unaligned

Seeking a stronger foothold in South Florida, JetBlue Airways plans to ramp up to more than 250 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport by 2027, including flights to Europe. Under the plan, the low-cost carrier would offer flights to 30 markets currently not served from Fort Lauderdale by either JetBlue or Spirit Airlines - which it is in the process of acquiring - and increase flight frequencies to 30 more destinations, JetBlue said on 15 February. The New York-based discount airline is currently averaging 74 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale, according to Cirium networks data. “With a more competitive position in South Florida, JetBlue would plan to launch service between Fort Lauderdale and Europe”, JetBlue says. It would also seek to add routes to Antigua, Belize, Costa Rica and Liberia. Of the 40 routes JetBlue currently operates from Fort Lauderdale, none are to European cities, Cirium data show. JetBlue’s plan for expansion in South Florida also depends on Broward County’s master plan to further develop Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, the airline says, adding that it has “committed support” for expanding capacity at the airport. In the shorter term, JetBlue plans to launch new service from Fort Lauderdale to Tallahassee International airport in January 2024. As with most of JetBlue’s recent strategic moves, however, the carrier’s plan to solidify its position in South Florida hinges on its pending acquisition of Spirit, a low-cost competitor based in Miramar, Florida. “As a customer-centric alternative to the high-fare legacy airline that dominates South Florida, we have achieved rapid growth in Fort Lauderdale and are ready to turbocharge further expansion once we combine with Spirit,” says Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s chief executive. “We are uniquely positioned to challenge the big four airlines and boost competition in Florida and across the country.” The airline Hayes refers to is American Airlines, which has a strong presence in Miami, just 60km south of Fort Lauderdale. <br/>

The small Mexican airline Aeromar announced Wednesday it is closing down due to financial problems after failing to recover from a pandemic downturn. The regional carrier operated 21 routes in Mexico and flew to McAllen and Laredo in Texas and Havana, Cuba. It specialized in flying routes between Mexico City and beach resorts. Aeromar said that it had not been able to recover from financial difficulties stemming from the global downturn in travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020. The Mexico City international airport said in a statement that Aeromar owed about $27.5m in fees, services and other debts. The airline did not say what options would be available to travelers who already purchased tickets. It was also unclear what would happen to the company’s nearly 700 employees. The Labor Department said it was working to see if other airlines could hire the Aeromar staff. The airline was founded in 1987 with a fleet of about ten ATR turboprop airplanes. It was the second Mexican carrier to go broke as a result of pandemic. In December of 2020, the low-cost carrier Interjet ceased operations. Aeromar’s announcement left Mexico with only three main domestic carriers: Aeromexico and the low-cost airlines Volaris and Viva Aerobus. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has proposed creating a state-run airline operated by the armed forces. He has also angered airline executives with proposals to allow foreign airlines to operate domestic routes in Mexico.<br/>

LATAM, Latin America's largest airline, said it wants to buy Colombian low-cost carrier Viva Air, becoming the third business in the region to set its sights on acquiring the embattled company. Bids for Viva Air opened last year with an offer from Colombia's flag-carrier Avianca, which was initially rejected by Colombia's civil aviation regulator in November on the grounds that it posed risks to competition in the sector and the welfare of consumers. Following an appeal by Avianca and Viva Air, the regulator annulled the merger in January, citing procedural irregularities, and began the process anew without either company having to reapply. Last week, Indigo Partners-backed budget carrier JetSMART Airlines announced its intention to open talks to buy Viva Air, without stating how much it could offer. Now, LATAM Airlines Colombia, a subsidiary of Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group, has laid out its own intentions regarding a takeover of Viva Air. "In a written communication to the president of Viva Air Colombia ... the company has informed that any transaction is subject to a financial analysis (which would be carried out expeditiously), an agreement between the parties, and the corresponding regulatory approvals," LATAM said in a statement late on Tuesday.<br/>

