Tag Archives: PMI

AirEuropa and Seaborne Airlines to codeshare

Air Europa (stylized as AirEuropa) (Palma de Mallorca and Madrid) continues its expansion throughout the Caribbean by connecting its daily flight between Spain and the Dominican Republic with its neighbor, Puerto Rico. The Globalia Group Airline and Seaborne Airlines (San Juan), a Puerto Rican airline, have reached a codeshare agreement to cover the route Santo Domingo – San Juan, Puerto Rico, which will allow for daily flights to and from the islands and, as a result, the connection of both capitals with the Adolfo Suarez Airport in Madrid (Barajas).

This will permit Air Europa passengers to fly to Puerto Rico every day, by making a short stop in Las Americas Airport in Santo Domingo. This route will be added to the two direct flights that Air Europa has been operating between Spain and Puerto Rico since June 2014.

Seaborne is a company with over 20 years of experience in the Caribbean and an excellent security and operational performance history. For the Santo Domingo – San Juan route, it has an available fleet of 8 SAAB 340Bs, Swedish-made aircraft that can carry 34 passengers.

The codeshare agreement between Air Europa and Seaborne will take effect March 29.

AirEuropa aircraft slide show:

Seaborne Airlines aircraft slide show:

Is the end coming for Thomas Cook in the airline business?

Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel group, is considering selling its airline arm, Thomas Cook Group, as it continues to recover from its near-collapse in 2011.

According to the Independent, the company, which can trace its roots back to 1841 when Thomas Cook arranged for 500 people to travel between Leicester and Loughborough for a shilling, has reportedly sounded out potential buyers for the airline group. These are believed to include rival carriers and private equity investors, although no talks are currently taking place.

The holiday giant found itself under a mountain of debt in 2011 but has since axed jobs and shut high-street shops.

“We are always open for opportunities, which might include partnering with other partners/airlines,” it said in a statement.

However, it added: “We are very pleased with the development of our airlines. We have refurbished the cabins of our long-haul fleet and added long-haul aircraft to our Condor fleet in Germany and the UK. We see our airlines as an important part of our business.”

Thomas Cook AG currently has 88 active aircraft in it’s fleet, spanning 4 airlines: Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (29) (Manchester), Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium (3) (Brussels), Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia (14) (Copenhagen-Oslo-Stockholm) and Condor Flugdienst (42) (Frankfurt), making it the 11th largest airline operator in Europe, and has ordered 25 new Airbus A321s (above) to replace older aircraft. However such moves could affect the order as well as result in airlines being shutting down or being rebranded.

The airline has refuted the conjecture in the UK media according to ch-aviation.

Could this be the end for the Thomas Cook we’ve come to know for so many years? Watch this space.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) Airbus A321-211 WL G-TCDD (msn 6038) taxies to the gate at Palma de Mallorca.

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) aircraft slide show:

Hermes Aviation (FlyHermes.com) stops flying, strands passengers

Hermes Aviation (FlyHermes.com) (Luqa, Malta) suddenly cancelled its flights on January 6 according to the Malta Independent. The sole aircraft (above) has been on the ground at Turin, Italy since January 12. According to the report, the airline is under investigation by the Italian civil aviation authority – ENAC (L’Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile). The airline had been offering flights from Malta to Comiso and Palermo in Sicily and Turin in northern Italy.

The airline does not mention the stoppage on its website and has not issued any statement.

Read the report from the Times of Malta: CLICK HERE

Read the report by the Malta Independent: CLICK HERE

The airline started operations on June 6, 2014.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. FlyHermes.com (Hermes Aviation) Boeing 737-4K5 9H-HER (msn 24901) taxies at Palma de Mallorca.

FlyHermes aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Hermes-Aviation-FlyHermescom

Vueling adds three new African destinations from Barcelona

Vueling Airlines (Barcelona) will add Rabat (Morocco), Yerba (Tunisia) and Accra (Ghana) from Barcelona starting on June 20.

The airline will also launch a summer service to Istanbul. From June through October the airline will fly three times a week from Barcelona.

After launching flights to Marrakech in 2009, the airline gradually added new African services and now has 16 routes reaching 11 destinations on the continent: Marrakech, Rabat, Casablanca, Nador, and Fez in Morocco; Tunis and Yerba in Tunisia; Algiers and Oran in Algeria; Dakar in Senegal; Banjul in Gambia; and Accra in Ghana. At 3,960 km, the Barcelona-Ghana route will be the longest operated by the airline.

Vueling aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-3/Airlines-Europe3-QZ/Vueling-Airlines

Luxair reaches a tentative collective labor agreement with its staff and unions

Luxair (Luxembourg) has reached a new tentative collective labor agreement with its staff and the unions. The agreement is subject to final ratification vote. This follows union protests in October. The airline is expected to save up to 8 million euros ($9.4 million) annually according to the Luxembourg Wort.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8C9 LX-LGU (msn 41047) in the special Disney Planes scheme departs from Palma de Mallorca.

Luxair aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Luxair-Luxembourg-Airlines

Current Luxair route map:

Jet2 to add leased Airbus A320s and A330s for routes from Glasgow and Manchester next summer

Jet2 (Jet2.com) (Leeds/Bradford) will again add leased Airbus A320s on the following routes from Glasgow for the summer 2015 season according to Airline Route: Alicante (May 3), Barcelona (May 7), Faro (May 2), Ibiza (May 22), Mahon (June 23), Malaga (May 24), Murcia (May 22), Palma de Mallorca (May 1) and Rome (Fiumicino) (June 18).

