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Gol was Brazil’s largest airline three years ago, dominating key markets like the busy business-heavy route between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The pandemic changed that. Competitors Azul and Latam Airlines Group have come back faster from the crisis and leaped ahead of Gol. The airline’s Brazilian capacity was only back to 82 percent of 2019 levels in September, compared to 109 percent at Azul and 104 percent at Latam, Diio by Cirium schedules show. Azul’s growth has been driven by its extensive network in Brazil — the largest in terms of domestic destinations — and efficient connecting hubs in Belo Horizonte, Campinas, and Recife, while Latam’s recovery and expansion was spurred after a failed hostile takeover of its Brazilian business by Azul last year. Speaking sidelines of the ALTA Leaders Forum in Buenos Aires earlier in October, Gol CEO Celso Ferrer attributed this slower recovery to the lag in business demand, which meant the airline has not resumed its schedule depth in corporate-heavy markets. Corporate demand is still at 60-70 percent of 2019 levels led, as in other regions, by small- and medium-sized businesses, he said. But that is about to change. “During the winter, we are bringing back the whole Congonhas, Guarulhos, Santos Dumont, Brasilia network,” Ferrer said. “This is a good news, and we are expecting the business demand to come back in the fourth quarter — to normalize.” Congonhas and Guarulhos airports serve São Paulo, and Santos Dumont Rio. Brazil is Latin America’s largest aviation market with more than 119 million passengers in 2019, data from the Brazilian civil aviation authority, ANAC, shows. While air travel — like everywhere — took a serious blow during the pandemic, domestic passenger traffic had recovered to nearly 99% of three years earlier in August, according to ANAC’s latest data. International traffic to and from Brazil was still down a quarter during the month.<br/>

Flair Airlines, a low-cost Canadian airline, is in talks to go public through a merger with New Vista Acquisition Corp., a blank check-firm backed by a former Boeing CEO, according to people with knowledge of the matter. New Vista may seek to raise additional financing to support a transaction, said one of the people, all of whom requested anonymity in order to discuss private information. The special purpose acquisition company is led by Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s CEO from 2015 to 2019. A deal hasn’t been finalized and it’s possible talks could collapse. Spokespeople for New Vista and Flair declined to comment. New Vista raised $276m in a February 2021 initial public offering, saying that it planned to find a target in the space, defense and communications sector or the advanced air mobility and logistics industries. Canada doesn’t allow foreign investors to control airlines. Flair, which received financing from 777 Partners LLC, was forced to overhaul its structure to lessen the influence of the Miami-based investment firm. Canada’s transport agency ruled in June that Flair does meet domestic ownership requirements, allowing it to continue operating flights. <br/>

More than 8,000 customer-service workers at Southwest Airlines would get raises of 16% to 25% over four years under a tentative contract, a sign of cost pressures facing airlines in a tight labor market. The agreement announced Monday faces a ratification vote, however, and the same workers rejected a previous deal that union leaders negotiated in May. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the new deal has better terms than the rejected agreement and would put people who work at Southwest ticket counters and airport gates at the top of the industry’s pay scale. Under the agreement, a top-scale customer-service representative would get a 13.1% raise upon ratification and 25.1% over four years. The rejected deal would have given them a 17.5% raise over that period. The union said less-senior workers would receive slightly smaller raises but more than under the May proposal. The union said the deal also includes bonuses – a minimum $1,000, running into several thousand dollars for the most-senior workers –stronger protections when employees are ordered to work overtime, and improvements if similar workers at other airlines get better deals.<br/>

