unaligned

Frontier Airlines has revived its codeshare partnership with Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Volaris in a move that both carriers believe will expand their respective horizons. Denver-based Frontier said on 8 May that its customers can now book tickets under the codeshare arrangement on flights between Mexico and the USA that depart on and after 16 May. ”Frontier customers will be able to book both nonstop Volaris and connecting Frontier/Volaris itineraries, depending on route availability,” the carrier says. CE Barry Biffle says Frontier is “thrilled to resume codesharing with Volaris, which will provide Frontier customers the ability to easily and conveniently book travel to a huge array of exciting destinations in Mexico”. Based in Mexico City, Volaris flies to such popular vacation destinations as Cancun, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, among others. It flies to 44 cities in Mexico and 29 in the USA. The pair of ULCCs first formed a codeshare partnership in 2018, and Volaris has kept the agreement active ever since. But the Federal Aviation Administration downgraded Mexico’s safety status to Category 2 from Category 1 in May 2021, hindering US airlines’ ability to market and sell tickets on Mexican carriers via codeshares. Mexico regained its category 1 safety status with the FAA in September 2023. “We are very excited with Frontier Airlines’ reignition of our codeshare partnership,” says Enrique Beltranena, Volaris CE. <br/>

Preliminary figures from Virgin Atlantic’s transatlantic Boeing 787-9 flight using 100% wholly-sustainable fuel indicate that it cut carbon and particulate emissions by 64% and 40% respectively, based on a lifecycle analysis. The flight, from London Heathrow to New York JFK on 28 November last year, also resulted in a 1% improvement in fuel-burn efficiency, with the sustainable fuel delivering more energy compared with the same mass of fossil fuel. “We have demonstrated that it can be done,” said Virgin Atlantic CE Shai Weiss, as the carrier and the consortium of partners involved in the flight disclosed initial findings. “Sustainable aviation fuel is a safe drop-in replacement for fossil fuel and can be used with today’s infrastructure.” The carrier says the release of initial results will be followed by a technical “deep dive” on 3 June to analyse the effort more closely and share information. Virgin Atlantic adds that the flight saved 2.2t of fuel – about 4% of its overall fuel-burn – through operational efficiencies including direct routing and reduced taxi time, lowering emissions. But Weiss says that the benefits of sustainable aviation fuel will only have a significant influence if production is scaled up by a factor of 100, in order to meet targets of 10% SAF use by 2030. “We must now see urgent action from government, oil majors and private capital to invest in the production capacity needed to deliver a thriving UK SAF industry,” he states. The flight was a “pivotal moment”, adds Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson, but “not a silver bullet”.<br/>

The post-pandemic travel rush has seen leisure passengers snap up expensive seats in the front of the cabin, cushioning a shortfall in corporate travel. As Emirates overhauls its aircraft interiors, the carrier is seizing on that trend by scaling back the economy section on some planes. The airline said this week that the makeover of its Boeing Co. widebody aircraft will feature a larger premium-economy cabin with 24 seats, doing away with standard 50 economy seats in order to make room for the more exclusive section. Speaking in an interview in Dubai, Emirates CCO Adnan Kazim said the pattern of leisure passengers upgrading has firmly taken hold, prompting the revised layout. “The demand that we’re seeing on premium is even stronger compared to economy,” Kazim said. “People are now used to using premium, not only for business, which is a new pattern coming in.” Emirates typically offers three- and four-class layouts on its fleet, which predominantly consists of the Airbus SE A380 and the Boeing 777 jets. The cabin upgrades seek to extend the lifespan of those models, given Airbus has stopped making the giant double-decker and as Boeing remains years behind introducing the new 777X. While demand in recent years has been generally solid, Emirates has adjusted capacity into China by downgrading from the larger A380 super-jumbos to the smaller 777, Kazim said. That’s because policies on travel within China and the conflict in the Middle East weighed on travel from the Asian nation toward the end of last year, he said, More recently, demand to and from China has made a comeback, and the carrier is considering returning to higher capacity on those routes, Kazim said. <br/>

