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Air Canada is closing in on a deal to expand a plane order from Airbus, according to people familiar with the matter, as the carrier looks to enlarge its fleet amid the post-Covid rebound in air travel. The carrier is set to make an announcement as soon as Wednesday, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are confidential. The deal will be for 15 A220-300 jets, according to one of the people. Representatives for Air Canada didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A representative for Airbus in Asia said the company “doesn’t comment on discussions we may or may not be having with airlines.” The order would be on top of an existing deal for 45 A220s, bringing the tally to 60, the person said. Air Canada has already received 31 of those planes, according to Airbus orders and deliveries data for September. The market value of the 15 additional planes was about $528m in 2021, based on prices provided by aircraft appraiser Avitas Inc. The A220 is a Canadian aircraft, designed and launched by Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. before being sold to its European rival. When Air Canada placed its order for the model in 2016 it also secured purchase options for a further 30 jets, according to a statement at the time. The airline last month said it will purchase 30 ES-30 electric-hybrid aircraft to offer zero-emission flights to customers in Canada as soon as 2028. The planes, which are being developed by Sweden-based Heart Aerospace AB, are “much more cost efficient” and could help the airline expand in regional markets, CEO Michael Rousseau said at the time.<br/>

Swiss Air flyers will soon be able to connect to Interlaken and Lucerne on a single ticket. The airline will expand its “Air Rail” partnership with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to the two famed destinations in Switzerland from December 11. The expansion comes as airlines as increasingly relying on rail partners for local, or regional, connections on the ground. This is especially popular in Europe where many major airports have intercity rail stations, including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris Charles de Gaulle. And, in July, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn unveiled plans to join the airline confab, Star Alliance, as its first intermodal partner. But for all the fanfare given these partnerships, many hurdles remain. A lack of signage at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport adds an unnecessary layer of difficulty to flight-train transfers. Elsewhere, airline executives speak of issues integrating reservations systems and other technology challenges. And then there is the simple challenge of physical infrastructure: Trains can only go where tracks exist. The expanded Swiss and SBB partnership includes a new direct train — no transfer required — between Interlaken and the Zurich Airport. The airline touts “seamless” connectivity under the pact, including the ability of travelers to check in once — for example, on the Swiss app — and receive boarding passes for both the air and rail portion of their trips. Travelers can also earn points in Swiss’ loyalty program for the rail portion of their trips.<br/>

Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday its strong cash position would allow it to spend S$3.86b ($2.71b) to redeem convertible bonds issued in 2020 that helped it weather the halt in travel during the pandemic. The airline said that the bonds, which have a conversion price below the current share price, had become its most expensive form of financing even though interest rates were rising. The bonds with a principal amount of S$3.5b were issued as part of a broader S$19b financial rescue package backed by the airline's majority shareholder, state fund Temasek Holdings. By June 30 this year, as borders opened and travel demand rebounded, the airline had a cash balance of S$16.1b. It reported the second highest quarterly operating profit in its history in the June quarter. The bond redemption, to occur in December at 110.4% of the principal amount, will be funded from existing cash reserves, SIA said. The airline had raised an additional S$6.2b in liquidity through a separate issue of mandatory convertible bonds in 2021. It has not announced plans to redeem those at this stage.<br/>

Asiana Airlines is to return its sole Boeing 747-400 – Asia-Pacific’s last in-service example – to service, as it ups capacity on its China network. The airline in a 26 October notice says the jumbo jet will operate flights from Seoul Incheon to Changchun, a city in northeastern China. Asiana will from 27 October add one more weekly flight, operated by Airbus A330 aircraft, while the existing flight will be upgauged to a 747. The announcement is part of a series of flight resumptions to Mainland China, which remains largely shut off to international travel. Asiana says it is also restarting once-weekly flights to Hangzhou and Shenzhen. In March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic spread worldwide, Asiana parked the aircraft in Seoul, before briefly returning it to service in the second half of 2020. By May this year, the jumbo was put in storage again, before rejoining the fleet in July. However, the aircraft’s utilisation remains low: flight tracking data for the past seven days shows it only operated a single flight on 25 October. Asiana also did not disclose plans to deploy the airraft on other sectors. Some Asia-Pacific operators of the 747-400 – including Air India, Qantas and Thai Airways International – retired the type at the height of the pandemic, when passenger travel demand plummeted amid border closures. <br/>