unaligned

Frontier Airlines markets itself as having the lowest fares, but a new class-action lawsuit alleges the US carrier makes up the difference with hidden, inflated fees. Florida resident Amira Hamad filed the 21-page lawsuit in US District Court for the Middle District of Florida in late June, seeking a refund of the fees and US$100m in punitive damages for herself and others. A spokesperson for Frontier said the airline doesn’t comment on pending litigation. Hamad said in the lawsuit that she booked a round-trip flight with Frontier after seeing an “attractive” price online and reading on the company’s website that passengers are allowed one free personal item no larger than 14 inches (35.5cm) tall, 18 inches (45.7cm) wide and 8 inches deep (20.3cm). According to the lawsuit, when Hamad arrived at her gate, Frontier’s bag sizer was smaller than the dimensions advertised on the website. When her bag wouldn’t fit into the allegedly shrunken bag sizer, the airline charged Hamad US$100 for her “oversized” personal item – nearly four times the price of checking a bag. Hamad said in the lawsuit that before taking off on her return flight, she measured her personal item using the bag checker at a Spirit Airlines gate – with the same dimensions Frontier claims to have online – and it fit perfectly. In the lawsuit, Hamad said Frontier is intentionally hiding fees and obscuring fee structures from customers “in order to fraudulently induce sales”.<br/>

TAR Aerolíneas has entered into a long-term financing partnership with US-based Ethos Asset Management, wherein the fund will inject "significant capital" for the airline's expansion. "We, at TAR, are very pleased to be partnering with a solid financial entity such as Ethos Asset Management, to address the opportunity that the Mexican regional aviation market presents; via a loan facility which will enable TAR to strengthen its market position and provide the financial by resources to expand TAR's footprint in the market," CE Ricardo Baston said. The parties did not disclose the loan amount but said it would last for "several years". The partnership does not involve equity. The regional specialist currently operates nine E145s, of which only three are active. It plies a network of scheduled domestic services connecting regional airports mainly in northern Mexico through bases at Querétaro and Chihuahua airports. It is the largest operator of regional aircraft on the Mexican market, alongside smaller Calafia Airlines and Aerus, with Señor Air poised to enter the market shortly.<br/>

Cyprus Airways has started introducing a pair of Airbus A220-300s, part of a lease agreement disclosed during the Paris air show. The aircraft will complement the pair of A320-family jets already used by the carrier on its network to 19 scheduled destinations. Both A220s – MSN55208 and MSN55203, registered 5B-DEB and 5B-DEA – are being acquired through US lessor Air Lease. Cyprus Airways says the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G-powered aircraft will enter service with the airline “in the coming days” and be deployed on routes to its “most popular destinations”. “From an A320 operator, the transition to the advanced A220-300 signifies a remarkable milestone and a new era for us,” says CE Paul Sies. “This aircraft is celebrated for its exceptional features and capabilities and perfectly aligns with our vision to strike the best balance between passenger comfort and operational efficiency.” Cyprus Airways held an inauguration ceremony for the twinjets at Skylink Services’ VIP terminal at Larnaca airport. “This aircraft will play a pivotal role in realising a greener, more sustainable travel experience,” says Sies.<br/>

France's main international airport, Charles de Gaulle (CDG), and the smaller Orly will be two crucial gateways to the Olympics, which open in around a year on July 26, 2024. The Parisian airports' authority ADP believes it can cope with the increased traffic in July and August next year in what is already one of the world's most visited cities. What is keeping managers awake at night is the exceptional nature of tens of thousands of the arrivals -- and their outsized baggage. Some 85,000 competitors, coaches and officials will be accredited for the Olympics and the Paralympics, excluding spectators, said Renaud Duplay, the deputy director of CDG. "In terms of numbers, it's a drop in the ocean" compared to the approximately 340,000 people who pass through CDG and Orly on peak summer days, he said. On the other hand, the Olympic arrivals have expectations that are "different from those for which our infrastructure is designed". The canoeists, for example, will bring kayaks, there will be crates and crates of bicycles and unwieldy poles for pole vaulters. "There will be a volume of oversized luggage that is just not the one we usually have," Jerome Harnois, the top state official in charge of Paris' airports, said. Lost or misplaced equipment could mean competitors missing out on Olympic glory, and trigger a storm of negative publicity for the organisers and France as a whole. Access to the centre of Paris is also a concern. The upcoming extension of the Metro's line 14, which will link Orly to the centre of the capital and several key Olympic venues in Seine-Saint-Denis to the north of Paris, should help alleviate some pressure. On the other hand, a long-planned fast rail link between CDG and Paris will not be ready, leaving the often-derided RER B suburban train line as the alternative. Coach and bus traffic between the two airports will be strongly regulated "to avoid chaos", Duplay said.<br/>

