A US judge on Tuesday scheduled an Oct. 16 trial in the US Justice Department's lawsuit seeking to halt JetBlue Airways Corp's planned $3.8b acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines. US District Judge William Young in Boston scheduled the nonjury, four-week trial during the first hearing to be held in the blockbuster case, which the Justice Department filed two weeks ago. A lawyer for JetBlue, Ryan Shores, had pushed for a trial in September, saying the airline wanted time to pursue any appeals before a July 2024 deadline to close the merger. Young, though, said October was the soonest his schedule would allow. But Young promised to move expeditiously and rebuffed a Justice Department lawyer's suggestion to give the government until as late as January to try the case. He said he believed he had an "obligation" to try to rule by 2023's end. "I'm perfectly prepared to handle the matter and look forward to it," Young said. The lawsuit is the latest attempt by President Joe Biden's administration to push back against further consolidation in industries with the fewest competitors. The Justice Department, which sued alongside the states of Massachusetts and New York as well as Washington, DC, said the merger of JetBlue and Spirit would "combine two especially close and fierce head-to-head competitors." It said the deal was "presumptively illegal" and that JetBlue planned to remove 10% to 15% of seats from every Spirit plane.<br/>
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JetBlue Airways has secured “commercially questionable slot times” at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport weeks after filing a complaint about the government of the Netherlands’ repeated rejections of its slot requests. The New York-based carrier has agreed to take two pairs of daily slots at Schiphol from John F Kennedy International and Boston Logan International airports, JetBlue discloses in a 21 March filing with the US Department of Transportation (DOT). The slots are temporary, however, and the airline says “the access issues identified in its complaint will continue”. On 14 February, New York-based JetBlue filed a complaint with the DOT alleging “blatant” discrimination on the part of Amsterdam’s slot coordinator – Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL) – as it vies for access to the world’s third-busiest airport by passenger volume. “The refusal of the government of the Netherlands to make slots available to JetBlue is due to the government’s noise reduction plan involving a drastic reduction in the number of annual flight movements at Amsterdam,” JetBlue says. “The government of the Netherlands’ conduct has a discriminatory effect on new entrants such as JetBlue,” the airline adds. JetBlue maintains that the ACNL has for years denied its requests for slots and still has not made guarantees beyond the 2023 summer travel season in the northern hemisphere. “Although JetBlue accepted these temporary slots (which are at commercially questionable slot times), ACNL has confirmed to JetBlue that it will have no claim to historic rights for the slots’ continued usage during the IATA Winter 2023 scheduling season and beyond,” the airline adds. The slots were previously held by UK regional carrier Flybe, which is winding down after recent rescue talks collapsed. <br/>
Frontier Airlines is planning a seasonal expansion of its Atlanta operations, which will become the ultra-low-cost carrier’s third largest operation by this summer. “Atlanta is one of Frontier’s fastest growing markets,” Daniel Shurz, the airline’s senior vice-president of commercial, said on 21 March. “We are proud to connect Atlanta to 10 international destinations and 28 US destinations. We are working hard to make our already robust network at Atlanta even bigger.” In May, the Denver-based discounter will launch three new seasonal routes between Atlanta and Guatemala City, Santo Domingo and San Diego. The planned expansion will increase Frontier’s weekly international departures from Atlanta from 21 to 39 flights, Frontier says. It will also restart seasonal nonstop flights between Atlanta and Ontario (California) and Salt Lake City on 11 May and 12 May, respectively. Frontier currently operates eight international routes between Atlanta and cities in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean – flying most frequently to San Juan and Cancun, according to Cirium. Also in May, Frontier plans to add several new routes between cities in the USA and Puerto Rico, including its first flights to Ponce with thrice-weekly operations from Orlando. The carrier’s seasonal expansion comes as Frontier is offering a flat rate for unlimited flights between its US and international destinations with its GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Summer Pass, which applies to travel 2 May through 30 September 2023.<br/>
