Airlines & Lessors

African budget carrier Fastjet has suspended operations at its Fly540 Ghana subsidiary as part of its long-running battle to curb its legacy Fly540 losses.

Malaysia Airlines has posted a first-quarter net loss of MYR433 million ($138 million), 59% worse than the year-ago period.

The Icelandic Parliament has banned all industrial action by Icelandair pilots, according to an airline statement.

Netherlands-based AerCap Holdings has completed the acquisition of US lessor International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC).

A CityJet flight from London City to Florence was forced to return to the airport shortly after takeoff on Thursday when a piece of the wing became detached.

Romania-based Tarom is reportedly considering resuming Bucharest Otopeni-Beijing services from August.

Airbus and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have completed a 10-hour flight from Amsterdam to Aruba with an A330-200 using sustainable jet fuel, the longest biofuel flight to date by an Airbus aircraft.

Boeing Flight Services and low-cost carrier (LCC) Scoot have signed a five-year pilot training agreement to support the Singapore-based airline’s fleet transition to 787s.

People

Worldwide commercial airline passenger traffic, RPKs, load factors, and FTKs year-to-date.

Monthly aircraft deliveries by type, engines and manufacturer, with registration, aircraft serial number and lessor information.

Republic Airways Holdings (RAH) is shrinking as a consequence of its pilots rejecting a new labor contract in April, according to chairman, president and CEO Bryan Bedford.

Eastern Air Lines Group said it has ordered Boeing 10 737-800NG aircraft, with additional purchase rights for 10 MAX 8 aircraft.

Airberlin reported a first-quarter net loss of €209.8 million ($288 million), widened from a net loss of €196.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Australian flag carrier Qantas is seeking voluntary redundancy from its pilots, in a first move to cut $1.8 billion in costs and reduce staffing levels by 5,000 over the next three years.

Air Canada incurred a first-quarter net loss of C$341 million ($312.8 million), widened from a C$260 million net loss in the year-ago quarter.

Brazilian low-cost carrier GOL posted a first-quarter net loss of BRL96.1 million ($43.4 million), widened from a net loss of BRL75.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Jazz Air parent Chorus Aviation reported first-quarter net income of C$5.6 million ($5.1 million), down 39.1% from C$9.2 million net profit in the year-ago March quarter.

Qatar Airways has inaugurated its new all-business Doha-London Heathrow service, deploying a 40-seat Airbus A319 between the cities.

Total Commercial Aircraft Orders placed in April 2014

Guangzhou-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Jiuyuan Airlines (9 Air) has committed to 50 Boeing 737s, including Next-Generation 737s and 737 MAXs.

Lufthansa is planning to transfer around 1,500 German airports ground staff who work at check-in desks and ticket sales counters into separate companies this year as part of its cost-cutting program SCORE.

Santiago-based LATAM Airlines Group has reported a first-quarter net loss of $41.3 million, reversed from a net income of $42.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia reported a first-quarter net profit of AED75 million ($20.4 million), up 27% compared to a net profit of AED59 million in the year-ago period.

Thailand’s low-cost carrier (LCC) Nok Air reported a first-quarter profit of THB40.9 million ($1.25 million), down 90.2% from THB416 million in the year-ago period.