The European Commission has approved the merge of Air Nostrum of Spain and CityJet of Ireland. The EC issued this statement:The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a joint venture between Fortress Investment Group, of the US, and Air Investment Valencia, of Spain. It will combine the activities of CityJet of Ireland and of Air Nostrum of Spain. The activities of CityJet and Air Nostrum overlap in the provision of wet-leasing services to airlines and charter flights. The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns, because the companies have moderate market shares, a sufficient number of competitors remains on the market and the barriers to entry are low. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure. CityJet employs 1,250 people across 9 European countries and operates an extensive regional network of services under wet lease contracts with Air France, Brussels Airlines and SAS with a fleet of over 40 aircraft based in nine locations across Europe. This fleet includes 22 new Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets acquired specifically for wet lease services. The two airlines are coincidentally of very similar age, having been founded in 1993 (CityJet) and 1994 (Air Nostrum), both now being close to their 25th year of operation.

Source: World Airline News

Southwest Airlines executives used much of the company's second quarter earnings call to outline how the Boeing 737 Max grounding has affected its operations, finances and fleet plan. Assuming regulators approve the 737 Max to fly in November, Southwest aims to have at least 30 of the aircraft operating by 6 January, airline executives said on the 25 July call. The Dallas-based carrier pulled 34 737 Max from service following the worldwide grounding in March, prompting it to cancel tens of thousands of flights and rack up $175 million in related costs in the second quarter. On 25 July Southwest announced it removed 737 Max flights from another two months of flight schedules, pushing to 6 January the date on which Southwest expects the aircraft will be airborne again. “Assuming regulatory approval to return the Max to service by early November, our baseline plan would be to control the process so we could provide the network at least 30 Max aircraft… by January 6," Southwest chief operating officer Mike Van de Ven says. "Then we would ramp up from there in a controlled fashion depending on the delivery schedules.” Southwest concedes the timeline remains uncertain, noting the process for approving the 737 Max rests in the hands of regulators.

Source: FlightGlobal

A temporary suspension of GippsAero GA8 aircraft operations has been lifted by CASA. The temporary suspension was put in place as a safety precaution following a recent fatal parachuting accident in Sweden. The precautionary suspension was triggered by initial information from the investigation into the Swedish accident which showed the accident aircraft had broken up in flight. New information from the investigation indicates there is no evidence of a potential unsafe condition associated with the aircraft. CASA will continue to monitor the investigation into the Swedish GA8 accident and will take appropriate action if any related safety issues arise. A CASA airworthiness inspector has been observing the investigation. Sixty-three GA8 aircraft in Australia were grounded, as well as a number operating overseas. The suspension was in effect for five days and ended at midnight on 25 July 2019. A safety assurance review of Australian parachute operations will also be conducted over coming months. The parachuting accident happened on 14 July 2019 near Umeå in northern Sweden. None of the nine people on board the aircraft survived the accident.