Air India’s budget airline cancelled dozens of flights after hundreds of cabin crew called in sick, marking the latest staffing crisis to hit the flag carrier bought by conglomerate Tata Sons in 2022. The airline had to delay or cancel 87 flights on Wednesday after about 300 of the carrier’s roughly 2,600 cabin crew called in sick on Tuesday evening, according to a person familiar with the matter. “The airline didn’t have time to react,” the person said, adding that management was unable to contact the absent crew after they switched off their mobile phones. The mass sick leave comes as staff call for better working conditions at Air India. A spokesperson for Air India Express said: “While we are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences, our teams are actively addressing this issue to minimise any inconvenience caused to our guests.” The staffing turmoil is the latest blow to Tata’s attempts to consolidate its aviation business and turn around lossmaking Air India after the conglomerate purchased the debt-laden national carrier back from the government. Since then, Tata has announced plans to merge Vistara, its premium carrier co-owned by Singapore Airlines, with Air India and merge Air India Express with AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India. It is also purchasing new aircraft to overhaul its old fleet. Last month, pilots at Vistara called in sick, complaining of fatigue and poor pay. It caused the airline to scale back flights and prompted calls for solidarity from Air India colleagues who said Tata was underpaying and overworking its crew. Tata’s moves to bring in merit-based performance contracts has made many staff “very unhappy”, said New Delhi-based independent aviation analyst Neelam Mathews. “They know Air India has this strike mentality,” she said. “It’s in their DNA . . . their mindset is totally different, so I think to a degree Tata is at fault. They should have really looked at this.”Originally launched by Tata in 1932, Air India was nationalised more than 20 years later. It operated a domestic monopoly for decades until India liberalised its economy in the early 1990s, ushering in fierce competition that cut into Air India’s market share. Since its return to the Tata stable, Air India’s CE Campbell Wilson is leading the effort to overhaul a carrier that had been bleeding $2.4mn a day. Wilson joined Air India after working for 26 years at Singapore Airlines.<br/>

Indian Ocean carrier Maldivian is seeking to advance its widebody aircraft project by hiring a consultancy to examine its expansion into long-haul services. Maldivian had indicated at the beginning of this year that it was looking to obtain Airbus A330-200 or Boeing 787-8 twinjets. The carrier uses a fleet which primarily comprises turboprops including ATRs, De Havilland Dash 8s and Viking Air Twin Otters, although it also has a single Airbus A320. Island Aviation Services, through which Maldivian operates, has issued a request seeking expressions of interest in commercial consultancy services “focused on the widebody project”. “This consultancy aims to evaluate and optimise our proposed network and fleet expansion to meet the growing demands of international aviation markets,” it states. Parties have been invited to declare interest by 13 May, following which they will be provided with bid documents. The company says it will then initiate a request for detailed proposals that “align with our strategic objectives”. “This selective approach ensures a focused engagement with consultancy firms that have a proven track record and deep understanding of airline operations and commercial strategy, particularly in the context of large-scale aviation projects,” it adds.<br/>

Hundreds of passenger are stranded across the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand after carrier Air Vanuatu grounded cancelled scores of flights last minute. Plagued by technical faults for several months, the airline filed for insolvency on Monday, with an administrator yet to be named. The national carrier, based out of Port Vila published a list of 20 impacted services, including four cancelled Auckland flights, blaming mechanical issues. A travel advisory published by the airline last night blamed “extended maintenance requirements” for the delay. “We are working with our partner carriers to minimise the disruption to our guests.” There was currently no update on replacement flights for affected passengers.<br/>One Kiwi traveller stranded on Vanuatuan island Espiritu Santo with his wife said they and scores of passengers were still waiting for more information. “We’ve heard nothing at all, except [the flights] have all been cancelled,” he told the Herald. Due to the airline’s routes, affected passengers were mostly Australians and New Zealanders. The traveller said he had been hoping to fly via Brisbane back to Auckland, but all the regional departures had also been grounded.<br/>