unaligned

Spirit Airlines is offering voluntary exit packages to salaried employees, the budget carrier’s latest cost-cutting measure as it expects financial strains to continue next year. The airline has been facing weak off-peak demand and last month said it will have to ground an average of 26 Airbus A320neo aircraft for inspections of engines made by RTX unit Pratt & Whitney after that company disclosed a manufacturing defect in August, straining its capacity. “The last few months have been a testament to our resilience and dedication as a company, but we must return to profitability, which will require a series of tough decisions,” CEO Ted Christie said in a staff memo on Wednesday, which was seen by CNBC. The airline had already paused training for new pilots and flight attendants, CNBC reported last month. It has also restricted expense budgets and tweaked its network, including a plan to exit Denver. “Now, we’re taking the next difficult step – enacting an Early Voluntary Out program for salaried Team Members,” Christie wrote in the memo. The company had a similar plan during the height of Covid pandemic. “Based on the success of that plan, we’re implementing a similar set of opportunities to help us right-size our organization for our current fleet and business constraints.” JetBlue Airways is in the process of trying to acquire Spirit, a deal the Justice Department has already sued to block with a trial that’s set to wrap up in the coming days in Boston.<br/>

Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, is hiring advisers for a long-delayed initial public offering in London and at home, aiming for Q1 of next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. UK defense firm BAE Systems Plc and Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund — the airline’s shareholders — plan to reduce their combined ownership to about 50%, and Air Astana will also sell new shares, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is not public. BAE owns 49% of Air Astana, and Samruk-Kazyna controls the remaining 51%. The company has started pitching the planned share sale to would-be investors, they said. To ensure the airline keeps its preferential status as the national carrier, the sale will be structured to keep control in the hands of Kazakh citizens or entities, the people said, without providing further details. Air Astana could potentially fetch a valuation of roughly $1b based on preliminary estimates, though that number is subject to revision, the people said. The timing of sale will depend on market conditions. The deal, if it goes ahead, would be the first sale of a state-run Kazakh company in London since the 2018 IPO of Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium miner. The government has long planned to offer some of its stakes in companies but postponed most of the sales amid market turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In September, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered the government to sell shares in Air Astana next year.<br/>

The UK's first all-electric airline has signed a deal for 70 new aircraft engines, which it claims will fly with zero carbon emissions. Ecojet was started in July by Dale Vince, an entrepreneur who founded the renewable energy firm Ecotricity in Stroud. He aimed to offer zero emission flights by 2026, subject to approval from aviation regulators. Vince said: "We don't have to give up flying to live a green lifestyle." The hydrogen-electric engines are made by ZeroAvia, a new firm which is testing the technology at the Cotswold Airport, near Kemble in Gloucestershire. They work by using hydrogen to generate electricity in the air, which then powers propellers to fly the aircraft. So far, 10 successful test flights have been carried out by a small aircraft, which could carry up to 20 passengers. The only emission from the aircraft itself is water. But scientists have pointed out that making hydrogen itself can create carbon emissions, unless renewable electricity is used. Nonetheless, the company is claiming their technology would enable "zero emission flying". Ecojet is leasing conventional small aircraft, which carry up to 20 passengers, initially fuelled by kerosene.<br/>

The head of Dubai's Emirates has urged Rolls-Royce to go "back to basics" and focus on the performance of its engines, a day after the British firm laid out plans to quadruple profits. Shares in the engine maker rose after CEO Tufan Erginbilgic unveiled a strategy on Tuesday to revive its fortunes including a sharp increase in profit margins and "value-driven pricing," suggesting higher servicing bills. But Emirates Airline President Tim Clark, who criticised Rolls over pricing and the performance of its largest engine at this month's Dubai Airshow, appeared unswayed by the plans which rely on sharply increasing civil engine profit margins to 15-17%. "If you have an engine ... not performing as it should do, your costs are going to rise. But your ability to extract value from the client is going to fall simply because the client won't accept non-performance," he told Reuters, referring to the costs borne by engine makers due to service contracts per flight hour. "It's a very clear kindergarten understanding of cause and effect. Get your product right, design it to what the client wants, give it that high level of reliability. And yes, paradoxically, you can extract more value for your money for your buck in terms of your investment." At this month's air show, Clark ruled out an immediate deal to buy Airbus A350-1000 jets, the larger of two models, blaming a dispute with Rolls over the poorer-than-expected durability of its engines, coupled with pressure for higher servicing prices.<br/>

