Tag Archives: Southend

Allegiant Air to acquire up to nine former Iberia Airbus A320s

Allegiant Travel Company (Allegiant Air) (Las Vegas) has announced its intention to purchase up to nine used Airbus A320 aircraft. The average age of these aircraft at delivery is expected to be 12 years with a configuration of 177 seats. The aircraft have been most recently operated by Iberia.

“The A320 aircraft type is a perfect complement to the smaller A319 and will enable us to continue cost effective growth for years to come,” said Andrew C. Levy, Allegiant President. “These transactions represent a tremendous opportunity to purchase a sizeable fleet of sister-ships with CFM powered engines, the same engine type as our A319s, at very attractive prices. Finding up to nine aircraft of this pedigree available for purchase is unusual in our experience. Historically it has been difficult to find owners willing to sell quality assets at this point in their life cycle. Our cash reserves and strong balance sheet continue to provide us a unique ability in the used aircraft space to move on these attractive opportunities.”

“We do not expect a material change to our 2013 capacity as we will vary MD-80 utilization appropriately. As with the earlier acquisition of A319s, we are committed to only acquire aircraft at values that support our existing business model of relatively low fleet utilization,” concluded Levy.

Seven aircraft are expected to be purchased in 2013 and two in 2014. With the addition of this transaction, Allegiant is now expecting 2013 total CAPEX to be between $270 and $280 million versus the previous guidance of $150 to $160 million. The company expects to finance the purchase of these aircraft with debt. Allegiant expects to place the first A320 into service late in the third quarter of 2013 and all nine aircraft are expected to be in service by the end of 2014. No additional MD-80 retirements are planned as a result of this transaction.

As long as Allegiant Air can acquire second-hand Airbus aircraft it is unlikely to add any more older McDonnell Douglas MD-80s.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. The A320s will complement the smaller Airbus A319s being added to the fleet. Former easyJet Switzerland Airbus A319-111 HB-JZK (msn 2319) became N301NV with Allegiant.

Allegiant Air:

Air Astana takes delivery of its first new A321 direct-delivery from Airbus

Air Astana (Almaty), Kazakhstan’s flag carrier, has taken delivery of its first A321 (PR-KDA, msn 5357) out of a total of six A320 Family aircraft ordered from Airbus in May 2008. The delivery was celebrated in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The aircraft will join Air Astana’s fleet, which already includes 10 A320 Family aircraft, operated on the airline’s domestic and international network.

The airline’s A321, powered by IAE V2500 engines, features a two class cabin layout, seating 28 passengers in business class and 151 in economy.

Air Astana started commercial service with its first Airbus aircraft, an A320, in 2006, and is currently operating one A319, seven A320s and two A321s.

Air Astana:

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EasyJet supports UNICEF with a new Airbus A319 logojet

EasyJet (UK) (London-Luton) is a big supporter of UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund. According to Wikipedia, UNICEF was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. In 1954, UNICEF became a permanent part of theUnited Nations System.

The company previously issued this statement of its support of UNICEF and its “Change for Good” program:

In 2012 easyJet formed a partnership with UNICEF the world’s leading organization for children.

The partnership runs across easyJet’s pan-European network during the peak summer and winter seasons, reaching out to the airline’s 55 million passengers who travel on the airlines’ 200 aircraft on over 600 routes across 30 countries.

The program branded Change for Good offers all our customers the chance to support the world’s children simply by dropping their spare change into specially designed pouches, which are handed out by easyJet’s crew during flights.

The money raised through donations from easyJet customers will fund UNICEF’s life-saving work for children across the world, such as vaccinating children at risk from diseases such as measles and polio or providing mosquito nets to prevent malaria.

The new partnership, which will operate for an initial three year period, will form part of UNICEF’s global Change for Good initiative, which has raised millions of pounds for the world’s most vulnerable children through partnerships with leading airlines across the globe.

