Utah's Breeze Airways adds first E195

TAP Air Portugal paid Atlantic Gateway “salaries” - report

US's Breeze Airways starts work on international debut

Breeze Airways (MX, Salt Lake City) has applied to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for authorisation to operate flights outside the contiguous United States and will soon make "announcements" in this regard.

"We're in the process right now. We're in the process with the FAA of getting flag ops added. Not announced this or next week, but in the near future, we'll be making some announcements," Chief Commercial Officer Lukas Johnson said at the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas.

Johnson did not disclose which markets the airline is looking at and whether it will use its A220-300s or, rather Embraer regional jets to fly abroad.

The David Neeleman-backed start-up currently focuses on serving secondary cities in the eastern US and Florida, although it also serves destinations in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah with both trans-continental and regional services. It currently operates nine A220-300s, ten E190s, and five E195s, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.

Debate on TAP Portugal's partial re-privatisation gets ugly

High-profile airline industry figure David Neeleman has come out swinging against allegations his time at TAP Air Portugal (TP, Lisbon) worsened the airline's financial fortunes. Neeleman was responding to questions raised in Portugal's parliament last week by infrastructure minister Pedro Santos Nunes saying that the current government should stop using him and the airline as for political point-scoring.

Neeleman was one of the parties behind the Atlântico Gateway consortium that took a 45% stake in TAP Air Portugal in 2015 (the government retained a 50% stake). Neeleman was later ousted in 2020 when the government upped its stake to 72.5% and said it was in the public interest to keep the airline in public hands. Neelemen went on to set up Breeze Airways (MX, Salt Lake City) and the Portuguese government is once again debating partially privatising the country's flag carrier.

Concurrently, a Portuguese Public Ministry investigation is underway into reports that Neeleman cleared the purchase of 50 Airbus narrowbodies at full list prices after a discount had previously been negotiated. “The...

Air Canada orders 15 incremental A220-300s

Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) has firmed up options with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for fifteen A220-300s, increasing its total commitment for the type to 60 aircraft.

"This expanded order for the A220, built up the road from our Montreal headquarters, is an important development in the modernization of our fleet and a clear indication that we are emerging from the pandemic solidly positioned for the future. The A220 has become a mainstay of our narrowbody fleet, and its performance and passenger comfort are enabling us to compete effectively in the North American market," President and Chief Executive Michael Rousseau said.

The Canadian carrier initially ordered forty-five A220-300s with 30 options in 2016. It has so far taken 31 aircraft and plans to add a further two by the end of 2022. Six aircraft are scheduled to deliver in 2023, and a further six in 2024. The 15 newly converted options are all for delivery in 2026. The airline retains a further 15 unconverted options.

Air Canada is currently the second-largest...