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The potential collapse of the low-cost Colombian airline Viva could lead to higher fares and the loss of connections to some cities, Avianca's CE said Thursday. Avianca and Viva announced on Wednesday they had appealed to Colombia's aviation regulator after it rejected their plan to merge, proposing steps to allay its concerns, such as yielding some routes to competitors. In an April agreement to merge, the airlines envisaged retaining their respective brands and business strategies as the travel sector struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic. Colombia's aviation regulator objected to the merger, saying it poses risks to competition and the welfare of consumers. "We believe it is essential for the country to save Viva and we believe we can do it in an economically reasonable way," Avianca President Adrian Neuhauser said in a news conference. Neuhauser said losing Viva, which has 20% of the market share in Colombia, 40 routes, a fleet of 23 aircraft and about 1,000 direct employees, would create a sector-wide crisis. As a result, ticket prices would rise and routes to some cities only served by Viva would be lost. The aviation regulator has two months to resolve the appeal, although Neuhauser is confident a decision can be reached sooner. Viva said in a message to the public that the new merger is necessary for its survival and the preservation of its low-cost model. "Allowing Viva to have a shareholder with financial backing will help it face the difficult situation that all airlines are currently experiencing due to the adverse macroeconomic conditions," he said. Viva faces a complex financial situation after the pandemic slowed travel, worsened this year by rising fuel prices and a weaker peso currency.<br/>

Italy's government is studying the possibility of selling the majority of ITA Airways to a consortium that could include Germany's Lufthansa and state-owned railways group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported. Citing government sources, the paper said the government could sell 51% of ITA, the successor to Alitalia, to Lufthansa for E250m and 29% to FS, while the rest would remain with the Treasury. Lufthansa and FS declined to comment. The Italian Treasury could not immediately be reached for comment. Through a tie-up with ITA, FS could exploit synergies between air and rail transport, especially with the high-speed services its runs connecting major cities in Italy, the paper added. Rome has been keen to sell a majority stake in the airline and retain a minority, non-controlling stake in the initial stage, but the privatisation has proved difficult. The government reopened the process at the end of last month after an exclusivity period for talks with US private equity fund Certares, Air France-KLM and Delta Air failed to produce a deal. Shipping group MSC, which had partnered with Lufthansa earlier this year to bid for ITA, said earlier this week it was no longer interested in the transaction. However, Lufthansa is still keen on buying into ITA, a spokesman for the German carrier said last week.<br/>

Scandinavian operator SAS is to open a new connection to New York JFK, from its hub in the Danish capital Copenhagen. The Star Alliance carrier – which is currently restructuring under US Chapter 11 protection – says the route will open early next year. SAS will serve the sector five-times weekly initially, from 9 February. It will increase the frequency to daily ahead of the summer season. According to the carrier’s reservation system the flights will be operated by Airbus A321neo jets. The airline already operates to New York through services to Newark airport, and this link will continue. But it states that the JFK route will enable passengers to “travel easily” from both the east and west sides of the city. “SAS offers a solid product to Newark airport from Scandinavia,” says executive vice-president of network and revenue management Erik Westman. “We believe that this addition to JFK from Copenhagen will strengthen the New York offer to our customers.”<br/>

ndian passengers looking to travel to Europe now have more options, with IndiGo offering convenient flight connections to Portugal and Switzerland. The airline is further exploring its codeshare partnership with Turkish Airlines, adding capacity to these popular routes out of India. India's largest airline, IndiGo, is now offering flight services to Portugal and Switzerland through its codeshare partnership with Turkish Airlines. The 19 connecting flights via Istanbul will cover Portugal's Lisbon and Porto, and Switzerland's Basel and Geneva. The codeshare agreement allows both IndiGo and Turkish Airlines to market the same flight under their identification codes. Services started on November 23rd, and these new routes and frequencies are expected to offer new options and more capacity for customers exploring travel between India and Europe in the upcoming holiday season. Vinay Malhotra, the airline's head of global sales, commented, “Keeping the customer demand in mind, we now offer 19 connecting flights through Istanbul to destinations like Geneva, Lisbon, Porto, and Basel. This will not only enhance international connectivity but also add capacity on these routes and make travel more affordable.”<br/>

Passengers on a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight that was diverted to Frankfurt on Thursday are set to land in Singapore on Saturday at 11am via a relief flight. SQ317, which was operating from London to Singapore, was diverted due to a cabin pressurisation issue as a precautionary measure. The Airbus A380 aircraft landed uneventfully at Frankfurt Airport at about 2pm (Frankfurt local time). On Friday, an SIA spokesman gave an update that the aircraft was subsequently grounded for repairs. Affected passengers were assisted with hotel accommodation and meals. A relief flight, SQ9326, has been scheduled to depart Singapore at 8am (local time) on Friday and arrive in Frankfurt at 2.25pm (Frankfurt local time). The flight is expected to depart Frankfurt as SQ9325 at 3.55pm (Frankfurt local time) and arrive in Singapore at 11.05am on Saturday. The spokesman said there were 379 passengers and 27 crew. The airline said: “Arrangements are currently being made to assist all customers. SIA sincerely apologises for the inconvenience this has caused. “The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority.”<br/>

Hundreds of thousands of people are still holding flight credits and the price of airfares has jumped now they can start using them. Airlines around the world cancelled flights when the Covid pandemic hit and borders closed, leaving many customers with thousands of dollars in credits they could not use for the foreseeable future. Leanne Geraghty, Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer, said there were now about 460,000 customers with credits, down from about 500,000 in September. Air New Zealand would not release the value of those credits, but Geraghty said that in September, 97% of credits were worth more than NZ$100. The airline has extended the deadline to use them, most recently in September when it allowed customers with existing credits until the end of January 2024 to travel until the end of December 2024. By the end of June 2022, Air NZ’s non-current transportation sales received in advance had fallen to $21m from $279m a year earlier, its annual results showed. Current transportation sales in advance jumped to $1.4b from $494m a year earlier, although it was unclear how much of that was credits. The airline noted that passenger bookings jumped after Covid border restrictions began to ease from April. Jetstar owner Qantas held A$1.3b in Covid travel credits at June 2022, which were being used at a rate of A$80m a month. Most were due to expire by December, the airline said in its annual result. House of Travel said most customers were currently making new bookings rather than redeeming travel credits.<br/>