Skift Airline Weekly

Volaris is not eyeing other airlines. It has set its sights on the bus. That’s where the Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier sees the most opportunity to grow: by poaching passengers from the country’s long-distance bus network. In this episode of the Airline Weekly Lounge, Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan talks to Skift Travel Editor-in-Chief Tom Lowry about Volaris’ […]

Allegiant is not an airline. No, says its management. Allegiant is a travel company. Whatever the appropriate label, Allegiant is phenomenally successful, sporting one of the airline industry’s most unique business models. Many aspects of that business model — direct distribution, heavy reliance on ancillary revenues, highly-variable flight scheduling by season and day-of-week — are […]

Mexico’s Volaris, an ultra-LCC owned by the Indigo Group, is growing. Fast. Next year, it plans to expand capacity by another 10%. But it’s not the market’s Aeromexicos or Interjets that Volaris sees as its main competitors. Instead, as Volaris Executive Vice President Holger Blankenstein explained to Skift Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan in a […]

Will there be a deal or won’t there? The Indian government now says it wants to sell 100% of the state-owned carrier, but who will buy it? The airline is notoriously saddled with debt and has a restive labor force. Airline Weekly Senior Analyst Jay Shabat acknowledges Air India’s problems but notes that the beleaguered […]

Air India, a notoriously bloated state organ, is again up for sale by India’s government. In April, Jet Airways stopped flying, eliminating Air India’s only home-grown rival on intercontinental routes. The two airlines competed vigorously on shorthaul international routes as well, and domestic routes. Good news for Air India? Not really. Immediately after Jet’s collapse, […]

Skift Europe Editor Patrick Whyte joined Skift Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan to share his insights into the latest in European airline news. First, of course, Whyte takes a look at why Air Europa’s parent company, Globalia, would want to sell one of its largest business units to IAG. Is there a future for vertically […]

IAG’s interest in buying Norwegian is now history. But its interest in consolidation? Anything but. The latest move is a €1b deal to buy Spain’s Air Europa, a carrier specializing in Latin America flights from Madrid. The opportunity came as Air Europa’s parent company felt heightened pressure to sell. In 2018, it earned just a […]

International Airlines Group (IAG) had a surprise for the airline industry this week: It stated its intention to buy Spanish carrier Air Europa. This wasn’t a surprise to Skift Airline Weekly, however, which earlier this year reported on the rumors afloat about the acquisition. What’s in it for IAG?  Skift Airline Weekly Senior Analyst Jay […]

When Christina Cassotis became CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority in January 2015, Pittsburgh International Airport was casting about for a new airline to make it a hub, after US Airways left. Pittsburgh shouldn’t chase the goal of becoming a hub again, Cassotis said, before embarking on a program to completely remake the facility […]

Skift Airline Weekly Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan caught up with Anders Lindström, Norwegian’s director of communications for the U.S., at San Francisco International Airport on Monday when the carrier launched San Francisco-Barcelona flights. Lindström explained why Norwegian is moving some flights from Oakland to SFO, and what routes in the U.S. are doing well for the […]