Southwest CEO Gary Kelly says corporate travel ultimately may settle to a level that is about 20% below what it was in 2019 as the pandemic eases, but that his carrier will “do very well” under those circumstances. Business travel remains down 65% to 70% from pre-pandemic levels. Southwest already has efforts underway to win a larger share of a possibly smaller business travel market, Kelly tells North Dallas Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. Kelly says all US carriers are struggling to hire amid a wider labor shortage that has heightened competition for entry-level workers. Some applicants accept jobs and don’t show up, a first in Southwest’s experience. Work habits of existing employees also have changed, with more seeking to continue working from home or have other flexibility. Southwest is focused on operations “to the exclusion of all other priorities” headed into Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, flying a “more conservative” schedule to match available staffing.<br/>
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FlyWestair has rebranded to FlyNamibia effective from November 2, 2021, to "better reflect its role as a trusted Namibian carrier"‚ the airline has announced. The airline is the Southern African country's only active scheduled operator at present following the demise earlier this year of state-owned flag carrier Air Namibia. Along with its rebranding, the airline announced a new safari schedule of daily connections between Windhoek Eros to Namibian tourism destinations including the Etosha National Park, Sossusvlei in the Namib desert, and the coastal holiday town of Swakopmund, as well as daily flights between Katima Mulilo (Caprivi) (on the Caprivi Strip in the north-eastern corner of Namibia) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) as of April 2022. CEO Henri van Schalkwyk said the safari schedule would connect the most sought after tourism destinations in Namibia and Southern Africa, such as the Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and Cape Town in South Africa. FlyNamibia will continue operating the domestic and regional routes of FlyWestair, including domestic routes between Windhoek's Eros Airport and Ondangwa, Rundu, and Katima Mulilo, as well as the international route between Windhoek Int'l and Cape Town.<br/>
Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo is seeing strong demand on international routes as they start to open up with India’s emergence from the pandemic. This has had a positive impact on the carrier’s international yields, says IndiGo chief Ronojoy Dutta. “There clearly is some pent up demand…particularly on international markets, whether its Oman, Kuwait or Dubai…every market that opens up sees a huge surge in demand, and prices are high as a result,” he says. This is supporting ticket prices. Domestically, the airline is also seeing strong demand, but ticket prices are governed by official pricing caps. He adds, though, that airlines are cognizant of high fuel prices, and behaving “responsibly” from a pricing perspective. Dutta made the remarks during an analysts’ call following the carrier’s second quarter earnings, in which operating losses widened to INR14b ($187m) for its Q2 ended 30 September, compared with an operating loss of INR12b a year earlier. On the back of an improving Covid-19 situation in India, revenue nearly doubled to INR58b. Dutta is also hopeful that more ‘travel bubble’ arrangements will be opened up, allowing Indians to travel to more destinations overseas. He understands that negotiations are taking place with Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.<br/>
Kuwaiti carrier Jazeera Airways returned to profitability in the third quarter, earlier than the airline had forecast, and managed to break even over the first nine months of the year. The airline turned in a Q3 net profit of KD11.8m ($39m), after generating revenues of KD31.7m. Chairman Marwan Boodai says the airline achieved the profits ahead of its previous forecast for the Q4. He describes the situation as a “positive sign”, adding that Jazeera “successfully mitigated” the effects of the pandemic, safeguarding its liquidity and financial position. It carried out a KD10m rights issue in July – including KD2m in shares, increasing the authorised capital to KD22m – which was fully subscribed. Shareholders approved an adjustment of accumulated losses against a share premium of KD8m. Boodai says the strong quarterly earnings reflect “an evident appetite for travel”, and the airline’s load factor and yield have increased despite “continued imitations” on the number of passengers at Kuwait airport. Kuwait airport returned to full capacity on 1 November, after restrictions started to lift from 1 August. The carrier’s Terminal 5 at the airport generated a KD400,000 profit in Q3, although it was still in deficit at the nine-month point, with net losses of KD427,000. “Jazeera’s flexible business model continues to prove its resilience against challenges and its strength in positively contributing to the business and economic environment,” adds CE Rohit Ramachandran. The airline has increased its fleet to 16 aircraft – comprising eight Airbus A320neos and eight A320s – and another A320neo is scheduled for delivery in December this year.<br/>
Having secured its US Foreign Air Carrier Permit in late August, India's Vistara has now disclosed that it holds slots for services from Delhi Int'l via London Gatwick to New York Newark for the current winter season. According to Airport Coordination Limited, the Indian full-service carrier has slots to operate a total of 63 flights from Gatwick to Delhi (translating to 3x weekly flights) and the same number from Gatwick to Newark during the season ending in late March 2022, with up to 299 passenger seats per departure. The airline has yet to announce plans to serve the United States, although it said earlier that it hoped to debut the route during the current quarter. Vistara, a 51/49 joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines Group, operates just two B787-9s with 299 seats each.<br/>
Malaysia's AirAsia Group is in talks with Airbus about its interest in the manufacturer developing a new freighter version of its A321neo passenger plane, the head of its logistics arm said on Wednesday. AirAsia would seek to convert a "meaningful chunk" of its 362 orders for the passenger version of the A321neo narrowbody to a dedicated freighter, said Pete Chareonwongsak, CEO of AirAsia logistics division Teleport. "For a lot of the markets that we need to reach both in range but also in capacity, it's a great product," he told reporters of the potential freighter. "Would we be the launch customer? I don't know. We'll see." Chareonwongsak cited reports that China's JD Logistics plans to have a fleet of 100 freighters by 2030 as an example of the scale that AirAsia could seek in its cargo business as it focuses on growth in e-commerce. "We think that Southeast Asia, if we focus on this market, can absorb that level of capacity," he said. Industry website Leeham News in August reported Airbus was in talks with customers about a freighter version of the A321neo. An Airbus spokesperson said on Wednesday that it was always looking to advance its products and was in constant dialogue with its customers listening to their requirements. "There are many studies and not all see the light of day," the spokesperson said. "Details of discussions with our customers remain confidential." Airbus in July announced plans for a freighter version of its A350 widebody jet, in a challenge to Boeing's longstanding dominance of the market for dedicated cargo planes. Boeing is also expected to launch a freight version of its 777X big jet soon, with Qatar Airways and FedEx seen as potential launch customers, market sources say.<br/>