Avianca is continuing a pullback in the domestic Peruvian market, and will end service to three cities beginning 31 March.

The Star Alliance carrier will drop flights to Trujillo, Juliaca and Puerto Maldonado – destinations that it says has been underperforming in its network. The cuts will leave Avianca serving only Lima and Cusco.

"These network changes further advance the company’s strategy which emphasises route and network profitability by reducing underperforming flights and ensuring Avianca’s network is optimised," says Avianca.

The airline will continue to serve Lima from international points, and will also maintain service between Cusco and Bogota. In 2018, Avianca ceased service to Arequipa, Iquitos and Piura in Peru.

Avianca currently serves Trujillo and Juliaca from Lima, and flies to Puerto Maldonado from Cusco, Cirium schedules data shows. The airline's exit from these routes will leave LATAM Airlines Peru as the sole carrier offering service.

The Peruvian domestic market has undergone significant changes in the recent year, with the demise of LC Peru and the expansion of Viva Air Peru. Chilean low-cost carrier Sky Airline is also slated to launch domestic Peruvian operations in April.

Boeing says that airlines in India are beginning to better balance capacity with demand, and are seeing better yields.

“Air fares in the last 30 days have gone up and growth (in capacity) has actually come down by 2%,” says Dinesh Keskar, Boeing’s senior vice-president, Asia-Pacific and India sales.

One key contributor to that trend is the stabilisation of fuel prices over the recent quarter, he adds.

“With that happening, I have a feeling that airlines may finally at least break even and start coming out of their doldrums.”

Turkmenistan Airlines has recruited Lufthansa Consulting to support its efforts to restore third-country authorisation from the European Aviation Safety Agency.

EASA recently withdraw the Central Asian carrier’s approval, forcing it to suspend its routes to European destinations.

The airline operates Boeing types including the 777-200LR, 757-200, and 737-700/800. It also has helicopters and Ilyushin Il-76 heavy freighters.

Withdrawal of the EASA clearance has resulted a wet-lease service being implemented to maintain connections between Birmingham and Ashgabat.

Lufthansa consulting says it has been commissioned by the carrier to “help them raise their performance” in respect of third-country operator criteria.

“The airline recently experienced difficulties in satisfying relevant EASA requirements and is taking matters in this regard very seriously,” it adds. “The operator is aware of the need for immediate action.”

It aims to review the situation and develop a corrective action plan for Turkmenistan Airlines, but has not given a timeline.