American Airlines, which gave up rights to two airport slots to Delta Air Lines' in 2013, on Thursday lost a court appeal to have the European Union cancel them for lack of use. American gave up the takeoff and landing rights at Heathrow and Philadelphia airports to get antitrust approval for its merger with US Airway. Airlines may keep a slot in perpetuity provided they use it regularly. The European Commission picked Delta to take up the slots. The EU Court of Justice (CJEU), Europe's highest, dismissed American's arguments that Delta did not fulfil its obligation to use the slots regularly. "The text of the final commitments does not establish a specific number of frequencies that should be operated by the prospective entrant to ensure effective competition," the judges ruled. American complained that Delta had not made appropriate use of the slots as required under grandfather rights, prompting the EU competition watchdog to issue a decision in 2018 backing its rival.<br/>
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Start-up leisure specialist Canada Jetlines is exploring a potential partnership with Qatar Airways that could include non-stop flights between Toronto and Doha. “This would offer Canadian travellers access to Qatar Airways’ unparalleled network via Doha to destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent and across Asia,” Jetlines said on 16 March. Any such agreement between the nascent discount carrier and Qatar is subject to all regulatory approvals, Jetlines says. “We are pleased to discuss potential opportunities with Qatar Airways, an international airline known for its world-class service and consistently recognised by the industry and consumers as the best airline in the world,” says Eddy Doyle, CE of Jetlines. “Qatar is not only a growing and exciting destination, it is also home to the world’s best airport, Hamad International airport, which provides seamless connectivity to Qatar Airways’ superior global network,” he adds. Qatar flies to more than 150 cities from its hub in Doha. The flag-carrier operates a fleet of more than 200 Boeing and Airbus aircraft and is set to begin introducing Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft to its short-haul network. Jetlines operates flights between Toronto, Cancun and Las Vegas, with an eye on transcontinental flights between Toronto and Vancouver. The discounter entered Canada’s crowded discount airline market in September 2022, starting with a single Airbus A320-200 and adding a second aircraft of the same type in December. Jetlines plans to expand its fleet to 15 aircraft by 2025. The US Department of Transportation granted Jetlines a foreign air carrier permit in November, clearing the way for routes to the USA. In February, Jetlines added former Qatar executive Rossen Dimitrov to its board of directors.<br/>
Morocco's national carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has announced its latest round of flights, offering more than 61,000 seats on 100 flights connecting several Moroccan cities to Jeddah and Medina. For this year’s Hajj season, which will run from June 2-22, RAM has scheduled in total 33,000 seats on 54 flights operated by the company's aircraft as well as by two other aircrafts with an average capacity of 350 seats each, RAM said. As for the Ramadan Umrah operation, which runs from March 18 to May 4, RAM is set to schedule 28,000 seats on flights operated by its own aircrafts as well as by another aircraft with a capacity of 436 seats.<br/>RAM indicated that the three additional wide-body aircraft have been chartered from internationally renowned airlines. Direct flights will be scheduled from the following Moroccan airports Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Oujda, Fez, Marrakech and Agadir to Jeddah and Medina. Additionally, RAM has increased its human resources capacity, particularly in Moroccan airports as well as in Mecca, Jeddah, and Medina, to help Moroccan pilgrims and streamline the processes and steps related to transportation.<br/>
Qantas and Jetstar are being criticised for an “unfair” Covid credit scheme, despite extending the deadline for customers to use the credits by 12 months. The airlines announced on Thursday they were giving customers an additional 12 months to use their Covid credits, carry-overs from the extensive cancellations and border closures that came during the pandemic. The credits have been extended three times since 2020, with the current extension designed to ensure customers use their remaining credits for domestic or international travel by 31 December 2023. Customers have until December 2024 to complete their travel, with a recent analysis showing that there is $800m in Covid credits still held by Qantas and Jetstar customers. A total of 76% of the credits are worth less than $500, while 24% are worth between $500 and $5,000. Fewer than 1% are worth more than $5,000. The Qantas Group chief customer officer, Markus Svensson, said both airlines were trying to make it easier for customers to access the credits. “We literally had millions of bookings that were cancelled during several waves of lockdowns and border closures. No airline had systems that were designed to manage that in a seamless way and we realise there’s been frustration for some customers as a result. Our main goal is for everyone who has a Covid credit to be able to put it to good use, which is why we’re doing one final extension of the travel expiry date by 12 months.” But the rollout of the credits faced criticism, with consumer advocacy group Choice saying the credit system was “still unfair.”<br/>