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Chile’s JetSmart and American Airlines have launched a strategic alliance and will begin to sell codeshare flights between the United States and Chile. The Santiago-based ultra-low-cost carrier said on 5 June that the deal includes “an extensive network of codeshare routes, as well as access, in the medium term, for JetSmart customers to the American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty programme”. “The alliance includes a minority investment by American in JetSmart, which will help further the company’s development in South America,” Jetsmart says. JetSmart CE Estuardo Ortiz says the collaboration with American is “making history” and positions the carrier to achieve “our vision of reaching 100m passengers and 100 aircraft by 2028”. “Through this agreement, JetSmart will have a boost to expand in Latin America and contribute to the regional economy through greater dynamism in tourism and other productive sectors in which air transport is essential,” Ortiz adds. Ticket sales began on 1 June, with codeshare flights to begin on 15 June, JetSmart says. The deal covers the sale of tickets to and from the United States connecting with routes in Chile, namely to Santiago, Antofagasta, Concepción and Puerto Montt. “In the coming weeks, new codeshare routes will be made available to travellers from other regions of Chile and Peru,” the carrier adds. ”In Argentina, more codeshare routes will be added, upon obtaining government approval.” JetSmart says it expects to join the AAdvantage loyalty programme “later this year”. <br/>

British Airways, Boots and the BBC are investigating the potential theft of personal details of staff after the companies were hit by a cyber-attack attributed to a Russia-linked criminal gang. BA confirmed it was one of the companies affected by the hack, which targeted software called MOVEit used by Zellis, a payroll provider. “We have been informed that we are one of the companies impacted by Zellis’s cybersecurity incident, which occurred via one of their third-party suppliers called MOVEit,” said a spokesperson for the airline. An email sent to BA staff told employees that compromised information included names, addresses, national insurance numbers and banking details, according to the Daily Telegraph, which first reported the breach. BA said the hack had affected staff paid through BA payroll in the UK and Ireland. In this photo illustration, the representation of a ransomware is displayed on a smartphone screen with a Twitter logo in the background. Boots said “some of our team members’ personal details” had been affected. The Telegraph reported that staff had been told that data involved in the attack included names, surnames, employee numbers, dates of birth, email addresses, the first lines of home addresses, and national insurance numbers.<br/>

The CEO of Qatar Airways has described the airline industry’s emissions goals as a “PR exercise,” saying aviation is on track to miss its target to achieve net zero status in 2050. Akbar Al Baker was speaking to CNN at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), on the day the group announced a roadmap to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. “Let us not fool ourselves,” Al Baker told CNN’s Richard Quest. “We will not even reach the targets we have for 2030, I assure you. Because there is not enough raw material to get the volumes of SAF [sustainable aviation fuel].” IATA has pledged to boost the use of SAF by 2030, with a goal of becoming net zero in 2050. However, Al Baker insists the industry’s targets are unrealistic, given the current volumes of SAF being produced, and says the airline industry is in denial about the rate of progress. “What we are trying to do is for a PR exercise saying that it will happen, and it will be done, it will be achieved – but it won’t be able to be achieved,” he told CNN. “And the governments will use this to line their pockets by putting [on] levies.”<br/>

RwandAir expects Qatar Airways to finalise its 49% stake in the carrier in the coming months, clearing the way for the African operator to launch a new business plan. Speaking at the IATA AGM in Istanbul on 5 June, RwandAir CE Yvonne Makolo acknowledged there had been a delay to Qatar Airways finalising the deal, which was first announced in early 2020, largely caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup. “But now things are moving,” Makolo states. “We are on the tail end of finalising it and hopefully in the coming months we should do that. “Even prior to that we are working on on different initiatives, whether it’s the extended codeshare, whether it’s cargo,” she adds. Once the deal is in place, RwandAir will launch a new business plan, which Makolo says will address topics including the Kigali-based carrier’s future fleet. The airline has previously indicated that it intends to double its fleet in the coming years, from the 12 aircraft it operates today. RwandAir may also look to join Qatar Airways in the Oneworld alliance. “Nothing has been concluded yet but logically we would want to join the same alliance,” she says.<br/>

Ukraine and Russia face off at the top United Nations court on Tuesday over Moscow's alleged backing of pro-Russian separatists blamed for the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014. Judges at the International Court of Justice will hear Ukraine's claim that Moscow violated a U.N. anti-terrorism treaty by equipping and funding pro-Russian forces who international investigators concluded shot down the jetliner over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam and was bound for Kuala Lumpur when it was struck by a Russian-made missile on July 17, 2014 as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, the precursor of today's war. It will be the first time lawyers for Ukraine and Russia meet at the ICJ, also know as the World Court, since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. A Russian Embassy official in The Hague could not be reached for comment. Ukraine will first present its case and Russia will then have an opportunity to respond. Moscow has tried to get the ICJ case thrown out, arguing the court has no jurisdiction.<br/>

