German low-emission airline start-up Evia Aero is to join forces with Finnish airport specialist Redstone Aero to develop a 50MW solar farm at the latter’s Helsinki-East aerodrome site. In addition, Evia Aero will take an undisclosed stake in Redstone Aero and the Helsinki-East project. Evia Aero says the solar plant will be used to generate green electricity for charging electric aircraft, powering the airport itself, and supplying wider industry. In future, the partners also foresee the installation of charging stations for aircraft, buffer batteries for intermediate storage and the construction of small electrolysers to produce green hydrogen for use by fuel cell-powered aircraft. Bremen-based Evia Aero has both full-electric and fuel cell aircraft on order, with respective commitments for the Eviation Alice and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions hydrogen modification kits. After receiving a building permit and the construction of the grid connection, the project partners expect the solar plant to be operational within 24 months. Florian Kruse, Evia Aero CE, says: “Helsinki-East aerodrome is the first airport in Europe where we are implementing our sustainable value chain with our partner.” Helsinki-East is located around 60 miles (100km) northeast of the Finnish capital. Redstone sees it as “a hub for national aviation industry, unscheduled air traffic and future aerospace development”.<br/>
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Ryanair flew 12% more passengers in August than in the same month last year, it said on Monday, its latest all-time traffic record in what is typically its busiest month. Europe's largest airline by passenger volume said it flew 18.9m passengers in August, up from 16.9 million a year earlier and up from 14.9m in August 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It achieved its previous record, 18.7m passengers, in July. The Irish airline has said it expects traffic in the financial year to March 2024 to grow by 9%, to around 183.5m passengers. Analysts at Citi reiterated a 'buy' rating for the airline in a note following the release of the passenger data, saying it sees the airline as a "market share consolidator in Western Europe, with growth potential in Eastern Europe".<br/>
Israeli flag-carrier El Al, and other operators, have fended off a legal claim for damages over a security levy collected by the airlines as part of their fares. Two class-action claims filed with the central district court – one against El Al and a second against several Israeli airlines – had emerged in early 2018, and were subsequently consolidated. El Al says they centred on various allegations of “illegal collection” of the security levy, with the applicants estimating the extent of damage at 612m shekels ($161m). But the airline states that a 31 August judgement has rejected the claim, ruling that the security levy is “not a tax or a fee”. “It is a component of the price of the flight, and no limitations are imposed on its collection,” says El Al. El Al adds that the applicants have been ordered to pay the company’s expenses in relation to the legal claim.<br/>
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Monday said it allotted over 48m shares to nine aircraft lessors to clear outstanding dues worth 2.31b rupees (nearly $28m), as the troubled airline looks to return to full operations. The carrier's shareholders had on Thursday passed a number of resolutions, including a 25b rupees fundraise and a preferential issue of shares to lessors to clear outstanding dues. SpiceJet has been scrambling to raise funds and restore operations for about a fourth of its fleet that has been grounded amid fierce competition in the sector. The fund crunch and grounded fleet has eroded SpiceJet's market share to 4.2% as of July – lower than that of new entrant Akasa, which only began commercial operations in August 2022. SpiceJet, which in February converted around $100m in dues to aircraft lessor Carlyle Aviation into equity and debentures, still finds itself in legal battles with other lessors over dues. Moreover, two weeks back, an Indian court ordered the airline to pay $12m by Sept. 10 to former owner Kalanithi Maran over money owed. Two months back, SpiceJet's top shareholder and managing director, Ajay Singh, said he would infuse 5b rupees into the company.<br/>
Indian budget carrier IndiGo’s parent company, InterGlobe Aviation, is to order another 10 Airbus A320neo twinjets. It has also approved the establishment of a new wholly-owned subsidiary, located in Gujarat, which will focus on financing of aviation assets. The company envisions an investment of up to Rs300m ($3.6m) and the project will be completed within three years. InterGlobe states that the decisions follow a board meeting on 4 September. It says the additional aircraft will be part of a previous order for 300 Airbus jets, which was placed in October 2019. The agreement follows IndiGo’s unveiling of a landmark order for 500 A320neo-family jets during the Paris air show in June this year. InterGlobe says that the order has “yet to be signed”, and has not given any further details on delivery dates or engine selection. IndiGo has ordered 1,330 aircraft from Airbus of which 362 had been delivered by the end of July this year.<br/>