European budget carrier Wizz Air is planning to grow its fleet to above 200 aircraft next year and 500 aircraft by 2030, the company said on Tuesday, adding that its expansion in the Middle East offered opportunities. Wizz Air President Robert Carey told a news briefing that the core growth in coming years would still come from Central and Eastern Europe, adding that in the West "we are happy with where we are now." In the Middle East Wizz has been the first airline bringing ultra low cost service to the region, Carey said, adding the company was planning to grow its service in Abu Dhabi this summer, and also increase the number of routes into Saudi Arabia to 24 from 12. "Its a very exciting region...really growing in terms of people's interest as well," Carey said. On Tuesday Wizz also announced it would expand the number of flights to many European destinations from Budapest including Barcelona, Napoli, Bari, Rome, and Berlin and also to Dubai, among others. It expects to carry 43m passengers from Budapest this year. Wizz Air, whose main operations are in central and eastern Europe, has air operator certificates (AOCs) in Hungary and the United Kingdom. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, a branded joint venture between the airline and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, has a United Arab Emirates AOC. Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi at the same press briefing dismissed any speculation about a potential takeover by a rival airline. "No one can buy us, we cannot be bought out," Varadi said firmly.<br/>
Air Mauritius will transfer its London flights to Gatwick from Heathrow later this year, and will boost frequencies on the route to meet strong demand. The move will help Gatwick claw back the number of long-haul operators serving the airport, which had fallen to 11 in 2022 from 14 in pre-pandemic 2019. The airport said in its full-year results for the 12 months ended 31 December that passenger numbers in its long-haul market reached 44% of 2019 levels last year. Short-haul passenger numbers in the same period reached 77% of pre-Covid levels. Total passenger demand stood at 70.4% of 2019 levels, with 38.2m passengers using the airport in 2022. Air Mauritius says it will move its operations from Heathrow to Gatwick on 29 October. The carrier will increase frequencies on the route to a daily service from five flights a week. Air Mauritius will link Gatwick with its Indian Ocean island base using a combination of Airbus A350-900 and A330neo aircraft. “London has always been a high-priority destination for us and as part of the commemoration of Air Mauritius’ 50 years of operations to the United Kingdom in November 2023, we are proud to announce daily operations to London Gatwick as from 29 October this year,” says Air Mauritius CE Kresimir Kucko, adding that the “strategic move” will allow the carrier to meet “increasing demand” on the route. Gatwick offered 38 long-haul passenger routes in 2022, down from 62 in 2019. It handled 4m long-haul passengers, compared with 9m in 2019 and 600,000 in 2021. “This year we will have even more choice of airlines and destinations for travellers, whether flying for business or leisure,” says Gatwick CE Stewart Wingate. “While we still have some way to go to reach a full recovery, we know long-term sustainable investment is critical to the future of our airport and provides a significant boost to the regional and national economy.” <br/>
Saudia and its low-cost unit Flyadeal will launch services to a long list of international destinations this year, underscoring the group’s continued importance to Saudi Arabia’s aviation roadmap despite the recent creation of a new national carrier. Among the points to be served are several that appear to be new to the carriers, including Baku, Beijing, Birmingham, Bodrum, Chittagong, Djibouti, Lisbon, London Gatwick, Rhodes, Sarajevo and Tbilisi. “Given the increase of demand in international travel, this is the right time to expand our global network in new, exciting ways,” says Saudia group director general Ibrahim Al-Omar. A total of 25 international destinations have been announced for launch in 2023, although some were previously served by the group. It has not specified from where the points will be served – both carriers are based in Jeddah but have sizeable operations from Riyadh – nor which airline will operate which of the short-haul routes. Saudia says further details will be released in due course. The group’s announcement comes days after the Saudi government announced the launch of a new Riyadh-based national airline, Riyadh Air. The new carrier’s commitment for up to 72 Boeing 787-9s came alongside a commitment for up to 49 more for Saudia.<br/>
