Rex Looks Positive

Picture by Jason Suters

Australian regional airline Rex - Regional Express says the worst appears to be over after its massive 45 per cent fall in profits last financial year.

 

"We believe that the Rex group is now well poised to take advantage of the upturn of the economy when that happens," deputy chairman John Sharp told the company's annual meeting.

 

"Our passenger numbers have stopped declining and fuel prices have remained low during the first part of this financial year."  Rex's net profit fell to $7.7 million in 2013/14 after passenger numbers dropped 3.4 per cent.

 

Shareholders missed out on a dividend last financial year as a result of the profit fall, but they were told on Wednesday Rex would be in a position to significantly increase its dividend payout ratio once the airline's recovery was well underway.

 

Rex expects to lift its full year profit in 2014/15 as passenger demand has stabilised.

Biggin Hill Crash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drama as private jet crashes on take off at Biggin Hill airport earlier this week.  Witnesses  report emergency vehicles surrounding the stricken Gulfstream G1159-A on the runway as smoke poured out of it at around 8.30pm last night.

The twin engine jet careered off the run way and its nose wheel collapsed,  an airport spokesman said two crew members and six passengers that were on-board were unhurt but were treated for shock at the scene and escorted from the aircraft by the airport's fire service. 

Passengers Push Aircraft

 

 

Passenger Pushback!  It sounds like something to come out of the mind of Ryanair Boss Michael O'Leary, getting passengers to push-back their aircraft. But not so, according to Russian media that's exactly what happened at a remote and frightfully cold Siberian airport. 

 

Passengers in Igarka, a small town in the far north of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region, learned that their plane had become stuck on the ground as temperatures plunged to minus 52C (-59F).  

 

A video also shows them pushing the aircraft wings to get the plane moving along the ground after its breaks had frozen in the 'parked' position. The aircraft was a Tupolev 134 operated by Katekavia, a subsidiary of Utair, one of Russia’s biggest airlines.

 

Eventually the flight departed and the 74 passengers, landed safely in the regional centre of Krasnoyarsk. A spokesperson for Katekavia denied the plane had become stuck and claimed the pushback tractor sent to move the aircraft had become stuck. 

 

An investigation has already begun into the facts of the aircraft's predicament and how the passengers came to be pushing the aircraft and on the apron. 

Impressive 2015 Schedule for Aegean.

Aegean Airlines has launched its new flight schedule for 2015. 

The new schedule includes a network of 134 destinations, 34 of which are international and 100 domestic, in 42 countries. The Greek airline operates a 56 strong feet of Airbus A320 series aircraft which have an average age of just 6.3 years. 

Ten new countries (Armenia, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Iran, Kuwait, Malta, Netherlands, Norway and Saudi Arabia) and 16 international destinations (Amsterdam, Deauville, Dubrovnik, Helsinki, Kuwait, Malta, Metz, Naples, Oslo, Paphos, Pisa, Riyadh, Tallinn, Tehran, Toulouse and Yerevan) are being added to the network for next year.

At a press conference, Vice-President Eftychios Vassilakis, announced "2015 is a milestone-year for Aegean. We invest in new fleet, in a network of 134 destinations and we offer 15 million seats. We proceed with the powerful enhancement of the hub of Athens, but we also support the regional development through increased flights from our regional bases. We continue and we enhance our policy of supporting small islands, a policy that brought impressive results in 2014 targeting to highlight the multiplicity of the Greek tourism product.”

Worlds Shortest Intercontinental Flight to Launch in 2015

Royal Air Maroc and Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar announced this week that a new service linking the northern city of Tangier and Gibraltar will launch on 29 March 2015.

This brand new service continues a long history of flights between the two cities that dates back to the 1930's. Although the last scheduled airlink ended in the 1990's. 

Tata / Singapore Airlines Venture Delayed.

The Tata-Singapore Airlines-promoted airline, Vistara, had applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for the permit in April and had planned to launch services by September. However a delay in the process means that the full-service carrier will now not be able to start flights until next year.

"We are in the final phase of securing the air operator's permit (AOP). We are working with the regulator to complete the remaining process expeditiously and look forward to launch our services soon after receiving the permission," a Vistara spokesperson said in a statement.

So far this start up has taken delivery of two planes on lease and was scheduled to take a third aircraft last month but has deferred this arrival because of the delay. The carriers long term plans are to lease 20 Airbus A320s, including seven fuel-efficient A320 Neo aircraft. 

The airline will, according to plans, operate from its base Delhi and connect Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu and Patna in the first year.

Frontier's Airbus Order.

Frontier Airlines orders nine A321ceo Aircraft!

Frontier began its transition to an all-Airbus fleet when it took delivery of its first Airbus aircraft during 2001. The Airbus single-aisle family of jets has allowed the US airline to expand its route network whilst minimizing operating costs. They currently operate a fleet of some 35 A319ceo and 20 A320ceo aircraft. 

Including the order earlier today, Frontier now has a backlog of 89 Airbus single-aisle aircraft. “We continue to come back for more A320 Family aircraft because they fulfil our mission of providing low fares through low operating costs,” said David Siegel, Frontier Airlines CEO.

