Nearly a year after after suffering a fall at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport that forced her to use a ventilator, Gaby Assouline died last week. She was 25 years old. Assouline’s family blames Southwest Airlines for the fall at the airport that they believe caused her death and has sued the airline for damages. According to their lawsuit, Assouline was traveling down the jet bridge to board a Southwest flight when her electric wheelchair hit a junction that caused her to be thrown from her chair. The resulting fall left Assouline paralysed and in need of the ventilator.<br/>
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Frontier Airlines plans in May to add several new routes to Puerto Rico as part of an expansion that will see the airline launch its first flights to the US territory’s city of Ponce. The Denver-based ultra-low-cost airline says the moves will leave it with more routes to Puerto Rico than any carrier. On 4 May, Frontier will begin flying to San Juan four-times weekly from Cleveland, daily from Baltimore and Dallas-Fort Worth, and six-times weekly from Chicago-Midway, the airline says on 31 January. On 5 May it will launch four-times-weekly flights to San Juan from Detroit. Also on 4 May, Frontier will begin three-times-weekly flights from Tampa to Aguadilla on Puerto Rico’s west coast. That same day it add the southern Puerto Rican city of Ponce to its network, with a three-times-weekly flight from Orlando. Then on 25 May the airline plans to begin flying between Cancun and San Juan. Frontier currently flies to San Juan from 10 cities, including Atlanta, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Punta Cana, Raleigh-Durham, Santo Domingo and Tampa, Cirium data shows. It also now flies between Aguadilla and Orlando. Frontier will compete on the new routes with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines. The expansion comes as Frontier is offering a flat rate for unlimited flights between its US and international destinations with a new summer subscription package. The so-called GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Summer Pass ($399) applies to travel 2 May through 30 September 2023. <br/>
Hawaiian Holdings, parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, reports narrowing its fourth-quarter loss as demand for air travel to the Pacific archipelago has largely rebounded – except from Japan. The Honolulu-based carrier reported on 31 January losing $50.2m during the final quarter of 2022, compared with a $92.6m loss during the same quarter of 2021, amid widespread travel restrictions related to Covid-19. For the full year of 2022, Hawaiian lost $240m, compared with a $145m loss for 2021. “It’s encouraging to be entering a year where Covid restrictions are no longer hovering over our network,” Hawaiian’s CE Peter Ingram said during the airline’s quarterly earnings call on 31 January. “But we know that we have a lot of work ahead of us as our financial performance remains quite a ways from being recovered.” Total revenue for Q4 came in at $731m, up from $495m in Q4 2021. The airline reports robust travel demand to Hawaii from North America, and demand recoveries from other key markets in Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. “Having said that, despite the removal of Covid travel restrictions in October, Japanese travellers have not yet resumed international travel at a pace comparable to pre-pandemic levels,” Ingram says. “While we remain confident that the long-standing affinity of Japanese travellers for Hawaii vacations will manifest, we also need to be pragmatic about putting capacity elsewhere if recovery remains slow.” The airline struggled in the fourth quarter with on-time performance to its Honolulu hub due to construction on primary arrival runways and “air traffic control programmes that constrain arrivals into the airport”, Ingram says. The limitations have primarily affected Hawaiian’s short-haul flights to neighbour islands. “As a consequence, our reliability has fallen below our high standards,” Ingram says. “We have been forced to make adjustments to our schedule to stabilise operations.”<br/>
The EC is divided over investment rules for aviation as airlines fight to avoid being left out of a coveted ‘green’ category, months after a similar row over energy, according to people familiar with the matter and a document seen by Reuters. The debate concerns a legal proposal expected this year to expand the European Union’s “taxonomy” - a list of climate-friendly investments designed to direct funds towards sectors that contribute most to environmental goals. The EU scheme does not ban ineligible investments, but restricts which investments can be labelled and marked as green. It aims to provide a gold standard for sustainable investing, but became mired in disagreement last year when the EU labelled some gas and nuclear investments green. People familiar with the talks said the Commission was split over whether to declare certain aviation investments green - with some officials in favour if they meet strict environmental standards, and others opposed to giving any climate-friendly badge to a sector with a high carbon footprint. “It’s clear that putting aviation in the taxonomy would further undermine its green pretensions,” one EU official said, speaking about internal talks on condition of anonymity. Two of the sources said some aviation investments were likely to be included, based on recent Commission discussions. “The high-level decision within the Commission seems to be quite clear that (aviation) should be in for the upcoming delegated act,” an EU official said, referring to a type of technical EU rules that complement a broader law. Aviation produces 2%-3% of global CO2 emissions - a share expected to expand if left unchecked - and is seen as one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise.<br/>
