HNA Group, struggling to raise cash, is likely to sell shares in more of its subsidiary carriers after securing further local government investment in Tianjin Airlines, industry sources close to the group say.
Leisure carrier Meridiana plans to rebrand as Air Italy, according to the Sardinia, Italy-based airline and Qatar Airways, which has a 49% stake in the carrier.
An Aseman Airlines ATR 72 crashed in Iran in the early hours of Feb 18; there are no reports of survivors among the 66 people on board, but the wreckage is in difficult-to-access mountainous terrain.
International Airlines Group (IAG) has warned UK legislators that the chances of IAG’s new long-haul LCC Level operating from the UK are slim while the country’s passenger taxes remain so high.
South African carrier CemAir—grounded by the nation’s regulator for almost the first two weeks of February over the qualifications of maintenance staff—aims to relaunch services around Feb. 21, CEO Miles van der Molen said Feb. 15.
Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos is confident the airline will be able to reach a renewed labor agreement with its UK pilots and the LCC will be able to attract enough pilots to support its rapid expansion.
Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos is keen to secure additional slots at London Gatwick, but there are very few available and he is not considering expanding to another London hub at this stage.
Saudi Arabian full-service carrier SaudiGulf Airlines has obtained regulatory approval to activate Wi-Fi services on board its domestic and international flights, and has brought the system online.
LCC Norwegian reported a NOK299 million ($36.4 million) net loss for 2017, a sharp reversal from a NOK1.13 billion net profit in 2016. The LCC cited rapid expansion, increased fuel prices and disruption-related costs for the loss.
European LCCs easyJet and Norwegian have yet to go fully live on their flight connections partnership, because of issues with booking on one another’s systems.
Ireland-based LCC Ryanair may force UK shareholders to dispose of their shares in the airline in if Brexit talks breakdown between the UK and the European Union (EU) over the UK’s departure from the bloc, the airline’s CEO warned.
HNA Group subsidiary Tianjin Airlines has received an additional CNY400 million ($63.3 million) investment from the Tianjin Bonded Zone Investment Co., representing Tianjin’s municipal government, to enhance the carrier’s competitiveness.
UAE LCC Air Arabia posted a net profit of AED662 million ($180 million) for 2017, up 30% on its 2016 figure of AED509 million. It achieved the result on turnover fractionally down at AED3.7 billion.
Airbus hopes to generate more sales for its A350-1000 among Asia-Pacific airlines as it continues a 12-country tour through the Middle East and Asia-Pacific with one of the test aircraft, partly to showcase the aircraft in potential markets. After taking the aircraft to the Singapore Air Show, Airbus took the -1000 to Auckland, Tokyo and Manila in mid-February.
Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) reported a SG$711.1 million ($531.9 million) net profit for the first nine months of its 2017-2018 fiscal year, up 42.6% over SG$498.7 million over the same period a year ago. SIA cited strong passenger and cargo revenue partially offset by higher fuel expenses for the results.
Air France is facing a widespread strike on Feb. 22 after salary negotia¬tions reignited long-running tensions with the unions representing its workforce.
The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2019 budget request for the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) seeks to improve airport checkpoint efficiency with more screeners and new technology. But a proposed “offsetting collection” fee increase is being criticized by the leading US airline trade group.
Panama-based Copa Airlines and Lufthansa Group have agreed to expand the scope of their existing codeshare to allow Copa to commercialize and market the Panama-Frankfurt-Panama route, which is operated by Lufthansa. Copa will now be able to codeshare the route with a Copa Airlines flight number.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) is taking delivery of the first of four Boeing 777-200ERs in mid-February, a spokesperson in Kiev confirmed to ATW.
