Days after disclosing plans to restructure through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Spirit Airlines says it expects to be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In a 20 November filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Florida-based carrier said that the exchange has determined Spirit’s stock – which trades under the SAVE ticker –”is no longer suitable for listing”. The exchange will apply with the SEC to remove Spirit’s listing, and Spirit does not intend to appeal the determination. “Therefore, it is expected that the common stock will be de-listed from NYSE,” Spirit says. Trading of Spirit’s stock was suspended on 18 November, following disclosure of its bankruptcy filing. The stock has since started trading on the OTC Pink Market – ”a significantly more-limited market” than the NYSE, Spirit says. “The company can provide no assurance that its common stock will continue to trade on this market.” On 19 November, the company said its request for “day one” financial relief had been granted by Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, allowing it to continue paying workers and vendors during the Chapter 11 process. ”Among other benefits, this relief ensures that Spirit’s team members, vendors and other counter-parties will continue to be paid in full in the ordinary course of business and that guests can continue to book and fly without interruption and use all tickets, credits and loyalty points as normal,” the carrier says.<br/>
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Canada’s Flair Airlines Ltd. is looking to raise around $150m of senior debt as part of an ongoing overhaul at the budget carrier. The firm, which said in August it was in talks to raise funds, is working with Haywood Securities Inc. to do so, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing a private matter. Flair recently reported C$14.7m ($10.5m) of Q3 Ebitda, one of the people added. “We had a great third quarter and look forward to serving the Canadian public for the long term,” a Flair spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg News while declining to comment on financial details. Haywood Securities did not respond to requests for comment. Flair has faced a series of hurdles the past few years, including former lead investor 777 Partners facing fraud allegations. That’s on top of higher costs, intense competition and the aftershocks of pandemic lockdowns that led to other Canadian peers filing for creditor protection. Just this week, US budget carrier Spirit Airlines Inc. filed for bankruptcy.<br/>
An airline that launched flights from Iqaluit to Montreal this past summer has now cancelled its route. David Sade, the vice-president of operations at Chrono Aviation, said the decision was made after the company was unable to acquire a larger aircraft — the Boeing 737-800 — because of maintenance issues and delays. The route launched in August, with tickets going on sale in May this year. Now, its flights will shut down as of Dec. 1. Chrono Aviation usually uses a Boeing 737-200 for flights to the North. It also provides service for workers at Baffinland Iron Mines, near Pond Inlet. The larger aircraft would have increased seat capacity from 120 seats to 189 seats, Sade said. The company made a deal with the mine to sell extra seats to the public. "Both the mine and us, we want to offer more affordable fares to the North," Sade said. "And part of the deal was, OK, we have all these extra seats on the aircraft. Can we sell them to the public? And there was an agreement that, yes, we could. And that's what we did."<br/>
Low-cost airline Ryanair threatened Wednesday to stop serving 10 French regional airports if the government goes forward with a proposed tax hike. The French government is scrambling to plug a larger-than-expected budget deficit, and a tripling of a tax on airline tickets, as well as private jets, is one of the measures currently under consideration. "Ryanair is now reviewing its French schedules and expects to cut capacity to/from regional French airports by up to 50% from January 2025 if the French government proceeds with its short-sighted plan to triple passenger taxes," Ryanair's CCO Jason McGuinness said in a statement. Ryanair currently operates flights at 22 smaller French regional airports. The two closest to Paris are not among those where Ryanair might cut services, but the airline did not indicate which are threatened. The Irish budget airline hopes to transport 5.7m people along its French routes this year, an increase of 19% from 2023. Ryanair said the tax increase would fall most heavily on passengers using regional airports, which are primarily served by low-cost airlines and the tax hike would have a larger impact.<br/>
Estonian carrier Nordic Aviation Group has ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy after a proposed investor pulled out of a planned privatisation. The group, which operates under the Nordica brand, says it was informed on 18 November that potential investor Lars Thuesen would not proceed with the privatisation plan, which was initiated last year. After assessing the group’s economic situation, the management board decided to cease the airline’s operations and file for bankruptcy for both Nordic Aviation Group and subsidiary Regional Jet, which is branded as Xfly. Nordic Aviation emerged in 2015 as Estonia’s government looked to a successor for the collapsed flag-carrier Estonian Air. While sale talks with two interested parties had previously broken down earlier this year, last month Nordic Aviation said Thuesen – owner of Danish carrier Jettime – had submitted a bid. The company says final discussions on the privatisation continued in the past week. “However, on [18 November], the potential investor informed us about his intention not to proceed with the privatisation, as the associated risks were too high,” says Nordic Aviation chair Kadri Land.<br/>
