Nigerian authorities have lifted a suspension order against local carrier Azman Air after it implemented a corrective plan to address safety matters, the airline states. The suspension affected Azman’s Boeing 737 fleet and was imposed in mid-March after several incidents involving the undercarriage of passenger flights, each of which involved aircraft damage, over the space of six weeks. Nigeria’s civil aviation authority had described, on 19 March, an “alarming trend” of tyre failures, combined with “improper” tyre maintenance procedures, as a “clear and strong indication of an accident chain formation in its final stages”. “No responsible civil aviation authority will fold its arms and wait for the next incident to occur, perhaps a fatal accident, before taking action,” it added, justifying its suspension of Azman’s 737 operations and the initiation of a comprehensive audit into airworthiness, training, finances and other areas. But Azman Air says it met with the authority on 1 May, after undergoing the safety audit and implementing the recommended corrective action plan. It cites a 1 May communication from the regulator which states that the authority has reviewed the plans and “found them satisfactory” and that it “hereby lifts the suspension… with regards to the operations of [737s]”. “We can assure the general public that it is the beginning of a new experience,” says the carrier. “We remain committed to raising the standard when it comes to the safety of crew, equipment and passengers.”

Lufthansa Group has placed an order for five additional Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners as part of its fleet modernisation efforts. The US aircraft manufacturer says the new purchase agreement takes the European airline group’s orderbook to 25 787-9s. An initial order for 20 aircraft was placed in 2019. "We are very pleased that five more Boeing 787-9s will accelerate the modernisation of our long-haul fleet. With these ultra-modern, fuel-efficient aircraft, we send a strong signal for environmental responsibility within the Lufthansa Group,” Deutsche Lufthansa executive board member and chief operations officer Detlef Kayser states. “Furthermore, we will reduce our operating costs and provide our guests a state-of-the-art travel experience.” The 787-9 can fly up to 20% more passengers and around 25% more cargo while reducing fuel use and emissions by up to 25% compared to the airplanes it replaces.

Philippine Airlines has informed its lessors of a plan to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the USA by the end of May. "They are going to file before the end of May as long as they have the requisite support from creditors in terms of the majority they need to get it through and the prearranged fashion they're going for". PAL is putting together a prearranged insolvency, which the person describes as a "halfway house" between a pre-pack and the freeform filing that, for example, some of the Latin American carriers have used. "There are milestones and there are things that the airline then would have to do, there are commitments and DIP [debtor-in-possession financing] that have to materialise," the person adds. "The DIP funding would have to come through and all of that is negotiated with the lawyers. That's the approach they are taking." Norton Rose Fulbright is the airline's counsel on the restructuring. Seabury Capital has been hired as a restructuring adviser. "We're not able to provide any details or confirmation on the type or scope of any planned restructuring at this point. Our management and stakeholders continue to work on the comprehensive restructuring and we will make the needed disclosures at the proper time, once details are finalised." The airline adds: "What we can say is that we continue to build up our operations gradually on both international and domestic routes. The surge in Covid cases and related travel restrictions have been a setback, forcing us to cancel numerous international flights in the past two months, but we hope to get back to incremental expansion as the outbreak abates and our authorities revoke some of the restrictions." PAL has had a Chapter 11 filing on the cards since at least the fourth quarter of 2020. Like many struggling airlines around the globe and in Southeast Asia, the airline has been in talks with its lessors for months about restructuring leases. PAL is looking to reduce its leased fleet and seeking more favourable lease terms on the leased aircraft it decides to keep. Nineteen lessors are exposed to PAL to the tune of 49 aircraft, fleets data shows.