Aviation Daily Roundup: February 24, 2022

Omicron Wave Presents Fresh Challenge for Air New Zealand

Credit: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Air New Zealand reports that its domestic demand is starting to suffer due to the latest spike in COVID-19 cases, while its international recovery will be affected by continued self-isolation requirements.

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Safran Warns Of Severe Supply Chain Constraints

Credit: Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images

Safran says constraints in the supply chain are already hampering the engine-maker’s delivery targets and are a key factor when it comes to determining further growth in 2024 and beyond.

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Startup Niceair Aims To Link Northern Iceland, Europe

Credit: Niceair

Icelandic startup Niceair looks to capitalize both on European tourists’ increasing appetite for visiting the north of the country and local industries’ desire for better external air links, the airline’s CEO told Aviation Daily.

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China Southern Sends Two A380s To Boneyard

Credit: Joe Pries

China Southern Airlines has sent its first pair of Airbus A380s to a U.S. boneyard, marking the beginning of the end for China’s only superjumbo fleet. The aircraft—reg. B-6136 and B-6137—departed Guangzhou Feb. 24, bound for Victorville Airport, also known as Southern California Logistics Airport.

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Eurowings CEO Outlines Further Growth Perspectives

Credit: Eurowings

After achieving a significantly improved cost structure during the pandemic, Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings is now becoming pan-European and daring to enter contested areas.

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Viva To Challenge Legacy Carriers With Brazil Entry

Credit: Viva

Colombian ULCC Viva has revealed plans to enter Latin America’s largest aviation market as the airline continues to join up more dots across the continent.

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Virgin Atlantic Poised To Fully Restore U.S. Routes

Credit: Joe Pries

Virgin Atlantic said it will resume its “full portfolio” of pre-pandemic services to the U.S. in March and April, including ramping up flying on routes that have already been restored.

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Qantas Sees Improving Demand After Omicron Setback

Credit: Airbus

Qantas reports promising demand trends as its domestic network recovers from the latest COVID-19 wave and international services ramp up after reopening in November 2021.

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SIA Return To Profit Driven By Cargo Demand, Passenger Rebound

Credit: Rob Finlayson

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has clawed itself back to profitability for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020, reporting a net profit of S$85 million for the most recent quarter ending Dec. 31, 2021.

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Eastern European Air Traffic Severely Affected By War In Ukraine

Credit: Wojciech Strozyk / Alamy Stock Photo

Air traffic in Eastern Europe has been severely impacted by the consequences of Russia’s Feb. 24 attack on Ukraine. Both Ukraine and neighboring Moldova have closed their airspace for civil flights. Russia, too, ordered civil flights to be stopped in the vicinity of its border with Ukraine.

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Is The Future London Bus A 30-Seat EVTOL?

Credit: Pascall+Watson

Large electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) “buses” could find a role operating alongside air taxis on commuter flights and dense routes such as airport shuttles, according to a study being led by GK Aerospace under the UK’s Future Flight Challenge.

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Ukraine, Russia Battle For Control Of Antonov Test Center

Credit: Ukrinform/Alamy Stock Photo

A fierce battle has erupted around the flight test center for Antonov aircraft company near Kyiv, with a Russian air assault fighting a brigade of Ukrainian national guard troops for control of the airport, Ukraine’s Ministry of the Interior says.

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Rolls-Royce CEO To Stand Down; Successor Not Named

Credit: Rolls-Royce / Flickr

Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East plans to leave the company at the end of 2022, triggering a search for his replacement, the company said Feb. 24. East has been with the engine manufacturer for nine years and CEO for almost eight

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Kuwait Airways Revises Airbus Order By Aircraft Gauge, Total

Credit: Airbus / David Velupillai

Kuwait Airways has amended its order with Airbus for a range of models as it presses ahead with a major refleeting exercise. The restructuring of the order sees the airline upgauging both narrowbody and widebody purchases, as well as slightly increasing the overall size of the order from 28 to 31 aircraft.

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Azul Cargo Delivers Revenue Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels

Credit: Wagner Meier/Getty Images

Revenues in Azul Airlines’ logistics business beat its own targets in 2021, as the company hopes to grow its fleet of Embraer E195 jets converted to freighters.

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Daily Memo: Two Sets Of Eyes For Quality Means More Laborious Production

Credit: Sean Broderick / AWST

Deep into the Jan. 26 quarterly report by Boeing leaders—after several minutes of rationalizing eyepopping red ink on numerous programs starting with the nearly paused 787 widebody—one Wall Street analyst asked what seemed at first to be a relatively benign question.

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