Start-up US airline Northern Pacific Airways has almost completed a $6m upgrade of the terminal space it is leasing at Anchorage International airport in Alaska. The $6m revitalisation project in the North Terminal – which includes a 50-seat mini IMAX theatre and a 2,800sq ft (260sq m) bar and lounge area, Northern Pacific says – was rolled out during a 24 October preview event. The airline’s work on the terminal is ongoing. “It’s really exciting to watch the progress we are making in bringing Alaska to the forefront of international travel once again,” says chief executive Rob McKinney. “Anchorage used to bustle as an international hub with travellers connecting from Asia, Russia and the Lower 48 [states] alike.” Northern Pacific intended to launch operations in the third quarter of this year but now expects to begin flying passengers in spring 2023, it says. The airline is wholly owned by Float Alaska, which acquired fellow regional carrier Ravn Alaska’s operations out of bankruptcy in 2021. The fledgling long-haul airline intends to offer flights connecting Anchorage to cities in Korea, Japan and the USA. The idea is modelled on Icelandair’s low-cost transatlantic flights that have the option of stopovers at Keflavik International airport to break up journeys between continents. “We want to create a hub here in Anchorage, to replicate what Icelandair has done successfully in Keflavik,” McKinney told FlightGlobal in 2021. “We think we have a unique opportunity for that kind of hub on the other side of the world. Anchorage is the geographic midpoint on a Great Circle routing between Asia and parts of North America.” The airline’s fleet of Boeing 757-200s will be held in California until operations begin in the spring, Northern Pacific says.<br/>

Italian start-up Aeroitalia is to begin flights to London Heathrow airport from Milan Bergamo airport in December. The airline, founded this year by executives including former Avianca shareholder German Efromovich, has been primarily flying domestic links from Forli. It has now disclosed plans for a number of routes from Bergamo, including international flights to Heathrow and Bacau in Romania. Aeroitalia plans to operate five weekly flights between Bergamo and Heathrow from the start of December. That flight stands to be the first scheduled connection from Bergamo to Heathrow. Low-cost carriers EasyJet and Ryanair currently connect Bergamo with the London airports of Gatwick and Stansted, respectively. Aeroitalia launched flights with a Boeing 737-800s. Cirium fleets data shows it operates three -800s and one ATR 72-600 turboprop.<br/>

Just days after receiving its air operator's certificate and operating license, Fly Jinnah has confirmed its initial domestic network and rolled out its launch plans. Starting November 1, the airline will commence scheduled passenger services from its Karachi base to each of Lahore Int'l, Quetta, Peshawar, and Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int'l. The startup, a joint venture between the Lakson Group and Air Arabia, is using three A320-200s sourced from Air Arabia. According to a statement issued by Fly Jinnah, twice-daily flights between Karachi and Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, and daily flights between Karachi and Peshawar will commence on November 1, while four times a week roundtrip flights between Karachi and Quetta will start on November 2. According to the ch-aviation PRO airlines module, Fly Jinnah will battle for market share with multiple Pakistan-based active scheduled passenger carriers, including PIA - Pakistan International Airlines, AirBlue, AirSial, and Serene Air. The module also reveals a further 10 prospective passenger airlines are classed as still in the startup stage.<br/>

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways has hinted at joining an airline alliance as part of plans for longer-term growth. The plans were disclosed by airline chief Nguyen Manh Quan at the signing of a cooperation agreement with travel technology company Amadeus. Nguyen says the wide-ranging Amadeus partnership – covering areas such as revenue management – is a “crucial breakthrough” in the airline’s business strategy. “[It is] thus creating a launch pad to thrive in international markets, join the world’s major airline alliance down the line, and affirm our global status,” he adds, without elaborating further. Compatriot Vietnam Airlines is the only Vietnamese carrier to part of an airline alliance, having joined SkyTeam in 2010. Bamboo does not have interlining or codesharing agreements with any airlines currently, though it has previously said it was in discussions with carriers such as Japan Airlines. The airline took delivery of its sixth Airbus A321neo – also its 30th aircraft – on 8 October. The delivery means it is operating at the maximum fleet size approved by civil aviation regulators. It also has Boeing 787s and Embraer E-195s in its fleet. Bamboo, which began operations in 2018, reiterates its goal of tripling its fleet by 2030, “if favorable conditions allow”. It adds that its immediate priority – with travel markets reopening – is to “develop long-haul nonstop international routes connecting major continental gateway airports”. At the moment the airline operates about 170 flights a day across its network.<br/>

