Qantas expects to take a major financial hit from capacity reductions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, although the airline remains on track to make some significant aircraft order moves this year.
GoJet Airlines will expand its Bombardier CRJ-550 fleet by 20 aircraft, a move that will see it operate 74 of the 50-seat jets on behalf of United Airlines as United Express.
As airlines grapple with capacity shortages created by the Boeing 737 MAX grounding or a sudden over-supply because of COVID-19-related schedule reductions, lessors are supporting their mitigation plans, including matching customers in both categories and moving aircraft between them.
Air France and its low-cost sister airline Transavia are expanding their services to and from Algeria, adding services from Paris and the French regions, taking advantage of the gap left by Aigle Azur, which collapsed in September.
EgyptAir received the first two of 15 Airbus A320neo family aircraft Feb. 14 & 19, becoming the first airline in the Middle East and Africa to operate both the Airbus A220-300 and the A320neo.
Iran Air has voluntarily suspended two Airbus A330s and one A321 from EU airspace, EASA confirmed Feb. 19, following media reports that the European aviation safety body had banned the aircraft because they were lacking necessary updates.
SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, reported a 2019 revenue of €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion), up 10% compared to 2018. The carrier did not report profit or loss figures.
Chinese airlines on Feb. 18 began widely promoting charter services to get people back to work, supporting a government policy to restart national production amid the Wuhan virus epidemic.
Nigerian startup Green Africa Airways is aiming to launch later this year using three Airbus A220-300s on lease from GTLK Europe, while it awaits delivery of 50 A220-300s from Airbus.
Boeing is inspecting all 737 MAXs it has in storage and adding factory-floor precautions after discovering foreign object debris (FOD) in the fuel tanks of multiple MAXs, the company confirmed late Feb. 18.
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) is raising already-approved World Trade Organization penalty tariff amounts collected from European airliners imported into the U.S. by 5% to 15%.
Major airplane parts and services provider Triumph Group has restructured into two divisions—one of which it is trying to sell—with its Integrated Systems and Product Support business units merging into “Triumph Systems & Support,” effective immediately.
Seamless Air Alliance, a collaborative body of airlines and suppliers, has published its first inflight-connectivity standard—Seamless Release 1.0—to give airlines greater technical flexibility and make it simpler for passengers to access the internet while flying.
