Atlas Air will park four Boeing 747-400 converted freighters this year and return a fifth to a lessor, moves intended to counteract falling yields and utilization rates caused by softening macroeconomic trends.
Belavia Belarusian Airlines has signed a lease agreement with AerCap Holdings for three Embraer E195-E2s, making the carrier the first operator of the type in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Airlines around the world will likely see demand for flights down by 4.7% this year and a $29.3 billion revenue hit because of the COVID-19 viral outbreak, IATA said Feb. 20.
Qantas expects to take a major financial hit from capacity reductions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, although the airline remains on track to make some significant aircraft order moves this year.
GoJet Airlines will expand its Bombardier CRJ-550 fleet by 20 aircraft, a move that will see it operate 74 of the 50-seat jets on behalf of United Airlines as United Express.
As airlines grapple with capacity shortages created by the Boeing 737 MAX grounding or a sudden over-supply because of COVID-19-related schedule reductions, lessors are supporting their mitigation plans, including matching customers in both categories and moving aircraft between them.
Air France and its low-cost sister airline Transavia are expanding their services to and from Algeria, adding services from Paris and the French regions, taking advantage of the gap left by Aigle Azur, which collapsed in September.
EgyptAir received the first two of 15 Airbus A320neo family aircraft Feb. 14 & 19, becoming the first airline in the Middle East and Africa to operate both the Airbus A220-300 and the A320neo.
Iran Air has voluntarily suspended two Airbus A330s and one A321 from EU airspace, EASA confirmed Feb. 19, following media reports that the European aviation safety body had banned the aircraft because they were lacking necessary updates.
SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, reported a 2019 revenue of €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion), up 10% compared to 2018. The carrier did not report profit or loss figures.
Chinese airlines on Feb. 18 began widely promoting charter services to get people back to work, supporting a government policy to restart national production amid the Wuhan virus epidemic.
Nigerian startup Green Africa Airways is aiming to launch later this year using three Airbus A220-300s on lease from GTLK Europe, while it awaits delivery of 50 A220-300s from Airbus.
