The Hong Kong government will “enhance” its preferential tax regime for the aircraft leasing sector and strive “to establish Hong Kong as an aircraft leasing and services hub”, according to the city’s financial secretary Paul Chan. “The government has conducted a trade consultation on the proposed enhancement measures, which include allowing tax deduction for the acquisition cost of aircraft and expanding the scope of leases and aircraft leasing activities,” Chan said in his 2023-24 budget speech on 22 February, a transcript of which was published to a government website. He adds: “This has been welcomed by the trade. These enhancement measures will further attract more aircraft leasing companies to establish a presence in Hong Kong.” The government will introduce a bill into Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, the city’s unicameral legislature, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Chan notes. Last year, the government announced it was proposing changes to its aircraft leasing regulatory regime in response to international tax reforms spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Since 2017, qualifying aircraft lessors and managers doing business in Hong Kong have enjoyed a concessional tax rate of 8.25% on corporate profits, plus a 20% tax-base concession introduced to compensate for the lack of depreciation allowance. However, the introduction of a global minimum tax rate of 15% as part of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) 2.0 proposals would render Hong Kong’s regime “less competitive” than other jurisdictions, according to Hong Kong’s Transport and Logistics Bureau, which oversees regulation of Hong Kong’s leasing sector.

LATAM Airlines Group expects to have 31 Airbus A320neo-family aircraft in its fleet by the end of 2023, up from the 16 currently in operation. Among the 15 Airbus aircraft entering LATAM's fleet this year will be the Chilean group's first A321neo. LATAM's first A321XLR will be delivered in 2025. The 15 Airbus deliveries in 2023, disclosed 21 February, put LATAM on a path to have more than 100 A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR aircraft in its fleet by the end of the current decade, it says. "The renewal of the fleet that we are carrying out is fully aligned with our commitment to sustainability and brings us closer to the goal of becoming a carbon-neutral group by 2050," Sebastian Acuto, LATAM's director of fleet and projects, states. "The Airbus A320neo aircraft has more efficient engines, aerodynamic improvements and technologies that provide a 20% lower fuel consumption, with a 50% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions." LATAM's current fleet includes 311 aircraft, 57 of which are Boeing jets (767s, 777s and 787s) and 238 of which are Airbus aircraft (A319s, A320s, A320neos and A321s), the group says. Additionally, LATAM's cargo operations in Chile, Colombia and Brazil have a joint fleet of 16 cargo aircraft, which will gradually expand to 20 cargo aircraft by 2024. The group has 19 A320neos, 47 A321neos and three Boeing 787s on order, Cirium fleets data shows.

Scottish regional airline Loganair has called on the UK government to preserve the recently vacated slots at London Heathrow for new domestic connections. The slots are presently earmarked for Aberdeen and Edinburgh into Heathrow but those markets are well served by British Airways and others from airports across London, says chief commercial officer Luke Lovegrove in a LinkedIn post. To be able to deploy these slots onto underserved markets would be a "far better use of them", he adds. "It would be difficult to think of a better way of levelling up our regions and boosting Union connectivity. The economic benefit of increased global tourism via Heathrow into regional economies like Derry, would be game-changing", Lovegrove says.