Air Transport

EASYJET plans in May 2022 to add five more aircraft at its bases in Malaga (2), Palma de Mallorca (2) and Faro (1), increasing fleets to five aircraft

VUELING was awarded 18 daily slots at Paris-Orly for new service starting Nov 2021; European Commission ordered slots be made available by Air France

PLAY, Iceland agreed to lease three A320neos and one A321NX from GECAS for delivery 2022-2023; it currently has three A321neos.

REPUBLIC AIRWAYS is moving its training activities and headquarters to Carmel, IN, which is providing financial incentives.

Torque Zubeck to Chief Financial Officer of Mesa Air Group, Phoenix.

ASHLAND PLACE FINANCE was formed by Davidson Kempner to offer capital solutions to commercial aerospace industry.

GOL signed non-binding LOI to acquire/lease 250 VA-X4 eVTOL aircraft (manufactured by Vertical Aerospace, UK) from Avolon starting mid-2025 to launch

Jennifer Villa Tennity to President of Ashland Place Finance, New York.

The C919’s expected entry into service before the end of 2021 has revived talk that COMAC could grab a big share of the narrowbody market in the coming years.

Ryanair Group is now expecting to carry 225 million passengers across its five airlines by early 2026, an 11% increase on its previous forecast.

Icelandic LCC PLAY is firming up leases on six new aircraft—five Airbus A320neos and one A321NX—which will be delivered between spring 2022 and spring

As a result of the conditions imposed by the European Commission, International Airlines Group-owned Vueling will be able to operate new routes from the Paris airport as of November.

Airlines on both side of the Atlantic welcomed the likely boost to transatlantic travel that the U.S. government’s decision to ease restrictions on foreign travelers is expected to bring, and IATA urged governments to avoid “blanket” COVID-19 rules going forward.

Smartavia general director Sergey Savostin said the decision to open a second base in Moscow formed part of the airline’s “ambitious plans” to increase low-cost penetration in Russia.

EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren believes the worst of the COVID-19 crisis for the UK-based LCC has passed, thanks to the increased demand that vaccination programs have ushered in.

Lion Air Group MRO-affiliate Batam Aero Technic (BAT) will be adding six aircraft MRO lines by the end of 2021, bringing the total capacity at Batam Hang Nadim airport to 21.

Helicopter operator Bristow Group has announced a partnership with Vertical Aerospace to explore electric vertical-takeoff aircraft while Avolon is partnering with Brazilian airline GOL and transportation provider Grupo Comporte to commercialize an eVTOL ride-sharing platform in Brazil.

Bamboo Airways will finalize a $2 billion General Electric GEnx engine deal during Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phu’s visit to the U.S. this week.

As the carrier's performance improves it is speeding up deliveries of A320/A321neo aircraft again.

Los Angeles has already been identified as early launch market by urban air taxi developers Archer and Joby Aviation, and now Volocopter.

The oil and gas company has set itself a target of producing 2 million metric tons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) a year by 2025—a significant near-term scale-up in supply since Shell is not producing SAF at present.

Sweden-based SCA, Europe’s largest private forest owner, and Nordic energy company St1 have established a joint venture to produce and sell liquid biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel.

American Airlines has become an anchor partner in Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, investing $100 million in the Bill Gates-founded initiative to accelerate clean energy technologies needed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

AVIATION CAPITAL GROUP sold $750m in senior unsecured notes due 2026 to repay debt/purchase commercial aircraft.

ALLEGIANT AIR leased ex-Alaska Airlines A320-200 (2800) with CFM56s from GECAS.