Airline

Airlines will fly 4.35 billion passengers this year, close to the 2019 record as the industry bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry group said yesterday.

Slovenia has been beset by poor air connectivity since the demise of Adria Airways in 2019 and has struggled to attract foreign carriers to Ljubljana with subsidies. After months of rumours, it appears a push will now be made to create a new air carrier based on studies showing that not having a national carrier has had a significant impact on the economy.

Turkish Airlines has reported that its net income increased by nearly 45 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023 to $233 million.

Total revenues of the flag carrier amounted to $4.35 billion in the January-March period, pointing to a healthy 43 percent increase from a year ago.

Turkish Airlines aims to boost its consolidated revenue over $50 billion by 2023, the flag carrier has announced in a filing with Borsa Istanbul, outlining its strategy and targets for 2023-2033.

Turkish Airlines carried a total of 6.1 million passengers in March, pointing to a robust 27.5 percent increase from the same month of last year, according to data the company released.

The passenger load factor improved from 75.8 percent in March 2022 to 81.9 percent last month, while the number of landings grew 32 percent on an annual basis to nearly 40,000.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport has said that it would stop night flights and bar private jets in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution.

Aircraft will be banned from taking off between midnight and 6 a.m. and will not be allowed to land before 5 a.m., Royal Schiphol Group chief executive Ruud Sondag said in a statement.

Kenya's troubled national carrier, Kenya Airways, said on March 27 that its losses for last year more than doubled to $290 million, the worst results it has posted in its history.

The airline, whose slogan is "The Pride of Africa," has been running losses for years, despite the government pumping in millions of dollars to keep it afloat.

Last year Aegean Airlines outperformed its record of 2019, when there had been no Covid-19 restrictions.

Compared to the last year before the pandemic, the airline group added 2% in turnover and 36% in profits after taxes, which amounted to 1.34 billion euros and €107 million respectively.

Greek airline Sky Express is offering free flights to students traveling between Athens and Thessaloniki.

The offer started on Friday and will run until March 31.

The initiative has been launched in collaboration with Texan Environmental Management SA in the wake of Greece's rail collision on February 28 which killed 57 people, including a large number of university students.

Greek flag carrier Aegean Airlines is seeking its further expansion abroad through a number of targeted moves.

Greece's leading airline is seeking to land state-subsidized services out of Skopje and Ochrid airports in North Macedonia to European destinations.