South America’s largest carrier Latam Airlines Group has turned its first profit since the pandemic hit, and expects an even bigger boost from a new partnership with Delta and its exit from bankruptcy later this year. Travel demand is recovering faster than the Chile-based airline group forecast just a year ago. Passenger traffic at its domestic and regional — international flights within South America — business segments are expected to fully recover by year end, an updated business plan released Tuesday shows. That is, respectively, a quarter and a year earlier than previously forecast. Latam’s long-haul international business is expected to fully recover in the second quarter of 2023, more than a year earlier than the airline’s 2021 business plan. The bullish forecast comes after Latam turned its first monthly profit since the pandemic began in July. The airline posted a $27.3m operating profit on $896m in revenues during the month. The airline still anticipates an operating loss for the year, but expects a full-year operating profit in 2023 with the amount surpassing $1 billion a year later. “Pent up demand has been driving a faster recovery,” Latam said in the presentation echoing the rapid pick up in travel demand that airlines around the world have seen this year. Travelers have surged back to the sky in Latin America as Covid travel restrictions have eased. Passenger traffic in the region was just 14% below 2019 levels in June, while the Brazilian domestic market — one of the largest in the world — was down just 4%, the latest IATA data show. This tracks with the improving fortunes outlined by many of the region’s airlines.<br/>
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A Mexican judge has declared local airline Interjet bankrupt, a document from judicial authorities showed on Tuesday, almost two years after the company stopped operating its low-cost flights around the Americas. The carrier now has 185 days to reach an agreement with creditors, during which Interjet's payments are suspended, according to the document. "This makes us all very happy," said Carlos del Valle, son of Interjet owner Alejandro del Valle, saying the decision signaled a way of moving forward. "Once our mediator is assigned, we're going to ask for the authorization to make essential payments," the younger del Valle said in a message on Twitter. According to the document seen by Reuters, Mexico's transportation ministry has five days to assign a mediator to the case. Interjet's union has been on strike since January 2021, alleging employees went months without their salaries or benefits before the airline abruptly went offline. Thousands of customers were also affected by the flight cancellations, and some have launched a collective complaint through Mexico's federal consumer protection office. "Soon we will announce the steps to follow for all those people left with the issue of tickets, vouchers and all of the customers who had any inconvenience," del Valle said.<br/>
Norwegian regional Wideroe is aiming to test zero-emissions aircraft in commercial operations within four years, introduce such aircraft into its mainline fleet in the coming decade. and is studying the use of eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) types. “We have a pretty-clear ambition for the next 10 years where we want to see a full zero-emissions aircraft enter into service in 2026 or 2027 in Norway,” says Andreas Kollbye Aks, head of strategy at the carrier and CE of its subsidiary Wideroe Zero, speaking to FlightGlobal. It plans to begin operations with the all-electric Italian-built Tecnam P-Volt nine-seater aircraft in 2026 at the earliest as its first foray with an all-electric type. This will be followed at the end of the decade by a 40 to 70-seat regional aircraft and Wideroe Zero will also experiment with eVTOL aircraft when these become available. Introducing the Italian-made P-Volt is effectively a “commercial testing project” for Wideroe Zero which will evaluate how this technology works in scheduled service and “to build a business model as commercially viable as truly possible around that aircraft,” says Aks. “It is too early to say whether we would need more support and to what extent a taxation regime [will be needed] to support this idea.”<br/>
Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary expects the low-cost airline to lure passengers from more expensive rivals this winter as passengers tighten their belts because of the economic slowdown. With households under pressure from soaring energy bills and inflation, the industry is preparing for a grim winter after summer disruption because of staff shortages as airlines struggled to cope with an uptick in demand. O’Leary said the cost of living crisis would inevitably “dampen” demand for flying, and that passenger numbers across Europe would not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025. “You would be crazy not to worry about the looming recession,” he said on Tuesday. “Overall for the market there is no doubt a recession will significantly . . . dampen the traffic recovery post-Covid,” he said. But he said Ryanair would continue to grow “full steam ahead” regardless of the economic climate and UK inflation forecasts of nearly 20%. He expects Ryanair to benefit as customers have typically turned to lower-cost airlines during previous recessions. “Some people may travel less . . . but what we see is far more people trading down to the lowest fare operator . . . and that I think will happen again.” He said early bookings for this winter were ahead of 2019 levels, but suggested this was because passengers were switching to Ryanair as other airlines scaled back their plans. “While our recovery and growth is still very strong, it is still very fragile and prone to falling over,” he said. The low-cost airline flew 15% more flights this summer than in 2019, benefiting from airlines such as Norwegian and Alitalia downsizing during the pandemic, and established rivals including British Airways cutting their flight numbers because of staffing shortages. Ryanair expects to carry 166m passengers in its current financial year to the end of March, up from 149.5m in the full year before Covid-19.<br/>
