Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA said Monday it would resume flying Boeing Co’s 737 MAX planes on commercial routes in its domestic network from Dec. 9. Gol also said it expects all of the seven 737 MAX aircraft in its current fleet to be cleared to return fully to operation by the end of December. The announcement comes less than a week after American Airlines Group Inc staged the 737 MAX’s first post-grounding flight with media on board, as carriers seek to demonstrate to passengers that the redesigned jet is safe after a 20-month safety ban. The US lifted the flight ban on the 737 MAX last month, with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration outlining details of the software, system and training upgrades Boeing and airlines must complete before carrying passengers. After the lifting of the ban, American Airlines had said it would return 737 MAX jets to passenger flights by the end of 2020, with a daily flight between Miami and New York City. Gol, Brazil’s sole operator of the 737 MAX, said the first flights of the jet would be on routes to and from the company’s hub in Sao Paulo.<br/>
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Bankrupt carrier Jet Airways India, once the nation’s biggest airline by market value, is planning to restart operations as a full-service carrier by the summer of 2021, its new owners announced. A consortium led by Dubai-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital has set a revival plan for Jet Airways, which includes a dedicated freighter service and hubs in small Indian cities beyond Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Jet Airways will operate all its historic domestic slots in India and restart international operations after it receives approval from Indian regulators and a bankruptcy tribunal, according to a statement Monday. “Jet Airways has been a brand with a glorious history of over 25 years, and it is the vision of the consortium to put Jet Airways back in the skies at the earliest opportunity,” Manoj Narender Madnani, board member of the Jalan Kalrock consortium, said in the statement. Once, India’s largest carrier by number of passengers, Jet Airways went into bankruptcy in 2019 after it failed to repay mounting debt. <br/>
Ireland’s High Court on Monday granted creditor protection to Norwegian Air’s Irish subsidiaries, allowing the Oslo-based airline more time to restructure its massive debt. Norwegian last month asked the court to begin a so-called examinership legal process as the carrier seeks to stave off collapse amid the coronavirus pandemic. <br/>
Ryanair Group CE Michael O’Leary believes that Europe’s legacy carriers will seek to undermine competition and push up fares by holding on to their unused slots into summer 2021 and even 2022. The outspoken airline chief warned that such moves by legacy carriers could prevent capacity returning to the skies when a post-Covid demand recovery materialises next year. “The [legacy carriers] are going to try get slot extensions so that they can squat on their slots, and constrain growth and keep prices high,” says O’Leary. “Unless you have additional capacity into that marketplace to take up the slack that would be left by Norwegian, EasyJet’s cutbacks, then prices will rise.” The EC has suspended normal take-off and landing rules that remove slots from airline if their usage falls below a certain level, on the grounds that forcing carriers to operate flights amid collapsing demand would be financially and environmentally disastrous. O’Leary singles out KLM’s operations at Amsterdam Schipol for particular criticism, calling the facility “artificially constrained”. He sees no reason for a slot limit at the airport. Delays to the opening of a low cost alternative airport are, he speculates, the product of the Dutch government’s wish to “limit KLM’s competition while giving them three and a half to four billion of state aid anyway”. He adds: “That repeats at other airports.”<br/>
EasyJet has promoted Sophie Dekkers as it new CCO following the resignation of Robert Carey with immediate effect. Dekkers has been with EasyJet since 2007 in a variety of roles, most-recently serving as customer director. In her new role she will be responsible for network, planning, scheduling, commercial and digital. She takes the role immediately following the resignation of Carey. The latter joined the carrier as director of networks and strategy, before taking on wider commercial responsibilities following the departure of Peter Duffy at the start of 2018. The carrier’s group markets director Thomas Haagensen will take over Carey’s responsibilities for the marketing and customer teams. EasyJet CE Johan Lundren says: ”I am delighted to have appointed Sophie Dekkers as chief commercial officer. She has a wealth of experience at EasyJet in a diverse range of roles, so the huge depth and breadth of knowledge of the airline and commercial acumen will serve us very well going forward.”<br/>
AirAsia Group Bhd is focusing on expanding its base in South-East Asia and is in discussions about starting three new airlines in the region, CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said. Fernandes expects air travel to return to pre-Covid levels in the next six to 12 months. “People want to travel and demand is there, which is the most important thing, ” he said. Thailand’s domestic market, for example, is already back to pre-Covid level and would be ahead of it by the end of December, he said. Fares will remain largely the same. The airline’s plan to raise up to RM2.5b is on schedule. “We are feeling quietly optimistic for 2021.” AirAsia is converting a lot of aircraft into cargo planes to supplement the passenger business. Fernandes said the company is evaluating its AirAsia India venture with Tata Group, while expanding their relationship in the digital business. “At the right time we will make the announcements, but definitely our strength is South-East Asia and that’s where most of our expansion is going to be over the next two to three years.”<br/>
The ongoing financial problems of taipan Lucio Tan’s Philippine Airlines (PAL) could weigh on the group’s bid to build a 500b pesos ($10b) international airport in Sangley Point, Cavite gov Jonvic Remulla said. PAL is considering a Chapter 11 petition in the United States to protect its assets from mainly foreign creditors and lessors while it finalises an estimated $5b debt rehabilitation plan to weather the Covid-19 pandemic. The rehabilitation proceedings could be filed as early as this month in New York – a venue used by other global airlines reorganising their businesses during the global health crisis. This is unfolding as Tan’s MacroAsia Corp is seeking to build the first phase of the Sangley Point International Airport. The first phase will cost an estimated 208.5b pesos. While the bidding was concluded a month before the pandemic caused lockdowns in the Philippines, the venture only recently submitted its final requirements to the Cavite government for evaluation. <br/>
Pakistan’s industrial city of Sialkot, famous for producing the world’s finest quality football and sports goods, will soon have a new reputation – AirSial, its own private airline. Pakistan’s third private airline, AirSial, launched by Sialkot’s business community, is all set to launch operations this month. Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to formally launch the new airline on December 9 in Sialkot. Pakistani startup airline AirSial this week received its second aircraft, Airbus A320, at Sialkot Airport. The airline’s initial operations will rely on three Airbus A320-200s, which the airline has leased from AerCap, Dublin-based aircraft leasing giant. It will initially begin operations with regular flights between Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Sialkot and Peshawar. The airline hopes to embark on the international journey in two years with the Middle East as the first region and UAE the most preferred choice for airline’s first overseas service, aviation experts say.<br/>