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Greek carrier Aegean Airlines boosted its Q1 financial performance at an operating level after increasing revenues 17% in the first three months of 2024. Aegean EBITDA climbed to E33m from E19m in Q1, while operating losses halved to E7m compared with the same period last year. Net loss, however, widened to E21m in Q1, which the airline says is mainly due to adverse currency movements impacting the valuation of future leases liabilities. The improved performance was driven by a 17% jump in revenues to E269m, delivered off the back of an 11% increase in passenger numbers for the quarter to 2.9m. Aegean Airlines CE Dimitris Gerogiannis says: ”Aegean’s effort to soften the seasonality impact is visible in its international network capacity investment as well as in the revenue and passengers’ growth. ”Once more in the seasonally weakest quarter, Aegean delivered higher EBITDA profitability, demonstrating its resilience, its adaptability and its competitive cost structure.” He says the airline is focusing its growth for the key summer season on adding routes and frequencies from its Athens and Thessaloniki bases. ”We continue to see strong demand for the summer period,” says Gerogiannis. “Nevertheless, it is still too early to estimate the overall outcome of the summer season which typically shapes our results.”<br/>

EgyptAir’s decision to sell its fleet of Airbus A220-300s was the result of losses as the fleet became inactive owning to engine problems, the carrier confirms in a financial statement. The airline had 12 of the twinjets in its fleet, the first of which it received in September 2019. But in February this year US-based lessor Azorra revealed that it had agreed to purchase all 12 of EgyptAir’s A220s. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Azorra remarked that the twinjets were “well-maintained” with “freshly-overhauled, updated engines”.<br/> The A220 is exclusively powered by Pratt & Whitney 1500Gs which, at the time, had been experiencing durability issues, while supply-chain issues were holding up replacement and repair work. According to EgyptAir’s latest full-year financial statement, covering the 12 months to 30 June 2023, the A220s had been leased to the carrier at $38m annually. But the statement adds: “This sale [of the fleet] is due to continuous presence of defects in the engines of this type, successive cessation of operation and their continued presence under repair until the present date. Most of the aircraft stopped operating as a result during most periods of the year – a number that reached seven [inoperative] aircraft in June 2023.”<br/>

Singapore Airline CEO Goh Choon Phong, who has been at the forefront of managing the aftermath of a freak turbulence incidence on May 21 involving flight SQ321, thanked his staff and acknowledged the anxiety many of them were feeling. In a message to staff circulated on May 26, the same day the affected Boeing B777-ER was flown back to Singapore, Goh told them to get some rest and spend time with loved ones. “The last five days have been immensely challenging for everyone at Singapore Airlines following the extreme turbulence encountered on board flight SQ321 over the Irrawaddy Basin on Tuesday, 21 May, which very sadly resulted in one fatality and multiple serious injuries,” he wrote. “I offer our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.” He added: “Our agility, dedication and team spirit were evident during this period. The Singapore-based crisis management team sprang into action, while our Bangkok station and their local partners mobilised all available resources and medical teams to receive the aircraft. A Go-Team, including first responders and staff volunteers from Singapore, was swiftly dispatched to Bangkok to provide additional support.”<br/>

Singapore’s competition watchdog has assessed that ANA Holdings’ proposed acquisition of Japanese cargo airline Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) will not result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market in Singapore. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said on May 24 that it arrived at this conclusion after a six-month review, which also took into account public feedback. The commission launched the review after ANA and NCA submitted an application on Dec 7, 2023, arguing that the proposed acquisition will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in these markets. In Singapore, ANA – Japan’s biggest airline – provides both international air passenger transport and air cargo transport to and from Singapore. The business activity that is relevant to the proposed acquisition is its operations in international air cargo transport. ANA uses dedicated cargo planes, or freighters, as well as passenger planes to transport cargo. NCA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese logistics company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, and is Japan’s sole cargo-only airline company. It provides international cargo transport, including services such as air freighting and handling services for a diverse range of cargo types.<br/>

The number of passengers on foreign airlines for international routes outpaced those of Korea's two full-service carriers in April, data showed Sunday, amid a rise in the number of overseas tourists visiting the country. The number of passengers for routes in and out of Korea on foreign airlines came to 2.25m in April, surpassing a combined 2.23m posted by Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It marked the second time since November 2021 that the monthly number of passengers on foreign airlines has surpassed those of Korean Air and Asiana, which occurred when air travel was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the number of passengers on foreign airlines increased by 50.4% year-on-year amid the normalizing travel, while those of the two Korean carriers increased by 32%. The increase in the number of passengers on foreign airlines apparently came amid the growing number of tourists visiting Korea. In April, the number of foreign airlines connecting to Incheon International Airport, the country's main gateway, came to 64, up from 40 two years earlier.<br/>