El Al Israel Airlines posted record quarterly profit and revenue on Wednesday, lifted by its near-monopoly as many overseas carriers cancel flights due to conflict in the region. The Israeli airline faces criticism from customers in Israel and abroad for price-gouging since the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas attacks in Israel in October last year. El Al has benefited as the main U.S. and European airlines stopped flights, with some not expected to resume them until April 2025 and others saying until further notice. CE Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia said El Al's fares are only 16% higher this year and that prices have soared globally due to strong demand and limited capacity. Israel's flag carrier, which had often struggled to stay profitable before the Gaza war, posted a third-quarter net profit of $187m, up from $52m a year earlier. Revenue rose 44% to $1b, while its passenger load factor rose to 94% from 88% a year ago. "El Al has been operating in an emergency mode for more than a year, and our goal is to ensure that the skies remain open between Israel and the world. This is an essential move for the continuation of business, economic and diplomatic activity in the country," Ben-Tal Ganancia told a press conference. She noted a shortage of both new and second-hand planes. El Al signed a deal with Boeing in August for the purchase of up to 31 737 MAX aircraft worth as much as $2.5b.<br/>
Israel’s El Al has purchased a Boeing 777 fuselage in order to have spare engines available for its fleet of the twinjet type. The airline disclosed the acquisition as it released third-quarter financial results. El Al says it was purchased from a “foreign company” for a consideration of $7.3mi, without identifying the airframe or elaborating on the source. The carrier says it has taken the aircraft “for the purpose of dismantling it” in order to “increase the number of engines” of the type used by the fleet. El Al has six 777-200ERs, all fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 800 powerplants. Two of these aircraft are not in service. El Al had withdrawn these two aircraft from the fleet in 2021 but it has opted to return one of them to operation. The carrier says the refurbishment of the 777 relates to the “unavailability of aircraft in the market” with which to progress with its business strategy.<br/>
It used to be like almost any other national carrier, fielding gripes about flight delays, ticket prices and bad food. But since Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon to battle Hezbollah, Middle East Airlines has been elevated to an unexpected national hero — its planes taking off and landing only hundreds of yards away from the bombings rocking Beirut. Israeli bombs have taken out the top leaders of Hezbollah, Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed militant group. Israel’s military has flattened entire Lebanese districts. And through it all, the airline, known to locals by the abbreviation MEA, has continued flying, sometimes just minutes after bombs have pummeled the road leading to Beirut’s international airport. It is the only commercial airline still operating in and out of Lebanon. In a country hollowed out by corrupt leaders, with no army strong enough to defend it, MEA has become a source of pride for a population with few champions left to cheer. Local news channels have broadcast music videos paying tribute to the airline. Officials heap it with praise. And even as some passengers complain of soaring prices, countless accounts on Lebanese social media have waxed lyrical. “Heroes of the sky,” one person posted. “We are steadfast and gallant, like the gallantry of the Lebanese Middle East Airlines that flies above Israeli bombing,” a prominent Muslim cleric wrote on X. It is all a bit much for Mohammed Aziz, a spokesman for the airline, who is eager to manage expectations: “We are not the military. We are not heroes. We are a commercial airline,” Aziz, a former MEA captain, told The New York Times.<br/>
T’way Air reported a third-quarter operating loss of 7.1b won ($5.1m), Wednesday, due to excessive spending on expanding its European routes, making it the only local low-cost carrier (LCC) to incur a loss during the period. T’way’s Q3 cost of sales came in at 363.4b won, up 28.7% from a year earlier. Despite the sales growth, the airline reported an operating loss of 2.2b won compared to the previous quarter. T’way’s operating loss is attributed to the launch of its first-ever European routes, as part of a precondition for Korean Air’s transfer of four European routes to T’way. The European Commission granted partial approval for Korean Air’s takeover of Asiana Airlines on the condition that four aviation routes from Incheon to Frankfurt, Paris, Rome and Barcelona be transferred to T’way. “T’way is not ready to operate stable European routes, which may have led the airline to engage in aggressive spending,” an official from a local LCC said.<br/>