Hong Kong’s magnate to form leasing JV with Mitsubishi for $2b worth aircraft

Mitsubishi Corporation ("MC") has entered into an agreement with Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited ("CK"), leading Hong Kong’s  holding controlled by Li Ka-shing, Asia’s richest man, to newly establish a joint venture dedicated to aircraft leasing.

CK will own 60% and MC 40% of the JV. Based on the agreement, MC will transfer to the JV a seed portfolio of 15 aircraft, out of the approximately 100 aircraft that it owns or manages. CK to acquire a total of twenty-one aircraft from GECAS, a total of up to ten aircraft from BOC Aviation and up to fourteen aircraft from JSA. The JV will open offices in Hong Kong and Ireland, two key hub stations in aircraft lease and financing.

The chairman of CK, Li Ka-shing, is focusing on the rapid development in the Chinese aviation market. According to IATA, China will overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest air travel market by 2030. However, due to interest growth in the aircraft leasing sector, China may surpass U.S. even earlier. 

Source and image: Cheung Kong

Ryanair, 32% profit increase in H1, 2014

Ryanair, 32% profit increase in H1, 2014

 Ryanair today announced that H1 Net Profit rose by 32% to €795m. Traffic grew 4% to 51.3m customers, ave. fares increased 5%, and total revenues rose by 9% to €3,537m. Unit costs fell by 2% (excluding fuel they rose by 3%).

H1 load factors jumped by 4% points to 89%, due to a stronger Easter period and the success of Ryanair’s “Always Getting Better” customer experience improvements.

- 4 new bases and 57 new routes opened.

- Improved website and mobile app rolled out.

- “Always Getting Better” customer experience improving.

- “Family Extra” and “Business Plus” products launched.

- €850m 7yr Euro bond issued @ 1.875%.

- €520m special dividend in Feb 2015 approved.

- Launch order for 200 Boeing 737-MAX “Gamechanger” aircraft (sub. to EGM approval).

- Revised growth plan to double to 150m p.a. customers by 2024.

In September, Ryanair celebrated 2 milestone events with Boeing. We took delivery of the 1st of 180 new Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft in Seattle. These new aircraft will enable Ryanair to deliver strong traffic and profit growth over the coming 5 years as we grow to over 114m passenger’s p.a. These new aircraft will allow us exploit the unfolding opportunities at many primary and secondary airports across Europe who are encouraging Ryanair to grow quickly at their airports as their incumbent carriers cut capacity.

Ryanair's September AGM approved the Board’s proposal to return another €520m via a special dividend (€0.375 per ordinary share). This will be paid at the end of February 2015, at a time when our cash balances are rising. This will bring to over €2.5bn the returns made by Ryanair to shareholders since 2008. Ryanair’s balance sheet remains one of the strongest in the industry. Despite €293m of Capex and debt repayments of €199m during H1, our Net Cash position has improved from €158m to €618m reflecting our profitable H1 trading. 

Based on these solid H1 results, underpinned by strong forward bookings and rising load factors, we have significantly raised our winter capacity and traffic growth objectives. Traffic will grow by 12% in Q3 and by 20% in Q4, which are very ambitious targets during the weaker half of the year. However, we believe it is time to capitalise upon the many opportunities available to us at both primary and secondary airports, to grow our route network and increase frequencies, in order to attract business traffic which tends to travel more during the winter period.

As a result of these 2.2m additional H2 passengers and falling unit costs, our full year net profit will significantly exceed our previous guidance (of €650m) to a new range of between €750m to €770m. However, we caution that this raised guidance remains heavily reliant on the strength of close in bookings for the remainder of Q3, and in particular Q4 where we presently have very little visibility.

Source and image: Ryanair

 

First A350 XWB for Vietnam Airlines rolls out of assembly hall

The first A350 XWB for Vietnam Airlines, to be leased from AerCap, has just moved to station 30 at the Roger Béteille Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, France.

This new milestone marks the completion of some of the major airframe assembly as well as the successful first electrical power-on. In station 30, the aircraft will now undergo ground tests, while the cabin installation initiated in the previous station (station 40) will be continued. 

Scheduled for delivery in mid-2015, the aircraft will see Vietnam Airlines become the first Asian airline to fly the A350 XWB and the second operator in the world of the all-new, fuel-efficient widebody.

Source and image: Airbus

Crew Selfies: To Take or Not to Take?

Crew Selfies: To Take or Not to Take?

