Fusiones y Adquisiciones

✈ Wizz Air and Tui offer the least seat space with 71.12 cm (28 inches), applying to their entire fleet excluding emergency exits. EasyJet's entire fleet, some KLM and Vueling planes, provide 73.66 cm (29 inches) of seat space. Ryanair, some British Airways and Lufthansa planes allow for 76.2 cm (30 inches). Aer Lingus leads with a minimum of 78.74 cm (31 inches). This data comes from a study by consumer magazine Which.

✈ Volotea, led by Carlos Muñoz, experienced a 16.3% decrease in passengers from January to July, down to 4.1 million from nearly 5 million in the same period of 2023. Despite a historic high of 8.6 million passengers in 2023, an 8.8% increase from 2022, and a 58% growth from 2021, the Spanish airline faces challenges after failing to acquire slots from Air Europa. Now, Volotea shifts focus to expansion in the French and Italian markets.

🍴 Vilanova de Arousa, Pontevedra hosted the 30th Fiesta del Mejillón y el Berberecho, achieving 100% hotel occupancy and full restaurants. Originating in 1994 to valorize local seafood, the event now spans four days with gastronomic tents, live music, a fair, a maritime procession, and awarding cultural figures with Insignias de Oro y Brillantes. Sea-related activities contribute to half of the town's GDP.

🚂 SNCF noted a 43% drop in Paris-Lyon route prices since 2019 due to Trenitalia's entry. Renfe, operating Marsella-Madrid and Lyon-Barcelona, saw a 67% price fall on the former since 2022, with sales up 263%. On Lyon-Barcelona, prices decreased by 17%, and travelers increased by 140%. The market anticipates Le Train's entry, signaling more competition, especially in local French services where SNCF dominates.

📍 Qatar Airways reversed its decision to retire the A380 fleet, planning to utilize it at least until 2028, contingent on strong demand and full seat occupancy. The decision follows the traffic recovery post-Covid. The airline will upgrade the A380s with high-speed free wifi and possibly revamp its business class. Initially deemed a "big mistake" by former CEO Akbar Al Baker in Summer 2022 due to high operational costs and spare parts issues, the current CEO, Badr Mohammed Al Meer, has opted for extensions and modifications to the fleet.

✈ Air France KLM eyes Air Europa following the European Commission's "no" to the Iberia-Air Europa merger over competition issues. The potential integration would bolster Franco-Dutch connections with Latin America from Paris and Amsterdam. Political pressures from Germany and France reportedly influenced the Commission's decision, contrasting with the approval of Lufthansa-ITA. Meanwhile, Air Europa assures its profitability and future solvency independently, with a business plan backed by positive economic results.

💥 On Saturday in Sao Paulo, the ATR72-500 from Voepass Airlines crashed, killing all 62 passengers. Theories suggest wing icing or propeller position error as possible causes, awaiting black box data. Despite the crash, Voepass, formerly Passaredo Linhas Aéreas, was named the safest airline in Latin America in 2014. Voepass has a fleet of 11 ATR72s; the crashed aircraft was relatively new with 20 years of service left and had previously flown in Poland, Denmark, and Italy.

🚀 On a recent morning, Air Europa's new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner landed at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport at 9:23 AM, as reported by Flight Radar. The plane arrived from Everett, home to the American manufacturer. With this addition, Air Europa now operates 26 Dreamliners, with plans to incorporate three more soon and additional Boeing 737s. The airline aims to reach a fleet of around 60 units by early 2025, slightly below the pre-pandemic peak of 62 aircraft.

🛩 Comac, the state-owned Chinese aircraft manufacturer, has introduced variants of its C919 aircraft, a competitor to the Airbus 320 and B737, including a shorter version for 140 passengers suitable for high-altitude airports, and a stretched version seating 210 passengers, slightly fewer than the Airbus A321. While both concepts have been showcased internationally, mass production and orders have not yet started.

✈ Wamos Air acquired by Wamos Executive and Abra Group, the latter parent of Avianca and Gol. The National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) approves the acquisition, confirming no threat to competition, as there are no significant horizontal overlaps and only minor vertical overlaps. Wamos Air, with over 20 years of history, will maintain its leadership team, including Enrique Saiz, and will continue to operate independently, focusing on global customer service.