Aviation Daily Roundup: March 3, 2022
March 04, 2022
Let L-410 Manufacturer Yet To Learn Fate Amid Sanctions Uncertainty
Aircraft Industries, the Czech manufacturer of the Let family of turboprop transport aircraft, has said its future is uncertain due to the sanctions now impacting Russia as a result of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finnair To Resume Tokyo Service, Avoid Overflying Russia
Finnair will resume flying to Tokyo Narita (NRT) from March 9 after suspending service following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Oneworld alliance member plans to offer four flights per week from Helsinki (HEL) to Japan’s capital city. The route will avoid Russian airspace, increasing the flying time from 9 hr. 30 min. to 13 hours.

New Footage Suggests An-225 Badly Damaged In Ukraine Fighting
New imagery from Ukraine suggests the only example of the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225, was badly damaged during fighting at the company’s airfield at Hostomel, near Kyiv. The footage, apparently recorded within the first two days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and published on social media on March 3, shows the aircraft sitting under the airfield’s giant-arch-shaped, open-ended hangar, which has been blackened by fire.

Backed By Strong Demand, Lufthansa Looks At More Aircraft Orders
Lufthansa is looking to place orders for additional aircraft, now that the airline is expecting a strong bounce-back in demand pent-up during the pandemic and despite new risks emerging as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Former JetBlue Executive Leaves Delta After One Month For American
American Airlines has confirmed that former JetBlue Airways executive Scott Laurence is joining the Dallas-Fort Worth-based carrier.Laurence, who left JetBlue for Delta Air Lines in January 2022 only to depart the following month, will lead American’s partnership strategy, including alliances, distribution and co-brand relationships. He will report to American’s CCO Vasu Raja.

ATSG Commits To Nine More EFW A330 P2F Conversions
Lessor Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) has committed to nine more conversion slots for the A330 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) with Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), the conversion joint venture between ST Engineering and Airbus.

Daily Memo: Ukraine Invasion Ups Pressure On Global Air Freight
The surge in global air cargo shipping rates has relaxed from its COVID-era peak, but the unfolding crisis in Ukraine looks poised to undo some of that progress. During the height of the personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage in 2020, shipping rates between North America and Asia reached nearly $20 per kilogram, according to Neil Shah, EVP and global head of airfreight at Flexport, the San Francisco-based global supply chain logistics firm.

Lufthansa Group Subsidiaries Reducing Losses
Lufthansa subsidiaries Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and Brussels Airlines reported reduced losses for the 2021. Vienna-based Austrian Airlines posted an adjusted EBIT loss—which does not include valuation gains or losses from aircraft sales—of €264 million ($293 million) for 2021, narrowed from an adjusted EBIT loss of €381 million—which included €150 million in pandemic-related emergency aid granted in July 2020—a year prior.

Thales Still Sees Depressed Commercial Aviation Activity
Despite the overall strong recovery of air transport in traffic, orders and deliveries, Thales is still considering its commercial aviation business to be in an early convalescence phase, according to CEO Patrice Caine. Thales’ avionics manufacturing activity in the sector saw an increase, compared to 2020, essentially thanks to Airbus ramping up production rates for its A320 narrowbody family, Caine says.

Embraer Suspends Customer Support In Russia, Belarus
Embraer is no longer supporting operators in Russia and Belarus, joining other major Western aerospace manufacturers in taking action in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

GDS Firms Move To Cut Aeroflot Content
Technology firms Sabre and Amadeus will remove Aeroflot’s inventory from their respective global distribution systems (GDS) due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sabre stated it is removing Aeroflot’s content from its GDS, which is used by travel agencies, websites and corporations globally to shop and book flight reservations.
Let L-410 manufacturer yet to learn fate amid sanctions uncertainty, some Asia-Pacific Airlines alter schedules to avoid Russian Airspace and more. Take a look at the daily roundup of air transport news.
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