Delta reported the highest revenue and earnings in its history on Thursday, with a 65% surge in sales of transatlantic flights providing vital lift to the company’s top line. The Atlanta-based carrier raised its full-year guidance for the second time in less than three weeks, to a range of $6 to $7 per share, after beating Wall Street’s earnings expectations. “Anywhere you go in Europe these days, you’re seeing an awful lot of Americans,” said CEEd Bastian. “They haven’t been able to get there in four years, and there’s a lot of pent-up demand that’s going to stay strong for some time.” “We’re not seeing a lot of slowdown into the fall,” Bastian added. Historically, the airline would fly less to Europe following the busy summer, but this year “we’re extending the season a bit longer because of the demand”. Delta’s transatlantic capacity exceeded pre-coronavirus pandemic levels late last year, with the airline adding seats and flights faster than for domestic routes. Four out of five of the carrier’s transatlantic tickets were purchased from the US during the quarter, Bastian said, with top destinations including Spain, Italy, Greece and the south of France. Airlines have benefited from strong demand for travel since the pandemic has ebbed, handing them pricing power even as they have struggled with staffing, a shortage of jets and a dearth of air traffic controllers. Delta said three months ago that it would trim its summer flying schedule by 2% to avoid operational shortfalls. Because domestic flying recovered more quickly than international, which is now improving, conditions in the third quarter looked “more compelling for Delta, United and American than it does for domestic growth airlines”, said Melius Research analyst Connor Cunningham. While revenue from Delta’s domestic flying ticked up 8% to $8.9b, revenue from transatlantic flights rose 65% to $2.8b. The growth on Pacific routes was even stronger — 175% to $532m — while revenue from Latin American routes rose 24% to $926m.<br/>
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Delta Air Lines said on Thursday it had exercised options to buy 12 new Airbus A220-300 aircraft to refresh its fleet. The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2027 and 2028 and their addition will see Delta’s fleet of A220s grow to 131 planes, the carrier said. <br/>
Vietnam Airlines intends to sell three more A321-200s as part of its plan to restructure the carrier's fleet and exit aircraft more than ten years old. Last week, the airline released initial information detailing plans for a planned auction later this quarter. Vietnam Airlines is undergoing a period of restructuring and says it aims to increase operational efficiencies (and reduce costs) by divesting older aircraft while also generating funds from liquidating assets. According to the Vietnamese-language documentation, the three aircraft are VN-A350 (msn 2974), a 16.59-year-old A321-200 now undergoing maintenance at Hanoi; VN-A351 (msn 3005), a 16.50-year-old A321-200 also undergoing maintenance at Hanoi; and VN-A352 (msn 3013), a 16.49-year-old A321-200, which remains operational. The airline is setting a floor price of US$5m per plane. All three aircraft began flying in 2007. <br/>