Skywest Airlines (Australia) (XR, Perth International (PER)) has been renamed to Virgin Australia Regional (XR, Perth International (PER)), concluding the acquisition and absorption of the Australian domestic operator into the Virgin Group. As of May 7, Skywest will carry the Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane International (BNE)) name, with airports and aircraft to be progressively rebranded over the coming months. Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow (LHR)) founder, Richard Branson, was on hand in Perth International (PER) on May 7 to officially launch the regional arm of his airline, which will operate 800 flights a week to 41 destinations across regional Australia.

Aer Lingus (EI, Dublin International (DUB)) has confirmed earlier reports by ch-aviation and several newspapers and will damp-lease three B757-200s from Air Contractors (AG, Dublin International (DUB)) from early next year. It plans to mainly use the aircraft on transatlantic routes with lower demand including its routes from Shannon International (SNN) to both Boston General Edward Lawrence Logan International (BOS) and New York John F. Kennedy International (JFK). Aer Lingus is also considering launching new routes with the aircraft that will be flown by Air Contractors pilots but with Aer Lingus cabin crew. Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller has announced plans to increase the amount of outsourced flying by Aer Lingus on behalf of other carriers as part of its future development plan (that also includes voluntary redundancy packages being offered for 100 of its staff). The Irish national carrier currently operates four A320-200s on behalf of Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow (LHR)) from London Heathrow and will wet-lease one of its A330-200s to Novair (N9, Stockholm Arlanda (ARN)) for the next two winter seasons to operate charter services between Scandinavia and the Caribbean. Aer Lingus plans to lease one of its slot pairs to British Airways (BA, London Heathrow (LHR)) during the summer season and has asked its shareholders for approval to do given it would be more expensive to operate the flights itself to keep the slots.

Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow (LHR)) founder and magnate, Richard Branson, has revealed that his group is now actively considering launching an Indian subsidiary using the carrier’s Australia, Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane International (BNE)), and US, Virgin America (VX, San Francisco International (SFO)), operations as a model. The move comes after in 2012, the Indian government revised legislation permitting foreign airlines to hold up to 49% equity in Indian carriers except for Air India (AI, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International (BOM)). Speaking to Indian news outlet Livemint, Branson said that in light of the recent launch of Virgin Atlantic flights from London Heathrow (LHR) to Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL) and Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International (BOM), Virgin viewed the Indian market as having great potential, but would not go the classic LCC route, rather offering “a low-cost airline albeit with a good quality business class” product too.

Iran Aseman Airlines (EP, Tehran Mehrabad International (THR)) is planning to launch twice weekly A340-300 from Tehran Imam Khomeini International (IKA) to Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) from May 2. Stockholm would be the Iranian carrier's first destination in the European Union. Iran Aseman currently operates a single ex-Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow (LHR)) A340-300 on routes from Tehran's international airport to Dubai International (DXB), Istanbul Atatürk/Yesilköy International (IST) and Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen International (SAW). In other news, it has also recently launched a twice weekly service from Tehran Mehrabad International (THR) to Kalaleh (KLM) using its fleet of ATR72s (it currently operates four ATR72-200s and two ATR72-500s) making it the first Iranian carrier to serve the city in Golestan province near Iran's border with Turkmenistan with scheduled services.

Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow (LHR)) is reportedly considering cooperating with Skyteam members Air France (AF, Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)) and Alitalia (AZ, Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International (FCO)) in a bid to return to profitability following reports the struggling airline will this year post a record EUR 135 million loss. According to the Financial Times, through partnerships, Virgin is looking to combat stiff competition on its US & Caribbean routes by offering more flights to the lucrative Asia, the Middle East and African markets. Analysts speculate that a tie up with Air France-KLM is the obvious choice given that Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International (ATL)), which is planning to take a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, already has a joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia on transatlantic routes.