World gov’ts devise airline assistance plans 30APR

Alaska Airlines to swap 10 A320s for 13 B737 MAX 9s

Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma Int'l) has reached an agreement wherein it will sell all 10 of its remaining owned A320-200s to Air Lease Corporation which will, in turn, lease the airline 13 incremental B737-9s.

The B737 MAX 9s are scheduled to deliver between the second half of 2021 through the end of 2022 and will come on top of another 32 of the type that Alaska Airlines has on direct order from Boeing.

Following the sale of the A320s to ALC, Alaska Airlines will lease the units back for a short period of time during its transition to the B737 MAX fleet, "on terms that align with Alaska Airlines’ fleet modernization and rationalization over the next few years".

According to the ch-aviation fleets ownership module, Alaska Airlines operates fifty A320-200s, of which it only owns the 10 now sold to ALC. The remaining 40 are dry-leased from a variety of lessors, but none from ALC. The airline inherited its entire fleet of Airbus narrowbodies, which also includes...

Havana, Cuba reopens in time for high season

Cuba's Havana Int'l airport is to re-open to regular commercial flights on November 15 after being closed for seven and a half months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Cuban state-run media citing Cuba's civil aviation authority (Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil de Cuba - IACC).

Reuters reports the move comes on time for what is traditionally the Caribbean island nation's high tourist season from November to March, although the pandemic was expected to reduce the flow of visitors. Authorities will test all international travellers for COVID-19 on arrival, state-run media said, and would levy a sanitary tariff in order to cover the extra costs of new hygiene protocols.

Cuba officially reopened for international tourism on July 1, 2020, in a phased approach, starting with certain tourist cities, and gradually opened more from October. Varadero reopened on October 15 and Holguin on November 3, 2020.

State-run airline Cubana (CU, Havana Int'l) resumed weekly flights between Santiago de Cuba and Madrid Barajas on November 10 using an A340-300 leased from...

TUI fly (Germany) to halve its fleet, halts long-haul plans

North America suspensions, country closures 30MAR-05APR