"The A321 is a natural fit with our unique brand of Low Fares, Done Right and will continue to help meet our customers’ expectations for a safe and reliable travel experience while allowing us to provide low fare service to more of the country.”

“Frontier has made its mark in this business by recognizing the dual importance of cost and service to a low fare airline,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers. “Minimising expenditure while maximizing customer satisfaction can be a challenge, but the A320 Family has proven time and time again that it is the optimal solution.”

LIAT About to Axe Staff.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Nearly 200 employees of the Caribbean airline, LIAT, could get the axe if proposed job cuts go ahead. 

Local media is reporting that the colourful regional carrier is looking to lay off about 185 of its staff who are stationed in every country in which it operates.

The company has presented several options to reduce the number of staff it employs, including early retirement, voluntary severance, normal retirement, lay off's and termination.

Based on the internal proposals, the customer service and cargo divisions would be the most effected  areas of the company with an estimated 21% reduction in personnel. In addition it is believed that LIAT will also axe up to 50 workers from the flight operations section. 

Another 50 are expected to go from engineering and 26 administrative posts will become redundant in a last ditch attempt to steer the company away from bankruptcy.  

LIAT's cargo division looks likely to be completely closed to save the company money, although accordingly to insiders, many staff will be re-employed elsewhere with the airline. 

The airline’s CEO David Evans had told media earlier that the airline was reviewing all its operational costs and could not confirm there would be no job losses. 

MH370 Wreckage.......

Wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is not going to start washing up on the coast of Australia according to officials, the wreckage from the missing plane is most likely to wash up on the coast of Indonesia! 

Authorities leading the search confirmed they are still receiving regular reports from members of the public in Australia about potential wreckage, over seven months since the the Boeing 777 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Each and every one of the reports are “reviewed carefully”, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) advised, however it is much more likely that any wreckage would have drifted the other way.

Air France KLM, Delta, Alitalia offer concessions to settle EU probe

- Skyteam alliance partners Air France KLM, Delta Air Lines and Alitalia have offered to give up slots at three airports and made other concessions to try to settle an EU antitrust investigation, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

The carriers found themselves in the Commission's sights in January 2012, after the EU competition authority said their alliance, involving profit-sharing and joint management of prices and capacity, may push up prices on the Paris-New York, Amsterdam-New York and Rome-New York routes.

Jet Blue Profits Up

 JetBlue Airways Corp reported an 11 percent rise in quarterly profit, as it flew fuller planes.

The company's net profit rose to $79 million, or 24 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from $71 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total operating revenue rose 6 percent to $1.53 billion. JetBlue's load factor, a key indicator of capacity, rose to 86.2 percent from 85 percent, the company said.

 (Reuters) -

Profits Up for US Carriers

American Airlines Group, United Airlines and other carriers reported strong third-quarter profits on Thursday, helped by falling fuel costs, and mostly shrugged off concerns that Ebola could affect their outlook.

Despite concerns about increased competition in some markets, several major U.S. carriers also signaled they would boost capacity, betting on a steady increase in passenger traffic through next year.

American, which exited bankruptcy last year via a merger with U.S. Airways, saw a nearly 4 percent gain in its shares as it forecast healthy unit revenues for the current quarter. United, while projecting a more moderate unit revenue increase compared to last year, reported that third-quarter profit more than doubled.

Virgin Australia buys Tiger for a Dollar

Virgin Australia took full control of Tiger Australia, buying the remaining 40% it did not already own from the budget carrier's Singapore-listed parent. 

SYDNEY—Budget carriers turn a buck by keeping costs down on everything from airfares to in-flight drinks. But in the case of Tiger Australia, it is the airline itself that is going cheap—a nominal one Australian dollar.

On Friday, Singapore-listed Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd. said it was exiting the Australian aviation market by selling its 40% interest in the loss-making budget carrier to Virgin Australia , which owns the remaining 60% stake.

For Virgin, the deal gives it more heft to take on dominant carrier Qantas Airways Ltd. , with which it has been locked in a battle to rule the domestic market for years. Qantas, Australia’s flagship carrier, currently has around two-thirds of the market for domestic air travel.

Fort Lauderdale to Quito Route for Tame

Ecuadorian carrier Tame launched new service between Fort Lauderdale and Quito on Friday.  The inaugural flight from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport departed 9 a.m. after arriving from Ecuador at 7:30 a.m.

This is the first scheduled air service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood to Quito, airport officials have said. Tame is operating the new once-daily route with Airbus A320 planes that seat 128 passengers in economy class and 12 in business.

IndiGo's $40 billion jet buying spree

NEW DELHI/PARIS (Reuters) - Almost four years ago a handful of people gathered in Airbus sales chief John Leahy's spacious country house outside Toulouse and argued long into the evening over curry and cigars.

Last weekend they met up again at a Parisian hotel for more haggling, with breaks taken at a nearby cafe where the informality of old business friendships mingled with hard-nosed negotiations typical of the aircraft industry.

The sum total of money discussed over these meals? About $40 billion at catalogue prices, and the bill was for 430 jets, all sold to the same Indian airline -- IndiGo, the low-cost carrier which has grown to become the country's biggest airline in eight years of operating.