unaligned

Southwest Airlines flights are now bookable on Kayak as the carrier continues its business evolution. “This is a great development for travelers,” Kayak CEO Steve Hafner said in a statement. “We first started showing Southwest in 2022 to Kayak for Business customers. We’re thrilled to expand that relationship to the millions of leisure travelers who use Kayak.” Southwest long required travelers to search for and book their tickets directly on the airline's website. In May, that began to change with the announcement that Southwest itineraries would begin showing up in Google Flights results. The airline has been under pressure from investors to be a stronger competitor to other major U.S. carriers, and that has led to plans for significant changes at Southwest. In addition to advertising its fares in more places, the airline last month announced it would end its open seating policy. It plans to start assigning seats and introduce a more segmented cabin with extra legroom seating, though the airline has yet to announce when these changes will roll out.<br/>

Elliott Investment Management on Monday said in a regulatory filing that it has a 7% beneficial ownership in Southwest Airlines, giving a breakdown of what it owns as it tries to overhaul management and improve financial performance. The 7% beneficial ownership is made up of 23.3m common shares and 18.6m physical derivative agreements, or physically settled swaps, the filing shows. In total, Elliott has a roughly 11% economic interest, which is made up of common stock and derivatives, a figure that has not changed since the hedge fund’s stake in Southwest became public in June, the filing says. Investors are required to make a so-called 13D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission after crossing a 5% ownership stake. The Elliott filing also offers clues to its possible plans. The firm said again that the airline is undervalued and that management and board change is required to help improve its strategy and performance. It is pushing for Bob Jordan, who has been CEO since 2022, and Gary Kelly, who is now executive chairman after having been CEO for years, to be replaced and it wants the board to be overhauled with new directors. In the filing on Monday, Elliott said again that it has identified executives who could become board candidates. And it said for the first time that it intends to allow shareholders a chance to vote on director candidates, whether at a special meeting or the annual meeting, laying the groundwork for a possible boardroom challenge. Activist investors can propose candidates for election at a company’s regularly scheduled annual meeting or in some cases they might be able to call for a special meeting where an election could also be held.<br/>

LATAM Airlines Monday said that it would invest $2b in Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, within the next two years. The Chile-based airline said in a statement it would focus the funding on products, technologies and services for passengers and on aircraft maintenance. LATAM said it had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Brazil's labor ministry over training workers in specialty skills and hiring them mainly at its Sao Carlos facility in Sao Paulo state. In the statement, LATAM said the facility - the largest aircraft maintenance center in South America - had the potential to become "a true Brazilian aerospace hub." The decisions were made in a meeting that CEO Roberto Alvo and other company executives held together with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and other government officials. LATAM is in advanced talks with Brazilian planemaker Embraer to add aircraft to its fleet, the head of Brazil's state development bank BNDES said last month.<br/>

Norse Atlantic Airways has conducted a service between Oslo Gardermoen and Darwin, claiming the first nonstop flight between Norway and Australia. The long-haul budget carrier operated the charter flight with a Boeing 787-9 (LN-FNB) – powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines – which took off at about 06:50 on 3 August. Norse declines to discuss details of the charter service, including passenger numbers or payload, although it states that 12 crew members were among those on board. The flight was chartered by Spanish carrier AlbaStar, based in Palma de Mallorca. Oslo-Darwin has a great-circle distance of just over 6,900nm (12,800km), but this would have required passing through Russian and Chinese airspace. The aircraft instead took a course over Central Asia, India and Indonesia and arrived in Darwin at about 06:45 on 4 August – a flight of some 16h 30min. Norse says the aircraft flew around 7,950nm and that the service demonstrated the twinjet’s long-range performance and efficiency. “The [787] is uniquely suited to such extended flights, offering unparalleled passenger comfort, fuel efficiency and environmental benefits,” it states.<br/>

Jordan has asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes of reserve fuel, in what experts see as a precautionary measure in case of an attack by Iran against Israel. Some airlines are already avoiding Iranian and Lebanese airspace and cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon, as concerns grow over a possible conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah last week. Jordan has asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes of reserve fuel, in what experts see as a precautionary measure in case of an attack by Iran against Israel. Some airlines are already avoiding Iranian and Lebanese airspace and cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon, as concerns grow over a possible conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah last week. "The Jordan NOTAM is relevant because in the April aerial attack on Israel, Jordan was the first country to close their airspace by NOTAM, well ahead of even Israel, Iran, or Iraq," Mark Zee, OPSGROUP's Chief Executive, told Reuters. "The 45 minutes would be intended to provide enough additional fuel for an aircraft to leave Jordanian airspace and land elsewhere," he added. Airspace closures tied to war can place substantial restrictions on air traffic.<br/>

Kazakh flag carrier Air Astana has reported half-year record passenger numbers, driven by unexpectedly high demand for its Chinese routes. Some 4m passengers flew with the London-listed airline in the six months ended 30 June, up 14.6% year-on-year and at a load factor of 82%. The growth in demand helped total revenue rise 12.8% to $586.2m. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation and restructuring (EBITDAR) rose 11.5% year-on-year to $88.7m. Peter Foster, Air Astana CE, said: “Our team delivered a robust performance in the first half of 2024 against a backdrop of inflationary cost pressures across the sector.” Foster said development of the carrier’s fleet was progressing “ahead of schedule” and he expected three more planes than originally planned by the end of 2024. The increase comes despite ongoing issues with the airline’s Pratt and Whitney-manufactured geared turbofan (GTF) engines, many of which have been recalled for inspection. “This increased capacity is one of several actions to mitigate off-wing time from Pratt & Whitney engines and enable us to meet rising demand for air travel across Kazakhstan and Central Asia. We also continue to expand the network and strategically allocate capacity to important growth regions such as China and South Korea.” He added: “With passenger numbers at record highs and a strong booking curve for the third quarter, we are well positioned for the peak summer season.""<br/>

IndiGo will start to take bookings this week for its new business-class service on 12 domestic routes as it seeks to tap India’s burgeoning middle class and bolster its offerings against rival Air India. India’s largest airline, which up until recently was a purely low-cost carrier, unveiled its business class product, dubbed IndiGoStretch, at an event in Delhi on Monday. The premium seats will start from 18,000 rupees ($215), Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers said. The airline’s expansion beyond the budget sector reflects the intensifying competition in India’s skies. Tata-owned Air India Ltd. is currently merging with Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd., in an effort to to position itself as the full-service carrier of choice for the nation’s well heeled. India is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. With a population of some 1.4b, air travel is still an experience that’s new for hundreds of millions of people. IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., will be “double” its size today by 2030, Elbers said at the event. “We’ll have widebodies to serve all these markets. We’ll have business class in domestic and maybe in the future international to fulfill the dreams of our aspirational travelers. And we keep sure that we maintain our cost leadership,” he said. Bookings for the carrier’s new business class product between Delhi and Mumbai will start on Tuesday with flights starting in November and costing from 18,018 rupees. Business class cabins will be available on most routes between India’s major cities by the end of 2025, according to a statement from IndiGo. The airline is also launching ‘BluChip’, its loyalty program, by September. “IndiGo will be banking on converting some of its 60% domestic share into higher-yielding passengers in a market dominated by low-cost business,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Tim Bacchus and Eric Zhu wrote in a note.<br/>