Industry speakers discuss opportunities and challenges
SOUTH AMERICA PULL REMAINS STRONG FOR VIRGIN ATLANTICThe South American market remains high on the agenda for Virgin Atlantic despite placing plans for its first foray into the continent on hold at the onset of the pandemic.
The UK-based airline had scheduled the launch of a service between London Heathrow (LHR) and São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU) in Brazil from late March 2020, but the route was pulled from its schedules as the world locked down.
However, speaking at Routes Americas 2023, vice president of networks, alliances and airline partnerships Rikke Munk Christensen said South America remains a key target market as the carrier looks to build on a codeshare partnership with LATAM Airlines Group. “We are actively looking at South America—hold tight and watch this space,” she added.
Virgin Atlantic, which joined the SkyTeam alliance earlier this month, announced in January 2022 a codeshare with LATAM that allows passengers to travel between London Heathrow and São Paulo, as well as to 12 onward domestic airports in Brazil, including Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Florianopolis.
Christensen said that Virgin Atlantic’s entry to SkyTeam could also create potential opportunities with Argentina’s flag-carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas, which has been a member of the alliance since 2012.
In the northern Atlantic market, where Virgin Atlantic deploys about 70% of its capacity, Christensen explained that corporate demand has quickly recovered, and premium leisure demand is higher than before the pandemic.
However, she cautioned whether the level of pent-up demand across the Atlantic could be sustained given the higher fares in the market at the present time. “A key question is ‘will it continue to hold?’,” she said. “That is something we are all concerned about, but we haven’t seen a slowdown as yet."
– David Casey
AIR TRANSAT TOUTS A321LR’S ROUTE FLEXIBILITYAir Transat, the leisure-focused Canadian carrier, said its fleet of 12 Airbus A321LR aircraft is opening new route opportunities, particularly across the Atlantic.
The carrier earlier this month revealed it will fly Montreal (YUL) to Lyon (LYS) in France 3X-weekly during the 2023-24 northern hemisphere winter season, extending a seasonal route that will operate daily this coming summer. The route, exclusive to Air Transat, is evidence of the A321LR’s flexibility, according to chief revenue officer Michèle Barre.
The A321LR is “fantastic,” she said during a panel discussion at the Routes Americas conference in Chicago. “It’s a real game changer. … It’s an aircraft which fits into all of our markets” and can be shifted depending on the season.
Air Transat’s A321LRs are configured with 199 seats. The aircraft has a range of just under 4,000 nm.
The aircraft, which Air Transat started taking delivery of in 2019, “has some real cost advantages and this aircraft is also very efficient,” Barre said. “And inside the cabin, you really have the impression of being in a large aircraft.”
The airline will start taking delivery of the A321XLR, which has 700 more nm of range compared to the LR version, in 2025, barring delays, she said. Air Transat plans to fly the XLR to destinations such as Rome.
Regarding Italy, Lufthansa’s pursuit of a stake in ITA Airways means the Air Canada-Lufthansa-United Airlines transatlantic joint venture (JV) could become even larger—the JV is viewed by Air Transat as a primary competitor.
A growing alliance involving Air Canada means Air Transat may “also join an alliance,” Barre said, adding: “We need to find partners. We need to do something in response.”
– Aaron Karp
PORTER PLOTS US EXPANSION WITH NEW E2SCanadian carrier Porter Airlines is evaluating new transborder routes to destinations in Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona, with hopes that service could start as soon as this summer.
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The airline, which already serves Boston (BOS), Chicago Midway (MDW), Newark (EWR) and Washington Dulles (IAD) in the US, has identified Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix as target markets.
Flights will be operated by new subsidiary Porter Airlines Canada, which received its air operator's certificate (AOC) from Transport Canada in January, using the company’s new Embraer E195-E2 jets.
Speaking at Routes Americas 2023, VP of network planning and reporting Andrew Pierce said: “There doesn’t seem to be an end of the demand to Florida. And the more I look at Las Vegas, San Francisco, LA and Phoenix, the more I see what exciting markets they are for us.”
Pierce said Porter’s fleet of 132-seat E195-E2 aircraft—which entered into service in February on inter-regional Canadian routes—will enable the airline to offer longer flights than previously possible with its De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400s, opening up the potential for more sun markets.
Porter has already received eight E195-E2s from an order of 50 and expects to take a ninth within the next 10 days. “We’re looking at a what feels like a colossal number of aeroplanes by the end of the year—30 E2s rising towards 50 by the end of next year,” Pierce said.
Pierce also discussed Porter’s plans to expand operations in Quebec with the development of a 225,000 sq. ft. terminal at Montreal Saint-Hubert Airport (YHU), capable of serving more than 4 million passengers per year. It is hoped construction will start before the end of 2023.
The move will see Porter replicate a strategy employed in the Toronto area, where it uses the secondary Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) close to the city center, as well as flying to Toronto Pearson (YYZ).
“We’re planning to fly both E2s and Dash 8s to YHU and YUL [Montreal-Trudeau International],” Peirce said. “YHU isn’t quite as well located as YTZ, but there’s extremely strong data coming out of Montreal when you look at the drive times where YHU is as good as YUL.
“If we get the right passenger experience to improve checkout times, improve security times and shorten the walk to some of the gates, [YHU] is potentially even better. I think YHU could therefore be a Billy Bishop version two.”
Porter has already identified 10 potential routes it intends to serve from Montreal Saint-Hubert, stretching from flights to Vancouver in the west to Newfoundland in the east.
FLAIR AIRLINES: AIRCRAFT SEIZURES WILL NOT DETER SUMMER PLANSCanadian ULCC Flair Airlines is vowing to carry on and operate a full schedule this summer in the aftermath of lessor Airborne Capital’s March 11 seizure of four of its aircraft.
“The last two weeks have been a little bit weird,” VP-revenue management and network planning Eric Tanner said during a March 22 fireside chat at the Routes Americas conference in Chicago.
As of late 2022, Edmonton-based Flair was operating a fleet of 22 aircraft, comprising 19 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and three 737-800s. Airborne seized three MAXs and one 737-800. That has prompted Flair to file a lawsuit in Canadian courts against Airborne seeking $50 million in damages for what the airline calls an “unlawful and immeasurably destructive” action taken by the Irish lessor.
In addition to the financial compensation, the airline is asking the court to order Airborne to return the aircraft.
When asked if the aircraft seizures are a “hiccup” for the airline’s network plans, Tanner responded: “I mean, hiccup is an understatement. Certainly, it's been a lot of work” to keep Flair’s schedule operating.
“I think there was going to be some trimming of our capacity anyway, based on operational requirements and natural commercial issues that come up,” he said. “[The seizures] certainly forced that conversation to be had a little bit earlier than we would have done otherwise. But we're still going to be flying” a robust schedule, though some planned growth may have to be pulled back.
He noted the airline will shift aircraft around as needed to keep flying its schedule and look for ways to operate routes more efficiently. Also, Flair has moved up deployment of three 737-8s of which it had taken delivery, but was waiting for the summer season to start flying.
“We have implemented every recovery measure possible to help our customers,” Flair said in a statement outlining its lawsuit against Airborne. “We have deployed a dedicated team who have taken steps to ensure affected passengers can conclude their journeys with minimal disruption, rebooking hundreds of travelers on flights with Flair Airlines, or another airline, at no additional cost. ... We want to firmly reiterate that Flair Airlines will continue to fly its schedule.”
Airborne, for its part, has said the leasing of the four aircraft was terminated “following a five-month long period, during which Flair was regularly in default of its leases by failing to meet payments when due, with payment arrears reaching millions of dollars.”
