unaligned

Restructured low-cost carrier Norwegian has firmed its deal for 50 Boeing 737 Max 8, which are due to join the fleet between 2025 and 2028. The airline at the end of May announced it had a struck preliminary deal for the aircraft, which include 30 options in addition to 50 on firm order. Norwegian will predominately use the aircraft to replace existing jets as current lease deals expire, though the order will mean a “limited net increase” in its current fleet. Norwegian says a “significant share” of the aircraft will be owned by the company, ensuring an optimised and balanced aircraft-financing structure. The airline was an early Max customer and flew 18 of the jets prior to the type’s grounding in 2019. However, during a major restructuring, Norwegian scaled its fleet back to just Boeing 737-800s and scrapped an order for 92 more Max jets. Since completing its restructuring, and with the lifting of Covid-19 travel restrictions, Norwegian has been rebuilding its fleet. The airline still mostly operates 737-800s but recently started adding back some 737 Max and a small number of Airbus A320s. <br/>

Turkish budget carrier Pegasus is on track to reach pre-Covid capacity levels for the full year amid strong demand for inbound tourism, according to the airline’s new chief executive Guliz Ozturk. Ozturk cites “strong signals” on international traffic in particular during the March-May period, which suggest that Pegasus will have “a strong summer, leaving behind all the Covid fears and impact”. In serving that demand, Ozturk describes the carrier’s growing fleet of Airbus A321neos as a “game-changer” in unit-cost terms, given the type offers greater fuel-efficiency and around 50 more seats than the smaller narrowbodies being replaced. “In total this year, we expect to reach 2019 levels in terms of capacity,” she states, as early year challenges around the Omicron variant are offset by a stronger performance in the second quarter and into the third. Inbound tourism is at the heart of the demand recovery, Ozturk says, with the favourable exchange rate of many currencies to the Turkish lira helping to make the country an especially attractive option for leisure travel. “Turkey was always a charming destination for Tourists,” Ozturk states. “Now it is much more affordable.” Furthermore, Ozturk describes as a “distinguishing factor” the “cost advantage” generated by Pegasus booking so much of its revenue from international passengers during the Covid-19 recovery. Amid that trend, the carrier has increased the number of aircraft it bases at Antalya – a popular destination for inbound tourism traffic from Europe – from eight or nine pre-Covid to 15-16 today, she states.<br/>

Easyjet has cancelled flights between the Isle of Man and Manchester for four months. The airline said the decision was one of a "number of pre-emptive cancellations for the summer" amid "industry-wide operational issues". A company spokesman said the flights, which have been scrapped between July and October, would resume at the start of November. Loganair continues to operate daily flights on the route. In a statement, Easyjet said it was "very sorry for the inconvenience" it would cause.<br/>

Gulf carrier Emirates is weighing more Airbus SE A350 jetliner orders to help fill gaps in its fleet in coming years as Boeing Co. struggles to bring its wide-body models to market. Following strong freight demand during the pandemic, Emirates converted 10 Boeing 777s into cargo planes, depleting its passenger capacity, and a still-robust market might prompt it to switch another 10, President Tim Clark said. That could open a potential hole in the Dubai-based company’s operations sometime between 2024 and 2027, with the gap hard to fill through existing order commitments, Clark said. Service entry for Boeing’s new 777X model has slipped to 2025, while Emirates wouldn’t get 787 Dreamliners until the same year at least should it hold the US manufacturer to a contract, he said. “That’s kind of too late for us,” Clark told journalists in Germany on Wednesday. “This is why we’re getting a bit wary and we’re looking at the A350. We really only have one place to go.” Emirates would consider the A350-1000 variant, though Clark pointed to issues with Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engines which he said haven’t yet sufficiently proven their reliability. He said Rolls needs to get the biggest A350, for which it’s the sole engine supplier, into the air with “much higher cycle guarantees” before he’ll consider ordering the type.<br/>

Philippine carrier Cebu Air expects to bring back its workforce size to before the Covid-19 pandemic by early next year, President and CEO Lance Gokongwei said. Workers who were laid off due to the pandemic are being prioritized for rehiring, Gokongwei told reporters on Wednesday. There’s enough supply of pilots and cabin crew in the Philippines, unlike in other countries that are experiencing shortages, he said at a media presentation of a grocery delivery platform which he backed. Cebu Air, the nation’s biggest budget carrier had 4,000 workers before the pandemic. It cut jobs by 25% in 2020, and resumed hiring crew in November after domestic tourism showed signs of a revival as the country eased mobility curbs. The peso’s slump is expected to drive up the airline’s expenses together with higher fuel prices, Gokongwei said, adding that it will have to balance luring back passengers and adjusting fares to recover rising costs. Higher consumer prices and rising borrowing cost are among the biggest challenges to businesses, said Gokongwei, whose conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. also has interests in food, property, petrochemical and banking.<br/>

Rex Saab 340 pilots have voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of taking industrial action against the airline, following a near four-year-long disagreement over pay and conditions. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) said the action would start from Tuesday 28 June and include a ban on loading extra fuel prior to flights and not wearing uniforms. Rex had previously told Australian Aviation the actions of the union were “beyond belief” and added its latest offer was “substantially better” than one accepted by the union on behalf of QantasLink pilots in 2021. On Wednesday, the AFAP said more than 90% of its Saab pilot members voted to take a range of eight actions, including work bans and potentially work stoppages of up to four hours each. It added the ballot lasted a week with 93 per cent of its members who were eligible to participate voting online. “In addition to action concerning the wearing of uniforms, pilots will adopt a ban on loading extra fuel prior to flights, where the primary purpose for loading the extra fuel is to negate the need to refuel at the destination airport,” said the AFAP. “The AFAP remains committed to reaching an agreement and is disappointed that we have had to take this action. Unfortunately, Rex pilots have been attempting to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement since early-2018 (ahead of the 30 June 2018 expiry of the Regional Express Pilots’ Enterprise Agreement 2014). AFAP members employed by Rex as Saab turboprop pilots are disappointed that negotiations over a new enterprise agreement have not progressed satisfactorily with the company over four years.”<br/>