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Airline Avianca Holdings will move its domicile to the United Kingdom and its stock will no longer be traded on the Colombian stock exchange, the company said on Wednesday, a day after a US court's approval of the company's restructuring plan. Colombia's flag carrier had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at a US court in New York in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. It now expects to exit the measure by the end 2021, after receiving around $2b in new financing under a debt-for-equity deal. Once its principle domicile is established in the UK, the company will be known as Avianca Group International Ltd. Its current shareholders will not receive any payout or be included as shareholders in Avianca Group, the airline added. The airline did not say why it was moving its domicile, or why it had chosen Britain. Colombia's stock exchange on Wednesday suspended trading in Avianca shares, which had closed at 42.5 pesos (0.01 dollar cents) each on Tuesday. Avianca said it expected its Columbian listing to be canceled.<br/>

Lufthansa expects high demand for its booming cargo business and the recovery of passenger flights to continue next year, it said on Wednesday, after reporting its first underlying operating profit since the coronavirus crisis. The group reported adjusted earnings before interest and tax of E17m in Q3, versus a loss of E1.262b a year earlier, supported by strong freight business and rising demand during the summer season with the easing of travel restrictions. "We have mastered another milestone on our way out of the crisis: We are back to black," CEO Carsten Spohr said. Analysts in a company-provided poll had expected an adjusted EBIT loss of E33m. Lufthansa's air cargo business reported a record adjusted EBIT of E301m, as demand and air freight rates rose due to ocean freight bottlenecks and global supply chains disruptions. "The favourable supply-demand gap will last at least until 2022, but with a high degree of probability beyond that," Spohr said. The company's Q3 revenue almost doubled to E5.2b, compared with analysts' forecast for 5.5b. Lufthansa, which also owns Eurowings, Swiss, Brussels and Austrian Airlines, said it expected demand to develop positively, resulting in positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in Q4. It said Q3 capacity, measured in available seat-kilometres, was 50% of the pre-crisis level. It expects 2022 capacity to rise to more than 70% of the 2019 level. "The positive development will continue up to 80% in the second half of the year," Spohr added. New bookings are currently at 80% of 2019 levels, the airline said, prompted by recovering business bookings and rising demand for long-haul flights, especially to the United States, Lufthansa's most important and profitable market.<br/>

Lufthansa is considering buying more Airbus A220 jets to boost profitability on regional routes as European air travel recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter. The German airline group is looking to simplify a regional fleet now made up of several different models across its subsidiary brands, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are ongoing. A shift toward the lightweight A220 could help Lufthansa hold down spending on fuel, maintenance and training as it builds capacity, the people said. The quest for more single-aisle planes marks another sign Lufthansa is on the mend after requiring a E9b bailout to survive the pandemic. On Wednesday, the carrier group reported a surprise profit and lifted its outlook, sending the shares up 7%, the most in almost a year. On a conference call, CEO Carsten Spohr said Lufthansa had sent proposal requests to regional jet manufacturers, the first stage in a potential aircraft acquisition. There’s been no final decision, and it’s possible Lufthansa will go with a different manufacturer. Other models, including from Embraer, are among the possible choices, Spohr said on the call. Lufthansa already operates both the Airbus and Embraer models. Embraer says its E-2 family of jets has the lowest cost among similar-sized aircraft. <br/>