Israeli leisure carrier Israir Group has suspended plans to introduce another pair of Airbus A320s next year, as a result of the Gaza conflict. The airline has been operating six A320s this year – two owned and four on long-term dry lease – and it tentatively agreed in August to dry-lease another pair. These twinjets were due to arrive in the second half of 2024, following a memorandum of understanding reached with a foreign company. But the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in early October has disrupted the airline’s operations. Israir Group states, in a Q3 briefing, that it has decided “not to advance” to a binding agreement following discussions with the lessor at the end of November. The airline intends to wait until the conflict ends, and reassess the market, before seeking a new dry-lease deal. Under an agreement reached last year the airline had also been wet-leasing three aircraft – an A320 and a pair of Boeing 737-800s – over the course of 2023. But it says these returned to their operator shortly after the conflict began because their foreign crews asked to leave Israel.<br/>

Gulf carrier Etihad Airways is return the Airbus A380 to one of its Abu Dhabi-New York rotations next summer, marking its restoration of services with the ultra-large jet on a second route. Etihad resumed A380-operated flights on its London Heathrow route in July for the first time in more than three years. The carrier had flown 10 A380s before the pandemic, but late last year announced plans to bring four of the aircraft back amid industry-wide aircraft capacity challenges. Earlier this month it brought its third A380 back into service, all of which are deployed on the Heathrow service. The airline has now announced plans to begin using the type on one of its double-daily flights to New York JFK from 22 April. Cirium schedules data shows Etihad had previously used A380s on the service prior to the pandemic. It currently deploys Airbus A350s and Boeing 787-9s on the route and will continue to use Dreamliners for the additional rotation. Etihad CE Antonoaldo Neves says: “Putting the A380 on the popular New York route makes sense as we satisfy customer demand for more capacity, further growing our expanding network. The fact that our new route to Boston, Etihad’s fourth US gateway, will open on 31 March, three weeks before our A380 starts flying to New York, underlines our ambitious growth plans.”<br/>

Avia Solutions Group is establishing a new airline operating in Thailand, extending the presence of its BBN Airlines brand following its creation of an Indonesian division. The new operator, BBN Airlines Thailand, is intending to offer wet-lease and passenger charter activity to customers in the region. It will use a fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 jets, aiming to have four by the end of next year before increasing to 16 in 2025. BBN Airlines Thailand is applying for an operating licence and air operator’s certificate which it hopes to secure in October next year, says Avia Solutions Group. Avia Solutions set up BBN Airlines Indonesia last year, and chair Martynas Grigas will hold the same position at the new carrier. He says the Asia-Pacific region is “steadily progressing” with its post-pandemic recovery and establishment of the new Thai division takes place at “a favourable moment”. “We are going to offer fully-customised [wet-lease] solutions with operational and technical assistance,” he adds. Avia Solutions intends to continue expanding in the Asia-Pacific market, says CE Jonas Janukenas, stating that it plans to have five airlines by the end of 2024. It already has multiple operations – among them SmartLynx, Avion Express, Bluebird Nordic and KlasJet – and a global fleet of almost 200 aircraft.<br/>

Alii Palau Airlines (Koror) has commenced operations using an A320-200N chartered from Drukair. The startup used the aircraft to operate a Singapore Changi-Koror roundtrip on November 23 and said it intends to expand both its network and mode of operation. The once-weekly flights (stepping up to twice weekly from December 21) provide the only direct link between Koror and Singapore. Alii Palau Airlines Managing Partner Akanksha Johr said the service was "a gamechanger", tapping into the Changi hub and facilitating one-stop options for most travellers to the island. Flightradar24 ADS-B data confirms that A320-200N A5-JKW (msn 9595) conducted the Singapore-Koror flight on the morning of November 23 before resuming Drukair's own scheduled operations. Alii Palau has yet to secure its air operator's certificate and, in the meantime, will rely on the capacity provided by the Bhutanese carrier. A spokesperson tempered reports in other outlets suggesting the airline was set to make an aircraft acquisition decision in Q1 2024, telling ch-aviation there were no immediate plans to acquire aircraft. However, the spokesperson did say Alli Palau was examining how it can expand the network to reach Japan, Korea, Yap, and Pohnpei. "These studies will take time as it’s technically challenging to operate in the Western Pacific," the spokesperson said. Koror Airport, the primary gateway to Palau, is served by six scheduled passenger airlines but typically has just a handful of daily arrivals and departures.<br/>