Romania's Blue Air to set up first Italian base in Turin

Boeing finds more B737 MAX issues, 16 operators affected

Several airlines around the globe have temporarily grounded their B737 MAX jets after Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) identified "a potential electrical issue" in a specific group of the aircraft.

In a statement on April 9, the US manufacturer said it had recommended to 16 unspecified operators that they verify that their B737 MAX have a sufficient ground path for a component of the electrical power system.

"We are working closely with the US Federal Aviation Administration on this production issue," it said. "We are also informing our customers of specific tail numbers affected, and we will provide direction on appropriate corrective actions."

Sources familiar with developments told Reuters that around 90 MAX around the world are affected. David Seymour, chief operating officer of American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), told staff in an internal memo seen by the news agency that Boeing had traced the issue to a production change made in the installation process.

“[It] occurred after our last aircraft was delivered before the fleet grounding in March 2019,” he said, adding...

Romania’s Blue Air plans Bucharest bond, London IPO

Blue Air (Romania) (0B, Bucharest Otopeni) is planning a bond issue on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in October 2022, after concluding the settlement of pre-emption rights among shareholders, and then, two to three years from now, to go public via a listing on the London Stock Exchange, the low-cost carrier’s chief executive, Oana Petrescu, has told the Romanian news agency Agerpres.

Petrescu estimated that a preventive composition procedure - a debtor-led process designed to buy the debtor time and agree a plan to restructure its debts - would end in July 2022, after which the carrier would proceed with the bond issue, which had initially been planned for 2020 but was put on hold with the coronavirus outbreak.

“Our plan is to first make the listing on the stock exchange with these bonds, and in a two-to-three-year timeline, depending on the market and how fast we go through the preliminary procedures for the London Stock Exchange, we will list to London,” she outlined.

“We practically graduated in 2019 from the London Stock Exchange’s ELITE...

Romania's Blue Air takes first B737 MAX 8

Blue Air (Romania) (0B, Bucharest Otopeni) took delivery of the first of ten B737-8s on dry-lease from Air Lease Corporation on March 30, 2021.

YR-MXA (msn 43309) was ferried from Seattle Boeing Field via Reykjavik Keflavik to Bucharest Otopeni on March 30-April 1, 2021. The Romanian airline plans to take three more Boeing narrowbodies this year and the remaining six in 2022.

"The accelerated replacement of our classic fleet is ensured by the long-lasting strategic partnership with Air Lease Corporation as Blue Air's main lessor. This and the next projected deliveries will ensure Blue Air's resilience and will secure our company position as the main Romanian player in the passenger aviation market," majority shareholder Cristian Rada said.

Blue Air currently operates one B737-300, five B737-500s, one B737-700, and nine B737-800s. All of them, except four -500s, are dry-leased from Air Lease Corporation (six -800s), Carlyle Aviation Partners (three -800s), GECAS (the -300), and Thunderbolt Aircraft Lease (the -700, which is managed...

Air Moldova's A319 seized at Dublin airport over ACMI debt