ARC NEWS
Boeing finalised 304 orders in June amid Paris Air Show
July 12, 2023
Boeing in June delivered 60 commercial aircraft and finalised orders for 304 aircraft, up significantly from the 67 orders booked last month. June's orders were dominated by the 220 booked by Air India at the Paris Air Show late that month. The Mumbai-based flag carrier finalised the letters of intent it announced with Boeing in February, which the airframer called its largest order ever from South Asia, as the carrier also booked agreements with Airbus to grow its fleet to match its network expansion goals. Air India expects some of these new aircraft will enter service in late-2023 while most will arrive starting in mid-2025. Air India's deal with Boeing also includes options for 50 Max jets and 20 787 widebodies. Boeing disclosed that Riyadh Air in June also firmed its order commitment for 39 787-9 aircraft despite having made no announcement during the air show at Le Bourget. Emirates made the third-largest order that month, booking 16 777X jets. All but 12 of the 60 aircraft Boeing shipped in June were its bestselling Max aircraft. These 48 Max deliveries include 12 to United Airlines, 11 went to Ryanair, seven to Southwest Airlines, five to American Airlines and four to Alaska Airlines, with the remainder going to other carriers. This tally for June improved compared with Boeing's performance in May, when the airframer delivered 50 aircraft and booked orders for 67 aircraft. Net orders for Boeing during 2023 as of June jumped to 415 aircraft after the airframer factored in cancellations, conversions and the uncertainty of fulfilment.


SpiceJet clashes with former owner as equity raising looms
July 12, 2023
Indian carrier SpiceJet has failed to gain extra time to pay a Rs750 million ($9 million) installment towards interest owed to its former major shareholders as its board is set to approve a motion to raise additional equity. Following an arbitration award in February, SpiceJet was ordered on 1 June to deposit the amount to Kalanithi Maran and his company Kal Airways, but the carrier appealed to the Supreme Court of India to extend the deadline for payment. Immediately after the motion was dismissed by the court on 7 July, SpiceJet issued a statement saying that it is engaged in talks with Maran and Kal Airways and "remains committed to finding an amicable settlement". However, on 10 July Kal Airways issued its own statement, denying that talks were taking place and adding that "there is no question of an amicable settlement with SpiceJet". "We hope that SpiceJet Ltd will comply with the orders of the Honourable Supreme Court of India and pay us the interest amount of Rs [3.86 billion] forthwith," it adds. Maran was the controlling shareholder in SpiceJet before it ceded control to founder Ajay Singh in 2015, however it has been in dispute with the carrier for a number of years over performance payments it was owed. Separately, SpiceJet states in a stock exchange disclosure released on 9 July that its directors will meet on 12 July to consider "options for raising fresh capital through issue of equity shares and/or convertible securities on a preferential basis". No further details of the potential capital raising were included in the disclosure, however it has previously indicated that it plans to raise around $300 million in an offering to professional investors. It also recently tapped a government-backed Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme for Rs400 billion to help reactivate 25 grounded aircraft.


​Dutch court ruling opens way for Schiphol flight limits
July 11, 2023
An appeals court in the Netherlands has ruled that the Dutch government can impose stringent limits on the number of flights operated at Amsterdam Schiphol on environmental grounds. Following the decision on 7 July, authorities are now free to trim back the number of air services to 460,000 annually from 500,000, a reduction of 8%, in a bid to cut noise for local residents and reduce NOx. The move overturns an earlier ruling that blocked the reduction on the grounds that the Dutch government had not followed proper procedure. That challenge was brought by airlines KLM, Delta, EasyJet, Corendon and TUI, who also argued that they can reduce noise levels emissions while maintaining their networks having invested billions in the latest aircraft. “We are disappointed about the ruling and are studying it,” KLM states following the latest decision. It adds that it is unclear how it would be implemented and what the impact on its operations at Schiphol would be. KLM has previously warned that plans to limit aircraft movements at Schiphol threatened its ability to act as a viable hub airport and would push operators away from running smaller aircraft at high frequencies. KLM operates around 60% of flights from the facility. Schiphol has argued that is already taking measures to improve its environmental impact and was looking at banning private jets, night-time flights and the most polluting aircraft. The wrangling over the environmental impact of Schiphol has been keenly watched as an indication of how governments are moving to restrict flying on environmental grounds. It follows the partial implementation of a domestic flight ban in France where alternative public transport links are available, as well as a growing movement across the continent to discourage flying. The Dutch government has separately stated an aim of reducing flight numbers at the airport to 440,000 on a permanent basis.


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