LCC news

[Pieter C. 5]

Thomas Cook CEO Says Condor Merger Decision Looms

 

September 11, 2008

A decision in talks over a merger of Thomas Cook's charter airline Condor, TUI Travel's TUIfly and Lufthansa's Germanwings could come soon, Thomas Cook's chief executive said.

 

"Pretty soon we will have to give the Condor staff some certainty," Manny Fontenla-Novoa told journalists on Wednesday in remarks embargoed until Thursday.

 

"It isn't weeks, hopefully not too many months," he added.

 

TUI Travel has been in talks with Lufthansa since the start of the year over a merger between its charter airline TUIfly and Germanwings. Thomas Cook joined the talks after German carrier Air Berlin scrapped plans to buy Condor.

 

A combination of the three airlines would create a carrier with 142 aircraft carrying 30 million passengers annually, putting it ahead of Air Berlin, which carries 28 million passengers each year in its 133 aircraft.

 

One of the key issues of the deal is getting the approval from anti-trust authorities and Fontenla-Novoa said it looked promising that authorities would give the green light.

 

"The advice that we are getting from lawyers involved is that we will probably get approval," he said.

 

The three-way merger was the only deal Thomas Cook was pursuing at the moment, Fontenla-Novoa said, adding that he wanted at least as much shareholding in the new company as everybody else in the deal.

 

There was, however, no certainty that the deal was going to happen, he added.

 

Thomas Cook, whose financial year finishes this month, was still on track to meet its targets, the CEO said.

 

He said he felt comfortable with analysts' estimates, which expect earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for 2007/2008 of GBP342 million pounds (USD$603.6 million) on sales of GBP8.58 billion.

 

The travel group plans to enter the Russian and Chinese market and Fontenla-Novoa said they were in final negotiations for a deal in Russia, which could come through by the end of October.

 

Another deal in Russia could follow by the end of 2008.

 

(Reuters)

 

TUI Examines Deal With Air Berlin

 

September 14, 2008

German travel group TUI is considering a sale of its airline TUIfly to budget rival Air Berlin, according to a magazine report.

 

News magazine Der Spiegel reported ahead of publication on Monday that TUI could take shares in Air Berlin or contingents of seats as part of the deal.

 

"We can neither confirm nor deny this," said a spokesman for Air Berlin. "We speak to everyone."

 

TUI declined to comment.

 

Last July, Air Berlin scrapped its takeover of Thomas Cook's charter airline Condor, putting the brake on attempts to expand its network to rival Lufthansa.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Angry Air Berlin Passengers Switched To New Plane

 

September 16, 2008

Mutinous Air Berlin passengers were switched on to a replacement plane after their flight twice had to turn back before takeoff, a spokeswoman for the German airline said on Monday.

 

"In our opinion the passengers overreacted," said Alexandra Mueller, a spokeswoman for Air Berlin. "But it is understandable that the passengers were nervous especially in the aftermath of the plane crash in Madrid last month."

 

The Boeing 737 with 172 passengers on board was due to fly from Nuremberg in southern German to Faro in Portugal on Sunday morning.

 

The pilot first decided to return to the gate shortly after moving away from the terminal when he discovered a cockpit display screen was faulty, Mueller said.

 

After the display was repaired, the passengers boarded the aircraft a second time an hour later.

 

But the second attempted takeoff was abandoned when a flight attendant fainted before the plane could get to the runway.

 

Mueller said that the passengers then started a petition demanding a different aircraft for the flight to Faro.

 

"There was nothing at all wrong with the equipment," said Mueller. "It was only a faulty display that was repaired."

 

Last month 154 people were killed in Madrid when a plane crashed on its second attempt at takeoff after mechanical problems. There were four Germans among the victims.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

EasyJet Says Can Step In To Fly Alitalia Routes

 

September 23, 2008

British airline easyJet could add new Italian routes at short notice in the event of the total collapse of Alitalia -- although it would expect to be awarded airport slots in return.

 

A spokesman for the low-cost carrier said on Tuesday that it could commit around ten aircraft on routes such as Milan-Rome, Milan-Naples and Milan-Palermo.

 

"EasyJet is prepared, at very short notice, to move into routes the Italian government cares about most... We could commit in the region of ten aircraft," the spokesman said.

