unaligned

Mesa Air Group executives are almost ready to start popping the champagne. The summer is shaping up to be almost at pre-pandemic levels for the regional that operates flights for both United and American Airlines. In fact, CEO Jonathan Ornstein said it will fly 100 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity for American by June. And, by September, the regional will fly more than its pre-pandemic capacity for the Fort Worth, Texas-based mainline carrier. Part of this is fueled by the addition of five Bombardier CRJ900s to the fleet Mesa operates for American. The story is similar for United regional flights. Mesa expects to operate between 75-80 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity for United in June, rising to 85-90 percent by September. Between November of last year and this June, Mesa will add 18 Embraer E175s to its United operation. The regional also announced it is part of United’s Aviate pilot-pipeline program, with pilots trained at Mesa guaranteed a position in United’s mainline roster after completing the program. Interest among aspiring pilots to fly for Mesa is strong, Ornstein said. <br/>

Aer Lingus-owner IAG said on Tuesday it would raise €825 million from a convertible bond, the group’s latest move to strengthen its balance sheet as travel remains at very low levels during the pandemic. IAG, which also owns British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, has a weekly cash burn rate of E175m while most of its fleet is grounded due to restrictions, meaning its focus over the past year has been on raising funds. Forecasting a travel recovery from July, the group said last week that it had liquidity of E10.5b, helped recently by a new revolving credit facility and the deferral of some pension payments. On Tuesday it said its convertible bond issue would boost its liquidity by around E825m. Strong demand for the offering meant it would raise more than the E800m initially targeted for the senior unsecured bonds, which are convertible into IAG shares, and due in 2028. IAG said the proceeds would strengthen its finances given continued uncertainty around the travel recovery, but could also be used to provide extra resources to take advantage of a recovery in demand.<br/>

Virgin Atlantic Airways reported a jump in demand for flights to Israel after the country was included on the UK’s “green list” for the reopening of overseas leisure travel. A rush of several hundred bookings since Friday spurred a 250% jump in week-on-week sales on the route from London Heathrow airport to Tel Aviv, a Virgin Atlantic said. The airline, which currently operates flights four times a week, plans to go daily in June and twice-a-day in July as demand builds. Airlines have reported a surge in interest for flights to the 12 nations and territories where Britain will permit relatively open travel starting May 17. Ryanair Holdings Plc has added 225,000 seats to Portugal, it said on Monday, while EasyJet Plc, Wizz Air Holdings Plc and tour operator TUI AG have added capacity to places including Gibraltar, Iceland and the Portuguese island of Madeira. While some of the countries still have their own curbs, Israel is expected to welcome tourists in groups by late May, with vaccinated visitors requiring an antibody test.<br/>

Nigerian start-up carrier Green Africa Airways has unveiled an initial route network on which to commence operations. The network focuses on its Lagos base and comprises six domestic destinations, including the capital Abuja and Port Harcourt. Green Africa also says it will operate to Akure, Ilorin, Enugu and Owerri, cities located mainly in the south and west of the country. “Additional cities within Nigeria will be added as the value carrier scales its operations,” it states. Green Africa is planning to set up at least two bases outside of Lagos to offer more options to passengers. “We are crafting a network plan that will afford more customers the opportunity to pursue their economic interest or simply spend more time with family and friends,” says CE Babawande Afolabi. The airline recently received a number of ATR turboprops with which it plans to start services, although the carrier has indicated ambitions to move up to medium-haul jets. It says it will offer three product levels to provide customers with “choice and flexibility”.<br/>

Air Sénégal has announced a new year-round service from September 2, 2021, between Dakar Blaise Diagne Int'l and the United States as part of the strategic expansion of its intercontinental network. The state airline announced it would operate two frequencies a week to New York JFK and onwards to Washington Dulles. The return service is routed Washington Dulles-New York JFK-Dakar (rather than being a triangular route). While Delta flies between New York JFK and Dakar, this will make Air Sénégal the only African airline operating directly between the two countries. Flights would be operated with 290-seat A330-900Ns in three-class configuration, including 32 seats in business class, 21 in premium economy, and 237 seats in economy class. In its application for a US foreign air carrier permit in February 2021, Air Sénégal revealed it planned to operate the services under a wet-lease arrangement, referring to Hi Fly Malta which operates the Senegalese carrier's A330-900, 9H-SZN, on its behalf under a CMI arrangement. Senegal doesn’t have a US FAA Category 1 safety rating, meaning Senegalese-registered aircraft cannot operate flights to the US.<br/>

Vistara, a full-service carrier backed by Indian conglomerate Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, will begin direct flights between Delhi and Tokyo next month despite growing business uncertainty from surging COVID-19 cases in India. "Far East has been an extremely important geography for our global expansion from the beginning for its tremendous growth potential," Vistara CEO Leslie Thng said. The new weekly service will begin June 16 and bring travelers from India straight to Haneda Airport, which is much closer to downtown Tokyo than Narita Airport. But the outlook for the new route is murky. New coronavirus cases in India are breaking daily records as variants run rampant. Japan tightened restrictions for travelers from India, Pakistan and Nepal this week, requiring them to quarantine at government-designated facilities for six days instead of the previous three. The ban on entry into Japan remains in place for foreign visitors. <br/>

Luxair is expecting a gradual resumption of activities for the summer season, but has revealed the effect of the crisis on its financial performance with a full-year operating loss of nearly E160m. The company recorded a 57% fall in revenues to E263m. Operating losses for the main Luxair airline division – which has a fleet of 19 aircraft – reached nearly E73m. The carrier had already generated a E12m loss for the full year 2019. Luxair says its flight operations were halted for two months last year, resuming at the end of May, and over the course of 2020 its passenger numbers were down by 71%. The LuxairTours arm, which had been profitable at operating level in 2019, sank to an operating loss of nearly E54m last year. Luxair’s cargo and services arms respectively posted losses of E10.5m and E15.5m. The company says its cargo logistics played a “key role” for transport of medical supplies, and freight traffic increased by 6% over the year. But it adds: “While the volume increased significantly, the management of operations was very difficult and resulted in additional costs, particularly in terms of manpower.”<br/>