LATAM Airlines Group, the region's largest carrier, said Thursday that it is seeing increased demand from South Americans seeking to travel to the United States to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. "The past few weeks we have seen an increase in that demand and in the occupancy of those planes, but we continue with a capacity that is infinitely lower than pre-pandemic," Ramiro Alfonsin, LATAM's chief financial officer, said. Chile-based LATAM on Thursday reported a net loss of $431m in the first three months of the year, which executives said reflected the crushing second pandemic wave that hit the region. Latin America has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, which has overwhelmed its weak health infrastructure while governments have struggled to secure coveted vaccines partly because of the higher purchase power of developed nations. As a result, some wealthier Latin Americans have been seeking vaccination in the United States, especially in recent weeks when the vaccines have become more widely available there. Alfonsin told reporters that LATAM passengers from Peru, Colombia and Ecuador are flying directly to the United States, while those from Argentina are flying via Santiago or Lima.<br/>
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S7 Airlines emerged as the largest passenger carrier in Russia over Q1, tipping Aeroflot off the top slot, according to the country’s official civil aviation figures. Federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia states that S7 carried 3.56m passengers over the three-month period compared with Aeroflot’s 3.27m. S7 recorded only a 1.3% decline in passenger numbers for the quarter while Aeroflot’s more than halved. The carrier is attributing its relatively buoyant performance to the strength of its domestic network. “Inter-regional flights remained popular even during the most challenging months,” says S7 Group strategy director Grigory Davydov. S7 carried 32% more passengers in March 2021 than March 2020 while its domestic passenger level for the month increased by nearly 50%. The airline says it benefited from winter vacation traffic during the month. Russian domestic operations have recovered strongly from the pandemic crisis and over the summer season S7 intends to operate services to 130 destinations.<br/>
Japan Airlines said Friday its Q4 operating loss quadrupled to 104.1b yen ($953.9m) as coronavirus restrictions continued to curb air travel demand. The result for the three months to March 31, which compares with a loss of 25.9b yen a year ago, was worse than an estimated average 88.96b yen loss from three analyst surveyed by Refinitiv. Japan’s second-biggest airline and other carriers around the world have had to cope with a collapse in international and domestic air travel caused by coronavirus travel restrictions. The airline did not provide an earnings forecast for the current business year. Eleven analysts predict an average 56b yen loss, Refinitiv data shows. JAL saw demand rebound on domestic routes at the end of last year to around half of pre-pandemic levels, helped by government discounts on air tickets and hotels. That recovery, however, faltered as fresh waves of coronavirus infections prompted new lockdowns. Passenger numbers on international routes are still only around 5% of what the carrier would normally see.<br/>
Japan Airlines will acquire Spring Airlines Japan to become a consolidated subsidiary, as part of a move to streamline its low-cost units and tap into future growth potential. JAL, which currently holds 5% shareholding in the joint venture with Chinese low-cost giant Spring Airlines Group, hopes to complete the acquisition by June this year. While the carrier did not elaborate on how much it was set to invest, it states that it will work with 48% shareholder Spring Airlines to complete the deal. Japanese media reports have indicated that JAL will boost its current stake into a majority stake. The carrier in late April confirmed that it would “strengthen” its investment in the low-cost unit. In its medium-term business update on 7 April, JAL says Spring Airlines Japan will be a “China-focused” operation, with the hopes of attracting inbound visitors from China, while “leveraging” Spring Airlines’ strong brand recognition in China. The investment into Spring Airlines Japan will help the airline “capture the first inbound demand in China, which is expected to recover in the future”, it adds. <br/>
Japan Airlines has picked the Airbus A350 as its future flagship aircraft, as it retires its fleet of domestic Boeing 777s by 2023, and reduces the number of large widebodies in the medium term. In a medium-term business update released alongside its full-year financial results, the Tokyo-based carrier discloses that it will continue to introduce the A350 on domestic flights to replace its 777s, which were already on their way out. In October, JAL announced the retirement of up to 24 777s — comprising -200s and -300s used on domestic routes, and a number of -200ERs operating international flights. It will also move a number of -200ERs from the international fleet to operate domestic flights in the interim. The carrier adds that it will introduce the larger A350-1000 on flights to North America and Europe from fiscal year 2023, which begins on 1 April 2023. Cirium fleets data indicates that the carrier has 13 examples on order. The move will mean that the Boeing 777-300ER, the carrier’s current long-haul aircraft of choice, will no longer be the international flagship. In its latest business update, JAL says the combined 777 fleet will be reduced to just 13 examples by FY2023, down from 39 examples as at April 2020. The A350 fleet, meanwhile, will grow from five to 18 aircraft. <br/>
The owner of British Airways urged ministers to be more ambitious in reopening international borders as it warned it would only fly 25% of its normal schedules in the run-up to the busy summer season. IAG made the call as its losses hit E1.1b for the first three months of the year, a period dominated by travel restrictions in the face of surging Covid-19 cases across Europe. IAG’s airlines flew just 20% of their normal flight schedules in Q1 and revenue fell 79% year on the year to E968m. It plans to increase flights to 25% of normal schedules between April and June, but is ready to add more flights if there is demand. In contrast, European rival Air France-KLM has said it hopes to hit 50% of pre-crisis capacity this summer. Although the prospects for this summer are brighter, carriers are reliant on the UK and other European countries allowing mass travel in time for the critical peak summer season. The UK government on Friday announced a cautious reopening of its borders to non-essential travel from May 17, but will only allow quarantine-free travel to 12 countries initially. “The [UK] government needs to be ambitious in getting back on track and reaping all the benefits of the vaccinations programme that has been a success,” said Luis Gallego, IAG’s CE.<br/>
Aer Lingus has “too many resources and will need to adapt”, the airline said on Friday, as it continues to grapple with the impact of widespread Covid-related limitations on its services. It highlighted travel restrictions in the Republic, which it described as “the most stringent” in Europe. “These restrictions, and the absence of a Government-approved re-start plan for aviation in Ireland that clearly sets out the metrics that will allow international travel to resume, means that airlines are unable to plan their business and the bookings for the summer are low,” Aer Lingus said. It went on to say it has too many resources “and will need to adapt and right-size and right-shape its structure” so that it can emerge from the pandemic as “a more productive and cost-efficient organisation than it was previously”. Aer Lingus-owner IAG drew down the remainder of an agreed E150m debt facility provided by the State during Q1. Having drawn down an initial E75m in the last three months of 2020, the airline’s parent drew down the remainder of the financing recently.<br/>
Qantas has called up five additional Alliance Aviation Embraer E190s under a wet lease agreement with the regional operator. The move comes under the auspices of a February 2021 deal under which Qantas wet least three Alliance E190s, with options for an additional 11 aircraft. The first three aircraft will commence operating on Qantas’s behalf on 25 May, while the additional five will start work form 21 June. Each option is for an initial three-year period, and the remaining six options are still in place. “This is an exciting development for Alliance and further extends on previous wet leasing arrangements that Alliance has had with Qantas,” says Alliance MD Scott McMillan. “The extension of the arrangements with Qantas is also further confirmation that the E190 is the perfect aircraft to take advantage of the new route network that is developing in the post-Covid aviation recovery.” The E190s will be based in Adelaide, providing capacity to the Qantaslink regional network.<br/>