia Group.<br/>

Cebu Pacific is not looking to take dedicated freighters in the near term — even amid a robust cargo market during the pandemic — as it believes a “large chunk” of cargo will be carried as bellyhold freight. Airline CE advisor Michael Szucs acknowledged that cargo had been a good “revenue stream” for Cebu Pacific as passenger travel demand collapsed amid the pandemic. While other carriers have expanded their freighter fleets to capture growing demand, Szucs offers a slightly different perspective, and notes that the low-cost carrier is “primarily a passenger airline”. “We think that the majority…or a large chunk…of the cargo traffic is going to go back into the bellies of the passenger aircraft,” he adds. Cebu Pacific has two dedicated cargo aircraft — a pair of ATR 72 freighters — which Szucs says “have been working well for us…particularly with a boom in e-commerce”. Still, he reiterates his point: “But you know, we see principally going forward that we will carry lots of cargo, but it will be…in the belly of the passenger aircraft.” <br/>