Wizz Air plans to buy more than 300 new airplanes in the coming years and have 20,000 employees by 2030, CE Jozsef Varadi told Hungarian news website index.hu in an interview published on Tuesday. If successful, Wizz Air would more than double the size of its fleet, and the number of its employees from 9,000 currently. "We currently have 208 aircraft, with more than 300 more in the pipeline...our goal is to have a fleet of 500 aircraft by 2030-2032," Varadi said. "The expansion of the aircraft fleet... will create opportunities for new base airports and even establishing new airline companies." Varadi said geopolitical tensions such as the war in Ukraine and conflict between Israel and Hamas, had forced the company to re-allocate unused capacity in those regions, leading to suboptimal capacity exploitation. An ongoing engine recall is also keeping a fifth of the company's fleet grounded. "These events will affect our performance in the short term," Varadi said.<br/>
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Aer Lingus is to begin seasonal flights from Dublin to Las Vegas this winter, running until after the end of the Easter holiday in late April. The Irish carrier will serve the route thrice weekly using Airbus A330-300s. It marks the first time Aer Lingus has operated to Las Vegas directly. Aer Lingus CE Lynne Embleton says: ”Aer Lingus is bringing this iconic destination to customers seeking an escape to the winter sun. In addition to the warm climate, Las Vegas is renowned for being one of the greatest entertainment capitals in the world, famous for its shows, concerts, sports events and natural wonders. It is a long-held ambition of ours to fly to Las Vegas. The launch of this new Aer Lingus route is a significant moment for us and our customers.’’ Earlier this month, the IAG carrier bolstered its US network from Dublin by launching first flights to Denver, having reinstated its service to Minneapolis at the end of April.<br/>
South Korean low-cost carriers (LCCs) are navigating challenges in their bid to maintain competitiveness as LCCs alliances falter in the Asia-Pacific region, including the recent closure of the Value Alliance. According to sources in the airline industry on Tuesday, Jeju Air Co., formerly a member of the Value Alliance, terminated its joint venture contract and disposed of all related shares early in 2024 following the alliance’s closure. Jeju Air‘s quarterly report shows that it sold the entirety of its 13.04% stake in Value Alliance Travel Systems in the first quarter of the year. “With the suspension of Value Alliance operations, the joint venture contract was terminated and the shares were disposed of accordingly,” Jeju Air explained. Formed in 2016, the Value Alliance was the world’s largest LCC cooperative that incorporated LCCs from East Asia and Australia, including Jeju Air, Cebu Pacific operated by Cebu Air Inc. (Philippines), Nok Air operated by Nok Airlines Public Co. (Thailand), Vanilla Air Inc. (Japan), and Tigerair Australia operated by Tiger Airways Pty (Australia). The alliance took an interline approach without acquiring long-haul aircraft by combining and selling each airline‘s routes. But as LCCs from Australia and Japan left the alliance early on and the global airline industry faced a crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, internal cohesion among the members fell and led to the suspension of operations. Eastar Jet Co. joined another LCC alliance, U-Fly Alliance, in 2016, but this alliance has struggled to maintain operations after Hong Kong Express, which led the alliance, was sold to Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. in 2019. Story has more.<br/>