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Colombia's flag-carrier airline Avianca will invest $473m to grow its fleet by 16 aircraft as it looks to increase the number of routes on offer, CE Adrian Neuhauser said Thursday. Avianca will lease 14 Airbus A320 NEO planes and two A320 CEO planes to push its daily flights on domestic routes up by almost 25%, from 600 to 750. Neuhaser during a press conference in Colombia's Bogota called the increase of almost 1m weekly seats "unprecedented growth" in the airline's history. "The resources to finance the incorporation of these planes come from our available cash and additional debt that we take on leases," Neuhaser said. The 16 planes will join Avianca's fleet between October and the end of December, the executive said. Avianca's employee head count will grow by some 1,200, Neuhaser added. Some of the new hires will come from Viva Air, a now-defunct Colombian budget carrier Avianca had sought to buy before it backed out of the deal, citing conditions imposed by Colombia's civil aviation regulator.<br/>

The outrage sparked by a passenger incident involving a vomit-smeared airplane seat reflects a broader frustration with flight operations in Canada, travel specialists say. Meanwhile, the country's public health agency says it's investigating the recent episode. On Tuesday, Air Canada said it apologized to two passengers who were escorted off the plane by security after protesting that their seats were soiled — and still damp — ahead of an Aug. 26 flight from Las Vegas to Montreal. "They clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled," the airline said in a statement emailed to The Canadian Press. "Our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance." The Public Health Agency of Canada said it is in contact with Air Canada. It cited its mandate to ensure that anything brought into the country on conveyances ranging from planes to trains does not risk transmission of illnesses that can be spread via contact with bodily fluids. "Blood, vomit and diarrhea may contain micro-organisms that can cause disease. These fluids, and the surfaces that come in contact with them, should always be considered as contaminated," the agency said in a statement. John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says the aircraft never should have been dispatched, given the "biological hazard" on board. "What the heck are you doing?" he asked of the carrier. "Totally out to lunch." The outcry on social media sparked by the incident speaks to a degraded level of service perceived by Canadians after a year marred by frequent flight delays and lost luggage, said former Air Canada COO Duncan Dee. "People's patience is likely wearing thin," he said. "I think travellers can relate to those two travellers' experience out of Las Vegas because they feel they've had their travels disrupted to a much greater degree than prior to (the pandemic)."<br/>

Greek carrier Aegean Airlines expects to post record full-year profits for 2023 after disclosing pre-tax earnings for Q2 of E67.3m. That figure is a E50m jump on the E17.7m pre-tax profit Aegean made in Q2 of last year and was achieved on revenues up 37%, to E449.1m. Increased revenues during the quarter were driven by a 28% rise in passenger traffic, outpacing the 22% additional capacity added as load factors climbed three points to 82.6%. Aegean’s passenger levels increased to 4.1m from 3.2m in Q2 of last year. Net profit for the quarter of E51.5m was also markedly up on the E10.8m recorded for the same period last year. The strong Q2 contributed to a first-half pre-tax profit of E48.7m against a loss of E30.6m for the first six months of 2022. Aegean Airlines CE Dimitris Gerogiannis says: ”Our performance in H1 2023 confirmed the consistent implementation of our targets in an environment of strong demand and intense competition. ”We are presenting exceptionally strong results stemming from network expansion and increased capacity following new aircraft deliveries, while at the same time, cost discipline and continuous upgrade of our services and product further enhance our competitiveness.” The carrier plans to operate 10% and 15% more capacity in the third and four quarters, respectively, and is confident on improving its profitability for the full-year. ”Based on the strong performance in H1 2023 and Q3 available data, revenue per flight is expected to be at the same high levels of the already strong Q3 2022, while for the full year a significant improvement in profitability is expected versus the already strong FY 2022 results, thus reaching new historical highs,” the airline says. Aegean posted a full-year pre-tax profit of E141m and a net profit of E107m in 2022.<br/>

The former CE of Portuguese airline TAP, Christine Ourmieres-Widener, has filed a lawsuit in a Lisbon court to claim over E5.9m in compensation for being sacked last March amid a high-profile scandal. The justice ministry's portal Citius shows that the lawsuit was entered with the Central Civil Court of Lisbon on Sept. 5. Finance Minister Fernando Medina and Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba, who oversee the state-owned company, announced the sacking of the French CEO with just cause on March 6 in the wake of a scandal involving an irregular severance payment of 500,000 euros paid to a former board member. A month later, the former CEO told parliament her dismissal was illegal and that she had been made "a scapegoat" as the payment had been authorised by the Infrastructure Ministry, whose then head Pedro Nuno Santos resigned last December and later acknowledged he approved the compensation. The ministry and TAP declined to comment on the lawsuit. The government is currently preparing to privatise TAP, with bigger rivals Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways owner IAG laying the groundwork for potential bids.<br/>

Thai Airways is in talks with Boeing and Airbus on a potential order of more than 90 jets as it pursues restructuring and gears up for booming travel markets, industry sources told Reuters. The Thai flag carrier, which is in the midst of a bankruptcy protected debt restructuring, has previously indicated a need for 30 or more jets but its latest request for bids opens the door to as many as 95 aircraft, the sources said. These would include 15 narrow-body jets and up to 80 wide-bodies, the sources said, marking one of the largest orders for big jets from Southeast Asia in recent years. Sector experts say such large orders are typically spread out over a decade or so. Boeing and Airbus declined to comment on any commercial discussions with their customers. The airline said it was at the “very early stage” of exploring the market for various studies. It added that no decisions had been made on long-term strategies, “most particularly the fleet”, and no commitments had been made. In June CE Chai Eamsiri told Reuters that Thai Airways aimed to finalise a deal to buy 30 wide-body jets and an undisclosed number of narrow-bodies by the end of the year. The Southeast Asian carrier is looking to make the most of a post-pandemic travel boom by bolstering regional routes, but there have been concerns over the ability of planemakers Airbus and Boeing to ramp up output to meet surging demand. Thai Airways, which began the restructuring of debt worth 400b baht ($11.17b) in 2021, has a fleet of 20 Airbus A320 aircraft and has secured a dozen new A321neo jets on lease for delivery in 2025 and 2026. It also operates a mixed fleet of about 45 larger wide-body jets including the recent Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 and the older Boeing 777 and Airbus A330.<br/>