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Alitalia successor ITA has signed a memorandum of understanding with France's Airbus (AIR.PA) to buy 28 new jets, the carrier said on Thursday, adding the first new aircraft will start flying in the first three months of next year. The new Italian carrier has also signed a deal with Air Lease Corp for the supply of 31 Airbus aircraft. ITA is due to start flying in mid-October, substituting airline Alitalia.<br/>

Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling will begin flying from Cork and Dublin airports to Paris, Orly this winter in a further boost to Irish air travel’s pandemic recovery. Vueling, part of International Airlines Group, which owns Aer Lingus, will begin its flights from Cork as the airport there reopens its runway following 10 weeks refurbishment work. News that the Spanish airline will launch the service follows Ryanair’s confirmation this week that it intended restoring a full pre-Covid schedule at Cork next summer. The service will operate on Mondays and Fridays, according to the airport’s managing director, Niall McCarthy, who predicted it would “further grow inbound tourism from this key continental market to counties across the south of Ireland”. Meanwhile, Dublin Airport said that Vueling would begin daily flights from there to Orly on November 2nd.<br/>

Virgin Atlantic, the British airline founded by billionaire Richard Branson, has delayed its plan to list until early 2022 to focus on the reopening of the transatlantic market, said a person familiar with the situation. The United States has said it will allow in fully vaccinated travellers from Britain and dozens of other countries in November, fully reopening Virgin Atlantic’s main market for the first time in 18 months. Virgin had been considering a float this autumn according to reports in August, but it will now wait until next year so it can focus on, and benefit from, the wider restart of travel between Britain and the US, the person said. Bookings surged 600% the day when the US announced the rule change, Virgin said on Sept. 21. <br/>

Sustainable aviation fuels and offsetting carbon dioxide emissions are little more than “greenwashing” that do little to reduce the airline industry’s contribution to climate change, according to Jozsef Varadi, CEO of Wizz Air. Operational changes such as improving route efficiency and using advanced aircraft packed with passengers would be more effective, he said Thursday at an aviation industry Wings Club event in New York. Airlines in the European Union, for example, could reduce industry emissions in the region by roughly a third by adopting Wizz’s high passenger density on Airbus SE A321neo narrow-body aircraft, he said. “There is no SAF in the world that is going to achieve that,” Varadi said. “So, in my mind, SAF and carbon offsets are more greenwashing than real at this point.” His comments come as nearly 200 nations prepare to meet next month at the COP26 Global Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Scott Kirby, the CEO of United, also has criticized carbon offsets, though he supports much higher use of sustainable aviation fuels across the industry. Hungary-based Wizz has sought to grow during the pandemic at the cost of weaker players, securing earlier slots for Airbus deliveries and rebuilding its schedule sooner than competitors did. It’s also stretched eastward, starting up a joint venture in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. <br/>

Sudanese carrier Sun Air is resuming flights to four destinations as the African country looks to shed its pariah status and rebuild the economy after years of US sanctions. The family-owned airline has opened a route to South Sudan and plans to fly to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, Vice President Mohammed Saif said Wednesday. The company also operated two evacuation flights from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, he said. That illustrated Sudan’s improved relationship with the US after the nation’s removal from a list of state sponsors of terrorism after 27 years in 2020. “We decided to relaunch earlier this year after the complete removal of U.S. sanctions,” said Saif, whose father is the founder and main owner. “The Sudanese government is doing good things in terms of turning back to the international community.” Sudan is looking for growth after decades of mismanagement and lost oil wealth under former President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted by the army following an uprising two years ago. The revived carrier could eventually help to establish Khartoum as a hub after losing ground to Ethiopian Airlines Group’s base in Addis Ababa, if it can add enough destinations, Saif said.<br/>

Air Mauritius has emerged from restructuring with what it describes as a stable footing after reducing its fleet and securing a $280m government loan. The carrier says the government’s loan will provide long-term stability for the company as international air travel and tourism rebuilds following the Covid-19 crisis. It adds that the loan was “overwhelmingly supported” by Air Mauritius’s creditors, without disclosing details of the financing. Ken Arian, CE of the airline’s parent company Airports Holdings, states: “This new financial arrangement provides Air Mauritius with the stability to rebuild and play a central role in the government’s economic development and tourism plans. It is a vote of confidence in our staff and provides them and our tourism industry with reassurance for the future.” Air Mauritius filed for voluntary administration in April 2020. At a watershed meeting on 28 September, creditors overwhelmingly voted to exit restructuring, and only a small minority of Class C creditors voted for liquidation, says the Port Louis-based airline.<br/>

China's embattled HNA Group revealed Thursday that it owes $170b to creditors, marking a turning point in the government-led restructuring of one of China's highest-profile bankruptcy cases. Gu Gang, head of HNA's court-appointed working group and secretary of the debt-laden conglomerate's most important Communist Party cell, reported to almost 2,000 party cadres and employees of subsidiaries in an internal meeting, according to HNA Group's official WeChat account. He said the group had received a total of 2t yuan ($310b) worth of claims from creditors since the bankruptcy process officially started in February. Of that amount, the group has acknowledged 1.1t yuan, or about $170b, as liabilities, Gu said, without providing further details. The announcement means HNA Group -- a web of subsidiaries spun around a core airline business -- has finally recognized the overall size of its liabilities. The news comes after a series of official meetings with creditors and investors this week, in the run-up to China's seven-day National Day holiday. When the bankruptcy filing was made at the end of January, how much the group actually owed could not be nailed down.<br/>