For more information about UNICEF visit: http://www.unicef.org.uk/

Donate to UNICEF’s work for children: http://www.unicef.org.uk/Donate/Donate-Now/

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. The pictured Airbus A319-111 registered as G-EZIO (msn 2512) was rolled out of the paint shop this morning (November 18) at Southend Airport near London in this special color scheme.

EasyJet (UK):

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The first Airbus A319 for Allegiant Air is painted, net income of $16.9 million in the 3Q

Allegiant Air‘s (Las Vegas) first Airbus A319 has been painted at Southend awaiting delivery.

In other news, the low-fare airline has cancelled all plans to operate Monterey-Honolulu service according to Airline Route.

On the financial side, the parent company issued the following statement for the third quarter:

Allegiant Travel Company has reported the following financial results for the third quarter 2012 as well as comparisons to prior year equivalents:

Unaudited	3Q12	3Q11	Change
Total operating revenue (millions)	$216.9	$191.5	13.2%
Operating income (millions)	$28.7	$16.7	71.8%
Operating margin	13.3%	8.7%	4.5pp
EBITDA (millions)	$44.6	$27.5	62.3%
EBITDA margin	20.6%	14.4%	6.2pp
Net income (millions)	$16.9	$9.5	78.6%
Diluted earnings per share	$0.87	$0.49	77.6%

“We are very proud to report our 39^th consecutive profitable quarter,” stated Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company. “I`d like to thank our Team Members for their great efforts and contributions to another successful quarter. The third quarter is typically our weakest quarter of the year, and yet we were able to produce the highest third quarter earnings per share in the company`s history. This is particularly noteworthy to have done this in a quarter with the average oil price at $92 per barrel and in a demand environment that has been slightly weaker than historical norms.”

Notable company highlights

Entered into a lease agreement with GECAS for nine Airbus A319 aircraft on August 27
Announced intention to acquire ten Airbus A319 aircraft from Cebu Pacific Air on July 30
Announced service to Honolulu from Boise, Idaho, Phoenix and Spokane, Wash. to begin in early February 2013
Announced the formation of Allegiant Systems, a joint venture with AvIntel and Lixar IT to develop and market a wide variety of mobile technology services to the commercial aviation industry
As of October 23, we have converted 40 MD-80s to 166 seat aircraft
Announced fifteen routes, in addition to Hawaii, expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2012

Revenue performance

Average fare – ancillary air-related revenue per passenger has grown to $37.05 in the third quarter 2012, a $4.66 increase since the first quarter 2012
September average fare – ancillary air-related revenue per passenger has grown to $38.08, a $5.48 increase since March 2012
11^th consecutive quarter of year over year increases in total average fare

	3Q12	3Q11	Change
Scheduled Service:
Average fare – scheduled service	$82.30	$84.94	(3.1)%
Average fare – ancillary air-related charges	$37.05	$30.38	22.0%
Average fare – ancillary third party products	$5.59	$5.31	5.3%
Average fare – total	$124.94	$120.63	3.6%
Scheduled service passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) (cents)	7.89	8.58	(8.0)%
Total scheduled service revenue* per ASM (TRASM) (cents)	11.98	12.19	(1.7)%
Load factor	90.1%	92.2%	(2.1)pp
Passengers (millions)	1.6	1.5	9.4%
Average passengers per departure	143	136	5.1%

* Total scheduled service revenue includes scheduled service, ancillary air-related, and ancillary third party revenue.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Formerly operated by easyJet (Switzerland), Airbus A319-111 HB-JZK (msn 2319) is the first A319 for Allegiant Air. It is pictured after painting at a Southend, near London. The airframe will become N301NV on delivery.

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Allegiant Air:

Estonian Air introduces a new “Fly to Estonia” logoplane, will retire the last Boeing 737-500 on October 21

Estonian Air (Tallinn) has repainted its SAAB 340B ES-ASO (msn 223) from the “Hockeybird” to a special “Fly to Estonia” livery to promote winter travel to the country. The first flight from Tallinn in the new design was completed on October 11 and the special livery will stay until the end of this year.

