Qantas Outlines International Resumption Plans
Qantas announced its plans to restart international service, potentially as early as this December. The airline will fly to destinations with high vaccination rates which rules out the possibility of the airline launching that Sydney to Mobile, AL nonstop that many were hoping for.
It will return five of its A380s into service earlier than expected to meet high demand to both Los Angeles and London by the middle of next year, eventually bringing 10 of its 12 A380s back to service. The airline is also extending the range of its A330-200 fleet to operate transpacific routes including Brisbane to both Los Angeles and San Francisco. This process of extending the range involves putting a piece of tape over the fuel tank meter so the pilots are never really sure how much gas is left in the tank and push it to the destination.
Destinations with low vaccination rates and high positive infection rates will be pushed to an April 2022 resumption, including much of Southeast Asia and South Africa.
BA Ponders New Low Cost Subsidiary
Because another LCC subsidiary is exactly what British Airways-owner IAG needs… BA told employees Thursday it plans to start a new budget airline based at London/Gatwick. The carrier opted for Gatwick over Heathrow because everything about this new airline will be budget, and BA won’t pay the exorbitant price for the Heathrow Express.
The new airline wouldn’t begin flying until at least next summer and would offer short-haul service from Gatwick along with BA’s traditional, leisure-based long-haul operation it runs from the airport. The airline has not restored any short-haul service to Gatwick since the pandemic, so it will need to do something if it wants to keep holding on to those slots. You might think handing them over to IAG’s low-cost carrier Vueling would make sense, but apparently that’s not complicated enough.
By creating a new airline BA could hire a new set of pilots and cabin crew on cheap contracts and subcontract ground services to the lowest bidder, similar to what it does now, but this time with a different livery. The reduced labor costs would allow the new airline to drive greater profits while debuting new ways to lower service standards on-board the aircraft.
Air New Zealand plans to Phase out B777s
A decade after phasing out Rico and the 747, Air New Zealand is planning on phasing out its B777 fleet, choosing to fly its B787 Dreamliners on long-haul routes in lieu of the 777s.
The airline sent eight B777-200s to retirement last year during the early days of the pandemic, but today’s announcement seals the fate of its newer B777-300ERs as well. The outgoing planes flew the airline’s flagship route between London/Heathrow, Los Angeles, and Auckland and were the first to feature NZ’s Skycouch and the Spaceseat.
The announcement was made as part of Air New Zealand’s fiscal year 2021 annual report, where it revealed a loss of NZ$411 million for the year on an operating revenue of NZ$2.5 billion. The revenue figure is a 48% drop from last year and came despite the airline reaching the 93% capacity threshold from 2019 for the three months ending in July.
Air New Zealand ended its fiscal year with NZ$1.3 billion in liquidity including NZ$183 million in cash and the rest in undrawn funds on a loan from the government. It has much of its cash tied up in kiwi futures and as a down payment for a new marketing campaign for 2022, “at least we’re not Australia.”
European LCCs Battle Italian Regulator
EasyJet, Ryanair, Volotea, and Wizz Air are firing back at Italy’s civil aviation authority (ENAC) for fines of up to €50,000 to each carrier for violations of the regulator’s free seat requirements for minors and those accompanying passengers with special needs.
The regulator charged an additional €35,000 fine to Ryanair for what it said was circumventing regulations and continuing to charge for the assignment of nearby seats for minors and caregivers, and purposely making it complicated for passengers to file for a refund. Wizz Air, easyJet, and Volotea all said they are now in compliance with ENAC’s regulations. The three carriers claim they have taken all the appropriate measures and they consider the measure closed.
Ryanair, on the other hand, is taking a more aggressive approach towards the government, saying ENAC’s claims are “incorrect” and “misleading.” The airline wasn’t sure exactly what the government was claiming but knows that any time a government entity accuses it of anything, the claims are always incorrect and misleading.
Gulf Air Eyes US Flights
Gulf Air is considering a resumption of service to the United States for the first time in a generation as it filed a Designation of Agent form with the DOT, a first step for the carrier to receive permission to operate to the country.
Gulf Air served New York/JFK from its hub in Manama, Bahrain (BAH) from 1994 to 1997. Surprisingly, the airline is not interested in serving New York this time around, but instead has its heart set on Houston. Bahrain is one of the world’s leading producers of trash cans and trash can parts, making it a perfect fit for the oil town — home of the sign-stealing Astros — in southeastern Texas.
The flight from BAH to Houston/Bush would come in at just under 8,000 miles and be the airline’s longest flight west by a wide margin. Currently it only flies as far as west as London and as far east as the Philippines.
- Air Serbia is launching flights to Beijing in January.
- Aran Airlines is starting the certification process and is hoping to debut early in 2022.
- EasyJet UK announced Stephen Hester as its new Chairman of the Board replacing Frank Sinatra who died in 1998.
- DHL Air Austria will debut later this winter.
- Green Airways is in court facing a challenge to its ownership structure just two weeks after launching, continuing the tradition of Nigerian airlines always keeping things interesting.
- Kargo Xpress is adding two B737-800 freighters to its fleet. In other news, the airline is sending its senior leadership team to spelling camp.
- Qantas is reopening its lounges in Los Angeles, London, and Singapore when it resumes flying to those destinations while permanently closing its lounge in Hong Kong.
- Philippine Airlines returned two unspecified aircraft to their lessors last month. Presumably the airline will figure out which two aircraft it was at some point.
- Polar Airlines is adding two Dash 8-300s.
- Spirit‘s stock is now considered stable, something that can’t be said about its operational capacity.
- United introduced Miles + Money, a new way to use Mileage Plus miles for customers who prefer getting horrendous value.
- Volaris received an operating certificate for its El Salvadorian subsidiary, Volaris El Salvador. The airline received its name after being chosen in a name the airline contest.
I bought a new reversible jacket today. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.