Porter Airlines is planning to develop a new terminal at the Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport, with a goal of serving more than 4m passengers per year. The airline carrier made the announcement Monday morning at a news conference at the airport in South Shore Longueuil, saying it will now serve two airports in the Montreal area: Trudeau International (YUL) and Saint-Hubert (YHU). Porter is planning more than 10 possible routes across Canada, including connections to its two hubs in Toronto. The nine-gate, 21,000 square-metre terminal will include state-of-the-art passenger and baggage processing, as well as food and beverage concessions and retail vendors. "We're not talking about a huge Taj Mahal type of terminal. It’s an efficient, simple building. For us it's a big change. We're switching from some kind of a private airport where there were flights schools and some FBOs [fixed-base operators] and some private flights and we're going to switch to a real, domestic airport," said Yanic Roy, managing director, of the Montreal-Saint-Hubert Airport. Aircraft flying out of the terminal would include the 78-seat De Havilland Dash 8-400 and the 132-seat Embraer E195-E2. The project is expected to create more than 500 permanent jobs, including full-time positions within terminal and airline operations, and the establishment of a new pilot and flight attendant crew base. The plan follows a similar strategy to the one employed at Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport, which now serves 3m passengers every year and generates $3b of annual economic impact. Billy Bishop airport is minutes from Toronto's downtown core, much closer than the international Pearson airport. The project will begin in mid 2023 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. The announcement comes as Porter continues to expand its fleet, aiming to more than double it from 36 to 79 by 2025 amid intense domestic competition.<br/>
unaligned
Airline operations across much of Europe could be described as chaos last summer as travelers surged back after Covid. This summer is shaping up to be a lot better, with more staff hired across the system and airlines better prepared for the realities of post-pandemic flying, but it will still be tough. “Airports, if we have a summer like last summer with all airlines growing, will be congested,” AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said in an interview. While the airline’s Riga base was not affected by the disruptions seen at the mega-hubs of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and London, all of these are important destinations for AirBaltic and issues there can ripple out and affect operations across Europe. Eurocontrol, which manages the airspace across Europe, forecasts the number of flights in the region to reach 95 percent of 2019 levels in July and August. But it does not expect the recovery to go smoothly, even with airlines and airports having largely addressed the staffing issues that plagued them a year ago. Airspace closures as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the risk of industrial action, and increased travel demand are all expected to pressure European airline operations again this year. “2023 is set to be the most challenging year for the network in terms of matching capacity with demand, and keeping delays down,” Eurocontrol said in its 2023 outlook. And, while the staffing situation has improved, it has not been completely solved. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport recently extended a cap on the number of passengers through April and May citing continuing staffing issues. The cap was previously set to lift at the end of March. While air traffic control strikes in France, for example, would have a limited operational impact on AirBaltic as long as Eurocontrol keeps high-altitude overflights moving, the Russian airspace closures and other challenges could prove “tough” for the airline, Gauss said. Any Riga flight to or from points south is now limited to a roughly 50 mile wide corridor between Russia and Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland, that can get congested. This forces AirBaltic to reroute flights to the east over Swedish airspace that adds time — including decreased aircraft utilization — and cost to its operations.<br/>
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air Holdings Plc will suspend all flights to and from Moldova’s capital of Chisinau from March 14, citing “elevated but not imminent” security risks in the country bordering Ukraine. Moldova’s Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the Hungarian-based company’s decision and said the country’s air space remains safe, with some special procedures that need to be respected by carriers, given the proximity to a conflict zone. “Wizz Air’s decision has created uncertainty,” the authority said in a statement on its website that referred to a notification received from the company. “After analysing the risks, the Moldovan authorities established that commercial flights can be safely operated by applying a series of procedures. We regret Wizz Air’s sudden decision.” Wizz Air plans to increase the number of flights from different European cities to the eastern Romanian city of Iasi, which is closest to Chisinau, to help people reach the destination in Moldova, it said in an e-mailed statement. <br/>