 

Italy's loss-making national airline Alitalia has been sticking to its flight schedules despite the prospect of losing its operating license in just a few days, unless the special administrator comes up with a credible new offer or cost-cutting plan by Thursday.

 

However, easyJet said it would not wish to buy Alitalia's vacant slots in the event of its collapse, but would expect to be awarded them by the Italian government in return for a swift resumption of service.

 

"To operate on that route (Milan-Rome) easyJet would need to be given slots. If so, we would operate a number of routes per day," the spokesman said.

 

EasyJet rival Ryanair, which also has a significant presence on domestic Italian routes, declined to comment on its plans.

 

Alitalia also operates ten flights a day from London's Heathrow Airport, but easyJet said it had no plans to start operations from the UK's busiest airport.

 

British Airways, which has by far the most slots at Heathrow, with over 40 percent of the airport's total availability, would not comment specifically on Alitalia but said it would look at opportunities to expand its portfolio.

 

"We are always looking for opportunities to increase our slot portfolio at Heathrow," a spokesman said.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

EasyJet, Lufthansa Seek Former Alitalia Slots

 

September 25, 2008

British airline easyJet and Germany's Lufthansa have requested routes in Italy that were shed by near-bankrupt carrier Alitalia, Italy's civil aviation authority ENAC said on Thursday.

 

ENAC's chief Vito Riggio said easyJet requested 20 of Alitalia's former Italian domestic routes operating out of Rome's main airport, Fiumicino.

 

He said Lufthansa requested eight routes operating out of Milan's Malpensa Airport. The requests were made to the Italian firm that handles routes in Italy, Assoclearance, Riggio said.

 

Alitalia, which shed the routes earlier this year under a cost-cutting plan, risks collapse unless its unions agree to a buyout proposal by Italian investors that involves job and wage cuts. In a breakthrough, its four main unions agreed to the plan on Thursday.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Thomas Cook Pulls Out Of Condor Merger Talks

 

September 29, 2008

Thomas Cook, Europe's second-biggest travel firm, said on Monday it had withdrawn from talks over a potential merger of its airline Condor with TUI Travel's TUIfly and Lufthansa's Germanwings.

 

Thomas Cook also said trading in the summer 2008 season had been strong and was confident it was on track to meet its expectations for the full year, ending September 30.

 

The group said winter 2008/9 trading is in line with its expectations and particularly strong in the UK. For summer 2009, it said it has flexibility in capacity, cost base and fuel hedging to enable it to adapt for changes in demand.

 

Thomas Cook and its rival TUI Travel have been cutting capacity, leaving them with fewer package breaks to sell and enabling them to avoid deep discounting on late bookings.

 

The group said 92 percent of its fuel requirements are hedged for winter 2008/9 and summer 2009 seasons, providing protection against increased prices.

 

Thomas Cook, created last year from the tie-up of Arcandor's travel unit and Britain's MyTravel, said it is on track to achieve merger synergies in excess of GBP155 million pounds by 2008/9.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Ryanair Complains To EU Over Alitalia Deal

 

October 2, 2008

Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair asked the European Commission to block changes to Italian bankruptcy law designed to facilitate the rescue of Alitalia, saying they ran foul of rules on state aid.

 

"The Italian government is writing off up to EUR2 billion euros (USD$2.8 billion) in Alitalia debts and is guaranteeing the investments by the members of the consortium and underwriting huge concessions to the unions in exchange for their agreement to these ludicrous plans," said Jim Callaghan, Ryanair's director of legal and regulatory affairs in a statement on Thursday.

 

The European Commission, which said it had not been notified of any aid package to Alitalia, can hold up Italian group CAI's planned takeover of Alitalia if it determines the deal restricts competition or benefits from unfair government aid.

 

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pushed through changes to bankruptcy law last month to allow Alitalia to be split up and pave the way for its bailout by the CAI group.

 

The CAI consortium on Thursday formally reinstated its offer to buy Alitalia's profitable assets in a bid to relaunch the airline by early November after briefly withdrawing it last month over union opposition.

 

Alitalia's nine unions have since agreed to support CAI's rescue, breathing life into the deal.

 

Corrado Passera, CEO of CAI member Intesa Sanpaolo, said there were new requests from potential investors seeking to join the existing 16 members in the consortium.

