Ryanair eyes Lauda A320 growth; says takeover was "aweful"

Wizz Air eyes base growth, Malta AOC to launch own-code ops

Malta's Air Horizont to base a B737 in Bratislava

Air Horizont (HT, Zaragoza) will base a single B737-400 out of Bratislava airport to operate summer leisure charters on behalf of local tour operator TIP Travel.

Under a deal arranged by charter broker Classic Air, the aircraft will operate nearly 200 rotations between June 13 and September 21, 2023, connecting Bratislava with destinations in Italy, Greece, and Spain. The charter contract is worth over EUR7.4 million euros (USD7.9 million).

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that Air Horizont's fleet consists of five B737-400s. The airline also leases out another unit of the type to Bulgaria's GP Aviation (IV, Sofia). Only one of the Boeing aircraft is currently active, operating charter flights mainly in Air Horizont's home market, Spain.

Bratislava is currently a base for Buzz (Poland) (operating for parent Ryanair) and ACMI/charter specialists Air Explore, Go2Sky, and Smartwings (Czechia)/Smartwings (Slovakia).

IAG to up stake in Spain’s Air Europa to 100% for €400mn

Iberia (IB, Madrid Barajas) parent IAG International Airlines Group will pay EUR400 million euros (USD423.7 million) to Globalia for the remaining 80% of Air Europa (UX, Palma de Mallorca) to take full ownership of the airline, it announced in a statement released on the evening of February 23.

IAG said that “the acquisition remains strategically important for the group and positions it to benefit from growth opportunities in the Latin America and Caribbean market, as well as to increase connectivity to Asia.” The Anglo-Spanish holding bought its current 20% stake in August 2022 for EUR100 million (USD106 million),

“Upon completion,” it said, benefits of the deal include “transforming” its Madrid Barajas hub to compete with Europe’s largest hubs, “enhancing IAG’s position in the highly attractive Europe to Latin America and Caribbean market, and enabling the company to open routes to new destinations in Asia.”

It will also offer “significant synergies, in line with those of previous acquisitions, to be delivered around 2026 to 2028” if the deal is completed,...

Italy's Sky Alps eyes "huge number" of Q400s, more bases