Emirates President Tim Clark urged India to embrace a so-called Open Skies accord with the airline’s home country that would give carriers greater access to each other’s market, amid rising competition from the likes of Air India and Indigo. “There is a need to increase air access,” Clark said during a briefing with journalists at the CAPA India Aviation Summit in New Delhi on Tuesday. “Demand is so strong out there.” While Clark said Indian carriers stand to earn as much as $1b in revenue if the country were to provide greater international access, his quest for Open Skies underscores’ Emirates desire to protect and expand its position in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. Such a move would allow the carrier to tap smaller Indian towns and cities for growth, as Air India and other carriers focus on major cities. Air India is in the process of reinventing itself with the help of a giant aircraft order, potentially chipping away at Emirates’ dominance on westbound travel from India. Air India has the advantage of operating non-stop flights to the US and Europe, while Gulf airlines have to transit through their hubs in Doha and Dubai. The United Arab Emirates is is one of the biggest overseas markets for Indian carriers, and some 30% of the workforce is from India, Clark said. Indian carriers operate more than 300 weekly flights to Dubai, he said. The Open Skies accord grants foreign airlines flexible access to other countries and allows them to make intermediate stops there to put down and take on passengers. The policy would also remove restrictions on how many frequencies, seats and cities Emirates can serve.<br/>
Kuwait's Jazeera Airways urged India on Tuesday to increase a limit on air traffic between the two countries, echoing a request for more access to India from Dubai's Emirates. CE Rohit Ramachandran told the CAPA India Aviation Summit that the current weekly allowance of 12,000 was inadequate to reflect current economic trends. Kuwait has asked for the cap to be raised to 28,000 seats and discussions are ongoing, Ramachandran told Reuters. The comments come as Gulf airlines continue to press for more capacity and new access to secondary routes in the world's fastest-growing aviation market just as India is expanding its presence in aviation with a record plane order by Air India. The head of Emirates, Tim Clark, earlier voiced hopes that the governments of India and the United Arab Emirates would sort out the situation with regard to bilateral flying rights. Ramachandran also said Jazeera Airways, which last year finalised an order for 28 A320neo-family jets, was interested in the largest Airbus single-aisle jet, the A321XLR.<br/>
Riyadh Air is planning to order more aircraft after its initial commitment for thirty-nine B787-9s with a further 33 options, CE Tony Douglas told Bloomberg. "There will be more orders to follow, and it will enable us to put connectivity into places that fulfil the ambition of the nation, but for the avoidance of doubt, this will be commercially sustainable," he emphasised. Without disclosing details, he said that a new order would be announced "soon". The delivery of the first of Riyadh Air's thirty-nine firm-ordered B787-9s is scheduled for 2025. Douglas said the airline would hold back its launch until then and would not seek to lease any aircraft with quicker deliveries. "We don't want to start with a product that is not consistent," he said. The new Saudi flag carrier will operate out of its single base at Riyadh. It plans to have a simple fleet comprising a maximum of two types to reduce costs and complexity. Riyadh Air will focus on inbound leisure and VFR traffic, as well as connecting traffic via the Saudi capital to compete with its regional rivals. It is owned by the sovereign Public Investment Fund, which also controls Saudia. The existing flag carrier will continue to operate alongside Riyadh Air out of its bases at Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam.<br/>
India’s SpiceJet is to “significantly” restructure its balance sheet in the coming months, raise fresh equity, and embark on an “aggressive push” to grow its fleet. Airline chief Ajay Singh says the airline is also in the process of hiving off cargo unit SpiceXpress and Logistics, with the new subsidiary helping to raise capital for the embattled carrier. Singh, speaking at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2023 in Delhi on 20 March, said the airline is focused on “cleaning up the balance sheet” in the near term. “We are trying to restructure the balance sheet in a significant way. You will see a vastly different balance sheet over the next two quarters. The process has already started,” says Singh. His comments come weeks after the airline agreed to a debt-for-equity deal with lessor Carlyle Aviation Group, which saw the airline restructure close to $100m in outstanding payments into shares