Alaska Air Group and Hawaiian Holdings have agreed to combine their airlines in a $1.9 billion deal that is expected to close in 12-18 months. Under the all-cash transaction, Alaska Airlines will acquire Hawaiian Airlines for $18 per share, valuing the latter's equity at $1 billion. Alaskan will also assume $900 million of Hawaiian's net debt. The transaction represents a large premium to Hawaiian's closing price of $4.86 per share on 1 December. There is no contingency financing, with cash on hand and new debt expected to finance the transaction, which shareholders will vote on during the first quarter of 2024. It will also be subject to anti-trust and other approvals. Although the two airlines will continue operating under their respective brands they will unify their operations and loyalty platforms, which is expected to generate $235 million of run-rate synergies. One-off integration costs are estimated at $400-500 million. The airlines state in an investor presentation that they have highly complementary networks with only 3% overlap, mainly on routes from the West Coast to Hawaii. "This combination is an exciting next step in our collective journey to provide a better travel experience for our guests and expand options for West Coast and Hawai‘i travelers," says Alaska chief executive Ben Minicucci. Hawaiian president and chief executive Peter Ingram says that the additional scale and resources of the transaction will allow it to "accelerate investments in our guest experience and technology, while maintaining the Hawaiian Airlines brand. "We are also pleased to deliver significant, immediate and compelling value to our shareholders through this all-cash transaction." Alaska will maintain its headquarters in Seattle, but with a "significant presence" in Hawaii through pilot, MRO and flight attendant bases. Fleets data shows that Alaska operates 227 Boeing narrowbody aircraft with a further 82 on order, while it has 14 Airbus A320ceos and five A321neos that are in storage. Hawaiian, meanwhile, has 60 aircraft in service, comprised of 25 A330s, 19 717s and 16 A321neos. It also has 12 787-9s on order, plus two A321neos and four 717s in storage. BofA Securities and PJT Partners are serving as financial advisors and O’Melveny & Myers is legal advisor to Alaska Airlines. Barclays is serving as financial advisor and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation is legal advisor to Hawaiian Airlines.

Lufthansa Group is planning to test its green fares on 12 routes operated by Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss for long-haul flights from 30 November. The group says the routes include services from Frankfurt to Bengaluru, Miami and Nairobi; Munich to Seoul; Brussels to Kinshasa; Zurich to Los Angeles; Singapore to London; Sao Paulo to Zurich; Bangkok to Vienna; Hong Kong to London and Paris to Bangkok. It adds that green fares will also be available for routes with connecting flights. The fare includes full offsetting of individual, flight-related CO2 emissions using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and a contribution to its climate protection projects. Lufthansa introduced green fares for routes within Europe and to North Africa in February. "The growing demand for our green fares shows that more and more people want to travel as sustainably as possible," states executive board member for brand and sustainability Christina Foerster, adding, "The green fares test on long-haul flights will provide us with important insights for the further development of our portfolio for more sustainable travel." The group intends to halve its net CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 and achieve a neutral CO2 balance by 2050.

Air Greenland has disclosed that it will inaugurate the new 2,220-metre runway at Nuuk International Airport with its Airbus A330neo aircraft. The aircraft, named Tuukkaq, will mark the first large aircraft to operate on the new runway, which is scheduled to open on 28 November 2024, the carrier says. "It has great symbolic significance that it is a red airplane from the flag carrier that inaugurates the full length of the runway, just as we also inaugurated the runway in 1979 with a Dash 7," the airline's chief executive Jacob Nitter Sorensen states. He adds: "Nuuk airport will be the new hub for international and domestic flights to the entire country, where passengers will change planes depending on their final destination, just as we see today in Kangerlussuaq." The airline notes that it is now making changes to its 2024 timetable to incorporate the route between Nuuk and Copenhagen. "As soon as we know the final airport charges and the last details of the flight pattern, we look forward to putting the new timetable on sale in all the known sales channels on Air Greenland's website and through travel agencies," Sorensen says.