El Al has conducted its first flight through Saudi Arabian and Omani airspace since recent agreements lifted restrictions on transit by Israeli carriers. The airline operated its LY083 service from Tel Aviv to Bangkok on 26 February, using a Boeing 787-9 – a flight which took about 7h 30min. Its previous operation on the route involved flying south along the Red Sea, before turning east to cross the Indian Ocean, a diversion around the Arabian peninsula which added around 2h 30min to the duration. Israeli carriers had already been granted access to Saudi airspace last year. But this offered only limited benefits without the ability to cross Oman, particularly given that Yemeni airspace is considered a conflict zone to be avoided. Oman’s government declared on 23 February that it would permit Israeli flight transit. El Al says its services to destinations in Thailand – Bangkok and Phuket – will be the first to take advantage of the shorter flight times. “We are proud to be the first Israeli airline to fly through the skies of Saudi Arabia and Oman, and take an active role in the history of the state of Israel,” adds the carrier.<br/>
India's SpiceJet said on Monday it will convert around $100m in dues to an aircraft lessor into equity and debentures and raise fresh capital of $300m, sending the shares up as much as 6%. The low-cost carrier will convert its dues to Carlyle Aviation Partners into new shares worth $29.5m, giving the commercial aviation investment and servicing arm of Carlyle Group a 7.5% stake in the company. The airline will also transfer $65.5m worth of compulsorily converted debentures of SpiceXpress and Logistics to Carlyle Aviation. Carlyle will convert the debentures of SpiceXpress, a separate airline cargo company owned by SpiceJet, into shares of the cargo business at a later date. The transaction will cut SpiceJet's debt by over $100m, it said in a statement. The company had a net debt of 10.19b rupees ($123m) as of March 2022, while cash and cash equivalents were at 66.08m rupees as of September-end. SpiceJet will also seek shareholders' approval to raise fresh capital by issuing securities worth 25b rupees ($301.8m) to qualified institutional buyers. The airline has separately raised another 25.56b rupees by hiving off its cargo business, SpiceXpress, into a separate unit, it said. Shares of SpiceJet jumped as much as 6.4% on the announcement. The company's plan to raise capital comes as its cash reserves dwindle and new entrant Akasa Air jostles for a share of the market, while rival Air India ramps up its revamp plans with mammoth orders for new aircraft.<br/>
Cebu Pacific has started operating 13 domestic and international routes at the Clark International Airport as part of its move to expand its operation in northern and central part of Luzon. Cebu Pacific said it will procure three additional aircraft which will be based at Clark International Airport, in addition to the 10 new Airbus NEO aircraft that are expected to be delivered this year. “We are excited to reestablish our presence in such an important gateway that will boost accessibility and connectivity for the traveling public. Furthermore, it allows us to boost our third operating hub in the Philippines that will help generate economic opportunities to support the country’s growth agenda,” said Xander Lao, Cebu Pacific President and Chief Commercial Officer. Data from the IATA show that every job in the air transport industry supports 29 other jobs in tourism, supply chain and other related sectors. “This means that with Cebu Pacific hiring at least 140 pilots, cabin crew, and on-ground staff for its Clark hub, more than 4,000 jobs for the locals can be produced,” he said. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) lauded Cebu Pacific’s initiative to bolster its Clark station.<br/>
Australia’s Regional Express (Rex) narrowed its half-year losses on the back of a significant jump in passenger revenue, though it notes that its regional operations were “a drag” on overall performance. For the six months ended 31 December 2022, Rex reported a statutory loss after tax of A$16.5m ($11.1m), improving on A$36.7m loss in the year-ago period. Total revenue more than doubled year on year to nearly A$340m, led mainly by a four-fold rise in passenger revenue. Rex says its domestic jet operations has been profitable since September 2022, with “consistent growth” reported since August. The airline first operating Boeing 737-800s on mainline domestic routes in 2021, but pandemic restrictions in Australia scuppered operations and Rex only fully resumed flights in February 2022. The airline’s jet operations made a pre-tax profit of A$4m in December, up from November’s A$2.8m profit. On the other hand, Rex blamed arch-rival Qantas for its poorer regional earnings: “Regional operations have been a drag on the group’s performance due to Qantas’ predatory behaviour in entering routes that are too small to support two operators”. The airline, which operates more than 60 Saab 340 turboprops, says its regional services have remained cash-flow positive for four months and will return to profitability in the January-March quarter this year. Fuel costs saw the highest increase year on year, jumping almost five-fold to A$75m, while other costs and expenses rose 84% to A$270m. Rex adds that its half-year loss includes the negative impact of a mark-to-market valuation of its convertible note and warrant facility it entered in 2020 with investment group PAG. The airline remains “cautiously optimistic” of a profitable 2023 financial year, which ends 30 June, noting that its passenger operations are on the up.<br/>