Spanish carrier Air Europa is to take 15 long- and short-haul aircraft under a lease agreement with Irish-based AerCap. Air Europa is to bring in five Boeing 787-9s and 10 737 Max 8s under the pact. It will take delivery of the jets over the course of 2024-26. Air Europa will, as a result, become the first Spanish operator of the 737 Max. It was also the first in the country to take the 787. “It reinforces our strategy of unifying the fleet around the most modern, efficient, and sustainable models in the industry,” says managing director Richard Clark. Air Europa’s fleet modernisation follows a tightening of its links with Iberia parent IAG, which has converted a loan into a 20% share of Air Europa. IAG had previously intended a full acquisition of the carrier, but ran into difficulties with competition regulators. AerCap says the additional aircraft for Air Europa will provide “improved cost-efficiencies” and support sustainability commitments. “With this landmark transaction for the airline, we are delighted to reconfirm our belief in the Air Europa business and management team,” says chief commercial officer Peter Anderson.<br/>
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Jeju Air's growing financial trouble is spreading to its parent firm Aekyung Group as it continues to bleed funds, according to industry officials Monday. AK Holdings, the holding company of Aekyung Group with a 51.06 percent stake, has been seeing its finances deteriorate as it continues to inject capital into Jeju Air, which has been devastated by increasing losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget airline, which has been experiencing a liquidity crisis, decided to issue a paid-in capital increase worth 320b won ($237m), with support from Aekyung Group and general shareholders. Since 2020 the group has made continuous paid-in capital increases adding up to nearly 700b won. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Monday, Jeju Air will proceed with a capital increase of 320b won in November. The company, which carried out a capital increase of 158.4b won in July 2020 and 206.6b won last October, will receive a total of 683b won from shareholders through November. "The funds secured through the capital increase are planned to be used as facility funds, such as the introduction of next-generation aircraft," a Jeju Air official said.<br/>
Starlux Airlines will launch services to North America in April next year, starting with flights to the west coast of the United States and gradually expanding to other destinations, spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei briefly told reporters on August 29 after a shareholders’ meeting in the Taiwanese capital. Nieh had said one month ago that with pandemic restrictions easing, it was a good time to be planning Starlux’s first intercontinental route, which he named as Taipei Taoyuan-Los Angeles Int'l, to launch after the Lunar New Year. Though he did not mention Los Angeles on this occasion, Nieh did divulge that the airline also planned to offer flights to destinations in Europe, buoyed by a fleet expansion in which it will take delivery of eight new aircraft by the end of this year, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported. The addition of four more A321neo (two A321-200Ns and two A321-200NXs), two more A330-900Ns, and its first two A350-900s will mean that by the end of 2022 Starlux will be operating a fleet of nineteen aircraft. Another two A350s and four A330s are due in 2023.<br/>
AirAsia X is planning two new routes to Australia and one to India to<br/>increase seat capacity, as the markets have shown signs of recovery<br/>following the lifting of all travel restrictions. As of July, the number of outbound tourists from Australia reached 3.83m, while the inbound market stood at 3.94m. Air traffic has grown stronger since the Australian government ended all travel restrictions on July 6. Tassapon Bijleveld, CE of Thai AirAsia X, said there were almost 800,000 Australian tourists visiting Thailand each year before the pandemic, while the Thai outbound market stood at around 100,000 as Australia was the third most popular educational destination among Thai students. "Out of the Australian population of 25.7m, 21.4m were taking outbound trips each year. We saw an opportunity in this market before Covid-19, but could not enter it due to a lack of available slots. After opening this route in December this year, we intend to maintain services in the long run, with an average load factor of at least 85-90%," said Tassapon. Thai AirAsia X will commence direct services to Melbourne on Dec 1 with three flights a week, and to Sydney on Dec 3 with four flights a week. It also plans to open a route to New Delhi in India in Q3 after air traffic rights between the two countries were increased. Average airfares on those routes would be at least 15% lower than those of its competitors. By the end of this year the airline will be flying six aircraft, which represents a gradual improvement from its current usage of only three planes. During the pandemic it cut its fleet to eight jets, from 15, in an effort to reduce fixed costs.<br/>