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South America’s Avianca has rolled out a subscription program just for businesses. The Colombian airline has partnered with Caravelo, a company that builds subscription platforms for airlines. The new program follows a similar tie-up it announced with Europe’s Wizz Air earlier this month. Avianca Access differs, however, as it’s targeting corporate travelers only, who gain access to potentially cheaper travel without their employers having to commit to an annual quota. There are four schemes: Access 10, for 1 to 10 travelers, which costs $10 a month or $96 a year; Access 25, for 11 to 25 travelers (at $25 a month); Access 50, for 26 to 50 travelers ($50 a month); and Access 100, for 51 to 100 travelers ($100 month.) Employees can make unlimited date or hour changes without any penalty. “I am happy to confirm that business-to-business-travel subscriptions are now a reality, and we have worked with Avianca to create the world’s first airline subscription program aimed at small and medium enterprises,” said Inaki Uriz, CEO of Caravelo. The company added it had not yet been publicly launched by the airline, but has been operational since November 2022. A public launch is expected later this year.<br/>

Italy's Treasury and Germany's Lufthansa have agreed to extend exclusive talks over the sale of ITA Airways until May 12 from the previous deadline of April 24, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Monday. State-controlled ITA officially replaced the money-losing Alitalia airline in 2021. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Treasury granted Lufthansa's request for extra time for the talks. The source did not provide further details Talks proceed in a "constructive manner", the source added. Lufthansa did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ITA's chairman said last week the main elements of a deal were defined and the parties hoped to announce it soon. Reuters previously reported that the German carrier was negotiating with Rome over the purchase of a 40% stake in ITA, valued at around E200m, with the idea of buying the rest at a later stage.<br/>

The flag carrier of Türkiye is celebrating an incredible milestone this week. Turkish Airlines, which marks its 90th birthday this year, carried its one billionth passenger from Istanbul Airport to Adıyaman Airport. The airline is known for flying to most countries of any airline worldwide and began with just five aircraft in 1933. As of this month, Turkish Airlines has 342 destinations in its flight network and intends to grow its passenger network to 400 destinations by 2033, supported by a fleet of 800 aircraft. Today the airline announced its next objective is to fly its two billionth passenger in 2031, only eight years from now. In celebration of flying its one billionth passengers, the airline hosted a special ceremony at its hub of Istanbul Airport. The billionth passenger, Mustafa Balcı, arrived on a flight from Adıyaman in the country's southeast. An Airbus A321 generally operates the 924km (574 miles) journey and takes just under an hour and a half to complete the flight. Upon arrival, the passenger was greeted at the gate with the special ceremony and gifted one million miles. <br/>

Air China believes domestic airline competition “will be mitigated” in the near term, following a bruising year where travel demand collapsed under the pressures of China’s now-scrapped ‘zero-Covid’ policies. The Beijing-based carrier also believes that 2023 will be “a turning point for recovery” for the country’s battered aviation sector, with demand on the rise. In comments made alongside its annual report, Air China notes that Chinese airlines are “proactively” adjusting their fleet sizes, with the overall fleet growth slower in 2022 than in 2021. “The slowdown in growth of the industry’s fleet size … is conducive to alleviating the operating pressure arising from the overall excess capacity in the short term and the competition in the industry during the recovery and growth period,” the carrier states. Air China, like its state-owned compatriots China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, plunged to record full-year losses, as they bore the brunt of the country’s zero-infection restrictions. The Star Alliance carrier was the worst-performing among the ‘Big Three’, posting an operating loss of CNY35.4b ($5.1b) for the year to 31 December 2022. This compares to the CNY16.9b loss it reported in 2021. Revenue for the year plunged 28% to CNY56.3b, with passenger revenue seeing the sharpest decline year on year. The Star Alliance carrier saw a 42% decline in full-year traffic, with passenger numbers falling about 44%. Still, Air China believes “market potential will remain immense” this year. “In 2023, China’s civil aviation industry will embrace a turning point for recovery. Business travel and holiday tours will accordingly continue to be growth drivers of the aviation industry, and air travel demand will become increasingly diverse, customised and popular,” it adds.<br/>

Air India is making headway in a total overhaul of its digital capabilities under its Vihaan.AI transformation plan. The Tata Group airline has multiple initiatives underway to bring its technology into the modern era, and has already invested about $200m in the effort, it says. Investments have been made in new digital systems, digital engineering, and in improving IT for the company’s workforce. “The scope of the technology transformation at Air India is extensive and covers every aspect of the airline including commercial, engineering, operations, ground handling, finance, human resources, and corporate functions,” says Air India’s chief digital and technology officer Satya Ramaswamy. “We are empowering employees across the company, ranging from our frontline flying staff to ground crew with the best technology capabilities to help them excel at their jobs.” From a customer perspective, the overhaul includes an update of the carrier’s website and mobile app, the integration of a ChatGPT-driven chat bot, better customer feedback mechanisms, and other improvements. Internally, there is also a focus on improving digital systems used by employees, such as rostering and training systems for cabin crew and pilots. “The modernisation of Air India’s digital and technology landscape will also benefit all the group airlines including the low-cost carriers,” says Air India. “Emphasis is also being laid on having common systems across the full-service and the low-cost segments to gain from economies-of-scale and economies-of-learning across all the group airlines, driven by common platforms and a shared world-class team.” <br/>