Europe's short-haul aviation market is unlikely to return to its pre-pandemic peak during the next two years due to high energy costs and the resultant economic shock, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday. "I think that the overall market will not in 2023, 2024, return to pre-COVID traffic levels. They will probably lag behind," the Ryanair Group CE told a news conference in London. Ryanair on the other hand "will grow stronger in a recession as we have in every other recession heretofore," he said, saying the airline's relatively high level of fuel hedging and low aircraft costs would allow it to undercut rivals.<br/>
Boeing appears to have accepted it will not be able to certify its Max 10 aircraft by a year-end deadline, but it remains possible that US lawmakers could give it more time, major customer Ryanair told Reuters on Tuesday. Asked about the comments by the Irish low-cost carrier, which is currently in talks about a possible large Max 10 order, Boeing said it remained committed to certifying and delivering the jet. The US planemaker faces a late December deadline to win approval for the 737 Max 10, which can hold 230 passengers, otherwise it must meet new cockpit alerting requirements under a 2020 law unless waived by Congress. The regulatory issues could force the planemaker to cancel the Max 10, Boeing CE Dave Calhoun said in July. “I think Boeing accepts that it won’t get certified by year end, but I suspect that Congress will approve an extension to that certification process out into early 2023,” Ryanair Group CE Michael O’Leary said. “It makes no sense to call on a company like Boeing to redesign the cockpit or redesign safety systems... So I would urge Congress not to demand a redesign,” he added. Ryanair last year walked away from negotiations with Boeing for 200 of the Max 10, but has remained in contact with the planemaker about a possible order. O’Leary said he was due to meet Boeing on Wednesday. An FAA spokesperson said the agency does not “comment on ongoing certification projects. Please ask Boeing about their schedule.” Boeing said it was “working transparently with the FAA to provide the information they need, and are committed to meeting their expectations and those of our customers to certify and deliver the 737-10.” “Safety remains the driving factor in this effort,” Boeing added.<br/>
Although South Korea's airline industry is staging a measurable comeback in passenger traffic, the recovery has failed to benefit the country's low-cost carriers, forcing them to seek other revenue streams to survive. In this third year into the pandemic, many South Koreans have spent the summer travel season flying overseas. Passengers on international flights in July multiplied 6.3 times from a year earlier to 1.84m, according to government data. Traffic for international flights is now at 30% of pre-COVID levels, and the passenger count for August has apparently gained further. This trend has been a boon for flag carrier Korean Air as well as the other full-service carrier, Asiana Airlines. Both airlines service mid- to long-haul flights to destinations mainly in Europe, the Americas and Southeast Asia, leaving budget carriers that offer shorter international flights in the cold. Because of South Korea's relatively small area, LCCs chiefly depend on international flights. Prior to the pandemic, these routes mainly served Japan and China -- two popular tourist destinations. Those countries each accounted for 20% of 2019 sales at Jeju Air, the South's largest budget carrier. In the advent of the coronavirus, both Japan and China imposed strict border restrictions, depressing earnings at South Korean LCCs. There are no signs that the finances will recover if the status quo holds. As an alternative, the budget airlines are scrambling to enter new business areas or establish additional routes.<br/>
Air Busan said Tuesday it will open the Incheon-Qingdao route next month to preemptively prepare for a recovering demand amid eased travel restrictions. Air Busan will deploy the 232-seat A321neo jet to provide one flight a week on the Incheon-Qingdao route from Sept. 2, the company said. The low-cost carrier currently offers one flight a week on the Busan-Qingdao route. It operates no other routes to China. Air Seoul, another budget carrier unit of Asiana, is the only carrier which has offered the Incheon-Qingdao route amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In July, Air Busan opened three international routes ― Busan-Nah Trang, Incheon-Da Nang, and Incheon-Fukuoka ― and reopened the previously suspended four routes from Busan to Ulan Bator, Osaka, Cebu, and Kota Kinabalu of Malaysia. On Jan. 23, Air Busan began to offer one flight per week on the Busan-Saipan route following a travel bubble agreement with Saipan, a quarantine-free travel partnership between two or more cities or countries with similar COVID-19 situations.<br/>
Changi Airport Group and Jetstar Group are in discussions to ensure the airline’s operations remain effective and the needs of the passengers are met, following the latter’s refusal to move to Terminal 4, said Transport Minister S Iswaran on Tuesday. “It is important to do this well rather than do it fast," said Iswaran during a media tour of the terminal. "If it means taking a little bit more time, but making sure that all the key elements are taken care of well, to the reasonable satisfaction of all the parties involved, then I think that should be our priority. And I think that's the basis on which both parties are working together.” CAG announced in July that Jetstar Group is slated to move to Terminal 4 on Oct 25 after the terminal reopens on Sep 13 following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Jetstar said it had "no intention of moving". The company said the decision to move was made unilaterally by CAG, disregarding the “impact a move would have on our customers, our people, and our operations”. Ensuring that passengers' needs are met and that Jetstar can function effectively is “not just Jetstar’s objective, it's also CAG’s objective”, Iswaran said on Tuesday. <br/>