New Boss for Malaysian Airlines.

Troubled Malaysia Airlines have chosen Aer Lingus boss Christoph Mueller to be its chief executive-designate.

The Malaysian airline, which has seen its value and reputation savagely  hit by two disasters during 2014 announced a raft of senior leadership appointments during a restructuring to stave off collapse. Last month, MAS posted its worst quarterly loss since late 2011, as passenger numbers and average fare yields fell sharply.

Unusually, Mr Mueller is going to become the first ever non Malaysian native to take the head of the country's flagship carrier.  Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund and MAS's parent company, said discussions were ongoing for Mr Mueller to take up the post before 1 May 2015, but no earlier than 1 March 2015. Mr Mueller's Aer Lingus notice period ends on 1 May.

"The appointments announced today are part of efforts by the government and Khazanah to lay strong foundations for the future success of our national carrier," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said, Najib also chairs Khazanah's board of directors.

In August, MAS said it was to cut 6,000 staff as part of a recovery plan, with the airline becoming completely state-owned.

 

Air Fares Set to Fall in 2015

Stand by for a fare reduction revolution!  According to travel experts the average return fares for air passengers will be 5.1% lower next year compared with 2014!

 

Major airlines are expected to cut and reduce fares early next year thanks to higher profits as a result of cheaper fuel and faster global growth.  IATA - The International Air Transport Association, expects the global airline industry to report a record $25bn (£15.9bn) profit next year.

The Global aviation body also increased its profit forecast for 2014 to $19.9bn, up from its earlier prediction of $18bn - good news for all, including the travelling public. 

"The industry outlook is improving. The global economy continues to recover and the fall in oil prices should strengthen the upturn next year," said IATA director general Tony Tyler.

The last time the industry reported a profit margin close to IATA's prediction for next year was in 2010, when it reached 3.1%.

However, Mr Tyler said the 3.2% margin did not leave much room for deterioration before profits were hit, pointing out that political unrest, conflicts and some weak regional economies all posed a risk.

IATA - The industry body represents 250 airlines, accounting for 84% of global air traffic say the state of the global industry varies dramatically according to location. North American airlines expected to see profit margins of 6% next year, by far the strongest performance globally.

In contrast, European airlines are only expected to see profit margins of 1.8%, which the association blames on "high regulatory costs, infrastructure inefficiency and onerous taxation". The UK for example has the most heavily taxed airline industry than almost any other country in the world. 

The recent fall in the oil price is set to provide a welcome boost to airline's profits through cheaper fuel prices. Brent crude oil has fallen more than 40% since June, and today slipped below $66 a barrel! 

However passengers will have to wait to see the benefit of the falling fuel prices as the vast majority of airlines buy fuel in bulk in advance for a set price - or hedging as it is known, so it could be a while before the fare come tumbling.

 

 

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.