Icelandair posted record profits off booming transatlantic travel in the second quarter. But the rest of the year may not be as rosy with CEO Bogi Nils Bogason warning of some weakness in Europe. Elevated levels of airline capacity — Play Airlines, anyone? — and economic challenges in some European markets are “putting some pressure on the revenue growth in the second half of the year,” Bogason said during Icelandair’s second-quarter earnings call on Friday. That weakness, for now at least, has yet to affect the carrier’s forecast of a 4-6% operating margin for the year. That margin target remains a very real possibility thanks to a strong first half of the year. In the second quarter, Icelandair reported a $21m operating profit — its highest quarterly profit since 2016 — and a 5% operating margin. Revenues increased more than a quarter year-over-year to $414m; costs were up only 19% and benefitted from a drop in fuel expenses. System capacity was up 17% from 2022 levels. Transatlantic air travel is booming this summer. Of the airlines that have reported numbers so far — American, Delta, and United — all have cited strong demand between North America and Europe. Delta and United have even extended some seasonal flying to Southern Europe, including Greece, Italy, and Portugal, into September and October in response to that demand. Icelandair, while not a large transatlantic player compared to the likes of Delta and United, has a unique view of the market given its geography. A plurality of its passengers in the second quarter, 41%, were transiting between Europe and North America over Keflavik. That compares to 39% of its passengers traveling to Iceland, the carrier’s next largest passenger segment. “History tells us that when costs are going up everywhere people start to spend less on some things. This is just what we have seen in the past. So we are expecting that the inflation will impact demand in the end,” Bogason said in May. That warning is coming to pass in the second half of the year.<br/>

Almost 100% of EasyJet's (EZJ.L) cabin staff in Portugal walked out for five days on Friday and the union threatens with more strikes in the coming months if the company keeps rejecting the raises they demand. EasyJet's cabin staff in Portugal, a popular European summer holiday destination, called a strike from July 21 to 25, the third so far this year, as the conflict with the company's management over wage hikes to offset the soaring cost of living escalates, said Ricardo Penarroias, the head of the SNPVAC union. Penarroias did not rule out more strikes in the coming months if the talks with the company do not progress. "We will see with the union member whether the strike would happen in August, September, October or at the end of the year," he told Reuters. He said "his fellow French, German and Swiss cabin staff, who earn between 70% and 100% more than the Portuguese, only got better wages after going on strike several times". Easyjet said it is "extremely disappointed the SNPVAC is planning new strike action," as it has proposed an average wage increase of 21% over the next three years, which it considers fair, and compares with the 44% demanded by the union. Penarroias did not confirm how much the union is demanding, but said that "the company's proposal is clearly insufficient". The chaos in the Portuguese airports was avoided on Friday, as the British airline cancelled 346 flights from and to the country ahead of the strike out of 508 it would normally have operated during the period.<br/>

Britain's easyJet said Sunday it was operating flights as normal to Rhodes but was closely monitoring the wildfires on the Greek island. "We advise customers travelling to and from Rhodes to check the status of their flights on Flight Tracker," it said. It said it was working to comply with the requests of the local authorities and is in contact with its customers there. In a later statement, easyJet said it will be operating two repatriation flights on Monday from Rhodes to Gatwick in addition to the nine flights which are already operating between the Greek island and Gatwick airport. The airline said it will also add another repatriation flight on Tuesday, and said, it will continue to keep under review if additional repatriation flights are needed.<br/>

Jet2 and Tui have cancelled all flights to Rhodes as wildfires continue to tear through the Greek holiday destination for a sixth consecutive day. The Jet2 planes were scheduled to depart from the East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted airports full of tourists bound for the Greek island. But the planes left emply and will instead be used to evacuate holidaymakers fleeing the blaze. Fire crews are now in a race against time to stop the fires from spreading further with 21mph (34kph) winds forecast for tomorrow. Thousands of tourists were forced to flee their hotels and images captured their dramatic evacuation off of beaches by a fleet of private boats while the fires raged in the background.<br/>

Nine were killed, including four military personnel, after a civilian plane crashed in Port Sudan airport due to a technical failure, the Sudanese army said on Sunday. The army added in a statement that a female child survived the crash. The Antonov plane malfunctioned as it was taking off before crashing, it added.<br/>

African operator Cabo Verde Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 Max, to support post-pandemic restoration of its network. The airline operates from hubs at Praia and Sal in the Cape Verde archipelago off the West African coast. CE Sara Pires says the Max 8 twinjet will enable the carrier to meet “growing travel demand” from the island nation. “With the addition of the [737 Max], we continue to expand our fleet to pre-pandemic levels,” she states. The aircraft, registered D4-CCJ, was flown from Victorville in California to Providence in Rhode Island on 18 July, before carrying out the transatlantic flight to Praia. According to the US embassy in Praia, the aircraft “symbolises the extraordinary resilience and revitalisation” of the carrier.<br/>

