Regional start-up carrier Bermudair launched its first flights from Bermuda to the East Coast of the USA on 1 September after being delayed by supply chain issues and then Hurricane Franklin. After receiving a water-cannon salute from Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, the carrier’s maiden flight took off from Bermuda’s LF Wade International airport 08:13 local time and touched down at Boston Logan International about two hours later, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. The carrier also completed a return flight to Bermuda, touching down shortly after 13:00 local time, and plans to operate flights to and from Westchester County airport near New York City later the same day. For the inaugural flights, Bermudair used one of its two Embraer 175s – both formerly operated by failed UK regional carrier Flybe. Carrying the registration VQ-BLW, the E175 was delivered new from Embraer in 2012 and is now owned by US lessor Azorra Aviation. It has logged 12,500 cycles and 14,100 hours, according to Cirium fleets data. Originally scheduled to launch on 24 August, Bermudair pushed back its service start due to supply chain issues that changed the company’s plans to configure its cabins in a 30-seat, 1-and-1 configuration. Now, the cabin configuration change is expected to be complete by 1 November. Until then, the carrier is selling just 44 of 88 available seats on each flight to give customers more space. The new “business-class short-haul airline” then planned to launch on 31 August but cancelled its first day of flights “in the wake of weather conditions associated with Hurricane Franklin”, according to Skyport, the management company overseeing LF Wade International. Bermudair’s flights to Boston and New York will initially be operated once daily, six days weekly, with plans to step up frequencies to twice daily, six days weekly on 15 September. The regional carrier also plans to launch flights from Bermuda to Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport on 22 September.<br/>
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Air Premia is stretching its wings in South Korea's crowded aviation field, carving a niche as an amalgam between a budget carrier and a full-service airline. Established in 2017, Air Premia was launched by the former president of low-cost carrier Jeju Air. During the pandemic, local private equity firm LC Partners took over the airline. In July last year, Air Premia started service on its first international route connecting Seoul's Incheon Airport and Singapore. The carrier has since added other connections to Ho Chi Minh City, Los Angeles and Tokyo's Narita airport. It started long-haul flights to New York in May and to Frankfurt in June. Revenue last year reached 53.1b won ($40m), making Air Premia South Korea's eighth-largest earner out of 11 carriers. "There is a growing likelihood that we will turn a profit this year," said Geum Chang-hyun, the head of Air Premia's passenger business division, told Nikkei. Air Premia's concept is staking a place between being a major carrier and a low-cost carrier (LCC). For two-hour flights to Tokyo from Seoul, for example, the crew offers passengers light meals. On long flights, passengers are treated to in-flight meals worthy of a full-service carrier. For economy-class seats, there are 35 inches (88.9 centimeters) between rows, providing extra room akin to a major carrier. Premium-economy seats have 42 inches of room. Air Premia's fleet consists entirely of the Boeing 787-9, a midsize jet with favorable fuel economy. This precludes the need for pilots and mechanics to obtain qualifications for multiple aircraft models. The greater flexibility in assigning personnel also keeps down operating costs. The Boeing 787-9 contains between 250 and 300 seats and is capable of flying from Seoul to New York. Air Premia currently leases the five planes in its fleet. The plan is to add more jets next year to accommodate the expansion of destination cities, with 15 total planes in operation by 2027. LCCs normally adopt narrow-body jets like the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320, which have between 150 to 200 seats. These planes are only capable of servicing flights as far as those connecting East Asia to Southeast Asia.<br/>
Low-cost carrier VietJet Air in the first seven months of the year carried 4.2m international travelers, 6.6 times the number from the year-earlier period and more than those who flew with state-run Vietnam Airlines. The privately owned budget airline chalked up the surge to the opening of new routes and the COVID-19 virus mutating into something manageable without social restrictions. According to figures from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, or CAAV, Vietnamese and overseas airlines flying to the country carried 17.63m international passengers in the seven months through July, 4.6 times more than in the year-earlier period. VietJet accounted for 24.1% of the total, about 5 percentage points ahead of second-ranked Vietnam Airlines. While international passenger growth was faster at VietJet than it was for Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways, it was slower than that at Pacific Airlines, a low-cost carrier affiliated with Vietnam Airlines. Pacific Airlines carried 8.3 times more passengers during the first seven months of the year than it did in the same months of 2022. Vietnam Airlines drew 4.3 times more customers and Bamboo Airways 3.3 times more. VietJet barreled ahead with its international expansion. It opened 11 new routes to Australia, India and Indonesia in the first six months of this year. By the end of June, it was serving 120 total routes. Of these, 75 were international. The LCC is also flying to more Japan destinations, seeing the country as "an important market with great growth potential," Executive Vice President Nguyen Thanh Son said. In July it inaugurated direct flights between Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's biggest city, and Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Next month VietJet plans to inaugurate direct flights between Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and Hiroshima Airport in western Japan. VietJet plans to operate 139,513 domestic and international flights this year, up about 20% from 2022.<br/>
An Indian court on Saturday decided that Jet Airways (JET.NS) founder Naresh Goyal will remain in India's financial crime agency's custody until Sept. 11, the agency said in a press statement. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigates financial crimes in India, arrested Goyal late on Friday. Jet Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Goyal hasn't commented publicly on the case in the past. The case relates to an alleged 5.38b Indian rupees ($65.06m) bank fraud case filed by state lender Canara Bank. The losses to a consortium of nine lenders is much larger, at 59.6b Indian rupees ($720.78m), ED said. The bank had filed a complaint in May against the airline, Goyal, his wife and a former airline director for "causing wrongful loss" to the lender. Goyal founded Jet Airways in 1992 but shut down operations in April 2019 after running out of cash. The airline was the second largest carrier in India by market share. In its statement the agency said that under Goyal's leadership the airline siphoned off funds to overseas entities in Dubai, Ireland and other tax havens including the British Virgin Islands. "(The) ED investigation revealed that in the garb of professional and consultancy fees, funds to the tune of 10b Indian rupees went towards the personal expenses of Naresh Goyal and his family members," the statement said.<br/>
Pakistan’s flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s appeal for a PKR 23b ($76m) bailout has been refused by the standing government. Yet another urgent appeal from the airline resulted in the government's direction to secure commercial bank loans instead. The government also suggested that the airline should develop a viable privatization plan that has been lingering for a long time. The airline officials recently met with Shamshad Akhtar, the interim finance minister of Pakistan, to inform them about the financial need the airline is facing. The airline showed a need for PKR 23b to rescue itself from growing losses. The finance minister instructed the airline that the government was prepared to provide a limited amount of PKR 13b ($43m) should the airline request commercial loans. In order to arrange bank loans, the airline must set up a restructuring plan for the airline. The operational areas that lead to financial losses must be reformed as part of the plan. Moreover, a viable privatization plan must be in place to guarantee commercial loans.<br/>
AirAsia marked the resumption of direct international flights to Kota Kinabalu (KK) from Hangzhou, China with a warm welcome for the first batch of arrivals after three years. Passengers on Flight AK1575 were greeted at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport by Sabah Tourism Board CEO Noredah Othman and senior tourism and airline officials, who surprised them with a traditional Sabah ethnic greeting yesterday. AirAsia will fly three times a week from KK to Hangzhou throughout September and is aiming to increase that frequency to four times a week from October this year to March next year, which is considered a peak travel period. AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said the resumption of the route reflected the low-cost carrier’s commitment to contributing to Sabah’s tourism industry. “We’ve always strived to uphold our commitment to contribute to Sabah’s booming tourism industry through our expanding network of flights in Asia and beyond,” he said in a statement. He said Sabah and China were both key markets for the airline.<br/>