Air Transport

SPIRIT AIRLINES took delivery of new GTF-powered A320neo (11951) on lease from SMBC Aviation Capital.

ACI EUROPE reports year-over-year pax traffic in Europe increased 10.2% in 1Q24, reaching 98.7% of pre-pandemic 1Q19 levels. It also revised its full-year forecast and now projects traffic in 2024 to be 3.2% higher than 2019 vs 1.4%.

US DOT reports US airlines carried 70.4m pax in February 2024 (61m domestic/9.4m intl.), up 8.6% vs February 2023.

AIR INDIA EXPRESS took delivery of first two 737-8s on lease from AviLease, Saudi Arabia as part of SLB deal for six.

CRESTONE AIR PARTNERS, CO purchased two A320-200s (4323/4372; leased to SMARTLYNX) in partnership with ATALAYA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT; HALO AIRFINANCE (joint venture of GA Telesis/Tokyo Century) financed the deal.

AVOLON announced pricing of $1b of senior unsecured notes due 2029 in private offering to close on May 15.

REGIONAL ONE, FL purchased three Dash 8-400s from Nordic Aviation Capital; no other details were disclosed.

AIR VANUATU filed for insolvency and cancelled all flights at least through May 12; it has a 737-800 and an ATR 72-600.

FALKO completed transactions for 50 aircraft in 1Q24 vs 28 in 1Q23. It ended quarter with portfolio of 262 aircraft.

RENEGADE AIR, Kenya leased ex-Pivot CRJ200 (7107) from Avmax.

Europe’s airports are forecast to exceed 2019 passenger levels by a greater margin than previously predicted, according to airports body ACI Europe.

Optimism for the Abu Dhabi-based carrier’s summer season follows the airline’s record first quarter net profits of AED526 million ($143 million).

While profitability will still be strong for Asia-Pacific airlines in 2024, many carriers will see a step down from the spectacular results in 2023.

Riyadh Air will jointly announce new routes and destinations with the Saudi Tourism Authority, to raise global awareness among travelers.

Fiji Airways’ pre-tax profit rose to FJD131.8 million ($58 million) for 2023, a turnaround from its FJD164.3 million loss in 2022.

During Routes Europe, Newcastle International Airport outline recent route successes and growth plans as the largest airport in the northeast of England.

Egypt’s national airline is prepared to trade off the complexities of a disparate fleet in order not to find itself suffering the engine reliability problems that have hit many other airlines.

RwandAir has begun its daily direct services between London Heathrow, Terminal 4 and Kigali.

Saudi Arabia will showcase more than $100 billion in investment opportunities to enable its Saudi Aviation Strategy during The Future Aviation Forum.

A Boeing 737-300 aircraft has crashed during take-off in Senegal, injuring 11 people.

Ethiopian Airlines Group has awarded a special honeymoon package to three lucky employee couples.

Airlink, Southern Africa’s premier airline, will begin introducing New Distribution Capabilities (NDC) in its transactions with the travel trade from 31 July 2024

All the essential information related to the airline in recent years.

JetBlue Airways is seeking to defend its position as Puerto Rico’s largest carrier by capacity.

Hong Kong has today (May 9) been confirmed as the destination for Routes World 2025. The event will take place from September 24-26, 2025.