unaligned

Southwest Airlines will start assigning seats to passengers, ending its longstanding policy of allowing passengers to pick their seats once they have boarded, the airline said on Thursday. The new procedure will be implemented to increase revenue and in response to feedback from customers, 80% of whom report preferring an assigned seat, Southwest said. “This is the right choice — at the right time — for our customers, our people and our shareholders,” said Bob Jordan, the president and CE of Southwest. Even though the airline has been known for its unique seating model for more than 50 years, preferences have evolved, with more customers taking longer flights where they prefer a seat assignment, the statement said. The new policy was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. The changes bring Southwest, which for years has distinguished itself by offering low prices and a simple business approach, more in line with conventional airlines like American Airlines and United Airlines. Southwest makes a little less than $1b from fees it charges for the ability to board early and “ancillary” services, Jordan said Thursday on a conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s second quarter results. The company expects that earnings from the move to assigned seating and offering seats with extra legroom will be “substantially north of that,” he said.<br/>

Low-cost airlines Flybondi and Jetsmart are targeting Brazil as a top flight destination in coming months, looking to expand routes as the market opens up, executives at both firms said. "Is it true that Brazil's missing an ultra-low-cost airline? Probably," the chief executive of Chilean carrier Jetsmart, Estuardo Ortiz, told journalists on Thursday.<br/>The firm, which currently operates nine routes in and out of Brazil, sees the country as an "instrumental" market to its operations, Ortiz said. Argentine competitor Flybondi is also weighing route expansions to Brazil, CEO Mauricio Sana told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.<br/>Over the last few months, Argentina has signed a slew of so-called "open-skies" agreements with other nations, including Brazil. The agreement with Brazil ramps up the number of permitted flight frequencies between the nations. With Chile and Uruguay, however, carriers from those nations can operate domestic flights in Argentina and vice versa. "The agreement signed with Brazil is regarding frequencies... it still doesn't include domestic flights. But the (Argentine) government wants to allow it," a source at Flybondi said on the condition of anonymity. A source at Argentina's transportation secretariat, also on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that it hoped such an agreement could be signed.<br/>"(Brazil) has Gol and Azul, which aren't low-cost airlines," the Flybondi source said. "Rates are super high and it majorly lacks connectivity."<br/>

Air Belgium is expecting to exit a judicial restructuring process in September, and is claiming to have achieved profitability over the first four months of this year. The carrier axed its scheduled passenger operations in October last year – describing them as “chronically unprofitable” – and opted for restructuring to re-organise its debts. Abandoning the scheduled services meant its full-year turnover for 2023 fell by 40% to E134.4m. But the carrier managed to cut losses by 38% to €27.5 million, and it states that it is “once again profitable” for the January-April period this year. Air Belgium has focused more on wet-lease and charter operations, which accounted for 75% of its 2023 turnover. It points out that its performance last year was adversely affected by the unavailability of one of its two Airbus A330-900s following a technical incident in August. Air Belgium has chosen to withdraw both A330-900s this year – one of them (OO-ABG) in March and the other (OO-ABF) to follow in October – as well as two passenger A330-200s in June and September. It says it is holding discussions with lessors to replace the fleet with other A330-200s or -300s.<br/>

Low-cost Saudi airline flynas has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for 75 of its narrow-body A320neo family aircraft and 15 of its wide-body A330-900 jets, the companies said at the Farnborough Airshow on Thursday. The A320neo deal is worth about $4b and the A330 deal about $1.7b, according to estimated delivery prices from Cirium Ascend. Reuters reported that flynas was negotiating an A330 deal ahead of the air show. "The A320neo family provides exceptional operational performance and environmental benefits, allowing us to offer unique, low-cost travel experiences," flynas CEO Bander Almohanna said in a statement. "Additionally, the A330neo will enhance our long-haul capabilities with its advanced technology and efficiency while supporting our growth plans and Saudi Arabia’s pilgrim program."<br/>

Relatives of the 18 dead in an airplane crash in Nepal have yet to hear from the government or the airline on the possible cause of the disaster, they said a day after the small jet went down during take-off at the airport in Kathmandu, the capital. The incident has cast a spotlight on the mountainous, landlocked nation's poor record on air safety, with almost 360 people killed since 2000 in plane and helicopter crashes. The 50-seater CRJ-200 aircraft that crashed this week was operated by Saurya Airlines, and was ferrying 15 technicians, two crew and two of a technician's family to the central city of Pokhara, where it was scheduled for regular maintenance. Only the captain survived after it crashed in a field beside the runway and caught fire. "Nobody has contacted us," said Krishna Bahadur Magar, a relative of Nava Raj Ale who was a ground handler at Saurya and died in the crash. "Our relative was a member of the Saurya Airlines family," Magar said. "Why is the airline now behaving as if they don’t care about him?" Magar was among the dozens who crowded into a narrow alley outside the forensic unit of Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital on Thursday, waiting for authorities to release the bodies of the dead. Some said doctors had told them they would not receive the remains of loved ones before Saturday, while those bodies charred beyond recognition would require DNA tests to be identified, a process that could take two weeks.<br/>

Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed Xiamen Airlines to play an active role in serving economic and social development and advancing exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the instructions in a reply letter to the staff members of the airline on the occasion of its 40th founding anniversary. Xiamen, a coastal city on the western side of the Strait, is at the forefront of cross-Strait exchanges and integration. During his tenure as vice mayor of the city, Xi helped Xiamen Airlines solve a number of problems during its initial development stage. In the letter, Xi said he is pleased to see that Xiamen Airlines, which started from scratch, has achieved leapfrog development over the past four decades. Xi called on the staff members to stay committed to reform and innovation, enhance the airline's core competitiveness, and contribute more to advancing the high-quality development of civil aviation and boosting China's strength in transportation. Established in July 1984, Xiamen Airlines is the first airline in China to operate under a modern corporate system.<br/>