Iran’s signing this week of an outline deal for 109 Boeing jetliners 5 months after agreeing to buy 118 from Airbus underscores the scale of the former pariah state’s airline ambitions. The purchase of almost 230 planes would create a fleet three-quarters the size of that at British Airways and larger than the current line-up at Etihad Airways, one of three Gulf carriers that transformed air travel in the years Iran was stymied by trade sanctions linked to its nuclear programme. While it’s not certain that Iran Air will take all of the jets specified under the accords — with the US contract in particular still facing significant hurdles — the arrival of models such as Airbus’s A380 double-decker and Boeing’s 777-9 seems set to swell the business to global proportions. <br/>
unaligned
Emirates Airline plans to operate its daily nonstop Dubai-Auckland services with an Airbus A380-800 from Oct 30, less than a year after switching from a Boeing 777-200LR. Separately, Emirates took delivery of its 80th A380 June 22. Emirates will exchange one of its double-daily Vienna-Dubai 777-300ER services with an A380 from July 1. Vienna has become Emirates’ 41st A380 destination, which will be operated by a 519-seat aircraft. In April, Emirates placed a new order for 2 additional A380s, to be delivered in Q4 of 2017, bringing its order book for the aircraft to 64. Emirates president Tim Clark said that by the end of June, it will have 81 A380s in service and 100 A380s by June 1, 2017. <br/>
Southwest Airlines, finalising a revamp of its fleet strategy that began in 2012, Thursday told investors it is deferring delivery of Boeing’s new 737-Max aircraft to take fewer than earlier planned through 2022, in part to reduce its near-term capital expenditure budget. The carrier has 330 Boeing 737s on firm order for delivery through 2025, as compared with 328 through 2024, its previously reported delivery schedule. Its number of planes on option remains the same. But the new plan will significantly lower the number of new planes entering the fleet from 2018 through 2022, Southwest CFO Tammy Romo said Thursday. This year and next, the carrier plans to boost deliveries, in part to compensate for the previously announced early retirement of about 50 older-version 737s by 2017. <br/>
Discount airfare ticket seller NewLeaf Travel is back in business 5 months after it abruptly shut down to await a federal regulatory ruling. Travellers can purchase tickets starting Thursday from the Winnipeg-based start-up, with the first flight scheduled for take-off July 25. When it originally launched in January, NewLeaf billed itself as an alternative to airline juggernauts like Air Canada and WestJet by offering bargain-priced "no frills" flights. But just a week after the company started selling tickets, it hit some turbulence over whether it needed a licence to operate. NewLeaf contended that it did not require a licence because it does not operate airplanes and only resells seats from Flair Airlines. In late March, the CTA ruled in favour of NewLeaf and cleared the runway for the company to resume ticket sales. <br/>