unaligned

Fresh off expanding its network on the East Coast of the USA, start-up regional carrier BermudAir has signalled its intention to launch flights to two eastern Canadian cities this summer. The Bermuda-based carrier said on 28 March that it would fly its Embraer 175s to Toronto and Halifax starting on 17 May and 25 May, respectively, “marking a significant milestone in the airline’s growth”. ”There has been strong demand for travel between Bermuda and Canada and we’re proud to continue delivering on our commitment to provide additional connectivity with these new routes,” says CE Adam Scott. The round-trip Bermuda-Toronto route will operate three times weekly, while Bermudair will fly to Nova Scotia’s capital once weekly. BermudAir identifies Toronto and Halifax as “underserved”. ”This strategic expansion addresses the increasing demand for direct flights between Bermuda and these prominent Canadian cities, underscoring BermudAir’s dedication to enhancing travel options for both leisure and business travellers,” it says. BermudAir launched passenger service in September, beginning with flights to Westchester, New York, Boston and Fort Lauderdale. It recently expanded to Baltimore and Orlando. <br/>

Start-up carrier Canada Jetlines is exploring potentially listing on the US stock exchange. Pressed on the matter by a shareholder during the company’s quarterly earnings call on 28 March, executives emphasised that “nothing has been finalised”, while acknowledging the company had explored entering “more liquid markets” within the next six to eight months. “We haven’t come to a final decision,” says CE Eddy Doyle. “We are exploring the benefits and the costs of it.” Canada Jetlines is currently traded on Cboe Canada, formerly known as the NEO exchange. Last year, the company said it “will need to raise additional capital to support its business plan”.The start-up reports losing C$11.5m ($8.5m) in 2023, its first full year of operation, compared with a C$13.4m loss in 2022. It generated C$37.2m of revenue for the full year, up from C$3.2m during its partial year of operations in 2022. The majority of Canada Jetlines’ 2023 revenue was generated from charter and ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) flying for companies, the Canadian government, cruise lines and sports teams.<br/>

Canadian operator Lynx Air has reached a formal agreement with Boeing to cancel a large aircraft purchase deal, following the airline’s cessation of operations in February. The original deal dates back to October 2015 and covered the purchase of 40 aircraft plus the lease of six more. According to court filings in Alberta, following Lynx Air’s halting of services, the airline had received nine aircraft – all Boeing 737 Max 8s – and had been awaiting another 31. Lynx Air had proposed a sale and investment solicitation, which the court approved in March, aiming to sell the airline’s remaining valuable assets including the rights to the Boeing aircraft deal. The Boeing purchase agreement has “considerable value” in the aviation market, says a 28 February affidavit filed by Michael Woodward, who is overseeing Lynx Air’s finances. But a subsequent court filing on 26 March states that the purchase agreement has a “unique nature” which would make marketing the deal “exceedingly difficult or impossible”. Boeing also had “reasonable and legitimate concerns” over protecting its commercial interests, the filing adds. Given that the proposed sale process had a short time window, Lynx Air and Boeing began negotiating a consensual termination of the aircraft purchase agreement. The two sides reached a deal on 21 March.<br/>

Brazil’s Azul increased Q4 revenue and profit in 2023, as it tapped into new markets while keeping costs in check. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at the Sao Paulo-based carrier climbed a third to reach R1.47b ($290m) in Q4, the company said. For the full year 2023, Azul EBITDA rose 61% to R5.2b – a figure that the company hopes to increase to “around R6.5b” in 2024. “Azul continues to be unique,” says CE John Rodgerson. “Our broad network serves 160 destinations, roughly 100 more than anyone else, enabled by a flexible fleet which allows us to access demand that was never explored before. These structural competitive advantages have only grown over time as we stay true to our business model.” Net profit during Q4 jumped to R403m, up almost 75% from 231m in the same quarter in 2022. For the full year 2023, the company halved its unadjusted net loss to R700m as fuel prices fell and it earned less from derivative financial instruments than in 2022.<br/>