Icelandic budget airline Play is expecting positive full-year earnings for 2023, as it prepares to expand its fleet to 10 aircraft and its network to 36 points. Play turned in an operating loss for last year of $44.1m and a pre-tax loss of $55.5m, based on revenues of just under $140m. But the company forecasts that it will transport 1.5-1.7m passengers this year and generate an operating profit, despite the uncertain economic environment. Play points out that it recorded “strong growth” in its revenues and load factor in Q4. “[Last year] we were still running the company at a loss but that is to be expected given the fact that we are a start-up company in a steep growth period,” says chief executive Birgir Jonsson. “Adding aircraft, destinations and staff, as well as introducing a new brand into the market, is time-consuming and capital-intensive. We do however see clear and positive signs that show we are on the right track and that we will soon see a return on our investments as we become more established in the market.” Jonsson says the company has been “successful” in controlling its costs, while the revenue figures are beginning to rise, although fuel and emission prices represented over 38% of operating expenditure. He attributes the overall performance partly to a positive trend in ancillary revenues – which he believes will be lifted further by implementation of digital technology – as well as ramping-up of cargo operations. “The year begins with very strong booking trends and increased unit revenue, making us confident that our revenue base is maturing and developing positively,” adds Jonsson. Play introduced three Airbus A320neos over the course of last year – giving it six – and will bring in a further four aircraft in the first half of this year. Its destinations from Reykjavik will comprise five in North America and 30 in Europe.<br/>

Flybe Group, the distressed British carrier, is to be wound down after attempts to sell the struggling business failed. The regional airline had already ceased operations and canceled all of its flights in January after collapsing into administration, a form of insolvency proceedings. It was the second failure for Flybe which previously halted operations in 2020 when the pandemic wiped out demand for air travel. Although there were sale discussions with a number of “credible parties” it was not possible to conclude a deal “in the available timeframe,” said administrators at Interpath Advisory in a statement Wednesday. Part of the problem with the sale was the complexity around the “use it or lose it” rules related to landing slots. There were also challenges with European authorities regarding a temporary operating licence for the airline, once the UK’s largest domestic carrier, that would have been issued by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority. Interpath said it will now look at options for selling any assets and specific rights that Flybe owns. A further 25 employees of Flybe have lost their jobs with immediate effect. Flybe operated flights from Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, to places such as Amsterdam and Belfast.<br/>

The pilot of a Yeti Airlines plane which crashed in Nepal killing 71 people said before the crash there was no power from the aircraft's engines, a preliminary investigation report said on Wednesday. The plane crashed just before landing in the tourist city of Pokhra on Jan. 15 in one of Nepal's worst airplane accidents in 30 years. There were 72 passengers on the twin-engine ATR 72 aircraft operated by Nepal's Yeti Airlines, including two infants, four crew members and 10 foreign nationals. Rescuers recovered 71 bodies, with one unaccounted person presumed to be dead. The report said the pilot flying the aircraft handed over the control to the pilot monitoring before it crashed. The information in the preliminary report may change as the investigation progresses, it said. The panel has up to the end of February to submit its final report. Earlier this month, the panel said an analysis of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder showed the propellers of both engines went into "feather in the base leg of descending." Aviation expert K.B. Limbu said then that propellers going into feather meant there was "no thrust" in the engine, or that it did not produce any power.<br/>

The wife of IndiGo's co-founder is likely to sell a 4% stake in the Indian carrier's parent, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (INGL.NS), for 29.30b rupees ($353.8m) through a block deal, CNBC-TV18 reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The offer floor price for the sale by Shobha Gangwal, the wife of IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal, has been set at 1,875 rupees per share, the news channel reported. The price is at a 5.6% discount to InterGlobe's closing price on Wednesday. IndiGo did not respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Shobha Gangwal could not be immediately reached for comment. Rakesh and Shobha Gangwal hold stakes of 13.23% and 7.04%, respectively in InterGlobe, while their Chinkerpoo Family Trust holds a 13.50% stake. The Gangwals sold a 2.75% stake in September last year, seven months after Rakesh Gangwal resigned from the company's board and said he would cut his stake in the airline over five years.<br/>

