The three largest US airlines are pushing back until at least late October the resumption of many flights to China that they cut early during the Covid-19 pandemic. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines received authority from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to delay by another 90 days the resumption of nearly 100 weekly flights to China, according to regulatory documents released on 5 March. The US carriers hold DOT-issued approvals to fly specific routes to China, doing so under requirements laid out in the USA’s air transport treaty with China. The DOT can take back those approvals if carriers fail to operate the flights. Throughout the pandemic, the agency issued waivers in 90-day chunks permitting the US carriers to keep the flights grounded without the risk of losing the flight permissions. The DOT issued fresh waivers, which run through 26 October, in February. The US airlines had urged the DOT to act, saying demand for flights to China remains depressed. All three carriers still fly to China, but at much-reduced levels compared to before the pandemic. <br/>
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Swiss has named a new CFO and is adding a COO to its management board. The Zurich-based carrier said on 5 March that the expansion of the top executive body is “intended to give greater weighting to the company’s core activity”. Dennis Weber, currently head of investor relations at Lufthansa Group, will rise to the CFO post on 1 May, succeeding Markus Binkert, who is leaving the company at the end of that month. The newly-created COO role will be filled, also at the beginning of May, by Oliver Buchhofer, who is currently head of operations at Swiss as well as an Airbus A330 captain. “If we aim and aspire to be Europe’s leading premium airline, we must further strengthen our core activity,” says outgoing CE Dieter Vranckx. “Our daily operations are the heart of our company, and the stability of these is crucial to our customers. So we need to give these operations greater weighting within our overall executive management.”<br/>
Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines announced today an agreement for the East African airline to purchase eight 777-9 passenger airplanes and the potential for up to 12 additional jets. Ethiopian Airlines' selection of 777-9 jets positions the carrier as the first 777X customer in Africa and builds on its landmark 2023 order for 11 787 Dreamliner and 20 737 MAX airplanes to modernize and grow its fleet. "We are pleased to continue setting the trend in African aviation by adopting cutting-edge technologies to enhance our services and customer satisfaction. Improving our operational performance and commitment to environmental sustainability, the 777-9 offers more flexibility, reduced fuel consumption and carbon emissions," said Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mr. Mesfin Tasew. "We are grateful to Boeing for their long-standing partnership and support, and we eagerly anticipate flying the 777-9 across the African skies and beyond." Based on the 777 and with advanced technologies from the 787 Dreamliner family, the 777-9 features new carbon-fiber composite wings and engines that will enable the airplane to achieve 10% better fuel efficiency and operating costs than the competition. The 777-9 will support Ethiopian Airlines' plans to grow and renew its fleet in size, range and passenger and cargo capacity to reach high-demand markets in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.<br/>
Singapore's competition watchdog said on Tuesday it has approved the merger between Tata Group-owned Air India and sister airline Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), opens new tab, subject to certain conditions. Singapore's flagship carrier announced its plan to merge Vistara and Air India in November 2022, in a bid to create a dominant full-service airline in the domestic and international markets. While India's antitrust body approved the deal in September last year, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) had identified certain competition concerns regarding the merger. The watchdog said the parties possessed the majority of the market share among airlines operating direct flights on four routes of concern — between Singapore and Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Tiruchirapalli. To address the concerns raised by the watchdog, the parties have proposed to maintain capacity on the said flights at pre-COVID levels, appoint independent auditors to monitor compliance with capacity commitments and submit annual as well as interim reports. "CCCS considers the proposed commitments sufficient to address the competition concerns arising from the transactions," the watchdog said on Tuesday.<br/>
Four low-cost carriers have been shortlisted as suitable candidates to acquire the cargo division of full-fledged carrier Asiana Airlines, according to industry sources Tuesday. According to the sources, financial services firm UBS, tasked with selling Asiana Airlines' cargo division, has selected Jeju Air, Eastar Jet, Air Premia and cargo-focused Air Incheon as suitable candidates, and notified the companies of the decision earlier in the day. Asiana Airlines plans to sell its cargo division as part of conditions recently set by the European Union over the company's envisioned merger with industry leader Korean Air due to competition concerns. The budget air carriers submitted their preliminary bids for the deal last week. UBS and Korean Air plan to conduct due diligence on the companies to select a final preferred bidder.<br/>