Restructuring Brazilian low-cost carrier Gol swung to a net loss of R1.1b ($221m) in Q4, the first results it has disclosed since entering bankruptcy protection in January. The loss compared to a net profit of R231m for the same period in 2022 and reflects the R1.1b impact of foreign exchange losses and other one-off items during Q4. By contrast, Gol reported a near-doubling of profits at an operating level, posting earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the last three months of 2023 of almost R1.2b. Gol boosted revenues almost 7% to R5b in Q4, on passenger levels broadly flat at 7.8m. Load factor climbed almost four points to 84%. The revenue performance was set against a 6% cut in operating costs during the quarter to R3.86b.<br/>

Norse Atlantic Airways will add Las Vegas to its US map in September, amid a network shift to boost profitability. The Oslo-based long-haul, low-cost carrier will connect Las Vegas and London Gatwick airport thrice weekly with a Boeing 787 from 12 September. Norse will compete with British Airways on the Gatwick-Las Vegas route, and with both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic between London Heathrow and Las Vegas, Cirium data show. The addition of Las Vegas comes as Norse struggles. The airline lost $56.9m at an operating level in Q4, and $135m in 2023. It appointed investment firm Seabury in January to explore “strategic options,” including attracting new investors or forging new commercial partnerships. The focus on profitability has brought changes to Norse’s US map. Gone are Boston, Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles, which it served last summer. Norse’s four remaining US destinations are Los Angeles, Miami (it shifted there from Fort Lauderdale in September 2023), New York John F Kennedy and Orlando. Norse will fly 14% more capacity (in available seat miles) to the US in Q3 than it did a year ago, the data shows. That includes more frequency to its four gateways, as well as new flights between Athens and New York JFK, and Paris Charles de Gaulle and Los Angeles. The addition of Las Vegas, a strong year-round leisure market, will provide Norse with a market to deploy its aircraft during the lower-demand winter period. Norse plans to operate 12 787s next summer, two more than last year. The airline has 15 aircraft in its fleet with five subleased to other operators; two of those five are due back this spring.<br/>

Wizz Air Holdings Plc’s top executive expects the number of aircraft grounded due to flaws with Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan engines will take another six to 12 months to reach their peak, later than the turbine’s manufacturer has projected. RTX Corp.’s Pratt unit has been overwhelmed by the volume of engines coming in for repairs, Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi said Thursday in an interview. Roughly 20% of Wizz’s fleet is parked as the turbines undergo inspections and fixes, with wait times of about 300 days until they can be reinstalled on an aircraft, the high end of what RTX has forecast. RTX is recalling about 3,000 geared turbofan engines to address components made with contaminated metal powder at risk of failing prematurely. Turbines must be removed from aircraft for inspections and repairs, which the manufacturer has said will idle hundreds of Airbus SE A320-family aircraft over the next few years. In a statement, RTX said it continues to expect global groundings over the issue to crest in the first half of 2024. “I think that’s a bit of wishful thinking,” Varadi said. “We’re still right in the middle of all of that.” RTX said fewer jets will be parked than the maximum of about 650 it had estimated last fall, in part due to the timing of directives from regulators mandating the inspections and repairs. The company also said it is boosting capacity of its factories and repair shops to handle the added workload. Although Wizz expects no more than 20% of its fleet to be parked at a given time, capacity going into this summer’s busy travel season will be flat compared to a year ago, Varadi said. The budget airline has mitigated the problem through wet-leases, extending leases on older aircraft and taking new plane deliveries.<br/>

Airline and tour operator Jet2 is launching flights from Liverpool to 20 different holiday destinations. The first flight jetted off from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Tenerife at 08:00 GMT. A fleet of four aircraft will fly customers to destinations including Alicante, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Greece and Cyprus. Airport CE John Irving said it was the biggest development for the airport in 20 years. "It's big for us, it's big for the region," he said. "Its a ground-breaking moment akin to what happened 20 years ago when Easyjet came here." He said the airport was now able to offer "much more choice for our passengers" and the arrival of the tour operator had "set us up for the future".<br/>

