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.