JetBlue plans to expand in Latin America and add new destinations in Africa following its $3.8b takeover of Spirit Airlines. Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s president and COO, said while its planned acquisition would give it more scope to fly to the Midwest in the US and several states it traditionally flies over, not into, there was scope to expand internationally. Speaking Tuesday — the day JetBlue launched its long-awaited Boston-London Heathrow route — Geraghty said she wanted to leverage Spirit’s international network, a third of which includes the Caribbean. More routes in and around Latin America were next, beyond Cancun in Mexico. “There are destinations we’ve wanted to serve, but we haven’t had the aircraft to do that. We’ve had to prioritize. (The takeover) will absolutely accelerate our growth plan,” she told moderator Edward Russell, editor of Skift’s Airline Weekly. There were also some parts of western Africa that its new Airbus XLR aircraft could make it to, she added. “It’s not on the radar right no, but I hope to see it happen some day.”<br/>
unaligned
Brazilian discount airline Azul will remove 12 Embraer 195s from its fleet of passenger aircraft before the end of 2022, moving to sell some of the jets and convert others to freighters. Azul says the change allows “significant acceleration in its fleet transformation plan”, letting it move forward planned deliveries of new E195-E2s. The carrier disclosed the change on 20 September. It now plans by year-end to have 37 passenger-configured E195s, down from 45 at mid-year. The 12 aircraft scheduled for removal include five that Azul plans to sell to Fort Lauderdale-based aircraft lessor Azorra and three it will convert into air freighters, Azul says. It is removing another four leased E195s because those lease agreements are ending, the airline adds. “The exit of the [E195s] gives us the opportunity to advance the delivery of [the] next-generation E2, further expanding our margins,” says Azul chief financial officer Alex Malfitani. The second-generation E-Jets cost 26% less per seat to operate than the first-generate type, Malfitani adds. Azul has eight E195-E2s in service and outstanding orders with Embraer for another 59, according to Cirium data.<br/>
Ukraine International Airlines has named a new president, Kyryl Zvonarov, succeeding Yevhenii Dykhne. Zvonarov has been serving as deputy general director of Kyiv Borispol airport, the country’s main hub, for eight years. The airline says he has gained 25 years’ managerial experience in “various industries”. Dykyne has headed the flag-carrier since September 2019, overseeing the airline during the pandemic crisis and subsequently the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The airline has been forced to suspend normal services as a result of the conflict, and its latest estimate is that scheduled and charter flight operations will not restart until at least 22 November. It has been offering various aircraft in its fleet to other carriers in the interim, in order to generate income through wet-leasing, charter or humanitarian flights. Ukraine International says Dykhne is stepping down after three years having reached the end of his contract.<br/>
Wizz Air Holdings aims to establish a fleet of 50 aircraft at a new unit in Saudi Arabia by the end of the decade, analysts said following recent briefings at the discount carrier. Upwards of a quarter of flights at the unit would be domestic, with around 50% focused on the wider Middle East and the rest mainly on Europe, Alex Irving at Sanford C. Bernstein said in a note Tuesday, citing comments from Wizz management at the carrier’s Budapest headquarters. Wizz signed a deal in May to explore plans for a joint venture in Saudi Arabia. The country is attractive for its 36 million population and large area requiring flights of more than two hours even for some domestic trips, combined with a government push for a near six-fold jump in inbound tourism by 2030. Wizz plans to start services to Saudi Arabia next week, beginning with flights to the Gulf city of Damman from Rome, Vienna and Abu Dhabi. The carrier said last month that it would expand operations to 20 routes from 11 European cities, also taking in the capital Riyadh and Jeddah on the Red Sea. Saudi services will be limited to inbound flights until a national partner in the country is found, James Goodall, an analyst at Redburn, said in a note following the Wizz briefings. Irving said Wizz will face only limited competition in Saudi Arabia, with flag carrier Saudia and a planned second national airline dealing mostly with long-haul services and local low-cost carriers Flynas and Flyadeal having “much higher cost bases.”<br/>
Emirates Airline president Tim Clark fears the airline industry’s shift away from the largest jumbo jets could leave carriers short on seats in the coming decades, potentially leading to “enormously high fares”. “You will not be able to accommodate [future] demand” with existing aircraft, Clark tells FlightGlobal on 14 September. “How are you going to manage?” he adds, noting a glut of narrowbody jets will not fill the gap. “You will be back to enormously high fares.” Clark, speaking during an event near Washington, DC, also reiterated his pitch for Airbus to develop an updated A380. "You are talking about an aircraft in 2040,” he adds. “But at least it brings back the seat capacity.” Emirates specialises in carrying large numbers of people between the world’s major cities. (It flies eight A380s daily, for instance, between London and Dubai.) The airline has 145 777s and 121 A380s, and orders for 50 A350s, 30 787s and 117 777-8s/9s, according to Cirium data. Emirates aside, airlines have been shifting away from 400-plus-seat, four-engined widebodies for years. The trend started even before the pandemic, with Airbus halting A340 production in 2012 and of A380s in 2021. Boeing expects to deliver its final three 747s before year end. “We used to have such wonderful [aircraft],” says Clark. Covid-19 accelerated that trend, prompting airlines to ground widebodies and stifling demand for new twin-aisle airliners. Instead, carriers have been eagerly acquiring new Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies.<br/>