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Air Canada said Tuesday it would add 26 extra-long-range versions of the Airbus A321neo aircraft to its fleet as travel demand has jumped after a blip caused by the Omicron coronavirus. Canadian carriers are seeing a bounce in spring travel as COVID-19 shows signs of ebbing, but surging oil prices due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis are casting a shadow ahead of the busy summer vacation season. Canada's largest carrier said the extra-long-range version of A321neo that will replace the company's older aircraft is expected to be more fuel efficient. The new version will have a range of about 8,700 kilometers and can fly up to 11 hours. The Canadian carrier said it would lease 15 aircraft from Air Lease Corp and five from Dublin-based AerCap Holdings. Six aircraft would be acquired from Airbus under an agreement that includes purchase rights to buy an additional 14 planes between 2027 and 2030. The deliveries would begin in Q1 2024 with the final aircraft to arrive in Q1 2027, Air Canada said. The carrier is in the process of selecting an engine manufacturer for the extra-large version of A321neo. As of Dec. 31, 2021, Air Canada had a combined 214 aircraft in its mainline and Air Canada Rouge fleets, including 136 single-aisle, narrow-body aircraft.<br/>

Egypt Air began direct flights from several Spanish cities to Luxor on Monday as part of the Civil Aviation Ministry’s plan to promote flights into the country. The flights take off on Monday every week until Jan 9, 2023, from Santiago de Compostela, Bilbao, and Málaga to carry tourists wishing to see the monuments of Luxor, which alone has one third of the world’s ancient monuments. Luxor International Airport has already received the first of these flights in a Boeing B737 – 800, which will operate the trips. Egypt’s tourism sector is expected to be impacted by the conflict in Ukraine, as many of the tourists were from Russian and Ukraine. It is thus looking for ways to attract more European and US tourists to its resorts, nature reserves, museums, and temples.<br/>

Air New Zealand has announced a new start date for its long-awaited Auckland to New York flights. The first ever non-stop service between New Zealand and New York will depart on September 17, landing at John F. Kennedy Airport. The flights, which will be numbered NZ1 and NZ2, will be among the longest in the world, taking just over 16 hours to New York and 17-and-a-half hours for the return journey. Air New Zealand will operate the route three times a week, year-round, using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The non-stop flights are now available to book on Air New Zealand’s website, starting from $986 one-way from Auckland to New York and from $993 for the return leg. Details of the service were first revealed in late 2019, with the maiden voyage supposed to take off on October 29, 2020. In early 2020, the airline had been selling tickets for as little as $847 one-way from Auckland to New York. However, the launch was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic, with much of Air New Zealand’s international fleet grounded in the Californian desert. Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said with the New Zealand border reopening on May 2 to tourists from visa-waiver countries, this was the moment they had been waiting for.<br/>