Shares of Allegiant Air’s parent company tumbled in after-hours trading Monday after the budget airline gave a disappointing preview of its second-quarter earnings that it said were undercut by higher costs, including fuel. Allegiant Travel said after the market closed that it expects to report earnings of 62 cents per share. The company had previously forecast profit of 92 cents per share, and analysts had been even more bullish, expecting $1.36 per share, according to a FactSet survey. Its shares traded down more than 18% in extended trading on Monday. Allegiant’s woes echoed what bigger airlines have been saying the past two weeks: Demand for tickets remains strong as people want to travel following more than two years of pandemic, but costs are rising rapidly for fuel, labor and other expenses. The Las Vegas-based airline said revenue for the April-June quarter was about $629m, up 28% from the same period in 2019, and strong sales have continued in July, with flights running slightly higher than 90% full on average. However, Allegiant paid $4.32 per gallon for fuel in the quarter, higher than it has expected, and planes consumed $9m in extra fuel that the airline blamed on hauling more passengers per flight, which makes the planes heavier. Costs other than fuel were up 14% per mile, compared with 2019. Allegiant is scheduled to report quarterly results on Aug. 3.<br/>
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German leisure carrier Condor has ordered 41 Airbus A320neo-family aircraft as its fleet renewal focus shifts to short- and medium-haul jets. The announcement marks another Airbus order win from the carrier, which is already set to receive its first A330neos from late 2022 as it replaces its previous-generation A330s and Boeing 767s. The commitment announced on 25 July comprises 13 A320neos and 28 A321neos, plus purchase options. The aircraft will arrive from “spring 2024” – once the long-haul fleet replacement has been completed – allowing Condor to phase out its A320s, A321s and 757s. “With our new A320neo and A321neo aircraft, we are consistently developing our fleet and ourselves as a company, and we are also taking care of our own claim of enabling responsible and comfortable travel with significantly reduced CO2 emissions, significantly less jet kerosene consumption and less noise,” says Condor CE Ralf Teckentrup. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines and will be taken via a mixture of direct purchases and leases. Cirium fleets data shows Condor’s current fleet features 18 A320s, 10 A321s, six A330s, 13 757s and 13 767s. Aside from the newly announced commitments, it has seven A330-900s on order from Airbus and plans to take a further nine from lessors.<br/>
Ryanair swung back into profit in its first quarter but with continued uncertainty over the Ukraine war and Covid-19. Europe’s biggest budget carrier warned “the days of E9.99 fares are probably coming to an end”.The Dublin-based airline posted profit before exceptional items of €170mn in the three months to June, from a loss of E273m in the same period last year and well above the consensus market forecast of E157m. However, that was still well below the E243m pre-pandemic profit in the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year. CE Michael O’Leary warned that the war and potential for new Covid-19 outbreaks ahead meant the recovery was “strong but still fragile”. Nevertheless, Ryanair has locked in cost savings and had secured a “massive competitive advantage” through fuel and other hedging, CFO Neil Sorahan said. In addition, Ryanair is taking delivery of 50 new Boeing 737 higher-efficiency, lower-emission aircraft this winter, “so I believe we’ll perform well in a recession, if there is one”, he added. While Ryanair is not cancelling flights, Sorahan warned that air traffic control and other airport problems meant passengers could still expect summer delays at European airports that have inflicted misery on holidaymakers in recent weeks. He suggested passengers will also have to get used to higher fares. “Fuel has gone from $40 a barrel to over $100 a barrel. So it’s not credible that we will continue to offer those kinds of terms in a high-fuel environment,” he said. “The days of the €9.99 fares are probably coming to an end.” Passenger numbers reached 45.5m in Q1, and the airline had its busiest month ever in June. Sorahan said Ryanair remained on track to reach 165mn passengers this financial year.<br/>
Ryanair Monday said that Boeing had warned it of possible delays to 21 737 MAX aircraft due for delivery before the end of the year and said it was also worried about the certification of the new MAX 10 aircraft. Boeing remains a "major area of concern" for Ryanair, one of the US aerospace giant's leading customers, Group CE Michael O'Leary told investors on a call following the release of quarterly results. Asked about O'Leary's comments, a spokesperson for Boeing said it valued its partnership with Ryanair and was committed to supporting the Irish airline. O'Leary said he was confident that Boeing would deliver all 50 737 MAX aircraft due by next summer but he was concerned about a possible repeat of delays this year that forced it to take deliveries during its busy summer season. "In the last two weeks, we're getting letters out of Boeing telling us there might be problems with 21 aircraft this side of Christmas," O'Leary told investors on a conference call. A delay would be "inexplicable and unacceptable," he added. O'Leary said that he had been assured that Ryanair deliveries would take priority this winter. "Management in Seattle... need to get their finger out," O'Leary said, repeating a call for a change in management at Boeing's Seattle operations. O'Leary said he was still interested in a large order for the MAX 10 - the largest member of its best-selling single-aisle airplane family - but that Boeing had not offered attractive enough pricing yet.<br/>
El Al CEO Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia has told the Google tourism conference in Tel Aviv that the carrier plans to launch direct flights to Melbourne, Tokyo and Japan. All three new routes were announced in 2019 before the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and then canceled when international travel was disrupted. Assuming that El Al is granted permission to fly over Saudi airspace, flights from Tel Aviv to Melbourne in Australia will take 15 hours, similar to the distance between Tel Aviv and Los Angeles, another route on which El Al is the only carrier, Ben-Tal Ganacia said. El Al will also be the only carrier operating on the routes between Tel Aviv and Tokyo and Tel Aviv and Dublin. Ben-Tal Ganacia also told the conference that in five years, El Al expects that 80% of ticket sales will be through digital channels. At present 35% of tickets are sold via the Internet and app and together with digital bookings by travel agents this climbs to 50%.<br/>
The first scheduled passenger flight by Greater Bay Airlines took off from Hong Kong to Bangkok over the weekend. What was supposed to be a ceremonious day for the brand-new carrier based in the regional aviation hub instead offered no pomp, not even a news release. GBA's Boeing 737-800 aircraft lifted off from Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday morning as scheduled and made a return flight that evening. Even though it was the first scheduled flight for the airline, and in the works for two years, it went off without traditional lion dances, ribbon cutting or speeches. Jodie Lai, head of marketing and customer experience at GBA, told Nikkei Asia on Monday that she is not able to share how many passengers were on board for the maiden flight "for commercial reasons." Local media reported there were "only a few people checking in at the counter." Lai said that the airline "decided to avoid organizing any event that [on Saturday might have resulted] in group gatherings in public places," owing to the pandemic and the city's social distancing requirements. She confirmed that no news release, statements nor photos will be issued. The new airline did not kick off the way CEO Stanley Hui had wanted. "I would just say we have not expected it to be a commercial success, far from it," he said on the eve of the first scheduled flight. He pointed to the seven-day hotel quarantine requirement for anyone coming or returning to Hong Kong, with an exception of mainland China. The restriction is sapping the willingness to travel in and out of the city. But might it also have convinced GBA executives to postpone the first scheduled flights? "We have to start somewhere, despite knowing passenger demand will be minimal," Hui said, adding that the airline has been preparing for its launch for over two years.<br/>