 

CAI will choose a foreign partner for Alitalia in the coming weeks, Passera said. Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are expected to battle it out for a minority stake in Alitalia, with the German carrier seen edging out its French rival thanks to the open support of Berlusconi and unions.

 

(Reuters)

 

Clickair To Ground 7-8 Planes

 

October 2, 2008

Spanish airline Iberia's low-cost affiliate Clickair will ground seven or eight planes due to expected weak demand during the winter season, a spokesman for the airline said on Thursday.

 

"Data from (airports operator) Aena shows that Barcelona's El Prat Airport has seen a notable decline in traffic," a Clickair spokesman said, noting that the carrier will be operating 17 or 18 planes compared with 25 currently.

 

Clickair, which is in the midst of a merger with Spanish low-cost peer Vueling, has its base at Barcelona Airport.

 

Clickair has yet to determine the impact of the fleet reduction on its work force, but is trying to minimize job cuts by leasing out planes with their crews to other carriers, the spokesman said.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

EasyJet September Passengers Up 22 Percent

 

October 6, 2008

British low-cost airline easyJet said its passenger volumes climbed over 22 percent in September to 4.2 million, highlighting continued strong growth among budget carriers despite the economic downturn.

 

The company also said in a statement on Monday its load factor was up year on year at 86.9 percent, while year-to-date passenger growth was up 17.3 percent.

 

The performance echoed an equally positive result from rival Ryanair, which said on Friday its September passenger numbers grew 20 percent. However, both airlines have warned of slowing consumer demand over the winter months.

 

British Airways showed on Friday that more expensive flying is suffering, with premium class travel down 8.6 percent in September and passenger numbers down 4.8 percent overall.

 

EasyJet shares closed on Friday at 327-3/4 pence, valuing the company at EUR1.4 billion pounds (USD$2.5 billion). The shares are down by around 46 percent for the year so far as airlines battle the twin threat of high fuel costs and impending recession.

 

(Reuters)

 

 

Ryanair CEO May Help Set Up Long-Haul Carrier

 

October 7, 2008

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday he may help create a sister company to launch a long-haul, low-cost airline, if cheap aircraft became available next year.

 

Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost carrier, would not invest in the new airline but Ryanair shareholders including himself may be invited to participate, O'Leary said.

 

"If aircraft fleet prices collapse, it is a real possibility," O'Leary told reporters in London.

 

"There may be the opportunity to buy a fleet of long-haul aircraft cheaply next year," he said, adding that a collapse of a carrier may create the opportunity for such an order, which would then take a further 18 months to deliver.

 

Several airlines have gone bankrupt worldwide, hit by a combination of high oil prices and faltering economies, but analysts see Dublin-based Ryanair's position strong as its costs are lower and cash reserves higher than most peers.

 

O'Leary said there would be no direct connection between the two airlines except that the long-haul one may want to use Ryanair's European bases as hubs.

 

O'Leary has said in the past he was looking into plans for a no-frills transatlantic airline, without providing any details.

 

He reiterated that Ryanair expected to break even for the current year if oil stayed at USD$100 per barrel and yields fell by 5 percent.

 

Ryanair remained unhedged for its fuel needs for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, O'Leary said.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Norwegian Air's Traffic, Yield Grow In September

 

October 8, 2008

Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle said on Wednesday that its September passenger volume grew 10 percent and its yield, an indicator of average fares, also rose on the back of a fuel surcharge.

 

Total passengers carried rose to 674,399 in September from 610,460 in the same month last year, said Norwegian, a rival to Scandinavian airline SAS.

 

The yield, or the average revenue per passenger carried and kilometre flown in the airline's main Norwegian and Polish operations, rose 10 percent to 0.75 Norwegian kronor (USD$0.12) from the same period last year.

 

"The positive yield development is in part due to the introduction of a fuel surcharge," Norwegian Air said, adding that some market segments in Poland were "sensitive to the added fuel charge" -- needed to compensate for high oil prices.

 

Total passenger traffic (RPK), which factors in distance flown, increased in the main operations by 16 percent, Norwegian Air said.

 

International passenger traffic rose by 11 percent, and international capacity grew 20 percent, giving a passenger load factor of 79 percent of capacity, a 5 percentage point decrease from the same month last year.

