American Airlines Group and IAG International Airlines Group must continue to offer competitors four airport slots on three routes between the United Kingdom and the United States until March 2026, according to a decision by the UK competition watchdog. The routes affected are London Heathrow or London Gatwick to Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami Int'l (one slot each), and London to Boston (two slots). A tender process will be held in Autumn 2023 to allow new entrants to apply for slots on the routes concerned, according to an April 4, 2022, decision by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This follows its decision on the same date to extend until the IATA Winter 2025/2026 season, interim measures first announced on September 17, 2020, which oblige American Airlines and IAG Group member airlines to free up the four slots on the three routes concerned. The measures have enabled competitors to enter the routes, including United Airlines on London-Boston; Delta Air Corporation on Boston-Dallas; and Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) on the Miami route via Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, the CMA said.<br/>
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Russian carrier S7 Airlines has turned in a profitable full year, with a pre-tax surplus of Rb12.7b ($156m) for 2021. The figure reverses the Rb5.2b loss recorded during the previous year, which was heavily affected by the pandemic. S7’s revenues rose by 60% to nearly Rb156b, according to the official figures filed to the Russian government’s federal tax service.The carrier had previously stated that it transported 17.8m passengers last year, with the vast majority – over 16.2m – taking domestic flights. Russia’s domestic market had experienced a strong recovery from the effects of the pandemic, and S7’s passenger numbers for December had exceeded pre-crisis figures. The airline’s net profit last year reached Rb12b. Cash reserves for the Moscow-based operator stood at Rb26.7b, down from the previous year-end level of Rb31.6b. S7 achieved a pre-tax profit for the pre-crisis year 2019 of nearly Rb4.9b.<br/>
SriLankan Airlines has issued a wide-ranging Request for Proposals for the dry lease of up to 42 aircraft covering all segments of jet aircraft. The RFP is split into four separate calls, of which two concern current-generation Airbus narrow- and widebody aircraft, and the other two new-generation regional and long-haul aircraft. The current-generation narrowbody request seeks the lease of up to eleven aircraft, which can be A320-200s, A320-200Ns, A321-200s, or A321-200Ns. Deliveries are tentatively scheduled between December 2022 and April 2025, although the carrier said it is willing to renegotiate this timeline with the selected lessor. The airline is also seeking up to ten A330s, either A330-200s or A330-300s. Deliveries are expected to commence in December 2022 and continue through October 2025. SriLankan Airlines intends to lease all of the current-generation aircraft for 4-6 years each and requires that the aircraft be less than 15 years old at the time of delivery. They can be delivered in pre-existing cabin configuration with an option of reconfiguration.<br/>
Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd is planning to increase its aircraft capacity by an additional 15 per cent on top of the 20 per cent of pre-COVID level projected for this month, in light of Malaysian borders reopening. The airline group expects that by year-end the capacity would reach 70% of pre-COVID capacity level, said MAG group CEO Captain Izham Ismail. MAG is the parent company of Malaysia Airlines. Capt Izham said that with the trend of higher demand (inbound) coming from India, the United Kingdom and Europe into Malaysia, the airline is looking at 80% capacity. "Our forward looking until the middle of this year has been encouraging... of course the conflict in Europe as well as the impact of high oil prices, those factors come into play, but in the context of movement, it has been encouraging. Our domestic business is just like our competitors in Malaysia, we are also looking at very high load factors moving between Sabah and Sarawak,” he told reporters. He said the airline group saw bookings pick up from the last couple of weeks since the government announced the reopening of Malaysia’s borders on April 1.<br/>