Cypriot-based Tus Airways’ ownership has been equally split three ways, following completion of an investment transaction by a third party. Tus Airways had previously been owned by Global Knafaim Leasing and US entrepreneur Kenneth Woolley, with Woolley holding a stake of slightly over 50%. But Global Knafaim states that a 26 March transaction, which included third-party investment of $3m, has resulted in the three partners’ each having an equal one-third share in the airline. While Global Knafaim has not named the investor, Tus Airways had previously disclosed in January that it was entering an investment partnership with Holiday Lines Group, which is linked to Greek carrier Bluebird Airways. Completion of the transaction follows an extension of the deadline – to 31 March – for various conditions to be fulfilled. Global Knafaim had stated that it expected Cypriot transport authority approval by this date, but that it was still awaiting Cypriot and Israeli regulatory clearance. Both Global Knafaim and Woolley have provided a number of loans to Tus, including financial support during the Israel-Gaza conflict and a bridging loan until the investment transaction was finalised.<br/>

United Arab Emirates carrier Flydubai is preparing to become the first airline to operate international services to the new Red Sea airport in Saudi Arabia. Flydubai is opening the route as part of a Saudi expansion which includes restoring services to Al Jouf. Both destinations will be served twice-weekly from 18 April. “This underscores our commitment to opening up underserved markets and further connecting the regions we operate to via Dubai’s aviation hub,” says Flydubai’s senior vice-president for commercial operations in the Gulf Co-operational Council, Sudhir Sreedharan.<br/>Flydubai operates a fleet of Boeing 737s. Red Sea international airport opened last year with initial flights conducted by Saudia. The airport is part of an ambitious resort development by Red Sea Global. The developer says Flydubai’s international service will complement the domestic links of Saudia, and bring the number of weekly Red Sea flights to eight. Red Sea Global group chief John Pagano says the airport will serve 1m annual passengers at full capacity.<br/>

Typically, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight attendants who arrive in Toronto stay at a hotel overnight, meet back up with their crew the next day and then fly to their next destination. But increasingly often, PIA attendants aren't showing up, the airline says. According to PIA, at least eight flight attendants disappeared over the last year and a half. They have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says. Abdullah Hafeez Khan said at least eight flight attendants "have gone missing" after flying to Pearson International Airport in Toronto. He said these incidents have been happening over the last 10 years, but are now occurring more frequently. "Since probably October of 2022, the number of the people that have opted asylum has increased tremendously," Khan said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca from Karachi, Pakistan, where the airline is based. "None of those crew members that disappeared in the last one-and-a-half years have come back. So they were granted asylum for one way or the other, and that probably has encouraged others to do so." The missing employees were fired immediately and lost their company benefits, Khan said.Khan said he could only speculate as to why the flight attendants would flee. The Canadian government underscored the volatile situation in Pakistan, warning in a travel advisory of a "high threat of terrorism," along with threats of civil unrest, sectarian violence and kidnapping. "The security situation is fragile and unpredictable," the Canadian travel advisory reads. "Incidents are typically attributed to extremism, ethnic divisions, sectarian strife, regional political disputes and the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan."<br/>

Asia-Pacific airlines have beefed up their route networks amid robust travel demand, with AirAsia, Jetstar Asia, Korean Air, and Tigerair Taiwan launching new routes. Low-cost carrier AirAsia Malaysia plans to resume its service between Kuala Lumpur and Vientiane in Laos from 2 July, which it claims will make it the only carrier to offer direct services to all 10 countries in the ASEAN – Association of Southeast Asian Nations – grouping. The airline will operate the service twice weekly. “We have not only made travel accessible for millions in ASEAN but also contributed significantly to the economies of these nations,” says AirAsia Aviation Group CE Bo Lingam. “As an ASEAN airline, we will continue to champion its integration through the continued support of the ASEAN open skies policy to increase regional and domestic connectivity and enhance ASEAN trade opportunities through the liberalisation of air travel under the single, unified air transport market.” Another AirAsia unit, Thai AirAsia, has taken advantage of visa-free travel between China and Thailand with a new daily Bangkok Don Mueang-Beijing service, it’s 12th destination in China. The carrier adds that for the first two months of 2024 it has enjoyed 93% load factors on its China network. AirAsia’s long-haul, low-cost affiliate, AirAsia X, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan Tourism to collaborate on partnerships that promote tourism between Malaysia and the central Asian nation. The MOU follows the airline’s launch of a four-times-weekly service between Kuala Lumpur and Almaty.<br/>