Financial institutions are not rushing to the aid of PIA - Pakistan International Airlines after the Pakistani government recently rejected its request for a PKR23b Pakistani rupee (US$74.8m) emergency bailout, instead directing the state-owned carrier to secure commercial bank loans against a partial government guarantee. Last week, ch-aviation reported on the decision of the caretaker government, which drew a line under a series of bailouts. Since then, local media reported that due to the country’s negative credit rating and the dependence on the central bank for foreign exchange, international financial institutions and lessors are steering clear of PIA. US agency Moody's has awarded Pakistan a Caa3 credit rating, and the country's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, can limit access to and the export of foreign currencies, leading to lenders and lessors fearing they will not get repaid. Media reports suggest several A320-200s and B777-200ER type aircraft may soon be grounded because of an inability to meet lease payments. Other aircraft are also out or going out of service because of an inability to pay for required spare parts. Reportedly, PIA owes US$2.5m in lease payments, while various airports are also owed money, including US$30m due to GA Havalimani Isletmesi A.S., operator of Istanbul Airport. Saudi airport authorities are also owed US$4.5m. In total, PIA is reported to be carrying debts of PKR750b (US$2.43b).<br/>
Capital A Berhad plans to more than double its fleet in Indonesia in the next three years to capture a growing tourism market after the COVID-19 pandemic, its chief executive Tony Fernandes said on Monday. AirAsia Indonesia, a unit of Capital A, currently has around 28 planes in its fleet. Fernandes told reporters on the sideline of an ASEAN business forum in Jakarta that he plans to grow the fleet to 75 by 2026, bringing in more wide-body aircrafts. Fernandes said that the main goal of the company after the pandemic has been to quickly grow its fleet as travel returns to normal levels. "I'm very excited and we want to do as much direct connectivity, we want to open routes that we haven't opened up before," Fernandes said, citing Indonesia's plans to develop destinations beyond the popular holiday island of Bali. Last year, Malaysia's AirAsia Group Bhd changed its name to Capital A Berhad to reflect its growing portfolio of businesses beyond the core budget airline. Fernandes stepped down as AirAsia X CEO in October 2022, but has been the CEO of its parent company since 2018. Asked about his estimate for passenger growth, he said: "We obviously think we can increase by about 300% from where we are now. So obviously, you have bigger planes and more capacity, the growth could be very exciting." AirAsia Indonesia recorded more than 1.5m passengers in the last quarter, according to the company's website. It operated 33 domestic and international routes as of the end of last year. Indonesia has seen a strong rebound in its tourism industry after the easing of all COVID-19 restrictions this year.<br/>
Australia is relying on two billion-dollar listings to save it from the worst year on record for initial public offerings. Companies have only raised about A$885m ($572m) through first-time share sales in the country so far in 2023, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This comes after 2022, which was itself the slowest year for IPOs down under since 2012, with just A$1.1b raised. The eerily quiet IPO market means bankers are pinning their hopes in airline Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd. and metals processor Molycop, which could raise A$2b in total should they proceed with their listing plans this year. While the duo have met prospective investors as part of their IPO preparations, it remains uncertain whether they will launch the deals before the end of 2023. “It’s been a really challenging year, we’ve seen a real drop off in activity,” Marcus Ohm, a partner at accounting firm HLB Mann Judd, said in an interview. “IPOs are expensive affairs so if you’re going to go down this path, you’ve got to be really confident you’ll have a successful bookbuild. For these larger companies it’s also a reputational issue if it all falls over.” Bain Capital, the owner of Virgin Australia, is closely watching the latest earnings season in Australia before rolling out more investor briefings for the IPO, the people said. Qantas, Virgin’s biggest domestic competitor, is buying more aircraft in a bid to keep pace with a post-pandemic travel boom that’s delivering record profits.<br/>