unaligned

Pilots at Lufthansa's budget airline Eurowings plan to go on a one-day strike on Oct. 6 after 10 rounds of talks failed, pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said on Tuesday. VC wants Eurowings to ease pilots' workloads by, for example, cutting the amount of time a pilot would have to be on duty or increasing their rest periods, it said in a statement. "It is not enough to sit at the negotiating table - you also have to be willing to find a solution and not present counter-demands as an offer," said VC head Marcel Groels. A Eurowings board member, Kai Duve, said in a statement that the demands endanger the viability of the airline.<br/>

Norwegian airline Flyr will implement heavy spending cuts to preserve cash during the winter season, it said on Tuesday, with plans for furloughs and potentially moves to raise cash. “We are entering a demanding winter season where discretionary consumer spending is expected to decrease significantly following the recent interest rate hikes, high general cost inflation and record high energy prices,” CE Tonje Wikstroem said. Flyr, the main rivals of which are Norwegian Air and SAS, will put non-profitable routes on hold and maintain sufficient personnel to operate five or six of its 12 aircraft during the winter. The budget carrier, which began flights in June 2021, plans a temporary cost reduction of up to 50%, reducing cash burn through the winter season by approximately 400m Norwegian crowns ($38m). Flyr engaged bankers from Arctic Securities, Carnegie and Sparebank 1 Markets to conduct meetings with existing and potential new investors, it added. “The purpose of these meetings is to discuss potential financial instruments to strengthen the company’s financial position,” Flyr said. <br/>

Ryanair flew 15.9m passengers in September, its third busiest month ever and up 13% on pre-COVID levels as the low-cost carrier consolidates its position as Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers. The jump in traffic meant Ryanair also flew more passengers in September than in any of its busiest summer months before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Until this year, its busiest month was August 2019 when it carried 14.9m passengers. The Irish airline, which unlike many airlines kept its pilots and crew up-to-date with their flying hours during the pandemic to take advantage of the swift rebound this year, flew a record 16.9m passengers in August 2022. The average proportion of empty seats per flight rose last month to 6%, up from 4% in August and 3% in September 2019. Ryanair expects to fly 166.5m passengers in the year to the end of March, significantly ahead of its previous annual record of 149m reached before the pandemic brought the travel industry to a standstill.<br/>

Four suspects have appeared in a provincial South African court in connection with ZAR400m rands (US$22.8m) worth of tender fraud and corruption relating to defunct state regional carrier South African Express, reports News24. The accused are Tebogo van Wyk, Nothando Dube, Sipho Levy Phiri, and Thabang Mohlokoleng, alongside three companies, Batsamai Investment Holdings, Sevilex Investment Holdings, and Lavao Estevao. They are facing 34 counts of fraud, corruption, money laundering, and violation of South Africa's Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) in the Molopo Magistrate's Court in Mahikeng (formerly Mafeking), the capital of North West Province, near South Africa's border with Botswana. They were arrested in the Gauteng and North West provinces late last week by "The Hawks", South Africa's specialised organised crime and corruption police unit, following findings by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector. The accused were granted bail on September 30, ranging from ZAR30,000 (USD1,670) to ZAR500,000 (USD28,000), ordered to surrender their passports, and will re-appear in court on December 1, 2022. According to the charges, the North West province had improperly granted a five-year contract to South African Express to reintroduce commercial flights to Mahikeng and Pilanesberg airports. Millions were allegedly syphoned out of public coffers for services never rendered.<br/>

Two army personnel were killed and 10 people injured after a Russian-made airplane belonging to the Malian army crashed while landing at the airport in the northern Mali city of Gao on Tuesday, the army said. The plane was a Sukhoi SU-25 type combat aircraft that was returning from a mission to support civilians in the region, according to a statement by the Malian Armed Forces. The pilot and a military aircraft personnel on the ground were killed. Two civilians and eight military personnel were injured, two of which are in serious condition. The incident is being investigated, although "at this stage" it does not appear to be the result of "hostile action", the statement said. The airport was briefly shut after the crash but is now fully operational, it added.<br/>

Japanese domestic carriers Air Do and Solaseed Air have completed a merger originally announced in March 2021. The two carriers will retain their respective brands, but operate under a new holding company called Regional Plus Wings, according to a joint statement. Sapporo-based Air Do and Miyazaki-based Solaseed say they are joining forces in an effort to save costs and enjoy economies of scale in areas such as maintenance and procurement. Moreover, the decision to merge was taken during the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, during which travel restrictions hammered domestic air travel in Japan. Though Japan is emerging from the pandemic, a weak Japanese Yen and high fuel costs remain overhangs for airlines. The merger will see Air Do president Susumu Kusano become the chairman of Regional Wings Plus, while Solaseed president Kosuke Takahashi will become the holding company’s chief executive. The headquarters of Regional Plus Wings will be located at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. “In order to survive in the new business environment, provide customers with even greater added value, and achieve sustainable growth, it is best to efficiently utilize the management resources (human resources, technology, facilities, etc.) of both companies,” say Kusano and Takahashi in a joint comment. <br/>

Pakistan International Airlines has leased out eight of its London Heathrow slot pairs for the Winter 2022/23 season to avoid losing them due to underutilisation. Slot trade records show the Pakistani flag carrier has leased seven slot pairs (allowing daily operations) to Turkish Airlines starting on November 13, 2022, and another pair for Saturday flights to Kuwait Airways starting on November 5. Turkish Airlines will use the additional slots for daily services from Istanbul New using A321-200neo, while Kuwait Airways plans to operate an additional rotation from Kuwait using a B777-300(ER). The leases have been signed through March 25, 2023. "We have given them [the slots] under the babysitting concept for six months and will get them back once the flight operation starts," the carrier told Geo.tv.<br/>

Malaysia's MYAirline plans to begin commercial operations by the end of this year, with its CEO saying it can sell cheaper fares than domestic rival AirAsia -- the region's leading low-cost carrier. CEO Rayner Teo sees demand for low-cost air travel rising as Asia emerges from COVID pandemic restrictions. MYAirline hopes to stand out with cheaper tickets, better real-time customer support and punctual flights. "We believe we can easily offer cheaper flights based on cost structure," Teo, also the carrier's co-founder, told Nikkei Asia in a recent interview at its humble operation center above a shopping mall in Subang Jaya, near the capital Kuala Lumpur. Although MYAirline is the David to AirAsia's Goliath, Teo and senior management are confident of their strategy, with some of them having gained experience at the airline owned by the Tony Fernandes-led Capital A. Kathleen Tan, MYAirline's chief executive adviser, logged 13 years working for Fernandes, who with another investor led the purchase of AirAsia in 2001 which eventually shook up the region's travel industry with low cost fares and no frills service.MYAirline's cabin operations manager Mohd Izwan Razak, meanwhile, was on AirAsia's payroll for 17 years. Teo himself worked at the airline for 15 years until July 2019, leaving as the group head of sales. Teo said he had not planned to fill MYAirline with ex-AirAsia staff, but that he had simply recruited those who had lost their jobs or been placed on furlough, including pilots and cabin crew, over the last two years when airline operations were drastically reduced because of the pandemic.<br/>