Spirit Airlines is blaming its slower post-Covid recovery in part on air traffic control staffing issues in its home state of Florida. The Miramar, Florida-based company said on 10 August that its aircraft are still underutilised, and it’s having trouble ramping up its schedule. “We are still constrained on the number of flights we can operate through the Jacksonville air traffic control centre,” Spirit’s chief commercial officer Matt Klein says on the company’s quarterly analyst call. About 40% of the ultra-low-cost carrier’s network in the continental USA touches Florida, he adds. However, that number could be as high as 50% if the constraints surrounding the Jacksonville facility did not exist. A full recovery for the airline will “depend on the infrastructure that supports the aviation industry, most notably the ability to fully deploy our schedule to and from Florida”. ”To help maintain operational reliability we will continue to take a pragmatic approach to capacity deployment from now through the first half of 2023,” Klein adds.<br/>
unaligned
Ryanair's trademark E1 and E10 fares will not be seen for a "number of years" due to soaring fuel prices, the budget airline's boss has said. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Michael O'Leary said he expected Ryanair's average fare to rise by about 10 euros over the next five years, from around 40 euros (£33.75) last year to roughly 50 euros by 2027. He told the broadcaster: "There's no doubt that at the lower end of the marketplace, our really cheap promotional fares - the one euro fares, the 0.99 euro fares, even the 9.99 euro fares - I think you will not see those fares for the next number of years. Although the soaring fuel prices which are impacting the airline's fares are also wreaking havoc on people's disposable incomes, O'Leary is confident the number of customers will remain steady. Instead, he believes travellers will flock en masse to lower-cost alternatives such as Ryanair and EasyJet. "We think people will continue to fly frequently," he said. "But I think people are going to become much more price sensitive and therefore my view of life is that people will trade down in their many millions."<br/>
Emirates is investing over $2b to enhance its inflight customer experience, including a massive programme to retrofit over 120 aircraft with the latest interiors, plus an array of other service improvements across all cabins starting in 2022. Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: "While others respond to industry pressures with cost cuts, Emirates is flying against the grain and investing to deliver ever better experiences to our customers. Through the pandemic we’ve continued to launch new services and initiatives to ensure our customers travel with the assurance and ease, including digital initiatives to improve customer experiences on the ground. Now we’re rolling out a series of intensive programmes to take Emirates’ signature inflight experiences to the next level." Some of Emirates’ latest initiatives include: elevated meal choices, a brand new vegan menu, a ‘cinema in the sky’ experience, cabin interior upgrades, and sustainable choices.<br/>
Middle East budget airline Air Arabia posted a surge in second-quarter profit as the number of passengers carried nearly tripled amid a rebound in air travel demand. Net profit for the three-month period ended June 30 jumped to Dh160m ($43.57m) from Dh10m in the same quarter last year, Air Arabia said Wednesday. The airline's revenue for the period more than doubled to Dh1.11b, from Dh496m in Q2 2021. “The strong performance we witnessed in the first quarter of this year continued in the second quarter and was supported by higher customer demand and cost control measures adopted by the management team,” Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia, said. “Air Arabia remains focused on diversifying and expanding its business while investing in product innovation and adopting further measures to control costs.” Demand for air travel is recovering as border restrictions ease and people take advantage of the freedom to travel after two years of Covid-19 lockdowns. However, higher oil prices, rising inflation and a shortage of labour have challenged the global aviation industry's recovery as airlines race to ramp up operations to keep pace with demand.<br/>
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and Capital A Bhd's shares on Bursa Malaysia were up this morning following the announcement of the aviation industry players’ decision to drop all legal charges against each other. At 10.01 am, MAHB’s shares rose by six sen to RM6.34, while Capital A gained one sen to RM64.5 sen. In a joint statement Wednesday, MAHB managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood said there are no longer any legal proceedings or material litigation from MAHB against AirAsia Bhd/AirAsia X Bhd, operated by Capital A. He added that close collaboration with all stakeholders within the aviation ecosystem is key in propelling the industry and the country’s growth. Meanwhile, Capital A CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said AirAsia and AirAsia X have also withdrawn all legal proceedings as the group looks forward to working together for a better future. "As the world recovers from the pandemic and substantial losses in the aviation sector, in particular, it is integral that all stakeholders work together to stimulate the air travel revival. As two major players driving the aviation ecosystem, it is now more important than ever that MAHB and our Malaysia-based airlines, AirAsia and AirAsia X, show solidarity in making Malaysia’s aviation industry competitive and attractive again,” he said. <br/>