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The head of Sun Country Airlines threw his backing behind a potential merger in the ultra-low-cost airline sector in the United States, saying it would be good for consumers. Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways are battling for Spirit Airlines, which this month rejected an enhanced offer from JetBlue, saying it had low chances of regulatory approval compared to Spirit’s agreed Frontier deal. “We’re pro this deal happening with either of the two counterparties ... hopefully it happens before the end of the year,” Chief Executive Jude Bricker told the Airline Economics conference. “I think it makes a ton of sense for everybody involved, including and importantly, the consumer,” he added. White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese has said the Biden administration takes “very seriously” the impact of industry consolidation. “My view is that the two carriers acting as one in the US will be better for us and that we’ll see more rational pricing generally and I think it will be a net positive,” Bricker said. “I think it makes sense and I certainly agree with Frontier and Spirit’s assertion that it’s good for the consumer, it’s good for the staff of both airlines. And it’s going to be good for investors. I hope it happens.”<br/>

A plane destined for Turkey was forced to return to the gate before takeoff at Tel Aviv's airport Tuesday afternoon after multiple passengers received photos of plane crashes on their phones, authorities confirmed. The Anadolujet Boeing 737 was carrying 160 passengers and bound for Istanbul when the passengers received the images, and the pilot returned to the gate at Ben Gurion Airport. Anadolujet is a regional carrier operated by parent Turkish Airlines and operates domestic flights while also flying to Northern Cyprus, Western Europe and Western Asia. Authorities arrested nine people after removing them from the airliner. The images allegedly included a Turkish Airlines plane that crashed in the Netherlands in 2009, as well as a separate crash in the United States in 2013, the BBC reported. Police questioned the suspects on suspicion of spreading false information causing fear and panic, the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported, adding that all the images were received on iPhones. The suspects reportedly were Israeli citizens. Passengers later received the option to reboard, and the plane eventually left for Turkey.<br/>

Wizz Air is exploring launching flights to Saudi Arabia, part of an ambitious expansion strategy as the travel industry emerges from the pandemic. The London-listed airline on Tuesday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi government to explore “airline market development opportunities” in the country, which hopes to expand its aviation and tourism industries. Saudi Arabia has set out plans to triple the number of passengers flying into the country by 2030, a move that Wizz said presented “unprecedented opportunities” for airlines and the aviation industry supply chain. Wizz has rapidly expanded from its Hungarian home market to offer a flight network spreading across Europe and into parts of central Asia and the Middle East. The carrier in 2019 set up a new airline, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, its first established base outside Europe and a joint venture with state-owned Abu Dhabi Development Holding. At the time, Wizz boss József Váradi said the decision was based on his belief that the “centre of aviation” was going to shift from west to east, noting that airports in western Europe were increasingly constrained and more expensive. Aviation analysts at stockbroker Goodbody said they expected Wizz to focus on carrying workers between Saudi Arabia and the Indian subcontinent, as well as linking a new “mega airport” in Riyadh with capitals in central and eastern Europe. “Similar to the deal with Abu Dhabi, we assume Wizz would receive attractive deals on airport charges, fuel and, possibly, access to capital,” Goodbody said. Wizz’s management stuck to a bullish expansion strategy even as the pandemic ripped through the aviation industry, and the stock reached record highs even as rivals struggled. But its fortunes have shifted and its shares have fallen almost 40% this year. <br/>

Emirates Airline has defended its decision to continue its flights to Russia even as other international carriers have halted service, saying that people and government decisions should not be conflated. The chairman and CEO of the Dubai state airline said that it had not received any instruction from the government to cease operations and, therefore, had a duty to passengers to maintain its service. “At least we’re doing a job. We’re connecting people between the two countries,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. “We shouldn’t really mix up between people and government decisions,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy. Many major international airlines, including British Airways and Air France-KLM, moved to suspend flights to Russia earlier this year in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The move was swiftly reciprocated by Russia’s flagship airline Aeroflot, which halted all international flights — except to Belarus. Many Western allies, meanwhile, have banned direct flights from Russia from entering their airspace as part of a growing package of sanctions against President Vladimir Putin and his regime. Still, the United Arab Emirates has been reluctant to take sides in the ongoing war, and has so far resisted sanctioning Moscow. Al Maktoum said that until such time as the government changed its stance, Emirates would continue to operate its flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg. “That is a government decision. We haven’t got any instruction really to stop flights there,” he said. Al Maktoum added that the war and resultant sanctions had no doubt piled further weight on airlines as they attempt their post-pandemic recovery. However, he said that Emirates was continuing to see strong demand overall and it expects to return to full pre-Covid operations by the end of the financial year.<br/>

Dubai's Emirates hopes that it will this fiscal year start paying back the 15b dirhams ($4.1b) in state assistance it receive from the government during the pandemic, its chairman said on Monday. The Dubai government injected billions of dollar into its flagship airline via equity injections over the course of the pandemic that had at one stage crippled international travel. Sheikh Ahmed said the government, the airline's sole shareholder, would be repaid through dividend payments starting in the current financial year which runs until March 31, 2023. He did not say how much could be paid this year or when the entire amount would be repaid.<br/>

Saudi Arabian discount airline Flynas agreed so-called sale-leaseback deals that will fund the purchase of 14 Airbus SE narrow-body jets. The accords with leasing firms CDB Aviation, CMB Financial Leasing and Avolon Holdings Ltd. cover part of a Flynas order for 120 Airbus A320neo aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday. It said the planes have a value of 6.6b riyals ($1.7b). Under sale-leaseback terms an airline sells an aircraft before taking it back on a rental basis, with the mechanism used both to fund new purchases and raise cash from older jets. Deliveries of the 14 planes are scheduled this year and next, according to Flynas, which made the announcement at the Future of Aviation Forum in Riyadh. Flynas said in March that it intends to order 250 more aircraft to become the largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East and support a major push to build tourism in Saudi Arabia. It has indicated previously that plans could include operations using wide-body aircraft.<br/>

Jeju Air, South Korea's biggest budget carrier, said Wednesday it has joined a consortium to provide urban air mobility (UAM) services in efforts to find a new growth driver. Jeju Air and five others formed the consortium to participate in the transport ministry-led K-UAM Grand Challenge project in the next two years to commercialize the UAM services by 2025, Jeju Air said. The five other firms are local refiner GS Caltex Corp., No. 3 telecom company LG Uplus, taxi-hailing app Kakao Mobility Corp., domestic drone solutions company Pablo Air Co., and British UAM manufacturer Vertical Aerospace Ltd. "While focusing on its mainstay airline business, Jeju Air aims to develop a variety of tourism products in connection with the UAM business," the statement said. In the K-UAM GC project, Jeju Air will be in charge of operating UAMs, planning flight schedules, and collecting flight data, the company said. GS Caltex will set up vertiports, terminals that allow takeoff and landing for UAMs, in some of its gas stations, Kakao Mobility will establish vertiport solutions, such as automotive check-in and security inspection function, and LG Uplus will offer telecommunications services for a stable operation of UAMs, it said.<br/>