News
Lufthansa beats forecasts but €1.7bn fuel hit looms
Lufthansa beat Q1 forecasts with a €612mn adjusted EBIT loss on record €8.7bn revenue — but warned of a €1.7bn fuel cost increase in 2026 and said full-year headroom has largely gone.
Latest
Newsletter
The Insider Brief — Wednesday 6 May 2026
Airbus holds a "historic" A220 announcement in Montreal today with AirAsia X reported as the buyer for 150 jets. Frontier posted record adjusted Q1 revenue of $1.1bn but guided a wider Q2 loss as jet fuel approaches $4.25 per gallon. United quietly pulled 9,000 O'Hare summer departures.
News
AirAsia orders 150 A220s in record deal for type
AirAsia confirmed a firm order for 150 Airbus A220-300s at Mirabel on 6 May — the largest ever for the type, valued at $19bn at list prices, with deliveries from 2028 and AirAsia as launch customer for a new 160-seat layout.
News
Frontier beats guidance as Spirit's exit clears the field
Frontier Airlines reported record adjusted revenue of $1.065bn in Q1 2026, beating guidance on unit revenue, while a $272mn reported net loss was driven by $212mn in non-recurring fleet and regulatory charges.
Newsletter
The Insider Brief — Tuesday 5 May 2026
Brent crude hit $115 on Monday after fresh Hormuz escalation erased Iran's peace proposal optimism. Frontier reports Q1 earnings this morning with 14.9% revenue growth expected. Delta launched Seattle–Rome yesterday as its Alaska rivalry begins.
News
Rolls-Royce and easyJet run a jet engine on pure hydrogen for the first time
Rolls-Royce and easyJet completed the first full-cycle hydrogen jet engine test at NASA's Stennis Space Center, the latest phase of a four-year programme — though commercial deployment remains more than a decade away.
Long Read
UK rewrites the rules on airport slots
The UK has begun dismantling its post-EU slot allocation rules for the first time since 1993 — but the harder questions on grandfathering and secondary trading remain unresolved.
Newsletter
The Insider Brief — Monday 4 May 2026
Spirit Airlines shut down at 3am ET on May 2 after a $500mn federal bailout collapsed, ending 34 years of flying and becoming the first major US airline failure since 2001. Allegiant and Sun Country shareholders vote Thursday on their $1.5bn merger.
Newsletter
Pro Insider - Sunday 3 May 2026
Spirit Airlines ceased operations this week — the first major US carrier to shut down in 25 years. This edition covers the collapse, a $21.4bn China Southern Airbus order, Copa's 60-jet 737 MAX deal, Air Canada's first A321XLR, the week in fuel markets, and MRO fallout from the liquidation.
Analysis
Spirit's collapse will end the era of the $49 fare
Spirit Airlines held 3.4 per cent of US domestic market share but shaped pricing across the entire network. Its liquidation removes the $49 fare floor — and the competitive discipline that kept legacy carriers honest on routes Spirit never even flew.
Analysis
Beijing's flight path runs through Toulouse, not Seattle
China's state airlines ordered 353 Airbus jets and zero Boeing aircraft in the first four months of 2026. With a 500-jet Boeing deal tied to a Trump-Xi summit on May 14, Airbus is locking in a structural advantage that diplomacy alone cannot quickly reverse.
News
Spirit Airlines shuts down after 34 years as bailout fails
Spirit Airlines is laying the groundwork to shut down after federal bailout talks collapsed, Bloomberg reported on May 1. The carrier, which filed for bankruptcy twice in under a year, faces liquidation after surging jet fuel costs made its planned exit from Chapter 11 all but impossible.