Lufthansa said it would buy $250m of sustainable jet fuel, although its greenhouse gas emissions will still rise substantially as the German carrier adds back flights. Europe’s largest airline group will acquire the alternative stocks over the next three years, with the investment equivalent to about 1% of its bill over that period, according to Bloomberg calculations. Lufthansa has a mixed record when it comes to curbing emissions. While the company has invested in more fuel efficient jets, its planes are usually emptier than those of rivals including Ryanair, meaning a Lufthansa flight typically generates more emissions per passenger. The three-year period in question is also likely to coincide with a significant upturn in air traffic as the corporate and leisure travel industries recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Lufthansa is expecting to offer 70% of normal capacity in 2022, according to an earnings report released Wednesday, with that figure like to rise in subsequent years. Still, the airline has taken initial steps toward reducing its environmental impact, differentiating itself from some major rivals. Lufthansa aims to halve its emissions by 2030 compared with 2019 and achieve a neutral balance by 2050, helped by offsets. The carrier’s greenhouse gas emissions hit an all-time record of more than 32m tonnes in 2019, before the pandemic burst a decades-long boom in aviation. Lufthansa’s emissions then fell to 11m tonnes in 2020, while the carrier’s plans for next year imply a figure of about 22m tonnes of carbon dioxide. “We stand by our responsibility with full conviction and are doing everything we can to make aviation even more sustainable in the future,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said.<br/>

Lufthansa Group is still evaluating whether to carry out a partial divestment of its MRO business despite progress on improving its balance sheet. The group secured financial support during the initial Covid crisis from the governments of its home nations, most notably major funding from Germany’s Economic Stabilisation Fund. The airline has already paid back the largest parts of the stabilisation measures after completing a E2.2b capital raise this summer, and has reiterated its intent to return the remaining E1b by year-end and to cancel the undrawn part of the financing package. ”We have come a long way with regards to our operational and financial restructuring,” said Lufthansa Group CE Carsten Spohr, on a Q3 results call. ”I am not aware of any other airline, of significant size in the world, which has paid back its stabilisation packages as fast as we are doing.” It marks early steps as the airline eyes an investment-grade rating in the medium term. Lufthansa CFO Remco Steenbergen says: ”We clearly believe investment-grade rating is helpful: it helps you in terms of cost, but also having a strong balance sheet helps you to get through storms.” <br/>

Royal Dutch Shell is looking into developing a production site next to a Swedish nuclear power plant to make synthetic sustainable jet fuel for SAS. Together with plant operator Vattenfall and synthetic fuel maker LanzaTech, the companies agreed to investigate starting a facility that could provide SAS with a quarter of its demand for sustainable aviation fuel by the 2030s. Aviation has so far proved trickier to decarbonize than other methods of transport, though Shell is already working on several sustainable jet fuel projects. The energy giant is shrinking its portfolio of traditional refineries in favor of lower-carbon fuels as consumers and investors demand greater action on climate change. The potential site near the Forsmark nuclear power plant would mix hydrogen with recycled carbon dioxide to make ethanol, according to a statement on Wednesday. Using technology developed by LanzaTech, the ethanol would then be processed into a synthetic jet fuel, also know as electrofuel. “Sustainable aviation fuel offers the greatest potential to reduce emissions from aviation,” Shell Aviation President Anna Mascolo said. Vattenfall will investigate if it can provide the site with fossil-free electricity, hydrogen production and carbon dioxide recovery. The aim is to commission the new production facility between 2026 and 2027, with the site able to produce up to 50,000 tons of synthetic jet fuel a year.<br/>

Air New Zealand wants the public’s help in naming its new Airbus A320neo, the first new aircraft to join its fleet since the start of the pandemic. The narrowbody jet, with the registration ZK-NHF, landed in Auckland late on Wednesday night following a 21,000 kilometre journey from Toulouse, France. Air New Zealand's chief pilot David Morgan said the aircraft’s arrival was a welcome sign of international travel being just on the horizon. “We’re starting to gear up now so it’s a tremendously exciting time for the team at Air New Zealand.” The short-haul aircraft travelled from France via Canada, Los Angeles, Honolulu and the Cook Islands before arriving in Auckland Airport. Its Honolulu to Rarotonga leg was delayed by a few hours after a technical issue resulted in an aborted take off. It’s the first of two new A320neo aircraft to join the Air New Zealand fleet this month, with the second aircraft expected to arrive late next week. The aircraft, which seats up to 165 passengers and features onboard wifi, is also the first A320neo to join its fleet since the end of 2019. <br/>