Air France-KLM Group

A year ago, many airlines were still burning through cash as some countries were slow to remove coronavirus-related travel restrictions. Now, with borders fully open, some of those carriers are posting big profits. “This is a huge turnaround considering the massive losses we were facing just 12 months ago,” Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said. The results are being driven by a combination of pent-up demand from consumers eager to travel after being stymied by…

The world’s biggest passenger airliners—many of which had been earmarked for the scrapyard—are being brought back into service as carriers rush to restore long-haul air travel.Aircraft lessors said airlines are clamoring for their once-parked fleets of big jets, which typically each ferry hundreds of passengers on long-distance routes. The demand is limiting availability and pushing up the prices of rentals.  The wait for new aircraft, meanwhile, stretches for years. Sought-after wide-body planes, which contain seats…

Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG DLAKY 5.13% said it had submitted a bid to buy a stake in ITA Airways, the Italian carrier formerly known as Alitalia, in a bet on the continued recovery in air travel. Lufthansa said Wednesday it was seeking exclusive talks with the Italian government to initially acquire a minority stake in ITA Airways, with an option to buy the remaining shares at a later date. The move comes after a consortium…

Airfares are sky high, and airline executives expect them to stay that way.Airlines are battling surging costs for fuel and labor. Meanwhile, worker shortages and delayed plane deliveries are preventing them from adding more flights when more people want to fly. The consumer-price index for airfare was up 43% in September from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Ticket prices were still depressed last year, but airfares in the CPI were up 8% from September 2019, according to Airlines for America, a…

LONDON—KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said it would cut as many as about 2,000 flights from its schedule to help ease congestion at its main airport, the latest move by a European airline to rightsize summer operations amid an industrywide labor shortfall. The airline said Friday it would scrap between 10 and 20 return flights a day through Aug. 28, representing at least about 1,000 trips over the next two months. KLM is also restricting ticket sales for its remaining available seats on…

British Airways ICAGY 2.81% is scrapping another 10,300 flights from its summer schedule as airlines contend with a resurgence in travel demand that has overwhelmed operators. The airline’s cancellations have been mounting, starting with an initial 8,000 return flights scrapped at the start of the summer season. On Tuesday British Airways said it was canceling more than 1,000 more. Including the 10,300 announced on Wednesday, the…