United Airlines UAL widened the scope of its code-sharing partnership with Brazilian carrier Azul AZUL in a bid to expand its footprint. Under the expanded deal, passengers can to fly to six new destinations after connecting from the offered Brazilian airports to Orlando or Fort Lauderdale on UAL flights. The six new destinations are Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. The customer-friendly move will allow them to travel using a single ticket for both UAL and Azul-operated flights. From May 10, passengers will be able to make easy one-stop connections to the above destinations with a single ticket. The updated partnership between the two airline companies was built on their existing codeshare routes from Houston and Newark. Expressing delight at the new agreement, André Mercadante, Azul's director of Alliances, Planning, and RM said, "The expansion of our agreement with United Airlines furthers Azul's mission to offer our customers the best experience and a wide variety of destinations to explore. We are accelerating our international presence and now our customers will be able to leave our hubs and reach even more great cities with a single ticket." Apart from it, United Airlines was also in the news recently when management announced the intention to hire 50,000 workers by 2025 end. With air-travel demand rebounding very strongly from the COVID-related lows, the decision to boost workforce to meet the anticipated demand swell is a prudent one.<br/>
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On Monday, Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority (Aerocivil) confirmed its approval of the Avianca and Viva Air merger, following a stint of appeals by other airlines (including LATAM, JetSMART, and Wingo) and Avianca’s request to change some of the requirements set by the government for the merger to go through. Yesterday, Colombia’s Aerocivil released a statement confirming the approval of the merger procedure between Avianca and Viva. These two airlines first announced their intentions to join under one management last year. Nonetheless, the delays in the process, plus a complex financial situation, led Viva to cease operations in February 2023. Aerocivil approved the merger and established four conditions that must be addressed for the merger to go through. These conditions are: i) Viva’s passenger rights must be respected. They must receive full reimbursement for canceled flights or be relocated to new flights. Avianca is already doing this. Since Viva’s cease of operations, the Colombian airline has helped relocate over 150,000 passengers, most of them free of charge.<br/>ii) The two airlines must return some slots at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport (BOG). This measure has to be taken to guarantee free competition and allow the survival of Viva Air, Aerocivil said. Nonetheless, it was not established in the press release how many slots should Avianca and Viva return.<br/>
South African Airways has been granted clearance by the country’s government to expand its fleet with the lease of six additional aircraft. The airline says the “significant” increase will enable it to relaunch international routes and provide extra regional and domestic capacity. SAA says the six aircraft – all Airbus jets – comprise five A320-family airframes and a long-haul A330. Two of the aircraft, including the A330, have already been secured from lessors while a request for proposals has been issued for the other four A320s. “We are excited…to lay the groundwork for the relaunch of our first international route since coming out of business rescue,” says SAA interim chief John Lamola. He says the carrier will unveil the route in the next few weeks. Lamola states that the South African finance ministry and public enterprise ministry have each approved the fleet expansion. He says all the aircraft will be delivered to the carrier before the end of the year, and indicates that the four A320s it is seeking will be flying by September. “This is a significant boost for the domestic and regional markets and underscores our commitment to expanding our route network and increasing our frequency in the African market,” he adds. “It will also ensure that the equilibrium between the supply of seats and the flow of traffic will benefit our passengers.” SAA underwent an extensive restructuring after being placed in business rescue in 2019, finally emerging in 2021.<br/>
After a hiatus of nearly two decades, Ethiopian Airlines restarted service to Pakistan this week. With 110 passengers onboard, the flight arrived in Karachi on Monday, formally completing the prerequisites to re-launch the service. The airline will operate multiple flights per week between Addis Ababa and Karachi. Jamal Bakir Abdullah, the Ambassador of Ethiopia, said the service promotes trade and tourism between both countries. According to SAMAA, Ethiopian officials, diplomats, and a trade delegation flew in on Monday's flight that completed the prerequisites. They were welcomed by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and his team, as well as other Pakistani officials, including Sharjeel Memon, Nasir Shah, Ikramullah Dharejo, and Murtaza Wahab. The flight was operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 and arrived right on time. Video on social media shows the officials exiting the plane via airstairs. The new flights come as several foreign airlines have faced challenges operating in Pakistan. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew spoke about the airline returning to Pakistan. “We are excited to return to Karachi nearly two decades after we last served the city. As the most populous city in Pakistan, Karachi will be a crucial gateway to Pakistan and the wider South Asia region. As the only flight connecting Pakistan with Africa, the planned service to Karachi will have significant contribution in strengthening the diplomatic and economic relations between the two regions. It will also offer convenient air connectivity to the growing number of Pakistani investors in Africa as well as tourists.”<br/>
Air New Zealand CE Greg Foran says customers should expect prices to come down as the national carrier expands its capacity. Speaking on AM, Foran said a number of factors drive prices up including increasing wages, catering costs, third-party suppliers and lower passenger capacity. But as Air New Zealand's 777 300 aircraft is pulled from hibernation in the dusty desert and the airline begins to increase its capacity, Fooran says prices could come down. "Getting this extra 777 back adds quite a few more seats back onto the network and getting, and getting you to know, not just ourselves but competitors coming back. And that starts to drive the pricing down. And, you know, we're starting to see the beginnings of that, the early stages of it." Foran says as the year progresses "we'll start to see prices come back".<br/>
Air New Zealand has revealed more details about its economy sleep pods – including how much it is looking at charging passengers for a snooze session. The eagerly-anticipated Skynest will consist of six bunk beds that economy passengers will be able to book for lie-flat sleep. It is set to debut in September 2024. The airline showcased the experience at the TRENZ travel trade event in Christchurch, offering a sneak-peek at what customers could expect. Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said the product would be launching on the airline’s Auckland to New York and Auckland to Chicago routes. “North America is the perfect market for Skynest, as it has a premium segment that values comfort and sleep during long-haul travel,” she said. The bunk beds will be located between the economy and premium economy cabins on the 787 aircraft. Each passenger will be limited to one four-hour session, with lights turning on and passengers woken up at the end of their allocated slot. Geraghty said they were still working through the details of how the booking process would work, and had yet to determine the exact price. “At this stage we are looking at around NZ$400 to $500 for the four-hour period,” she said. Each pod would also come with a full-size pillow, sheets and blanket, ear plugs, a reading light, USB outlet, ventilation outlet and lighting designed for rest, as well as a seatbelt. Bedding would be changed in between each session, with a 30-minute transition time. Air New Zealand first unveiled the Skynest in early 2020, describing it as a “world-first” cabin feature. This month, the product was named among the 21 finalists in the 2023 Crystal Cabin Awards, an international competition celebrating innovative ideas in the aircraft cabin space. Air New Zealand also used TRENZ to announce investment in its international aircraft fleet. This included $3.5b spent on the purchase of eight new 787-9 Dreamliners and five Airbus A320neo aircraft, as well as the interior refurbishment of its 14 Boeing 787 aircraft.<br/>