Iraq’s transportation ministry on Sunday announced that the country’s national airline is set to receive 31 “modern” planes and continue talks to lift the European ban on the airline. “The Ministry of Transportation signed a contract with Boeing and Airbus companies regarding the purchase of modern aircrafts … and 31 modern aircraft will enter service and be received sequentially until the end of 2027,” Maitham al-Safi, director of media and government communication, told state media. Safi added that the Iraqi Airways received four Boeing Max, five Airbus 220, and one Dreamliner aircrafts after the contracts were signed. One of the oldest airlines in the Middle East, Iraqi Airways has been prohibited from operating in European Union airspace over safety violations since 2015. Iraq has been seeking to lift the ban since. According to Safi, a committee headed by Transportation Minister Razaq al-Saadawi is holding meetings in order to lift the imposed European ban on the airlines. <br/>

Go Airlines (India) has received claims worth 240b rupees ($2.9b) from operational and financial creditors so far as part of the carrier's ongoing insolvency, two banking sources told Reuters. The process is in line with procedural requirements under Indian law which allow every creditor a right to payment and remedy by submitting claims if a company is under bankruptcy. Once the claims are filed, the resolution professional has to check its authenticity. "Claims from the lenders are around 50b rupees, while lessors' claims amount to 180b rupees so far," a banker with a state-run bank, who has exposure to Go Airlines said, after a meeting of the committee of creditors on Friday. The bankers did not wish to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Go Airline's resolution professional has yet to verify the veracity of the claims and did not immediately respond to a Reuters' email seeking comment. Go Airlines, which operated the Go First carrier, filed for bankruptcy protection in May blaming "faulty" Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its 54 Airbus A320neos. The Raytheon-owned engine maker has said the claims are without merit. The company earlier this month invited investor interest in the company through a court-appointed administrator. The last date to submit an expression of interest (EoI) is Aug. 9. "The airline has received 40 queries on EOIs from potential bidders, but no formal submissions have been made as yet," the second banker said. India's aviation regulator on Friday said Go Airlines could resume operations if it can meet certain conditions, including getting interim funding and approval of its flight schedule.<br/>

Pakistan International Airlines is likely to resume flights to Britain in the next three months, Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said on Friday, after services were suspended following a fake pilot scandal. Rafique told parliament that new legislation this week has removed the final hurdle for Pakistan's national carrier to fly to the United Kingdom. He gave no details about the legislation or why it was required to resume the flights. He said the resumption of services to Britain did not include other European destinations. "God willing, the PIA flights will resume at least to the UK in three months, and, later, flights to Europe and America will resume," he said. PIA flights to Europe and the UK were suspended after the European Union's Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) revoked the national carrier's authorisation to fly to the bloc in 2020 following a fake pilot licence scandal in the South Asian nation. The issue resulted in the grounding of 262 of Pakistan's 860 pilots, including 141 of PIA's 434. PIA spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said the national carrier was looking forward to the resumption of the UK route. "The UK and Europe contribute to 37% of our total revenue," he said. Rafuique said the national airline had incurred losses as a result of the a fake licence issue. He said it will need to be restructured and required billions of dollars in investment to avoid closure. He also said the government plans to outsource the country's airport operations, starting with Islamabad airport, and followed by operations at Karachi and Lahore airports.<br/>

Philippine Airlines confirms it is in talks to “secure additional aircraft”, in an effort to boost its network and fleet reliability amid the global supply chain crunch. The airline made the disclosure as it inducts an Airbus A321 to its fleet to operate domestic and regional routes. It is the first of several aircraft the company will receive in the coming months amid supply chain delays. The other aircraft include an A330 – configured to seat 363 passengers and operating medium-haul routes – as well as a de Havilland Dash 8-Q400, which PAL will use for domestic inter-island flights. It did not state what other aircraft it is looking to add to its fleet in the near term. “[PAL] is also actively engaged in coordinating with its suppliers and service partners to re-activate more aircraft that have been parked for extended periods while awaiting replacement engines and parts, as a consequence of delays in the global supply chain that afflict the worldwide airline industry,” the airline states. According to Cirium fleets data, PAL and its regional wing PAL Express have an in-service fleet of 62 aircraft, comprising A320s, A321s, A330s and A350s, Boeing 777-300ERs, as well as Dash 8s. The two airlines have 15 aircraft in storage and another 22 on order. PAL vice president for network planning Christoph Gaertner says the airline has also cut a number of frequencies “as part of a rationalisation of our schedules”, to boost operational reliability. We are taking various actions to boost our fleet count and enable us to meet the continuing surge in travel demand while minimising delays and cancellations.” <br/>