Canada Jetlines’ first aircraft has arrived in Canada, as the company’s timeline to launch revenue flights slips to mid-2022. The Vancouver-based company, which has gone through numerous top management changes since coming onto the scene in 2015, had planned to begin operations in the early part of the year, but chief executive Eddy Doyle now says that will not happen until “towards the end of Q2, certainly at the beginning of Q3”. “We are aiming to have our operating certificate from Transport Canada before the end of Q2,” Doyle says in a video posted to YouTube as the airline’s first aircraft, an 11-year-old Airbus A320, arrived in Canada on 26 February. Previously the carrier had said it expected its certificate in March. Doyle adds the Canadian market is ripe for a new leisure carrier as travellers return in greater numbers following the two-year coronavirus crisis. “We do sincerely believe there’s never been a better opportunity to start a new airline,” Doyle says in the video. “We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and we know it’s not a train coming anymore. When the market’s going to recover it will recover quickly... We have reached a point now for the travel and tourism industry to think about what they need to do to be ready for the huge demand that will be coming.” <br/>
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Norwegian Air has signed lease agreements with AerCap for 10 new Boeing 737-800 MAX 8 aircraft ahead of the European summer season of 2023, the airline said Monday. The deal means Norwegian Air will have 80 aircraft in operation during next year's high season, up from the current 51 and the 70 it plans to have later this year. The aircraft lessor was one of the major creditors when the budget airline underwent a financial restructuring last year to avoid collapse amid the coronavirus pandemic. At its pre-pandemic peak, Norwegian Air had more than 160 planes.<br/>
From its base in Latvia on Europe’s doorstep to Russia, AirBaltic has taken quick action in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Select flights are suspended, staff accounted for, and routes adjusted following the closure of Russian and Ukrainian airspace. But quick action does not make the situation any better. “I think it’s the worst you can have as an airline when you have to deal with a war,” AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said in an interview Monday. But “it doesn’t really matter what the airline thinks and does because it’s about the people,” he added. AirBaltic has suspended Moscow and St Petersburg flights through at least the end of May — one of the longest airline suspensions announced to date — and to Kyiv and Odessa until it is safe for the airline to return. Russia made up 2% of the airline’s planned capacity in February, and Ukraine nearly 5%, according to Cirium schedule data. “As soon as Ukraine is a free country again, we will immediately re-enter and help to rebuild,” said Gauss. The airline had no staff on the ground when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 due to a precautionary decision to not park any aircraft on the ground overnight in the country in the weeks prior. But Gauss was not as kind to Russia. “Being in a war in Europe, we cannot — and don’t think it’s right — to offer connectivity to Russia,” he said. AirBaltic is rapidly adjusting the crisis. It has already revised its budget for 2022 to adjust for higher fuel prices; Brent crude stood at $100.74 per barrel on Monday, up nearly 29 percent since the beginning of the year, per Bloomberg data. And flights that would typically fly over Russia, including between Riga and Dubai, have been rerouted — though none suspended — which adds cost.<br/>
Wizz Air plans to extract as soon as possible four of its A320-200s trapped in Ukraine following the closure of the country's airspace to all civilian flights following the Russian invasion. "We will be evacuating, at the earliest opportunity, the four aircraft (three in Kyiv and one in Lviv) we have based on the ground,” a Wizz Air spokesperson confirmed. Three Wizz Air A320-200s are stuck at Kyiv Igor Sikorsky. They are HA-LWY (msn 6058) which had arrived on February 23 from Milan Malpensa (Italy); HA-LPJ (msn 3127) from Hamburg Helmut Schmidt (Germany); and HA-LPM (msn 3177) from Budapest (Hungary). Another A320-200, HA-LWS (msn 5608), is grounded at Lviv. “The safety and security of our passengers and crew remain our number one priority and we hope normality will return to Ukraine soon," Wizz Air said.<br/>
From his spacious office overlooking Dubai's vast airport, Sir Tim Clark is fielding call after call about Emirates' response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The situation is evolving "minute by minute", he says. "You'll have to forgive me if I am a bit preoccupied." The airline the 72-year-old runs carries more passengers internationally than any other carrier. Events in eastern Europe leave it more affected than its rivals as a result. But for the British executive who has been in the airline business for the best part of half a century, reacting to crises - whether they be ash clouds, terrorist attacks, or even wars - comes with the territory. "We're pretty good at responding to situations like this," Sir Tim says. "[But] this is a little bit more sinister, you never know what's going to happen next. We've got passengers, we've got crews, we've got assets in a lot of the countries in and around the conflict." Knighted in 2014 for services to the aviation industry, Sir Tim is credited as the visionary behind the building of an airline in the desert. With 269 aircraft, Emirates has come a long way since 1985, when it borrowed a brace of planes from Pakistan International Airlines to get up and running. He was one of 10 "anoraks" charged with getting Emirates off the ground 37 years ago. Their ambitions were lofty from the start. Dubai's "geocentricity" makes it the perfect place to create the world's biggest global aviation hub. Armed with investment from the Dubai royal family, Sir Tim and his colleagues set to it. Story has more.<br/>