Frontier Group, the parent of Frontier Airlines, withdrew its full-year forecast on Thursday and warned of a loss in the first quarter, as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war has hit travel demand. The Denver-based company is the second major U.S. carrier to ditch its forecast after Delta Air Lines pulled its full-year guidance on Wednesday. Frontier said travel demand has weakened, resulting in fare discounting and promotions across the industry. Citing the uncertain environment, the airline said it was unable to reaffirm the full-year 2025 outlook. In February, the company had forecast an adjusted profit of at least $1.00 this year, and breakeven earnings of 7 cents a share in the March quarter. Trump's trade war has rattled global markets, hitting business and consumer confidence. As travel is a discretionary item for many consumers and businesses, mounting economic worries have clouded the airline industry's outlook and sparked a selloff in shares. Weakening consumer demand has also undermined the industry's pricing power. Airline fares fell 5.3% in March from a month ago, posting their steepest monthly decline since September 2021, according to data from the U.S. Labor Department.<br/>
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On the face of it, it’s a good idea for Aer Lingus to launch a Dublin-Nashville service. After all, given the popularity of country music here there is little doubt there would, ordinarily, be strong demand from travellers flying from this part of the world to Tennessee’s main city to take in the honky tonks and music clubs of the US city. The Grand Ole Opry remains a favourite among both locals and tourists. A whopping 71% of adults in Ireland listen to country music, according to an Aer Lingus survey, while about 10% of the wider Tennessee population claim Irish heritage. Nashville International Airport will also act as a gateway to the wider US south. It’s perhaps unfortunate then, that the route – launching on April 12th – comes at a time when US relations with Europe and the wider world are arguably at their lowest ebb in decades. Donald Trump’s policies – not just tariffs – have cratered many people’s previously favourable views of the country, while the economic chaos spurred by his tariffs is already hitting people’s willingness to spend money. The assumption at this stage may be that travel to somewhere like New York may continue to hold up, but further south may become a more difficult proposition. Indeed, Delta Air Lines pulled its guidance on Wednesday citing the current climate, while Virgin Atlantic warned last month of a slowdown in travel from the US to the UK. Nashville itself was a Democrat-supporting city in last year’s presidential election, but that was not the case for the wider state: Trump carried Tennessee with 64% of the vote, and some 92 of Tennessee’s 95 counties backed him. If the talk of people trying to avoid so-called red states plays out, that will not help.<br/>
German leisure carrier Discover Airlines will be the first Lufthansa Group unit and one of the first airlines in the world to install Panasonic Avionics’ multi-orbit connectivity product on its long-haul aircraft. Discover Airlines has already unveiled plans to introduce free and unlimited messaging on long-haul flights this summer and will now roll-out the wider connectivity solution from Panasonic on its Airbus A330s this autumn. Discover Airlines CE Bernd Bauer says: “The introduction of this new technology is a major step towards an even more digitalised flight experience and is a real upgrade for our guests. In the future, this will also open up opportunities to further personalise the entertainment programme and the service on board.” The new technology will offer passengers in-flight speeds of nearly 200Mbps for streaming, browsing, and interactive services. The Panasonic system combines connectivity from geostationary (GEO) satellites together with the low earth orbit (LEO) network from Eutelsat OneWeb. Panasonic’s vice-president of connectivity, John Wade, says: “We are proud to partner with Discover Airlines as one of the first multi-orbit customers. Our multi-orbit network has been meticulously tested and, coupled with Panasonic Avionics’ proven track record and rigorous structure, we are confident it will be a popular choice for airlines going forward.”<br/>
Airbus has secured European certification for an A330-900 performance-enhancement package which includes new take-off configurations and faster landing-gear retraction. German leisure carrier Condor is set to introduce aircraft with the modification, following the approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Airbus says the package – which is designated ‘Step-4’ – will be a line-fit option for A330neo customers. “These functions focus on enhancing the aircraft’s low-speed performance,” says the airframer. “This is achieved by further maximising lift and reducing drag during the take-off and initial climb segments.” There is no change to the five-position flap lever in the cockpit, but the crew will be able to enter four intermediate flap positions – giving a total of nine settings – into the multi-function control and display unit. Once the flap lever is set, the aircraft’s avionics will automatically adjust the flaps and slats to the required intermediate position.<br/>
The Pakistani government will seek fresh expressions of interest for the sale of Pakistan International Airlines later this month, a government adviser said on Thursday, two days after PIA reported its first annual profit in over two decades. Pakistan has been looking to offload a 51-100% stake in debt-ridden PIA, part of an effort to raise funds and reform cash-bleeding state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7b International Monetary Fund programme. However, Islamabad's attempt to privatise PIA last year fell flat when it received only a single offer, well below the asking price of more than $300m. Pakistan has offloaded almost all of the national carrier's legacy debt and shifted it to government books after bidders raised issues that had led to the failed attempt, according to the privatisation ministry. "In our last attempt to privatise PIA, pre-qualified bidders had some issues with taxation and the balance sheet. Those are taken care of now," Muhammad Ali, government adviser on privatisation, told Reuters. "We plan to publish the new Expression of Interest (EoI) by the last week of April 2025," he said. The government plans to complete the airline's privatisation before the end of this year. "We are also revising the pre-qualification criteria," he said, adding that the reference price could also be revised keeping in view the latest accounts and changes in the balance sheet. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last year announced plans to sell all SOEs. The adviser said that the process to privatise power distribution companies had also started, terming it a "high priority transaction". He said some companies previously due to be sold in the second phase were being pushed into the first phase. The adviser said the government had appointed Jones Lang LaSalle to advise on exploring different sales options for the PIA-owned Roosevelt hotel building in Manhattan, New York. They include selling the building as it is or opting for a joint venture with a top tier developer, which has the potential to generate proceeds five times higher, Ali said.<br/>
Direct flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv resumed on Thursday, as a Hainan Airlines aircraft successfully landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv early in the morning, marking the end of an 18-month hiatus. According to Yu Chaojie, president of Hainan Airlines, the resumed Beijing-Tel Aviv route will operate two round-trip flights per week, on Mondays and Thursdays, with a flight time of approximately nine hours. The Chinese carrier currently also operates a route connecting Tel Aviv with Shenzhen, a major metropolis in southeastern China. At a resumption ceremony held in Tel Aviv, Chen Arieli, deputy mayor of Tel Aviv, expressed her appreciation for the return of the flights, emphasizing their role in strengthening the connection between China and Israel.<br/>