TOMORROWS TRANSPORTATION NEWS TODAY!

Tag: agents (Page 2 of 2)

Emirates to Resume A380 Service to Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  • Emirates has announced it will resume its A380 operations to Toronto starting 16 August, taking its A380 network to six cities.
  • The airline continues to gradually expand the deployment of its double-decker aircraft in line with market demand and operational approvals.

The iconic Emirates A380 will begin serving travellers on flights to Toronto starting 16 August. The airline has so far resumed A380 operations to Amsterdam, Cairo, Paris, London Heathrow and Guangzhou (8 August) – taking its A380 network to six cities. The Emirates A380 experience remains a favourite amongst travellers for its spacious and comfortable cabins and the airline will continue to gradually expand its deployment in line with market demand and operational approvals.

Customers can fly the Emirates A380 from Dubai to Toronto five times a week. Flights can be booked on emirates.com or via travel agents. Emirates flight EK 241 will depart Dubai at 9:10 and arrive in Toronto at 15:05 local time. The return flight, EK 242 will depart Toronto at 21:45 and arrive in Dubai at 18:30 local time, the following day.

With safety as a priority, Emirates is gradually expanding its passenger services to 70 cities in August, returning to over 50% of its pre-pandemic destination network. Passengers travelling between the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific can enjoy safe and convenient connections via Dubai. Customers from Emirates’ network can stop over or travel to Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors. 

COVID-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers arriving to Dubai (and the UAE), including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from. 

Free, global cover for COVID-19 related costs: Customers can now travel with confidence, as Emirates has committed to cover COVID-19 related medical expenses, free of cost, should they be diagnosed with COVID-19 during their travel while they are away from home. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 October 2020 (first flight to be completed on or before 31 October 2020), and is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey. This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination. For more details: http://www.emirates.com/COVID19assistance

Emirates resumes flights to Kuwait City and Lisbon

  • Expanding its network to 70 destinations

Emirates has announced it will resume passenger services to Kuwait City (5 August) and Lisbon (16 August). This will take Emirates’ passenger network to 70 destinations in August, over 50% of its pre-pandemic destination network, as the airline gradually resumes operations with the safety of its customers, crew and communities as its top priority.

Flights from Dubai to Kuwait City will operate as a daily service and flights from Dubai to Lisbon will operate three times a week. The flights will be operated with the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER and can be booked on emirates.com or via travel agents.

Passengers travelling between the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific can enjoy safe and convenient connections via Dubai. Customers from Emirates’ network can stop over or travel to Dubai as the city has re-opened for international business and leisure visitors. 

COVID-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers arriving to Dubai (and the UAE), including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from.

Air Lease Corporation Initiates Portfolio Sale of 19 Aircraft to Thunderbolt III Aircraft Lease Limited

LOS ANGELES, November 11, 2019 – Air Lease Corporation (the “Company” or “ALC”) announced today that the Company initiated the sale of a portfolio of 19 aircraft to Thunderbolt III Aircraft Lease Limited (“Thunderbolt III”), a newly formed entity, and Thunderbolt III has now completed its equity and debt financing transactions.  The aircraft comprise a mix of narrowbody and widebody jet aircraft that, as of August 31, 2019, had a weighted average age of 9.7 years and were leased to 18 lessees based in 15 countries.  ALC and its Irish affiliate, ALC Aircraft Limited, will act as servicers with respect to the aircraft and ALC will act as portfolio manager.  ALC estimates that the process of transfer and sale of the majority of aircraft will occur progressively during Q4 2019 and Q1 2020.

The Thunderbolt III structure included two series of Fixed Rate Notes and Equity Certificates. Approximately 15.6865% of the Equity Certificates were purchased by the anchor investor which is an investment vehicle managed by ITE Management L.P. and approximately 5% of the Equity Certificates were purchased by ALC.

Proceeds from the issuance of the Notes and the Equity Certificates will be used to acquire the aircraft, fund certain accounts for the Notes and pay certain expenses.

“We are pleased to announce the closing of Thunderbolt III. This transaction allows ALC to efficiently sell 19 aircraft while retaining the customer relationships through our continued management of these aircraft.  I would like to thank our team and the Thunderbolt III investors for making this a successful transaction,” said Gregory B. Willis, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ALC.

Mizuho Securities acted as Global Coordinator, Mizuho Securities, BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as Joint Lead Structuring Agents and Joint Lead Bookrunners, Wells Fargo Securities acted as Joint Lead Bookrunner, and BNP PARIBAS, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, MUFG, RBC Capital Markets, SOCIETE GENERALE and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acted as Passive Bookrunners (for the Notes) and Co-Managers (for the Equity Certificates).

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP acted as U.S. counsel to ALC and the Issuers, and Milbank LLP acted as U.S. counsel to the Global Coordinator, the Joint Lead Structuring Agents and the Joint Lead Bookrunners.  EY acted as U.S. and Irish tax advisors. Walkers acted as Cayman Islands counsel and A&L Goodbody acted as Irish counsel.  Vedder Price P.C. acted as counsel for ITE.

Canyon Financial Services Limited will act as the managing agent for the Issuers.  Citibank, N.A. will act as trustee, security trustee, paying agent and operating bank.  Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. will also act as the liquidity facility provider.  DealVector, Inc. will provide certain investor services for the holders of the Notes and Equity Certificates.

Spirit Airlines Must Face ‘Gotcha’ Carry-on Bag Fee Lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal appeals court revived a lawsuit by Spirit Airlines passengers who said the low-cost carrier blindsided them by imposing unexpected carry-on bag fees on tickets bought through Cheapoair, Expedia, Priceline and Travelocity.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said 22 passengers could sue for breach of contract because there was no evidence that Spirit promptly notified them about the fees, and there were “ambiguities” in the prices they would pay.

Spirit and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Compared with many carriers, Spirit relies more on ancillary fees to offset the financial drag from lower base fares.

The plaintiffs accused the Miramar, Florida-based carrier of knowing that its online travel agents hid the “gotcha” bag fees they would have to pay at the airport.

They said these fees often exceeded the cost of their tickets, and totaled millions of dollars a year.

Spirit countered that federal law precluded the lawsuit, and that its “contract of carriage” specifically provided that a passenger could take one carry-on bag into the cabin, for a fee.

The appeals court returned the case to U.S. District Judge William Kuntz in Brooklyn, who had dismissed it last November.

“This is a great victory for air travelers nationwide,” the plaintiffs’ lawyer John Hermina said in an interview. He said his clients will pursue their case in the district court.

On Tuesday, Spirit advertised carry-on bag fees for an Oct. 1 flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from New York’s LaGuardia Airport ranging from $28, if booked on its website, to $65, if paid at the gate. Base fares ranged from $26 to $121.99.

The case is Cox et al v Spirit Airlines Inc, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 18-3484.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)

Newer posts »