Aviation Daily Roundup: March. 15, 2023

Aircraft lessor Airborne claims it seized four Boeing 737-8s from Canadian ULCC Flair after several months of the airline regularly defaulting on payments, which contradicts Flair’s assessment of the seizure. 

Safety professionals from a cross-section of U.S. aviation industry stakeholders have outlined an ambitious effort to flag root causes behind a series of recent occurrences and accelerate a steady shift toward more predictive safety risk mitigation.

Air France-KLM has fully repaid the remaining €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) from its initial €4 billion state-guaranteed bank loan granted to help the airline group through the COVID-19 crisis.  

Frontier Airlines believes staffing challenges driven in part by aircraft delivery delays should abate in the second half of 2023.

Regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) has begun its “pivot to growth” under the leadership of GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) veteran Norman Liu, after completing a substantial restructuring in mid-2022.

TAP Air Portugal’s CEO and chairman, recently dismissed for their alleged involvement in a financial controversy, will have an opportunity to defend themselves to try to reverse the decision. 

Contactless wear-free aircraft brakes and drone medical delivery are among the first eight proposals selected by a fund established to provide financial support to small- and medium-size companies in Ontario, Canada, to advance the technology readiness of projects that could help reduce the environmental footprint of aerospace.

Strong demand from leisure travelers in the Minneapolis market is bolstering growth for Sun Country Airlines, which said it has other carriers “on the run.”

Cash remains king when it comes to financing new airliner deliveries, Boeing forecasters say in their latest annual Commercial Aircraft Finance Market Outlook, but the backdrop for funding air transport deliveries continues to brighten from pandemic doldrums.

In one of the final steps toward the full reopening of the world’s second-largest air transport market, China restarted issuing all visa types to foreign tourists on March 15, just over three years since the WHO classified COVID-19 as a global health crisis. 

Egypt’s hybrid carrier Air Cairo, presenting its plan to the country’s General Assembly, expects to double its operating fleet to 60 aircraft by 2027. 

Kuwait-based LCC Jazeera Airways has announced its intention to establish a Saudi Arabian subsidiary based in Dammam.

Albany International, the provider of 3D-woven composite fan blades to Safran for LEAP aircraft engines, announced March 13 it is searching for a new CEO