 

The airline also said domestic passenger traffic increased by 30 percent, while domestic capacity rose 39 percent, resulting in a domestic cabin factor of 77 percent, down 5 percentage points from last September.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Vueling Reduces Loss To EUR18.7 Mln

 

October 22, 2008

Spanish airline Vueling reduced losses to a EUR18.7 million euro (USD$25 million) operating loss (EBIT) for the first nine months on Wednesday, sending its share price soaring.

 

The nine-month loss at the airline, which has agreed to merge with budget rival Clickair, compared to a loss of EUR38.35 million for the same period last year.

 

"These results have exceeded our forecasts and show that Vueling is on course to break even in the next few years," broker BPI said.

 

The Barcelona-based carrier has yet to post a profit since it started operating in 2004, but hopes to do so in 2009. It is cutting growth by trimming its fleet to 16 planes by the end of the year from 20 in September to try and restore profitability.

 

Total sales came in at EUR354.4 million, up 32.2 percent from the 2007 9-month period for the airline.

 

The agreed merger with Clickair will create a carrier better equipped to cope with a weak market and oversupply on many Spanish routes, the carriers believe.

 

Passenger traffic in the first nine months of the year rose 2.1 percent to 4.7 million.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Ryanair Unhedged For Remainder Of Year

 

October 28, 2008

Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline, remains unhedged for its fuel needs for the remainder of the year, chief executive Michael O'Leary was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

 

Ryanair said in July it had hedged 90 percent of its September fuel needs at an oil price of USD$129 per barrel, 80 percent for its fiscal third quarter at USD$124 and remained unhedged for its fourth quarter, which starts in January 2009.

 

"Looking back it was stupid not to hedge on oil but we're not hedged for the remainder of the year and that's a good move," O'Leary told the Irish Examiner newspaper in an interview.

 

O'Leary, who has often acknowledged getting his hedging policy wrong, had said on Monday the carrier would post a full-year profit if the oil price remains at USD$70 per barrel and that profit could rise to EUR400 million - EUR500 million next year.

 

Oil traded around USD$64 per barrel on Tuesday.

 

Ryanair is due to report first-half earnings on Monday.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Waiping 12]

Hi Uncle,

 

Don't mind if I share this website here.

 

http://www.whichbudget.com/

 

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Jetstar Resilient In Economic Turmoil

 

October 29, 2008

Qantas Airways, Australia's top airline, said corporate and leisure travel bookings had fallen in the financial crisis, but its budget airline Jetstar was relatively unscathed.

 

Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon, due to retire in November, said tougher economic times might be spurring passengers to switch to the no frills airline.

 

"We probably haven't been hit as hard as others," Dixon told reporters after speaking at a business lunch.

 

"What we are seeing is Jetstar is holding up very well. We don't know if that's people trading down as yet, but their business model is a bit more resilient for these difficult times," he said.

 

He said the decline in the Australian dollar was likely to drive up demand from tourists coming to Australia, but the airline had not seen that come through yet.

 

Qantas, which launched flights from Melbourne and Sydney to Los Angeles on its new Airbus A380 aircraft last week, is confident it will receive two more of the 20 A380s it has on order by the end of this year, following a two-year delay.

 

"But I wouldn't be surprised if it's at 5-to-12 on December the 31st," Dixon said.

 

JetStar is due to take 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes and still expects to receive the first one around November or December 2009. It has not been advised whether the ongoing Boeing machinists' strike will delay that.

 

"But given what's going on, I don't think anybody can rule out maybe a further delay," Dixon said.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Norwegian Air To Launch 11 Routes From Copenhagen

 

October 29, 2008

Norwegian Air Shuttle said it plans to set up a new base in Copenhagen after the collapse of Danish low-cost carrier Sterling on Wednesday, and start flying new routes from next month.

 

Norwegian Air, which competes with Scandinavian leader SAS, said it would station two aircraft in Copenhagen from November 6 and fly six routes, including to Aalborg, Stockholm and Oslo. Other routes, including to London, Amsterdam and Rome, would open "shortly after", it added.

 

Sterling, which had signed a cooperation agreement with Norwegian Air in June, said it would file for bankruptcy after its Icelandic owners could no longer support it financially, stranding thousands of passengers throughout Europe.