The aircraft will operate from Tallinn to Vilnius, Helsinki, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, St Petersburg and Tartu.

The airline issued the following statement:

In the framework of an ongoing co-operation between Estonian Air and EAS (Enterprise Estonia), one of the SAAB 340 aircraft in Estonian Air fleet was given a special livery to attract tourists from the regional destinations of Estonian Air to spend winter holidays in Estonia. This is a continuation of the marketing campaign carried out in October in Lithuania, Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway, promoting the possibilities of spending winter holidays in Estonia.

“EAS and Estonian Air have common goals – to be visible on world map, bring a lot of foreign tourists to Estonia and do so in a special way. This beautiful aircraft design is a good example of co-operation between domestic organisations,” says Marketing Director of the Estonian Tourist Board at Enterprise Estonia, Tarmo Mutso.

“Research shows that aircraft is the advertising channel with the highest level of message recall, i.e. people recall afterwards not only the medium of the advertisement but even the message itself”, explains Gunnar Mägi, head of marketing and development in Estonian Air. “Since European airports enjoy a very high concentration of people, I am confident that our invitation will not go unnoticed”, he added.

In other news, the company will retire the last Boeing 737-500 on October 21 when the assigned aircraft completes a round trip between Tallinn and Paris (CDG) per Airline Route.

Top Copyright Photo: Estonian Air.

Estonian Air:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Boeing 737-53S ES-ABH 9msn 29074) climbs away from Southend.

Arik Air resumes domestic operations

Arik Air (Arik Wings of Nigeria) (Lagos) yesterday (September 23) according to Bloomberg Businessweek resumed domestic operations after a dispute was resolved with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria union. The union had blocked aircraft gates on September 20 at Lagos due to unpaid bills. International flights to west Africa, London, New York and Johannesburg were not impacted.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Arik Air:

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Domestic routes from Lagos:

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Starbow Airlines launches its first international route to Cotonou

Starbow Airlines (Accra) launched its first international route on August 13 from Accra to Cotonou, Benin.

Starbow is commencing Cotonou services with five flights per week but this service is expected to increase to daily flights within weeks. The nonstop flights will take 45 minutes only, thus reducing the travel time dramatically.

Route Map:

Icelandair reports a second quarter net profit of $14.3 million, considers acquiring additional aircraft types

Icelandair Group (Icelandair) (Keflavik) reported a second quarter net profit of $14.3 million.

In addition, in its report, the group stated it is looking at its fleet options with a long-term fleet strategy. Here is the official statement:

TWO OPTIONS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSIDERATION

| Work in progress on a long-term strategy for Icelandair Group’s fleet
| The work done in close co-operation with the manufacturers Boeing and Airbus
| Other aircraft manufacturer are also being monitored
| A decision on the future fleet will be made in near future
| Options being evaluated:

Option 1: Single fleet of Boeing 757 aircraft until 2022

Option 2: Mixed fleet of Boeing 757 and smaller aircraft

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Besides utilizing its Boeing 757 fleet for scheduled passenger and charter operations, the flag carrier also operates the Boeing 757 as a freighter. Icelandair Cargo Boeing 757-23A PCF TF-FIG (msn 24456) climbs away from Southend with its additional “Absolutely Fresh” titles and logo for its fish-hauling operations.

Icelandair:

Sunwing Airlines to serve Mexico from Fort McMurray and Grand Prairie

Sunwing Airlines (Toronto-Pearson) is adding new service from Alberta this winter with new flights from Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie with weekly Wednesday flights to Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit in Mexico with departures starting on December 19, 2012 through March 20, 2013.

Sunwing Airlines:

OLT Express (Poland) ends charter operations

OLT Express (Poland) (Warsaw) ended charter operations on July 31. Previously the airline ended scheduled operations on July 26. The fleet has been returned to the owners and put into storage.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Airbus A319-111 SP-IBC (msn 2460) departing from Southend was one of two A319s operated by the Polish airline.

OLT Express (Poland):