Air Transport

Boeing confident it has resources to meet airlines’ demand.

With so much going on within the aviation sector we want to know your views on the key topics and stories.

A UK government initiative to reduce quarantine durations for international travelers got off to a difficult start after at least one approved COVID-19 test provider was overwhelmed with requests.

Airbus has unveiled a potential configuration for a hydrogen aircraft, integrating fuel cells and propellers in underwing pods.

A little over three months ago former Embraer Commercial Aviation CEO John Slattery took the top job at GE Aviation, succeeding company veteran David Joyce.

The FAA, codifying a lesson learned from the Boeing 737 MAX saga, plans to use ad-hoc internal review boards to help validate work as during the aircraft certification process, administrator Steve Dickson said.

LATAM Airlines Group has doubled its operations in Colombia as other airlines in the country are close to reaching their pre-pandemic size.

Heathrow Airport has successfully appealed a February 2020 ruling that blocked its third runway plans on environmental grounds.

WESTJET plans in January to begin Calgary-Liberia, Costa Rica and -Ixtapa/-Cancun/-Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (787).

VOLGA-DNEPR GROUP placed its first 777F (66625) into service with AIRBRIDGECARGO operating the Trans-Siberian route.

AIR CANADA priced public offering of 35.4m Class A/B voting shares at C$24 each for aggregate gross proceeds of C$850m.

FINNAIR secured 400m unsecured hybrid loan from State of Finland, pending EC approval; its equity at end 3Q20 was 940m and cash reserves were 725m.

IATA is hopeful that measures put in place to deal with the fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic will enable the industry to more quickly respond to future health or other challenges.

CANADIAN NORTH and AIR GREENLAND signed LOI to explore opportunities to improve Greenland-Canada connectivity.

HILLSBORO AERO ACADEMY, OR received approval from Vietnam to conduct professional airplane pilot training in accordance with CAAV regulations.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES plans in 2Q21 to begin services to Santa Barbara, CA and Fresno, CA (737).

SOUTHWEST is projecting year-over-year capacity drop of 40% for 4Q20 (35% in November/40-45% in December) and says it experienced a deceleration in

Southwest Airlines reached an agreement with Boeing to take delivery of 35 737 MAX jets in 2021, marking a 13-aircraft reduction from previous plans to add 48 MAX aircraft in 2021.

SOUTHWEST expects to resume MAX operations in March and plans delayed deliveries of 35 MAX 8s, including 16 leased aircraft, through end 2021 to join

Authorities have arrested an employee at the FAA’s Washington headquarters on allegations that he attempted to extort foreign officials by offering confidential information on pilots whose licenses have been revoked

Mexico’s Viva Aerobus will this week inaugurate four new routes from Mexico City as ULCCs in the country continue to grow their presence from its capital city.

This will be a bleak winter and there will be failures. But it will not be a winter without hope. Vaccine distribution has begun sooner than most dared to believe, certainly well inside the air transport industry’s most optimistic expectations.

Alitalia has operated its first flights to São Paulo after a suspension of more than nine months, with services to Buenos Aires in Argentina set to resume imminently.

Finnair is looking to gain support from the State of Finland with an unsecured hybrid loan of up to €400 million ($486 million), the oneworld alliance member said Dec. 16.

Speaking at the 7th Meeting of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Global Tourism Crisis Committee last week, ICAO Secretary General Dr Fang Liu emphasised that a combination of measures, coordinated between governments and industry, will be essential to the re-establishment of public confidence in air travel.