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Published on Wednesday, 29 October 2014 13:36

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Today there are millions of photos posted on various social networks every second. For instance, on Facebook alone we upload 300 million photos daily. Meanwhile, if one was to print all of the pictures currently posted on Instagram, it would reach 6 351 kilometres from the Earth. When it comes to the themes of these photos, the most popular trend is a selfie! It has spread so widely, that only the most entertaining/shocking pics receive significant public attention or cause any controversy. However, prior to taking a seemingly innocent selfie, certain professionals should think twice, and airline crew members are amongst the ones on the list of employees that should maintain a clean reputation at all times.

The fact that back in 2013 the Oxford Dictionary named “selfie” the word of the year raised few eyebrows amongst social networkers. After all, more than 88 million photos were hash-tagged #selfie that year. Industry wise the statistics were no less impressive with over 1,000 airline crew members from all over the world introducing their own hashtags for images labeled #crewlife, #milehighselfie, #flywithme, #airhostess, #flightattendant, etc.

Most airlines encourage the spread of such photos (especially when these pics are captured/posted by clients), as they consider the practice to be a cheap yet very effective supplement to the more traditional means of marketing. For instance, in 2013 Turkish Airlines reached about 100 million traveller prospects with selfies. It largely contributed to the tripled YouTube brand searches and helped to secure a 16% increase in Google global brand searches. Inspired by the success story, a Russian-based carrier S7 Airlines has recently launched a campaign called the Right to do a Selfie, stating that from now on no airline passenger shall be refused the right to take a self-portrait at any time during the flight. However, far from many airlines are univocal about the aforementioned right when it comes to their own employees.

“When on duty and in their official attire crew members not only provide the air carrier‘s customers with services, but are also directly and indirectly responsible for its public representation. And airlines take their reputation very seriously, meaning that they track every step of their employees’ online activities. For instance, last year a flight attendant of Aeroflot was fired after posting a photo of giving the middle finger on one of her social media accounts. The same thing happened to one other Aeroflot flight attendant. In May 2012 a Russian Superjet slammed into the side of a volcanic mountain while on a demonstration tour near Jakarta. The flight attendant was fired after joking about the crash on her social media profile,” shares Skaiste Knyzaite, the CEO of AviationCV.com.

While an ordinary user might be amused by such bad boy attitude of certain airline employees, most carriers are not thrilled about their provocative photos receiving hundreds of likes on Facebook. The limits do vary, however. For instance, while Delta Airlines does allow its employees to take (and share) selfies freely, their flight attendants are prohibited from posting any photographs with celebrities. What is ridiculous is that despite knowing the rule well, crew members are still breaking it aboard. For instance, not so long ago the crew members of Vietnam Airlines were in breach of the official regulations twice. They posed for a photo with a celebrity in the cockpit during the flight and then posted it on internet. This comes to show that 15 minutes of fame is sometimes just too strong.

“When posting a selfie not every employee can assess its potential impact on the company’s reputation, which is why all crew members should maintain a serious approach to the difference between the daily and work functions. While some of the shots may be funny, the crew members posting them may not be the ones having the last laugh” says Skaiste Knyzaite, the CEO of AviationCV.com. “However, it must be stressed that despite all the pitfalls, social media remains a powerful and useful source of new career opportunities. Taking into account a wide range of advantages many HR-resourcing platforms hold for flight attendants and other industry representatives, the importance of online tools in the contemporary labour market is hard to overestimate."

Source and image: Aviation.CV

Boeing delivers 100th 777-300ER to Emirates

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren In White Gold

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New A320 full-flight simulator at Airbus Training Center, Miami

New A320 full-flight simulator at Airbus Training Center, Miami

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Published on Thursday, 30 October 2014 10:26

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Airbus Training Center (ATC) in Miami has integrated a new A320 full-flight simulator. Produced by FlightSafety International, provider of aviation training, simulation equipment and software, the A320 simulator received Level D qualification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is ready to provide training on CFM and IAE engines as well as the Honeywell Flight Management Guidance Computer (FMGC).

This is the Miami Training Center’s first FlightSafety simulator and complements two A330/A340 and three A320 full-flight simulators.

To enhance its single-aisle flight training offering in Miami, the new full-flight A320 simulator is equipped with a 60-inch electric motion and electric control loading and FlightSafety’s VITAL 1100 Visual System and provides 60 x 200 degree Field of View and continuous high-resolution global satellite imagery capable of distinguishing environmental conditions experienced during all phases of flight, from taxi and takeoff to landing.

“With the A320 Family being the world’s best-selling single-aisle product line, it is no surprise that demand for single-aisle full-flight simulator training is expected to reach nearly 700,000 hours by 2017,” said Joe Houghton, Airbus Vice President of Training & Flight Operations Support. “FlightSafety’s new A320 simulator will help Airbus continue to deliver innovative training services to meet the growing demands for quality flight and maintenance training.”

Source and image: Airbus