Loss-making Norwegian airline Flyr said on Tuesday it would file for bankruptcy after failing to raise the cash it needed for its operations. “There is no longer a realistic opportunity to achieve a solution for the short-term liquidity situation,” the company said in a statement, adding the board’s decision was unanimous. “All departures and ticket sales have as a consequence been cancelled.” More than 400 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the bankruptcy, Flyr founder and board Chair Erik Braathen told Norwegian daily Dagbladet. Flyr, which launched operations in mid-2021 to serve domestic destinations in Norway as well as in Europe, said on Monday weak financial markets and uncertainty over demand for air travel had prevented it from raising more cash. In November, Flyr said securing more funds was vital to survive the winter season and prepare for the spring and summer of 2023, but it was only able to raise about half the required cash at the time. The carrier has operated a leased fleet of 12 Boeing 737 aircraft, including six 737 MAX planes on contract from Air Lease Corp. The company said on Monday it had tried and failed in recent days to secure 330m Norwegian crowns ($33m) of funding, triggering a 78% drop in its share price. Further trade in the stock will be suspended, Flyr said on Tuesday. The company, whose rivals include Norwegian Air and Scandinavian carrier SAS, said on Oct. 4 it would make heavy spending cuts to preserve cash during the winter, including furloughs, and put non-profitable routes on hold.<br/>
Aer Lingus Regional franchise holder Emerald Airlines will boost services from Belfast City Airport following the failure of Flybe. The British airline ceased trading at the weekend, less than a year since its rescue, partly blaming delayed aircraft deliveries for the move. Emerald Airlines pledged on Monday to immediately add an extra 15,000 seats to services from Belfast City Airport, where it is already the biggest operator. Belfast was one of the airports hit by Flybe’s failure, as the Birmingham-based airline offered several services linking the city with Britain. Emerald, which began operating Aer Lingus Regional last March, also said it would hold open interviews in Belfast’s Maldron Hotel on Thursday and Friday for workers hit by Flybe’s closure. Conor McCarthy, the Irish airline’s executive chairman, said it was working on a comprehensive plan to ensure travel continued from Belfast City. “Emerald Airlines is stepping up, safeguarding connectivity between Britain and Northern Ireland, as we have done for the last 12 months,” he added. The carrier will add seats to services from Belfast to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and other British destinations.<br/>
Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) has said it will resume scheduled flights to Kazakhstan starting February 1, despite the possibility its non-Russian aircraft could be seized while they are there. The Russian flag carrier will start flights to Almaty (3x daily), Astana (Nur-Sultan Nazarbayev, 2x daily), and Atyrau (2x weekly rising to 3x weekly in March), using Airbus A320 Family aircraft, it said. Aeroflot Group already operates between Russia and Kazakhstan through its subsidiary Rossiya (FV, St. Petersburg), the ch-aviation schedules module shows, from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Aktau, Aktobe, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Karaganda, and Kostanay, all with Russian-made SSJ 100/95 equipment. Aeroflot has been careful not to operate a substantial part of its fleet to international destinations due to the risk of lessors seizing the aircraft they leased to the carrier, which have been stranded in Russia since sanctions were imposed following the invasion of Ukraine. However, an official in Kazakhstan’s government told the US-based Central Asia news specialist Eurasianet that only aircraft which Aeroflot had previously purchased outright from foreign lessors would be allowed to service the flights. “The planes that we will allow to fly into Kazakhstan are purely Russian-owned, so they have been bought out from the leasing companies,” the official said.<br/>
Air Arabia Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital’s first low-cost carrier, has announced the launch of its new route from Abu Dhabi to Amman, Jordan. The new direct flights will connect Abu Dhabi International Airport to Queen Alia International Airport with a frequency of three flights weekly (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday), starting from March 12, 2023. Adel Al Ali, Group CEO, Air Arabia, said: “We are very excited to announce the launch of our new route to the capital city, Amman as a gateway to explore the historic country of Jordan. We remain confident that the new route will provide access to a beautiful city which will best serve business and leisure travellers. We are constantly working on expanding our network from UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi to further meet our customers’ travel needs through offering reliable, affordable, and value-driven air travel.”<br/>
Passengers onboard a recent IndiGo flight had a troubling experience when one traveller attempted to remove the emergency exit cover mid-flight. The incident occurred on a domestic Indian service from Nagpur to Mumbai on 24 January. The Airbus A321neo was still airborne and on the approach for landing when the passenger in question tried to tamper with the cover. Cabin crew noticed his actions, notified the pilots, and ensured the traveller was “appropriately cautioned”, reports simpleflying.com. “An FIR has been filed against the passenger for unauthorised tampering of the emergency exit as the aircraft was in the process of landing,” the airline said in a statement. The plane landed at Mumbai as scheduled without incident.<br/>
Virgin Australia has told staff it generated $2.5b in revenue during the first half of the financial year. CE Jayne Hrdlicka also said in a note that the business expects a profit margin of “roughly 5%” ahead of a likely relisting on the ASX. “This is the first time in many years that Virgin has made a profit,” Hrdlicka wrote. “The results reflect the progress we have made in rebuilding the financial resilience that is so important to Virgin Australia’s long-term success.” Virgin also separately announced a corporate reshuffle that will see ex-Macquarie Bank chairman Peter Warne join its board of directors along with former Goldman Sachs executive Pippa Downes. Earlier in January, the business released a statement claiming it would “seek advice” on a “potential future IPO” but added that no final decision had been made. The group also insisted it would retain a “significant shareholding” if Virgin were to become a public company again. Bain Capital partner Mike Murphy said, “In the coming months, we will consider how best to position Virgin Australia for continued growth and long-term prosperity. “Prior to covid [sic], Virgin Australia had a proud history as a public company. While there is currently no set timetable, at some point in the future, if any IPO does happen, Bain Capital would welcome public market investors joining us as shareholders in what is a great Australian company.""<br/>