star

Virgin Australia’s new codeshare partnership with United is now in full swing, following a formal launch event in Sydney on Tuesday. The event took place at Sydney Kingsford Smith’s international terminal, timed to celebrate the first United flight to operate under the codeshare partnership, flight UA870 from Sydney to San Francisco. It comes after Virgin in December announced that it would switch its American codeshare partner from Delta to United, after more than a decade of partnership with Delta. The event, jointly hosted by Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka and United’s managing director of international sales Marcel Fuchs, involved American cheerleaders, Aussie surfers, as well as donut and pretzel stands. Cabin crew from both airlines were present to cut a ceremonial ribbon, marking the official beginning of the partnership between to two carriers. It comes just days ahead of United’s planned expansion of services into Australia from 2 June, which will also see the return of the popular Melbourne-San Francisco route. The Virgin and United partnership was originally slated to be up and running by April, unlocking loyalty benefits for both Velocity Frequent Flyers and MileagePlus members. Virgin said its deal with United, the only American airline to continue flying commercially between Australia and the US throughout the height of the pandemic, will triple its reach into the Americas.<br/>

Germany's Lufthansa wants to acquire a 20% stake in state-owned Italian airline ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, and its partner MSC is bidding for a 60% stake, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The Italian state would initially keep the remaining 20%, the source said. The Lufthansa-MSC duo made their offer to acquire a majority stake in ITA on Monday. MSC, also known as Mediterranean Shipping Group, has filed an offer together with Lufthansa and is awaiting the next steps, a company spokesperson said, declining to comment further. The Italian Treasury did not reply to a request for comment on the sale process after the deadline for bids on Monday. MSC and Lufthansa face a rival bid from US financial investor Certares which is working with Air France-KLM and Delta. Delta confirmed on Tuesday that it would not be a financial investor in ITA, but said in a statement that it would seek to build on an existing commercial partnership with ITA. Air France-KLM declined to comment on ITA on Tuesday. It has launched a E2.26b share sale to shore up its balance sheet and repay some French state aid, bringing it closer to repaying government pandemic support and meeting European Union conditions for participating in any future airline consolidation.<br/>

Lufthansa is holding talks with buyout funds as it seeks to sell about 20% of its aircraft maintenance business Technik, three sources familiar with the matter said. The German airline has abandoned plans to list a minority stake in the business given stock market volatility after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Citigroup and JPMorgan are advising on the stake sale which could value Technik, one of the biggest global players in aircraft repair, at E5–8b including debt, two of the sources said. Private equity firms are working to prepare bids for a 20% stake ahead of an auction process which is expected to kick off later this year, one of the sources said. Lufthansa is seeking a long-term investor and would only pursue a stock market listing of Technik at a later stage, this source said. The decision comes days after Air France-KLM said it had entered talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management for a E500m injection into a repair unit as airlines reshape balance sheets post-pandemic. In June 2020, the EC approved German plans to contribute E6b to the recapitalisation of Lufthansa's parent company Deutsche Lufthansa. Global airlines are facing competition from standalone maintenance firms in Asia and elsewhere, and increasingly from airplane manufacturers themselves, in the expanding market for overhaul and other services.<br/>

All Nippon Airways said Tuesday the Japanese airline will remove self-check-in machines for domestic flights at 51 domestic airports from April next year as most passengers can complete their pre-flight procedures via a smartphone app. The move, which entails removal of 437 machines used for domestic flights, is part of efforts to offer contactless services amid the coronavirus pandemic and reduce costs associated with airport check-ins. For those who cannot use the app, the airline will continue to offer in-person check-ins at the airports. Using the carrier's app, passengers can book and purchase electronic tickets for domestic flights and skip check-in procedures at airports. They can then use the electronic tickets on the app to go straight to security inspections and board their flights. "Smartphones will guide passengers smoothly (from booking to boarding)," Shinichi Inoue, president of ANA, told a press conference. The app, which passengers can also use to read magazines and newspapers on an inflight Wi-Fi network, is currently used by about 50 percent of the airline's passengers on domestic flights. The operator aims to boost the user rate to about 90 percent by around 2026. The airline said it also aims to add new functions to the app, including offering information about flight cancellations and delays, as well as departure times. Meanwhile, ANA's domestic rival Japan Airlines said it will continue the use of automated check-in machines. <br/>

Air New Zealand CE Greg Foran has purchased NZ$1m worth of shares in the airline following the completion of its $1.2b capital raising. A disclosure note issued by the company to the New Zealand stock exchange on Friday said Foran bought 1.46m Air New Zealand shares worth $1m, across two transactions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Foran previously held no shares in Air New Zealand, although he does hold 2.3m in rights which can be converted to shares. Air New Zealand disclosed that directors and senior managers also bought shares recently. Among those were chairperson Dame Therese Walsh, director Dean Bracewell, chief people officer Nikki Dines, chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty and chief operational integrity and safety officer David Morgan. Air New Zealand’s share price has dropped considerably since late March, when it announced a $2.2b recapitalisation plan to help repay its debts and improve liquidity.<br/>