The low-fare airline is also leasing an AirAsia X Airbus A330 for these routes next summer: Bodrum (May 24), Dalaman (May 23), Lanzarote (May 21), Palma de Mallorca (May 22), Paphos (May 20) and Tenerife Sur (May 22).

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Jet2 has leased Airbus A320s from Titan Airways in the past. Titan Airways Airbus A320-233 G-POWI (msn 2791) taxies at Palma de Mallorca while operating for Jet2.

Jet2 aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Jet2

Hamburg Airways temporarily suspends operations, files for reorganization

Hamburg Airways (Hamburg) temporarily suspended operations on December 20 after its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) was suspended by the Luftfhart-Bundesamt (LBA) according to ch-aviation. The last flight was operated on December 19. The airline is not showing any flights on its website. The company is expected to resume operations.

Update: In January 2015 the airline filed for temporary insolvency (reorganization) under German bankruptcy laws. On January 12, 2015 Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz was appointed as the bankruptcy administrator. The airline is seeking new investors and hopes to reorganize.

Hamburg Airways was founded in December 2010 by the Managing Director and CEO Sergej Fieger. On March 28, 2011, HK – the official two-letter code – received its operating license from the Federal Aviation Authority of Germany (LBA) and the company launched the first commercial revenue flight on March 30, 2011.

Hamburg Airways aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Hamburg-Airways

Route Map:

Meridiana retires its last two Airbus A320s

Meridiana (Olbia) has retired its last two Airbus A320 aircraft according to ch-aviation. The company has been moving to Boeing for its narrow body needs.

The company was set up under the name of Alisarda on March 29, 1963 by Prince Karīm al-Hussayn Aga Khan with the aim of promoting tourism in Sardinia. Scheduled flights commenced in 1964.

On May 3, 1991 the name was changed to Meridiana.

At the end of February 2010, the name Meridiana fly was launched, the second largest carrier in Italy, with the merger of two air transport players: Eurofly, a company specializing in charter services to long haul holiday destinations and Meridiana, scheduled carrier with an extensive national and European network, with the primary objective of connecting the main Italian airports with the two largest islands Sardinia and Sicily.

In October 2011 Meridiana fly acquired the assets of Air Italy, a chartered Italian carrier which definitively joined the Group and now operates connections on behalf of Meridiana.

After rebranding, starting in March 2013, the company has eliminated the trademark Air Italy and the suffix of Meridiana fly by replacing it with just “Meridiana”.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 EI-EZS (msn 1823) holds short of the runway at Palma de Mallorca.

Meridiana aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Meridiana

Primera Air continues to expand from Scandinavia and Iceland

Primera Air (Scandinavia) (Copenhagen) is opening up new routes for the current winter season. On October 26, the company launched weekly service from Gothenburg and Malmo to Dubai (Al Maktoum), Helsinki to Fuerteventura and Las Palmas and from Malmo to Tenerife Sur.

Furthermore, late this month, the airline will start four new weekly routes; Aalborg-Las Palmas (December 19), Copenhagen-Billund-Lanzarote (December 19), Aarhus-Tenerife Sur (December 20) and Aalborg-Fuerteventura (December 22) per Airline Route.

In other related news, Primera Air (Iceland) (Keflavik) launched a new route to New York (JFK) on November 16 after acquiring rights to serve the United States.

Primera Air (Scandinavia) aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-2/Airlines-Europe-2/Primera-Air-Scandinavia

TUI Travel’s full-year pretax profit soars to $567 million

TUI Travel (London), the parent of Thomson Airways (London-Luton and Manchester), reported its financial results for its fiscal year ending on September 30, 2014. The pretax profit for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2014 was £362 million ($567 million) compared to £169 million ($264.7 million) for the previous year. Please see the financial analysis below by www.finspreads.com.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Comments by Peter Long, CEO of TUI Travel:

“We have delivered another year of out-performance against our growth roadmap achieving an underlying operating profit growth of 11% at constant currency rates2. This demonstrates the strength and resilience of our business model in what has been a competitive trading environment for many tour operators and airlines. The combination of our market leadership position, scale, focus on unique holidays distributed increasingly online and our relationship with the customer throughout their whole holiday experience continues to provide a strong basis for sustainable, profitable growth.

“The merger with TUI AG will strengthen and future-proof our combined Group. It will also enhance the certainty of long-term unique holiday growth and reinforce our clear competitive advantage through further control over the end-to-end customer experience. This will mark the start of an exciting new phase of growth, delivering significant opportunities and value to customers, employees and shareholders.”

A financial analyst comment from Fiona, a senior market analyst at www.finspreads.com

UK package holiday company TUI Travel reported a notable 11% rise in underlying profit, above its recently raised guidance of 9%. Pretax profit to the year ending September 30, 2014 was £362 million compared to £169 million for the previous year, achieved on slightly lower revenues of £14.62 billion due to adverse currency translation impacts.. The travel company which is currently merging with German parent company TUI AG, intends to declare a second interim dividend of 20.5p per share once the merger is complete, taking the total annual dividend to 24.5p up from 13.5p last year.

These are really promising results for a company which has previously suffered heavily from reduced consumer spending and changing tastes. However the travel firm seems to have found a winning formula with over 63% of its winter programme 2014/15 already sold with mainstream bookings and bookings for summer 2015 up over 9% on an average price increase of 2%. The market was clearly impressed by the results and projected outlook for the firm and TUI Travel is currently trading up over 3.8% at 445p, adding to the phenomenal growth that they have experienced since May 2012 when TUI Travel´s share price was only 165p.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8K5 G-TAWG (msn 37266) holds short of the runway at Palma de Mallorca.

Thomson Airways aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Europe-3/Airlines-Europe3-QZ/Thomson-Airways