and compulsory convertible debentures. SpiceJet in February announced pre-tax and net profits of just over Rs1b ($12.1m) for the quarter ended 31 December 2022, on the back of an upturn in demand and yields. The airline has seen its domestic market share dwindle in recent months. Where it was once the country’s second domestic operator, the latest traffic data shows the airline languishing in fifth position. Singh acknowledges it was “the weaker link” in the Indian aviation sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that SpiceJet lacked “strong reserves” or a strong backer. Still, Singh remains optimistic of the airline’s prospects despite the headwinds: “Any measure of desperation is always good for an organisation…I’m very positive…I think there is a lot of good stuff happening at SpiceJet.” <br/>
Indonesia-based PT TransNusa Aviation Mandiri (TransNusa) will transition to an international commercial airline on April 14 when it makes its inaugural flight on the Jakarta – Kuala Lumpur route. TransNusa group CEO Datuk Bernard Francis said the Airbus A320 aircraft would be used to operate the route, with two round-trip flights daily from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur and vice versa. “Flights will be departing from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur at 7am as well as 4:50pm whilst, in Kuala Lumpur, flights will be departing to Jakarta daily at 10:40am and 8:35pm, with competitive prices starting from as low as RM299,” he said during a virtual media briefing. Francis stressed that TransNusa’s passengers would have a chance to enjoy full-fledged airline facilities and services with competitive pricing, free baggage of between 15kg and 30kg, comfortable leg room space, as well as unlimited flight changes, depending on the chosen bundle. “TransNusa’s A320s are configured with between 168 and 174 seats and provide a 76cm to 79cm legroom space, like a full-fledged airline,” he said.<br/>
In a significant event for Timor-Leste, Aero Dili (8G, Dili) has ferried in the first ever commercial jet aircraft to be based in the country. The A320-200 will initially begin scheduled services between Dili's President Nicolau Lobato International Airport and Denpasar before venturing into other markets. As previously reported by ch-aviation, Aero Dili has secured 4W-AAL (msn 3672) on a two-year lease from DAE Capital. The 14.42-year-old aircraft formerly flew for Bangkok Airways as HS-PPO and went into maintenance at Kuala Lumpur International in the fourth quarter of 2022 before ferrying to Bangkok Don Mueang and onto Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta earlier this month. On March 20, bearing Aero Dili livery, the A320 flew into Dili. This followed Aero Dili securing its certificate of registration (COR) and certificate of airworthiness (COA) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Timor-Leste in mid-March. While undergoing maintenance, 4W-AAL was reconfigured to seat just 165 passengers. "Aero Dili has successfully obtained its own Airbus A320 aircraft," President Director Lourenco de Oliveira said this week. "I'd like to take this moment to say that the efforts are not mine alone. It has involved many people with the same dream as mine - developing Timor-Leste's airline industry." José Ramos-Horta, the Nobel Peace prize winner and current president of Timor-Leste, has said that de Oliveira is a respected local businessman with a background in maritime and air transport. Aero Dili was founded in 2018 but to date has only operated scheduled services around Timor-Leste using Cessna (single piston) aircraft.<br/>
A Melbourne father says he was “humiliated” and “felt like an animal” after being Tasered by police on a flight out of Perth at the weekend in a commotion over his seating. Bolic Bet Malou, 30, is now fighting charges in Western Australia, with a court order banning him from flying until his trial in July. His lawyers are fighting to have the bail conditions altered so Malou can join his family in Melbourne. Malou was travelling back to Melbourne on a Jetstar flight with his wife and one-year-old son on Saturday when the carrier claims he refused to return to his assigned seat before take-off. He had swapped seats to sit next to his family, but was asked to return to his original seat by a flight attendant. Fellow passengers filmed the scene, with Malou heard telling the attendant he had been told he was OK to swap. Federal police were called when Malou was accused of failing to comply with aircraft instructions, with five officers using four Tasers on him before he was dragged off the plane. Australian Federal Police allege Malou became verbally and physically aggressive, and that three officers suffered minor injuries. He has been charged with disorderly behaviour, and assaulting and obstructing police.<br/>