Malaysia Airlines Bhd. is seeking to add at least 25 single-aisle aircraft and will look to discuss options with both Airbus SE and Boeing Co., CEO Izham Ismail said. “The number is definitely 25 or more,” Izham said at the IATA gathering of some 300 airlines in Istanbul. The carrier will only know the exact number of required aircraft after Izham meets the airline’s board in August, he said. The CEO said as recently as November that he might double his existing order for 25 Max jets. Failing to secure favorable production slots, Malaysia would choose to extend the operation of its existing jets, the CEO said. The carrier will launch its campaign for new jets in the fourth quarter. At the same time, Malaysia is seeking aircraft lessors to add an extra four A350 widebody jets to complement the six it has for long-haul operations. Malaysia had previously ordered Max jets due to be delivered in May but they’ll now start to come in August, with Izham cautioning that the revised schedule may also slip. “I don’t know if August is going to be delayed further,” the CEO said, citing supply-chain constraints that have burdened deliveries.s<br/>

Qantas Airways and other Australian airlines face the prospect of being fined for flight cancellations and delays after a damning assessment of competition levels and customer service by the domestic antitrust watchdog. The government should consider introducing specific entitlements for passengers whose flights are scrapped or run late, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said in its final report on airline competition on Monday. The watchdog called for the creation of an independent agency to handle complaints against airlines, describing the existing program to resolve disputes — run by the carriers themselves — as “ineffective.” The ACCC’s report, after a three-year monitoring program, depicts a domestic airline industry almost entirely in the grip of Qantas and its smaller rival Virgin Australia. The duopoly has led to higher fares and poorer service, while rivals trying to break in are hamstrung by a lack of takeoff and landing slots at Sydney Airport, the watchdog said. “The lack of effective competition over the last decade has resulted in underwhelming outcomes for consumers in terms of airfares, reliability of services and customer service,” the ACCC said. “There is a clear need for a truly independent and external dispute resolution ombuds scheme, which has the power to make binding decisions,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in a statement. Qantas, which together with Virgin controls more than 90% of the domestic passenger market, described Australia as “one of the most open and competitive aviation markets in the world.” The airline said there’s “downward pressure” on fares since it rebuilt operations after Covid and supply-chain bottlenecks eased. Qantas said it provides meals, accommodation and covers reasonable costs if passengers suffer significant delays. Virgin Australia said it’s focused on improving reliability levels and limiting call wait times, and said its lowest fares are available for bookings made well in advance or during sales.<br/>

Qantas is likely to extract a 20% premium from passengers on the world’s longest direct flights when it launches nonstop services connecting Sydney with New York and London in late 2025. The Australian flag carrier is betting on passengers paying a premium for seats on the marathon 20-hour legs to avoid the hassle and extra time spent transiting on the way. Tickets on Qantas Airways services between Perth, Australia, and London already cost 20% more than flights that stop on the way in Singapore or the Middle East, CFO Vanessa Hudson said at an airline industry gathering in Istanbul on Monday. It’s “very reasonable” to assume passengers will be prepared to pay the same price hike for the coming ultra-long flights, dubbed Project Sunrise, Hudson said at the annual meeting of the IATA. Qantas has ordered 12 customized Airbus SE A350 twin-aisle aircraft to operate the routes. The airline said last month that the A350s and Project Sunrise will deliver at least A$400m ($264m) of operating profit a year once the entire fleet is in service. International flying will be at least twice as lucrative in the post-Covid era, thanks to new income from these marathon flights and deep cost cuts during the pandemic, the airline has said. Currently, the world’s largest direct flights are between Singapore and New York.<br/>

Qantas Airways Ltd. will receive its first Airbus SE A321XLR long-range single-aisle jet six months later than originally planned, a timeframe that’s better than the industry average, the carrier’s CEO-designate said in Istanbul on Monday. Vanessa Hudson, who will succeed Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce in November, said the Australian airline group’s low-cost subsidiary Jetstar will receive the first of 20 A321XLRs by the end of 2024. “It has been delayed,” Hudson, who’s currently Qantas’s CFO, said at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association. While Qantas had a six-month delay “the rest of the market has on average 12 months,” she said. Entry into service of the A321XLR is still slated for the second quarter of 2024, an Airbus spokesman said in an email. Bloomberg News reported in March that Airbus was advising customers they’ll face a longer wait for its newest jetliner. The European planemaker and its US rival Boeing are contending with supply chain and production headaches that have knocked the build of new planes off schedule by months.<br/>