United States Institutes Russian Flight Ban
Those hoping Aeroflot would announce new service between Moscow and Albuquerque or Fort Wayne this week are in for a disappointment as President Biden announced a ban on all Russian aircraft during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
The ban brings the United States in line with most of NATO and the European Union along with Canada, both of which announced bans over the last week. The ban includes not just flights with a destination in the United States but overflight rights as well. Aeroflot is down to two routes it can operate in the vicinity of the United States, to Cancun and Punta Cana, and the Cancun route is currently suspended.
The ban is in effect as of today, March 2, and applies to any plane owned, certified, operated, registered, chartered, leased, or controlled by, for, or for the benefit of a person who is a citizen of Russia. The prohibition applies to scheduled and charter passenger and cargo flights and any airline that has ever served caviar or Russian vodka in first class.
Luckily for Russians looking for a relaxing vacation, Iran Air’s seasonal service to Tehran is still operating.
WestJet Agrees to Purchase Sunwing
Canadian’s second-largest carrier WestJet announced a deal to purchase Sunwing Airlines on Wednesday. Sunwing shareholders will become equity holders in WestJet as part of the new airline, which will be led by WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech.
Under the deal, a new business unit will be created, with Sunwing Vacation and WestJet Vacations becoming one group, with current Sunwing CEO Stephen Hunter in charge. Hunter and his family are the majority shareholder in Sunwing, with German-based TUI Group the largest minority shareholder at just under 50%.
WestJet’s headquarters will remain in Calgary, while the new vacation unit will be based in Toronto. The new company will also maintain an office in Laval, Quebec for everyone in its customer base named Pierre. The merger is expected to be completed late this year but remains subject to regulatory approval in Canada. The two companies will continue to operate as two separate and polite entities in the interim.
Spirit’s Newest Frontier: Monterrey
Spirit will operate into northeastern Mexico for the first time (on purpose) as the carrier announced new service to Monterrey, making the airport its 4th destination in Mexico.
Spirit will launch daily service on Jun 22 from both Austin and Houston/Bush to Monterrey, with the Austin service being the only nonstop flight between the two cities. Spirit first entered the Mexican market in 2003 with flights to Cancun once it realized how much more it could charge for fees in Mexican pesos as opposed to American dollars.
Monterrey will be one of seven international destinations for Spirit at IAH to go with 17 domestic options.
- Air Canada is politely discussing a potential 10-20 plane A321neo order with Airbus.
- Air India incoming CEO Ilkey Ayci was so pumped to leave Turkish and start his new role this April that he resigned today, a month before his first day of work. The carrier will now turn to a Feats of Strength battle between Doug Parker and Gary Kelly. The first to pin the other will receive the job.
- American SVP of Flight Ops Kimball Stone is retiring. The carrier also suspended its interline agreements with both Aeroflot and S7.
- Blue Air is feeling less blue today after a Rome judge supported the deal it offered its creditors in an attempt to emerge from bankruptcy.
- British Airways and Philippine Airlines were one of three pairs of airlines to complete LHR slot swaps.
- Citrus suspended its launch plans as the market for start-up Russian LCCs is not at its peak right now.
- Mesa added a B737-400(SF).
- Norse Atlantic has assigned one of three people named Bjørn to acquire slots at London/Gatwick.
- Royal Jordanian repaid an $85 million debt to the Jordanian government.
- Thai Summer Airways is again trying to launch operations and took delivery of its first aircraft last month, during the winter.
- United is suspending its routes from San Francisco to Delhi and Newark to Mumbai while it sorts out the ban on Russia’s airspace.
Yesterday I had a co-worker tell me I often make my colleagues feel uncomfortable by violating their personal space.
I found the comment to be very hurtful and it completely ruined our bath.