Changi Airport Group and Jetstar Asia concluded a joint study on the airline's operations at the airport, but an agreement has yet to be finalised. For now, the airline will continue to operate from Terminal 1 of Changi Airport, CAG and Jetstar Asia said in identical statements on Sunday (Oct 23). An announcement will be made soon, they said. The study was part of CAG's engagement with the airline over its slated move to Terminal 4. On Jul 22, CAG announced that Terminal 4 would reopen on Sep 13, with 16 airlines relocating there, including Jetstar Group. The Jetstar Group released a statement on the same day to say that it had no intention of moving its operations to Terminal 4. "We are extremely disappointed that the Changi Airport Group has chosen to unilaterally announce a plan to relocate the Jetstar Group to Terminal 4 at Changi International Airport, before any agreement has been reached," it said at the time. "A joint study was only agreed to be undertaken last week and this announcement completely disregards that agreement and the impact a move would have on our customers, our people, and our operations." Jetstar Group added then that until an agreement is reached, it had no intention of moving. The Jetstar Group mainly operates out of Terminal 1 at Changi Airport, with limited arrivals at Terminal 2. <br/>

Regional Express has announced its domestic operations were profitable in September, becoming the latest airline to plot a path back to profitability after the aviation sector was grounded by COVID-19. All three of Australia’s airlines have made optimistic declarations over the past fortnight despite a bleak broader economic outlook marred by high inflation, rising interest rates and the soaring cost of jet fuel. Their optimism has been largely fuelled by strong consumer demand, as Australians continue to pay top dollar for flights. Rex executive chairman Lim Kim Hai said it was “truly unprecedented” to turn a profit so soon after the restart of operations and said the carrier was “actively looking” for another two Boeing 737-800 aircraft to expand its domestic routes. Rex announced it would expand its operations to domestic services between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in November 2021, but says its growth was largely hampered by COVID-19 lockdowns until February of this year. “True to form, our domestic jet network passenger numbers for the first three months of this financial year grew by 60 per cent, 34% and 77% respectively when compared to June 2022,” Lim said, adding the airline’s revenue growth also suggested significant yield improvements, growing 84%, 47% and 137% over the same three months. Rex operates a fleet of 61 SAAB 340s and 7 Boeing 737-800s to 58 destinations across Australia. Last month, Rex became a 50% shareholder of charter and freight operator National Jet Express following its $48m purchase of fellow fly-in, fly-out service Cobham in July.<br/>

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has indicated an expansion of the airline's small international footprint may be on the cards ahead of a possible IPO in 2023. "We’re looking at a world of possibilities and extending our reach,” Hrdlicka said during the Flight Centre Illuminate conference in Sydney on October 20. “We’re very focused on our B737 aircraft footprint. We’ve got B737-700s and -800s, and we’ve got MAX-8 and 10s coming into the fleet that gives us a bit more range, and so we will be adding to the network.” Virgin Australia's current international network includes Denpasar, Nadi, Port Vila, and Apia Faleolo, with Queenstown flights restarting in November. Before the pandemic, the airline flew to destinations further afield, including Los Angeles Int'l and Hong Kong Int'l using B777-300(ER)s and A330-200s. However, after the airline's 2020 collapse and subsequent sale to private equity firm Bain Capital, a leaner Virgin Australia now only operates B737s and has scaled back its international flying. Hrdlicka didn't specify what new or returning international destinations were under consideration, but the absence of widebody aircraft limits the ability of the airline to fly long haul. However, the existing B737-800 fleet will be boosted by the arrival of four B737-8s in early 2023 followed by the first of twenty-five B737-10s in mid-2023.<br/>