Spirit Airlines is planning to open crew bases in Atlanta and Miami this year, according to a note sent to flight attendants that their union sent on Thursday. The Miramar, Fla.-based discount airline is setting up the new bases for pilots and flight attendants as it staffs up to take on bigger rivals with strong holds on those airports, like Delta and American Airlines, which is the dominant airline in Miami. Spirit first launched service from Miami International Airport last October and now has 30 nonstop routes from there, making it the second-biggest carrier at the airport, still far behind American Airlines, which has more than 300 daily departures out of the airport this month. Spirit and fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines last month announced plans to merge into the country’s fifth-largest carrier. Spirit Airlines spokesman said the crew bases are not related to the combination. The new bases come after Spirit has been studying for months how to staff more efficiently after crew shortages contributed to more than 2,000 flight cancellations in the middle of last summer. Spirit, like other airlines, has been scrambling to hire pilots, flight attendants and other staff to cater to the rebound in travel demand. The airline said it plans to have more than 100 pilots and 200 flight attendants at each new base at first. The note to flight attendants said the bases are expected to open in June.<br/>
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Israeli airline El Al reported a narrower loss in Q4 as revenue more than doubled after the country began reopening its borders to foreign tourists. Its auditors, however, attached a "going concern" warning in the aftermath of the pandemic. Sales had plummeted at El Al, Israel's flag carrier, amid restrictions imposed during the pandemic to curb the spread of COVID-19. It said on Thursday it lost a net $110m in October-December -- despite an 85% jump in jet fuel costs -- compared with a $140m loss a year earlier. Revenue jumped 137% to $265m from $112m a year ago, which is still about half its pre-COVID level of about $544m in 2019. El Al CE Avigal Soreq said advance bookings had gradually risen over the first two months of 2022. "The skies are clearing up," Soreq said. While reaching 2019 levels of bookings is unlikely, he said "we are doing everything we can in order to be as close as we possibly can to" 2019. Soreq said El Al was waiting to hear from the government about settling a dispute over security at Dubai airport, which has limited the number of flights by Israeli carriers. At the same time, he said El Al was still doing its due diligence in a planned process to buy smaller Israeli carrier Arkia.<br/>
El Al will continue operating flights to Russia until March 9 after the Knesset Finance Committee agreed to put up $2b surety. The state is required to provide financial guarantees because according to the sanctions imposed on Russia by the west because of the invasion of Ukraine, insurance policies for airlines flying to Russia are not currently valid. El Al currently operates two daily flights between Tel Aviv and Russia. El Al will reduce its Russian operations to five flights over the next week and has had to change its route so as not to fly over Ukraine, making the flight 90 minutes longer. El Al has also had to adjust the route of its flights to Los Angeles, Toronto and Shanghai. The flights over the next week are designed to bring Israelis back to Israel as well as Russian Jews. The Knesset Finance Committee was told that there are tens of thousands of Israelis in the regions and members of the very large Jewish community wishing to come to Israel. Aeroflot flights between Tel Aviv and Moscow are also continuing to operate.<br/>
Firefly has announced it will resume B737-800 operations out of Penang on April 11, 2022, after its first venture into the jet market was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic nearly as soon as it started. The Malaysian carrier will connect the northern island with Johor Bahru (2x daily), Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu (daily each). It plans to add an additional daily frequency on all three routes starting on April 25. The initial schedule will require two B737-800s, with the third unit of the type necessary for the ramp-up in late April. Firefly, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Aviation Group, started B737-800 operations out of Penang in May 2021, using three aircraft transferred from Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur Int'l). However, each of the three B737s ran just one rotation before the airline was forced to suspend this part of its operations. It subsequently returned the trio to its parent. Firefly indicated earlier that it would restart jet operations once market conditions improve.<br/>
A proposed codeshare agreement between domestic carriers Link PNG and PNG Air has run into difficulties with a decision by Papua New Guinea’s economic regulator and consumer watchdog to revoke its prior conditional authorisation for the proposed partnership. The proposed codeshare would be part of a Joint Operating Agreement between the two carriers. The head of the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC), Paulus Ain, said the airlines had missed a January 29 deadline to submit a revised and signed codeshare agreement within three months of the ICCC having granted conditional permission on October 29, 2021. “The ICCC confirms that Link PNG took no further steps with PNG Air on the proposed codeshare arrangement to comply with the authorisation conditions since the decision of the ICCC was relayed to them.” In line with legal requirements, the Commission was therefore revoking its authorisation, he said. “The ICCC now invites Link PNG and PNG Air to put forward their objections with reasons. All other relevant stakeholders and public are also invited to provide any comments on the revocation,” he added. Submissions must reach the ICCC by March 9, 2022. The regulator previously stopped a proposed merger between the two airlines citing competitive reasons, stating the proposed codeshare would only be authorised with amendments to limit any anti-competitive fallout in the market.<br/>