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WestJet Airlines' planned purchase of leisure rival Sunwing would likely have "substantial anti-competitive effects" on sales of vacation packages, including higher prices and less choice, Canada's Competition Bureau said on Wednesday. Calgary-based WestJet, which is owned by private equity firm Onex Corp, said in March it would buy Ontario-based Sunwing and the travel booking website Sunwing Vacations. The deal would reduce competition from the "only two carriers and integrated tour operators offering vacation packages through direct service on 16 routes between Canada and Mexico or the Caribbean," the Competition Bureau said in its report to the Ministry of Transport. "It would also likely result in a significant reduction in travel by Canadians on a variety of routes where their existing travel networks overlap," it added. Transport Canada has until December 5 to complete its public interest assessment of the deal.<br/>

Norwegian Air shares rose on Wednesday after reporting an increase in third-quarter net profit boosted by recovery from the pandemic and a pilot strike at rival SAS, but said it would reduce capacity by a quarter during winter. Norwegian, which came close to collapse when the pandemic broke out in 2020, posted quarterly revenue of 7.1b crowns ($688m), the highest of any quarter since the final three months of 2019, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Net profit for the three-months ending Sept. 30 rose to 910 million crowns ($87.57m) from a year-ago profit of 169m, Norwegian said. The airline will reduce its capacity by a quarter in winter, when demand is usually lower, by not using the planes it is leasing, and will closely follow how cash-strapped consumers behave in Q1. "We have a flexibility with our fleet that means we can reduce our capacity by up to 30%," CEO Geir Karlsen said. "We can leave planes on the ground, we can make them fly less."<br/>

Workers at Azul Handling that provides ground handling services to Ryanair at 22 Spanish airports plan to hold several 24-hour strikes between Oct. 28 and Jan. 8 to demand better working conditions, their union USO said on Wednesday. Workers are demanding negotiations on a new collective agreement and seeking breakthroughs on issues such as occupational risk prevention and working shifts. USO called 24-hour strikes on Oct. 28-Nov. 1; on Dec. 8, 11, 30 and 31 and on Jan. 6 and 8, all during holidays or long weekends. It has also announced partial stoppages every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in November and on several days in December. The strike at Azul Handling follows walkouts across Europe as staff demand better pay amid rising costs of living and complain about deteriorating working conditions prompted by a boom in travel that followed the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.<br/>

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has signed an agreement with German air taxi developer Lilium to buy up to 100 of its aircraft for use on Saudia's domestic network, the state carrier's CE said on Wednesday. Saudia CEO Ibrahim Koshy said the planes would be "a premium service" that carry four to six passengers, adding "it shows Saudia's commitment to sustainability because we're talking about 100% electric aircraft and we are the first airline in the MENA region that's introducing this as part of their network." Certification by Saudi regulators is expected in 2025, he said. Pricing has not yet been agreed because commercial terms have not been finalised, Koshy said. Lilium, competing in a crowded market for electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles, said last month it planned to set up capacity to build some 400 of its Lilium Jets a year, while tapping schemes that provide public research support.<br/>

A plane operated by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air returned to Jakarta airport shortly after takeoff on Wednesday because of engine problems, with unverified photos on social media appearing to show one of the turbines on fire. The pilots of the Boeing 737-800 jet experienced “unusual performance” on one of the engine components when the plane -- which had 169 passengers and six crew on board -- reached 3,000 feet, Lion Air said in an emailed statement. The incident occurred shortly after the jet took off from Jakarta at 5:13 p.m. local time. Engineers and pilots are still conducting checks on the plane, the airline said. Posts on Twitter that claimed to be of the Lion Air jet showed the left engine ablaze in the air. One photo showed what appeared to be an aircraft engine clogged with ash. Lion Air won’t yet speculate on the cause of the problem, it said. <br/>

AirAsia Aviation carriers reported a significant uplift in passenger traffic for Q3 of the year, led mainly by a rebound in international travel demand. In the three months to 30 September – the first full quarter since regional travel markets fully reopened – AirAsia units in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines carried close to 10 million passengers, a considerable increase compared to the over 430,000 passengers flown in the same quarter last year. Parent company Capital A adds that the figure is a 36% quarter-on-quarter increase, and stands at about 54% pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, total capacity stood at about 44% pre-pandemic levels, notes Capital A in a 26 October statement. AirAsia Malaysia carried 4.8m passengers in the quarter, a significant increase against 2021’s lower base of just 156,000 passengers. Compared to the second quarter of the year, the figure is a 25% rise. The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier also ramped up capacity, with ASKs increasing about 28% quarter on quarter. It has seen healthy load factors across its domestic and international networks – averaging around 86% — with the airline reporting a 95% load factor during the quarter for its Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route. AirAsia’s Indonesian unit carried over 1m passengers, about 49% higher quarter on quarter. This also compares to the 15,000 passengers carried in the same period last year, when Indonesia was still under strict movement control. <br/>