Aviation

  Bloomberg Canada’s WestJet Airlines Ltd agreed to buy low-cost rival Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations tour operations, ramping up competition in an industry that’s emerging from two years of turmoil brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. WestJet and Sunwing announced the deal in a statement, noting that Sunwing’s current shareholders will become equity holders of WestJet. Terms weren’t disclosed. ...

Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc will stop flying over Russia for its daily flights to India, becoming the last major US passenger carrier to withdraw from the airspace following the invasion of Ukraine. The airline expects short-term disruptions as it reroutes flights to Mumbai and New Delhi from its hubs in Chicago, Newark and San Francisco, spokeswoman Leslie Scott said. ...

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary said fuel hedging and cost curbs will help it put the squeeze on rivals this summer as the Ukraine invasion adds to a slew of challenges facing airlines. While Ryanair saw bookings drop 20% after Russia launched its attack, sales have already begun to recover and Europe’s biggest discount carrier still ...

Bloomberg A plunging ruble, flight cancellations and money-transfer difficulties are prompting Russian and European tourists to cancel trips to Thailand, a blow to the Asian nation’s tourism-revival efforts. The exclusion of many Russian banks from the SWIFT payments network has resulted in tour operators running into problems when making transfers, according to Charintip Tiyaphorn, co-owner of Pimalai Resort & Spa ...

Bloomberg A Boeing Co 737 cargo plane operated by a Qantas Airways Ltd subsidiary suddenly depressurised during a flight last year after a misplaced insulation blanket clogged up the main outflow valve, Australia’s air-safety investigator said. Cold air rushed into the cockpit and the two-person crew suffered pain in their ears when the jet lost cabin pressure descending through 8,000 ...

  Bloomberg Leasing firms are facing the challenge of recalling jetliners worth billions of dollars from Russian airlines, as sanctions imposed over the Ukraine invasion threaten carriers’ ability to operate rented planes. EU sanctions ban the supply of “all goods and technology” linked to aircraft. Planes can’t be insured, either. That means leasing firms will be required to terminate all ...

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest aircraft, the Antonov-225 cargo plane, was destroyed by Russian forces while it was under repair at an airfield in Gostomel near Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s state-run Ukroboronprom. Restoration of the aircraft, known as Mriya, will take more than five years at a cost of over $3 billion following the attack, Ukroboronprom said in a statement, ...

Bloomberg Finnair Oyj faces a wipeout of its Asian traffic as a tit-for-tat of airspace closures in Europe and Russia jeopardises its main long-haul strategy. Finland’s national carrier has carved out a niche providing transit passengers from smaller European cities the shortest flight times to Asia. But the flights through its Helsinki hub to destinations like Hong Kong, Seoul and ...

Bloomberg Major airlines reported a surge in bookings from Hong Kong last week as the city saw a new pandemic-era record in net population outflow, underscoring how a deepening Covid-19 crisis is pushing more residents to leave. Emirates Airlines said it is seeing weekly double-digit growth for advanced bookings until July, particularly to the UK and other European countries, according ...

  Bloomberg Distressed flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to cancel billions of dollars worth of aircraft orders from Airbus SE and Boeing Co as part of a court-supervised debt restructuring to slash its debt and weather a slump in air travel due to the pandemic. The state-owned carrier wants to cancel its order for nine A330-900 jets and four A330-800s, ...