Leisure airline Allegiant Travel said Friday bookings beyond the summer travel season were trending above pre-pandemic levels, an early sign that demand was holding steady in the face of rising inflation. The US airline industry has been bullish about its prospects this year, with Delta Air Lines and United saying that a switch in consumer spending to services from goods would keep their businesses humming despite the highest price pressures in four decades. "Demand strength continues to persist with forward bookings outpacing future capacity growth," Allegiant said. But the airline expects current-quarter revenue to be at the low end of its previous forecast as a rise in COVID cases starting in mid-May forced it to cancel some flights. Operating revenue for the second quarter will likely rise about 28% from pre-pandemic levels, compared with a prior view of a 28% to 32% rise, it said.<br/>
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A US court has approved LATAM Airlines Group SA's bankruptcy reorganization plan, the region's largest air transport group said on Saturday. The US bankruptcy court for the southern district of New York approved the plan for a restructuring under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code, the airline said, adding it hoped to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the year's second half. Its plan will inject about $8 billion through a combination of capital increase, issue of convertible bonds, and the new debt. Born in 2012 from the merger of Chile's LAN with Brazilian rival TAM, LATAM filed for bankruptcy protection two years ago in the United States because of the fallout of pandemic curbs.<br/>
EasyJet has insisted it will get the vast majority of its passengers away this summer on the day they booked, after Gatwick was accused of panicking airline customers by announcing capacity cuts. Flights currently on sale and scheduled will exceed the new limits on almost one in two days across July and August at London’s second airport, suggesting about 500 cancellations in total. Airlines said they were still reviewing schedules and could not be sure how the enforced cancellations would affect them, leaving many booked holidaymakers uncertain over their travel plans. The cap will be exceeded on most days around the start of the school holidays in late July, with flights currently scheduled to peak around 25 July, according to data from the analysts Cirium. However, only about 14 further departures may need to be cancelled out of more than 400 due that day. In the past month, easyJet has already quietly cancelled almost 100 flights that were due to depart from Gatwick in the first week of the school holidays, according to data from aviation analysts OAG. The move was announced by Gatwick on Friday to attempt to head off more chaos and last-minute cancellations, after hundreds of flights were scrapped at late notice during half-term by airlines.<br/>
Trade unions representing cabin crew of Ryanair plan a strike later in June in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe, increasing disruption for passengers to and from Belgium during a peak holiday weekend and a European Union summit. Unions representing Ryanair workers in various European countries said on Friday that they were planning a strike in Belgium and Portugal from June 24-June 26, a strike in France from June 25-26, and a strike in Italy on June 25. They also announced plans for a strike in Spain on June 24, June 25, June 26, June 30, and July 1-2. Adding to the disruptions, unions at Brussels Airlines plan industrial action around the same period. The ACV and BBTK unions said they were forced into action because Ryanair was not respecting Belgian labour law covering such issues as the minimum wage or pay of cabin staff for certain pre- and post-flight work. They said Irish low-cost airline Ryanair operated 17 planes out of Charleroi airport and two out of Brussels. A Ryanair spokesperson said on Friday that the unions should return to the negotiating table to deliver improvements instead of disrupting Belgian customers' travel plans. Ryanair CE Michael O'Leary had said on Tuesday that union accusations were "complete rubbish". "We fully comply with Belgian law, we have labour agreements here with both the pilot unions and the cabin crew unions," he told a news conference, adding that during a strike in April fewer than 40% of Ryanair's Belgian flights were affected.<br/>
A group of 185 passengers travelling from Patna to Delhi by a SpiceJet flight (SG 725) had a providential escape when one of its engines caught fire soon after takeoff from Patna airport at about 12 noon on Sunday, officials said. “The aircraft landed safely at the Patna airport after smoke was noticed from one of the left engines of the airplane, possibly after a bird hit or a technical fault. The matter is being investigated. All 185 passengers are safe,” said Chandrashekhar Singh, district magistrate, Patna. The fire in the plane was noticed when the aircraft was between Khagaul and Phulwarisharif, which is 2 nautical miles from the Patna airport. Bird hits are common as there is an open abattoir near the Patna airport, which attracts birds. The issue has been raised during several environment committee meetings with the Bihar government for the past several years, but nothing much has been done, said airlines officials. The Boeing 737 aircraft with full load had taken off from Patna at about 12 noon and was scheduled to reach Delhi at 1:30 pm. The airline was making alternate arrangements to ferry the passengers to their respective destinations, said Singh. The aircraft had to make an emergency landing at the Patna airport and it was immediately taken to the parking bay. “I saw sparks flying from one of the engines below the left wing of the aircraft soon after the aircraft took off,” said Gaurav, a passenger.<br/>