Ryanair plans to double its capacity in France over the next 4 years to around 20m passengers per year following its December decision to recognise unions for the first time, a senior executive said Wednesday. The airline, which currently has no bases in France due to its strict union rules, hopes to set up 1 or 2 bases in the coming 18 months, CCO David O'Brien said. Ultimately Ryanair may operate out of 4 or 5 bases in the country, he said. "We currently have just under 10m passengers in France and I see no reason why that wouldn't be doubled in 3 to 4 years as we open new bases," O'Brien said. Ryanair plans to add around 30 aircraft of capacity to the French market over the next 3 or 4 years, though it is not yet clear how much of that will be based in France or flying into French airports from abroad. <br/>
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In the battle for insolvent Niki, its founder Niki Lauda sought to woo employees in an open letter Wednesday by promising jobs to all current staff. An agreed sale of Niki to IAG, brokered by Niki's German administrator, was thrown into doubt last week by 2 court rulings saying Austria was the relevant jurisdiction for the insolvency proceedings. This paved the way for former Formula One world champion Lauda to bid again for the airline he founded in 2003, but which most recently was part of failed airline Air Berlin. The deadline for new offers to be submitted to Niki's Austrian administrator, who is cooperating with her German counterpart, is Friday and both IAG and Lauda have said they will bid again. Ryanair has also expressed an interest. Niki's landing and take-off rights. <br/>
Parliament has urged Treasury to clear Air Zimbabwe’s debt to IATA. Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development chairperson Christopher Chitindi said this while presenting a report in Parliament Tuesday. “The restricting of Air Zimbabwe, along the lines of privatisation needs to be expedited. Meanwhile, Treasury support is sought with regards to the IATA clearing house and the association’s operational safety audit which both require about US$13m,” he said. As a result of the IATA debt, the carrier has since been suspended from the world aviation body. “Without the engagement and repayment of IATA fees, Air Zimbabwe remains technically insolvent,” Chitindi said. <br/>
LASA, the Neuquen, Argentina-based start-up airline, has announced that it plans to launch flights in the last week of March, operating Embraer ERJ-145LR regional jets from its Mar del Plata hub. LASA said that it initially plans to operate 3 weekly flights to Neuquen, 2 to Bahia Blanca, 1 to Santa Rosa, 2 to Bariloche, 3 to San Martin de los Andes as well as 1 to Temuco and Puerto Montt in Chile, respectively. Al flights will be operated out of Mar del Plata, a major metropolitan and resort area located 400km south of Buenos Aires. LASA's Juan Silenzi said during the presentation of the airline that he has no plans to compete with LCCs by slashing fares, but by offering new services to major provincial cities that will not require connections with Buenos Aires’ domestic airport Aeroparque. <br/>
Frontier Airlines and Mexico City-based Volaris have entered into a codeshare agreement, signalling further cooperation between 2 carriers affiliated with private equity firm Indigo Partners. Frontier, which adopted the ultra-LCC model in 2014, is wholly owned by Indigo Partners, which is also a major shareholder in publicly traded Volaris—generally considered to have the lowest unit costs of any North American airline. In recent months, there has been more talk of cooperation among Indigo Partners affiliated airlines. Subject to regulatory approval in the US and Mexico, codesharing between Frontier and Volaris will commence this spring. “We estimate that our partnership will add around 20 new destinations to our network and 80 new routes between … Mexico and the US,” Volaris CE Enrique Beltranena said. <br/>
Germania is preparing its most comprehensive fleet renewal program beginning in 2020. The carrier has said it will begin replacing 10 Boeing 737-700s with Airbus A320 family aircraft within the next 15 months. The first 3 737s will leave the fleet by the end of April; the last 737 should leave by the start of the summer season 2019. In July 2016, Germania ordered 25 180-seat Airbus A320neos, with 15 options, in a deal valued at US$2.7b. The carrier selected Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower Geared Turbofan engines to power the A320neos. Together with Airbus and other flight schools, Germania has organised an in-house program for all Boeing pilots to retrain on Airbus aircraft and acquire the necessary type rating. <br/>
Alaska Airlines is looking to solidify an anchor presence at the redeveloped Paine Field-Snohomish County Airport in Everett, Washington with the Jan 16 announcement of 13 daily flights to 8 cities set to launch in fall 2018. Alaska’s new point-to-point destinations from Paine Field will be Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Orange County, California; Phoenix; Portland; San Diego; San Francisco; and San Jose, California. Alaska said it will detail flight frequencies and departure/arrival times later in the year, pending govt approval. Snohomish County is partnering with Propeller Airports to build a new passenger terminal at the airport for a planned opening in fall 2018. Paine Field is the home for Boeing’s Everett Factory, the manufacturing plant for Boeing’s 747, 767, 777 and 787 aircraft. <br/>