Philippine Airlines is resuming direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai, the carrier said Wednesday, following a roughly three-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. The flag carrier began offering three round trips a week between Manila and Shanghai on Tuesday, and will offer two between Manila and Beijing starting Feb. 21. On March 26, it expands service on these routes to daily Shanghai flights and four Beijing flights a week. Philippine Airlines already has resumed flights to the southern Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Xiamen. "We hope that our relaunch of flights to Beijing and Shanghai will fuel a rebound in tourist and business travel," President and COO Stanley Ng said. The Philippines attracted many tourists from China before COVID-19. The airline wants to tap this demand once again as pandemic travel restrictions ease. It plans to resume flights to and from Macao, and to expand service on existing Chinese routes as well. The Philippines reopened to foreign tourists in 2022. Its Department of Tourism aims to boost traffic by over 80% in 2023 to 4.8m visitors.<br/>

AirAsia Aviation units are set to increase capacity into Mainland China, more than a month after Beijing scrapped most of its ‘zero-Covid’ travel restrictions. AirAsia Malaysia and medium-haul affiliate AirAsia X on 13 February announced it was resuming flights to seven cities in China from February and March, though initial frequencies will remain below pre-pandemic levels. AirAsia Malaysia will resume flights between its Kuala Lumpur hub and Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, as well as Kunming. Already the airline has begun flights from Guangzhou, with AirAsia reporting “strong load factors” on the route. From its Kota Kinabalu hub in east Malaysia, AirAsia will restore flights to Shenzhen and Guangzhou.<br/>With the resumption of flights to the four cities, AirAsia Malaysia will operate 27 weekly flights between Malaysia and Mainland China – a fraction of its pre-pandemic China network. AirAsia X, meanwhile, will resume flights from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu from March, adding 10 weekly flights in total. AirAsia Malaysia chief Riad Asmat says: “China is an integral market for AirAsia Aviation Group, where we were the largest international low-cost carrier by capacity pre-pandemic. “[The] restart of our services will not only provide greater value and accessibility to essential travellers from Malaysia and tourists from China but will significantly boost tourism, trade and economic growth in both countries,” he adds. Benyamin Ismail, AirAsia X’s CEO, says: “China will be our next primary market focus as we resume our growth strategy flying our most popular and profitable routes.” AirAsia X had previously said China’s reopening will accelerate its recovery to pre-pandemic operations, amid significant traffic growth in the October-December quarter of 2022. The ramp-up of capacity to China comes as the low-cost airline group aims to restore full pre-pandemic capacity to China by the thrd quarter of 2023. Other AirAsia units have also restored their China networks: Philippines AirAsia, for instance, is resuming flights between Manila and Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macau.<br/>

Separatists in Indonesia's restive Papua region have released images that they say show a New Zealand pilot taken hostage last week is in good health, but pledged he would not be freed until authorities acknowledge the independence of the area. The pilot, Philip Mehrtens, who flew a plane operated by airline Susi Air, was abducted by fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) last week after landing in the remote region of Nduga. Separatists in Indonesia's restive Papua region have released images that they say show a New Zealand pilot taken hostage last week is in good health, but pledged he would not be freed until authorities acknowledge the independence of the area. The pilot, Philip Mehrtens, who flew a plane operated by airline Susi Air, was abducted by fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) last week after landing in the remote region of Nduga. Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the TPNPB, shared photographs and videos of a man wearing a jean jacket, surrounded by a group of about a dozen fighters, some armed with guns and bows. "The Papuan military that has taken me captive to fight for Papuan independence, they ask for the Indonesian military to go home to Indonesia and if not, I will remain captive for my life," Mehrtens said at one point in the video. One of the fighters is holding up the "Morning Star" flag, a symbol of Papuan independence. In a statement accompanying the images, Sambom said that the pilot was in good health and that he was collateral in a political dispute. Indonesia's chief security minister Mahfud MD vowed in a video late on Tuesday to ensure Mehrtens' release using "persuasive approaches, because the priority is his safety", but said could not rule out using "other ways", without elaborating.<br/>