British Airways and Qatar Airways set up joint business

Doncaster Sheffield Airport set to close

Peel Group, the owner of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) has decided to close the airport after a strategic review.

This decision is said to have been driven by a lack of financial viability, high fixed costs, and a lack of "tangible" offers for airport ownership.

According to media reports, the move puts 800 jobs at risk.

The wind-down is scheduled to begin on 31 October 2022.

Peel announced the strategic review in July and has been engaging with local and national political stakeholders since then.

It added that DSA would be working with airport customers and other users to reduce disruption.

Manchester Airports Group has offered all impacted DSA employees a guaranteed interview for vacancies across its three airports, East Midlands, London Stansted, and Manchester.

Air Arabia and DAL to launch new budget airline

Sudan-based conglomerate DAL Group and Emirati low-cost carrier Air Arabia have created a joint venture (JV) company, which will be based at Khartoum International Airport in Sudan.

Called Air Arabia Sudan, the JV will manage a fleet of new Airbus A320 aircraft featuring "spacious" economy cabin seat pitches.

The aircraft will also incorporate Air Arabia’s online and mobile app-based user interfaces.

In addition, the JV will follow the low-cost business model used by Air Arabia across its network in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to Air Arabia, the new venture will ensure an "accessible" ticket pricing model to support all income groups.

The process for obtaining all necessary approvals and licences is expected to begin soon.

Tata Group sets 2024 as deadline for Air India airline merger

Indian conglomerate Tata Group has set a completion date of 2024 for the merger of its airline companies under a single brand, Air India, as reported by The Indian Express.

The group currently owns Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express, as well as a 83.67% stake in AirAsia India and a 51% interest in Vistara.

Earlier this year, Tata Group purchased Air India from the Indian Government and secured approval to operate Air India Express.

According to The Indian Express’ report, Tata is set to begin the process soon, starting with the merger of AirAsia India into Air India Express.

The merger would begin by integrating information technology and passenger booking systems.

This plan is under dialogue across multiple levels, with the ownership transfer of AirAsia India by Tata to Air India planned to be completed in the near future.

German Government sells remaining stake in Lufthansa

The German Government has sold its remaining stake in Deutsche Lufthansa, which it had bought as part of a bailout package for the country’s flagship carrier.

The government’s Economic Stabilisation Fund (WSF) sold its remaining 6.2% holding in the airline to multiple investors through an expedited book-building process.

Among these investors is German billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne, who has now increased his interest in the carrier to 17.5%.

The size of his stake is likely to earn him a seat on Lufthansa’s supervisory board.  The sale of the WSF’s stake has brought Lufthansa fully back into private hands.

In 2020, WSF acquired a 20% stake in Lufthansa for €306m to rescue the airline during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was agreed on the condition that WSF would divest the stake by October next year.

Lufthansa is said to have cleared all its loans and deposits before schedule in November last year, which it secured from the German Government as travel restrictions were eased.

The state has now sold its stake for €1.07bn, yielding a €760m profit.

Emirates and AEGEAN announce codeshare partnership

UAE’s flag carrier Emirates has announced a new codeshare partnership with Greek airline company AEGEAN to increase its connectivity to eight new Greek cities via Athens.

The partnership will benefit Emirates customers to access domestic Greek points using a single ticket.

Emirates said that the new partnership would be effective from October.

Currently, Emirates operates 12 weekly flights to Athens.

The implementation of the new codeshare routes announced is subject to receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.

As part of this partnership, UAE’s flag carrier will place its code on AEGEAN-operated flights to allow its customers to book their tickets to popular destinations in Greece such as  Chania, Irakleion, Kerkyra, Thira, Rhodes, Mikonos, Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis.

AEGEAN will also place its code on Emirates-operated flights between Dubai and Athens to enable its customers to benefit from smooth connections.