Air Canada has highlighted its environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities throughout 2022 and its ambitions for the future in its latest Citizens of the World sustainability report. The annual report focused on a number of environmental steps taken by the company in its 85th anniversary year, including a $5m (C$7m) agreement to purchase 30 ES-30 electric-hybrid regional aircraft from Heart Aerospace, when they have been developed. Canada’s flag-carrier airline also showcased its efforts to rebuild its network after the pandemic with 945 daily flights covering 185 direct destinations and more than 37m passengers in 2022. President and CEO Michael Rousseau said: “As Canada’s flag carrier, we connect Canada to the world, and we are acutely aware of the responsibility we have toward the communities we fly to and our planet. “We have developed corporate priorities to improve our operations while caring for our customers, our employees and our communities, as well as preserving the planet we help people explore.” As well as the purchase agreement of the hybrid-electric aircraft, Air Canada also partnered with carbon offsetting company Chooose to allow customers to see the environmental impact of their flight and pay extra to “offset” the carbon created. The airline also recruited eight of its corporate accounts to the Leave Less Travel Program, which offers a similar service, although the idea of carbon offsetting remains controversial due to disagreement over its effectiveness as a sustainability practice. <br/>
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SAS plans to ramp-up winter capacity this year, the company said on Friday as it posted its first quarterly pretax profit since late 2019, aided by lower fuel costs, higher ticket prices and strong demand. The airline, which has been under bankruptcy protection since July 2022, swung to a pretax profit of 457m Swedish crowns ($42m) in its third quarter to July 31 from a 1.99b crowns loss a year earlier. "We still have a lot of work ahead of us with our transformation to secure long-term competitiveness, but I consider this a clear sign that we are on the right track," CEO Anko van der Werff said. "We continue our ramp-up and will increase capacity this winter ... We also noted strong ticket sales throughout the third quarter, indicating a healthy underlying demand for travel despite a more uncertain economic outlook," van der Werff added, without giving any specific details of planned capacity increases. The third quarter, covering much of the Nordic summer, is usually one of the airline's most profitable periods, along with its August to October fourth quarter. Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said the earnings were roughly 1000m crowns better than his expectations of 326m, due to less currency impact than he had expected.<br/>
Turkish Airlines has ordered ten incremental A350-900s from Airbus with deliveries scheduled in 2025-2027, the carrier said in a stock market filing. Turkish Airlines already operates fourteen A350-900s and has a further 12 due from the manufacturer, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. Six of its A350s were originally slated for Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) but were picked up by Turkish Airlines in May 2022 once Western sanctions halted deliveries to Russia. The Turkish flag carrier is nearing a much-hyped mega-order for up to 600 aircraft, including 200 widebodies.<br/>
Cairo and São Paulo will have weekly nonstop flights starting in December by EgyptAir, which began operations at Guarulhos Airport this Sunday. Until December, flights will be biweekly, departing from Cairo on Saturday evenings and from São Paulo at 4:00 a.m. on Mondays. The flights are chartered and operated by the company Egypt Flights (a subsidiary of Master Flights), which this Sunday presented the details of the operation in Guarulhos. According to the commercial director of Master Flights, Marlene de Sousa, regular scheduled flights announced in recent months have already increased demand from passengers and companies for the nonstop flights between the two cities. “I have no doubt it will impact the trade relationship between the countries. This is already happening because companies with employees in the technology sector working with Egyptian clients have already contacted us and shown interest in this flight. I think culture and leisure tourism will continue to be the main pattern of the route; still, business tourism also gains opportunities,” said Sousa. She stated that, until today, the shortest routes between São Paulo and Cairo could not be made in less than 19 hours with connections. Now, the trip takes 12:30 hours nonstop. <br/>
An Ethiopian Airlines flight risked a rare landing during a super typhoon, becoming the only plane to touch down at Hong Kong airport on Friday evening as strong winds buffeted the city. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner successfully landed at 5:06 p.m. local time, almost three hours after the last previous passenger plane descended into the city. No other planes were departing from Hong Kong or Shenzhen at the time. The Ethiopian Airlines flight’s approach was tracked by 6,400 people worldwide on FlightRadar24, making it the most followed plane in the sky globally at the time. The 787 landed on a wet runway with significant wind shear and moderate turbulence forecast on the landing phase of the flight with 32 knots of crosswind, according to the airport weather information system. About 460 flights in total have been canceled on Friday, according to the local airport authority. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., the city’s flag carrier, halted all Hong Kong flights from 2 p.m. Friday until 10 a.m. Saturday. Most public transport has been suspended in the city. Super Typhoon Saola had maximum sustained winds of 210 km (130 miles) per hour near the center, and was 110 km east-southeast of the financial hub at 5 p.m., according to the observatory. It’s set to be the strongest storm to hit the city in at least five years.<br/>
India's antitrust body on Friday approved the merger of Tata group-owned Air India with sister airline Vistara, subject to compliance with voluntary commitments made by the carriers. The approval comes amid growing concerns within the industry about a duopoly, with a merged Air India-Vistara and IndiGo controlling more than 75% of the domestic market, while smaller rivals such as SpiceJet and Go First struggle. Tata said in November it was merging its two full-service carriers Air India and Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines, to create a bigger airline that will take on local rivals such as IndiGo and Middle Eastern carriers that dominate outbound traffic from India. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had flagged that on some routes and categories - such as business class travel - the merged entity could have a monopoly, raising competition concerns, sources previously told Reuters. Reuters reported last month that Air India CE Campbell Wilson had held talks with India's antitrust head on the merger, weeks after the watchdog raised concerns about potential market domination. The regulator on Friday approved the proposed deal, "subject to compliance of voluntary commitments offered by the parties," but did not elaborate on the voluntary commitments made by the airlines.<br/>