The Russia-Ukraine crisis will have “long lasting impacts” on lessors’ decisions about where to place their assets in the future, the president of Carlyle Aviation Partners has said. Robert Korn, speaking on 17 January at the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers Dublin conference, says the war “really casts a shadow on where we should be deploying our assets and where we should be thinking of investing our capital that we manage, primarily for large institutions for pensions and endowments”. He adds that lessors are “going to be questioned about where they are deploying assets”. Korn has seen “significant changes” to both the terms and price of aircraft insurance policies as a result of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Carlyle launched legal action against its insurers in a Miami court at the end of October and also began legal action in the UK in early January. Referring to the ongoing conflict, Korn says: “We don’t know when this will end; we just know it will end at some point. The end of active hostilities and the recovery of trade and relationships are two very different dates in the future, and it’s going to take quite a long time for financiers, for lessors to truly feel comfortable returning to many of these places.” He adds: “In saying that, we’re also being forced to look at countries that border those regions and try and pick and choose today which we feel comfortable and not comfortable putting aircraft in.”

Asiana Airlines has completed restoration of all seven cargo aircraft back to passenger aircraft in line with the recent recovery in demand for international flights. The aircraft, which include four A350s and three A330s, were used exclusively for cargo during the Covid-19 period and put into operation more than 500 times per remodelled aircraft, the South Korean carrier says. On 16 January, Asiana Airlines completed the restoration work on the last remodelled freighter, an A330, to its original state by installing 260 economy seats. The aircraft will be used on Southeast Asia and Japan routes. The company was able to transport a total of 70,000t of cargo after remodelling its first cargo aircraft, achieving approximately W370 billion ($300 million) in additional sales. In particular, the remodelled freighter was actively used on routes to the Americas where demand for cargo transportation is high, recording additional sales of about W300 billion, it adds.

Etihad Airways plans to launch flights to Copenhagen in Denmark and resume services to Dusseldorf in Germany on 1 October. The Middle Eastern carrier says it will operate four weekly flights from Abu Dhabi to Copenhagen, while the Dusseldorf route will be served three times a week. Both routes will be operated using Boeing 787 aircraft, it adds. Dusseldorf will be the airline's third destination in Germany after Frankfurt and Munich, both currently served with daily flights.