Route Network Update for Air France

Court rules against Ryanair in Austrian Airlines aid case

The Luxembourg-based European General Court has dismissed a complaint Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int'l) brought against the European Commission’s approval of state aid last year for Lufthansa Group subsidiary Austrian Airlines (OS, Vienna).

Ryanair and its own Austrian subsidiary at the time, Lauda (now Lauda Europe), sued against the Austrian government’s assistance of EUR150 million euros (USD178 million) to the flag carrier. The aid was meant as compensation for the damage caused to Austrian Airlines' finances during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sum was part of a total financing package worth EUR600 million (USD709 million) that also included an equity grant of EUR150 million from Lufthansa and a state-guaranteed bank loan of EUR300 million (USD354 million).

“The General Court confirms that the aid granted by Austria to Austrian Airlines in order to compensate it for the damage resulting from the cancellation or rescheduling of its flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic is compatible with the internal market,” the court said in its July 14 ruling.

The court agreed with the...

Air France-KLM launches tender for major narrowbody order

Air France-KLM has launched a tender for the renewal and expansion of the group's narrowbody fleet, a holding spokesperson confirmed to Reuters.

Group Chief Executive Ben Smith told Het Financielee Dagblad, a Dutch financial newspaper, a few days earlier that the order may comprise as many as 160 aircraft. He would not go into any further details regarding the types but said discussions were being held with both Airbus and Boeing.

"We've done a little bit in this area, it's been on the agenda since 2004, but it's never been put in place as it is now. I am very pleased to be able to put together this order, the largest in the group's history," Smith said.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows Air France (AF, Paris CDG) currently operates eighteen A318-100s, thirty-one A319-100s, forty-four A320-200s, five A321-100s, and fourteen A321-200s in terms of narrowbody aircraft. The airline has sixty A220-300s on firm order from Airbus and plans to replace both the A318s and A319s...

Port au Prince, Haiti reopens for international traffic

Port au Prince Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Haiti, has re-opened to commercial flights after it was temporarily closed last week following the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse. A NOTAM published on July 7, which had closed the aerodrome to all but humanitarian, diplomatic, and government flights, has now been rescinded.

Local airline Sunrise Airways (S6, Port au Prince), in a statement, has confirmed that domestic flights in Haiti have resumed but are still subject to disruptions and schedule changes. The airline took up its normal domestic schedule on July 9 from Port au Prince to Jérémie, Les Cayes, and Cap Haitien after having downed flights on July 7 and 8.

However, according to Sunrise Airways, following directives from Dominican authorities, flights between the Dominican Republic and Haiti remain suspended until further notice. This affects its international flights to Santo Domingo La Isabela in the Dominican Republic.

After having cancelled its flights, American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) resumed two rotations to the Haitian capital from Miami Int'l...

French Polynesia subsidises French Bee flights