 

Norwegian Air chief executive Bjorn Kjos said that Sterling was a source of low-cost air tickets from Copenhagen for years and that his airline would continue on this path.

 

"From now on, Norwegian will be the airline to visit for good quality, low cost airline tickets out of Denmark," Kjos said, adding that Norwegian's expansion plan was "well funded".

 

"Very strong third quarter results prove that our business model is sustainable even in tough times for the industry," he said.

 

Norwegian Air and Sterling had signed a cooperation agreement for the busy Oslo-Copenhagen and Stockholm-Copenhagen routes but the deal was never implemented due to a probe by competition authorities.

 

Separately, SAS -- whose shares surged 22 percent on Wednesday in the wake of Sterling's collapse -- said that it was offering stranded Sterling clients travel back to Scandinavia.

 

"Sterling passengers stranded in Europe travelling to Scandinavia and... within Scandinavia... are offered the possibility to buy a ticket, only covering airport taxes and other expenses, on an SAS operated flight," it said.

 

SAS will accept passengers as long as capacity is available.

 

Shares in Norwegian Air rose 8.1 percent to 28 kronor on Wednesday, outpacing a 2.7 percent rise on Oslo's main bourse index.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Tiger Airways Sticks To Plane Order Plan

 

October 31, 2008

Tiger Airways, a budget carrier partly owned by Singapore Airlines, said on Friday it is sticking to its growth plans despite financial market turmoil, with seven additional planes expected within the next two years.

 

CEO Tony Davis said that despite the global economic slowdown he still saw good passenger demand, but said airfares would come under pressure.

 

"I still want to travel, I still want to have my holiday, I still want to see my family, but I'm looking for a cheaper fare," said Davis at an aviation conference in Singapore.

 

The low-cost carrier expects a total of 60 additional planes by 2016, five times the amount it operates currently.

 

Weakening consumer sentiment has led regional airlines to cut back routes, layoff staff and post losses.

 

Singapore Air holds a 49 percent stake in Tiger.

 

(Reuters)

 

[KC Sim 2]

Jetstar Airways (of Australia) will inaugurate daily services between Perth and Singapore on December 2, 2008 . . . adding to two daily services already operated by Qantas Airways.

 

It will meanwhile add thrice-weekly Perth - Bali flights on October 27 and thrice-weekly Perth - Jakarta services on October 28.

 

When I was in Kuala Terengganu two weeks ago, locals there were confidently saying that sources from within Fireflyz were talking of imminent services linking Kuala Terengganu and Singapore. I have not heard anything from outside of TGG and was wondering if any Malaysianwingers have information of such a service?

 

 

KC Sim

[Min 6]

Ryanair flight crash-lands in Rome

 

Monday, November 10, 2008

 

A Ryanair flight from Frankfurt to Rome has crash-landed at Ciampino airport in the Italian capital.

 

The aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing after its engines suffered “multiple bird strikes”.

 

The airport has been temporarily closed while the damaged plane still lies on the Tarmac.

 

Two cabin crew and eight passengers have been taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

 

All 166 passengers had to exit the plane via its emergency chutes.

 

Ryanair’s flights into the Ciampino airport are being rerouted to Fiumicino airport.

 

[MIR 2]

Boeing 738 (EI-DYG)

 

Edited November 11, 2008 by MIR

[Muhd Hisyam 5]

hard landing there...

left gear broken down...

[Simon 3]

No casualties....phewwwww....

 

The birds must have caused the engine to fail

[Naim 6]

Stains at the nose - smashed birds?

[Radzi 2]

Stains at the nose - smashed birds?

Very likely. I've seen some smashed birds before, and that's how they looks like.

[Hakan 2]

what is reason of broken left main gear?

-hard landing becouse looses engine thrust due bird strikes?(engine fans looks clear,no bood or any parts of birds)

-damaged on flap-slats systems and flapless highspeed landing?

-any aerodynamical damaged?

 

 

[Andrew Lim 1]

Ouh... I'm flying into that airport next month on Easyjet.

[Chee Yong 0]

Wow, luckily no casualties happen despite on the hard landing.

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

maybe lost the engine on very short finals . else why the crash landing , just go around and come back for a single engine approach . done and practiced every 6 months by these fine gentlemen