Introduction
This time, there is positive news in the industry with IATA reporting that there are more opportunities now for new startup airlines than before the pandemic. And leading on from that, Norwegian bounces back from the brink of collapse and a new start-up aims to bring a new option for long haul flights from the UK.
IATA - Pandemic creating opportunities
Last week IATA released data showing that more airlines have started up in 2021 than in 2019 which was before the pandemic began. There have also been fewer deaths and dormancies of airlines in 2021 compared with both 2019 and 2020. Here is the chart published by IATA:
IATA credits this rise in airline births due to the relaxing of the expensive barriers to entry for new startups because of a more favourable second hand aircraft market and the collapse of seemingly robust airlines during the pandemic has opened up gaps in the market for these newcomers and some returning airlines too. Cargo airlines have seen increased demand too. IATA say there would have been even more expansion of cargo airlines if there was not such an excess of passenger aircraft available to use for cargo.
Norwegian Reopens base in Helsinki.
Norwegian has reopened their Helsinki base for summer 2022 and is recruiting 150 aircrew for this season. Norwegian will have 27 total routes available from Helsinki during the summer.
This comes after Norwegian closed its base in Helsinki in April 2020 due to the pandemic and is part of Nowegian's new direction of a regional and more short haul airline after being saved from bankruptcy in 2021 showing a positive direction for the airline and passenger aviation in Europe, although they can expect intense competition with the well established low cost carriers such as Ryanair and Wizz Air.
New British Long Haul, Hans Airline to Fly This Summer
Following on from the IATA data on new airline births, one of these is Hans Airlines, a British based long haul airline that aims to deliver affordable, long haul travel. Hans Airlines will have its base at Birmingham Airport, routing to cities in India, which fits well with India re-opening to international scheduled flights recently.
The airline signed a letter of intent for its first Airbus A330-200 aircraft, this January (2022). With the training of the airline's pilots completed in January 2022 and cabin crew training underway, the airline is set for take-off this summer. They will be directly competing with airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
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