EasyJet will campaign for Britain to stay in the EU, with its CE telling consumers that membership encourages low cost travel between European cities. Prime minister David Cameron has pledged to renegotiate Britain's ties with Europe and then allow voters a referendum on EU membership by the end of 2017. Stepping into a highly charged political debate, EasyJet said the EU was good for its business and its customers. "We will do everything we can to make sure that consumers understand that they are far better off within the EU when it comes to connectivity and low fares," EasyJet's CE Carolyn McCall said Tuesday. McCall is part of the pro-European lobby group, "Britain Stronger in Europe", headed by former Marks & Spencer CE Stuart Rose. EasyJet would not be shy about its support, McCall said. <br/>
unaligned
EasyJet said demand was dampened by security fears in the final weeks of 2015 but a recovery in bookings and ticket prices put it on track to meet annual forecasts. Attacks in November that killed 130 people in Paris, further slowed demand for leisure travel after a Metrojet plane crash over Egypt in October. EasyJet reported a 3.7% fall in revenue per seat on a constant currency basis in the quarter ended Dec 31. It put 2% of that decline down to the fall in demand in the wake of the Paris attacks. Bookings for its Q2 had since showed a marked improvement in revenue per seat compared with November and December, it said, adding that it was also seeing better than planned results in reducing costs. For the full financial year to Sept 30, EasyJet said it expected to meet market forecasts for pre-tax profit of GBP738m. <br/>
After nearly 25 years without a change, Alaska Airlines updated its branding Monday, giving its wordmark, colours and iconic Eskimo logo a refresh. The new approach from Alaska reflects a stronger appeal to younger, more design-focused passengers while keeping trademarks from the legacy design. “The clean lines and italics of our updated wordmark represent the performance and precision our customers have come to expect when they fly Alaska,” said Alaska’s VP of marketing. In addition to an overhauled website, the airline released a rendering of one of their new aircraft showing a heavier use of green and blue accents as well as a refined and simplified Eskimo on the tail. Alaska plans to continue its design refresh over the course of 2016, including new signage at airports and paint jobs for the entire fleet. <br/>
IndiGo reported a Q3 2016 net profit of INR6.57b (US$96.6m), up 23.7% compared to INR5.31b in the year-ago period. CE Aditya Ghosh said factors that helped the uptick included an increase in fleet size, robust passenger demand and low fuel prices had helped propel the carrier to the record result. IndiGo revenue rose nearly 12% to INR44b in Q3 2016, an increase of nearly 11.9% compared to year prior. Q3 profit before tax was INR9.33b, up 24% over the previous year. In the 9-month period ended Dec 31, 2015, the carrier reported a rise of 108% to INR20.1b pre-tax profit compared to the first 9 months of Indigo’s 2015 fiscal year. Q3 2016 capacity at Indigo increased 20.1% compared to 10.75b ASMs in the year-ago period, and RPMs also rose 25% to 9.09b RPMs, compared to Q3 2015. <br/>
Tigerair reported a Q3 2016 net profit of S$6.8m (US$4.75m), more than doubled compared to a $2.2m profit in the year-ago period. CE Lee Lik Hsin said low fuel prices helped the carrier’s performance and he expects further benefit from the cost of jet fuel. Tiger Group Q3 revenue increased 1.5% to $187.4m, driven significantly by higher lease rental income from aircraft and engine leasing arrangements with Tigerair subsidiaries in Australia and Taiwan. Operating profit rose to $10m for Q3FY16, compared to $4.1m in the year-ago period. However, the increase in operating profit was partially offset by drop in Singapore-based operations revenue, following a 1.6% cut in overall seat capacity. Overall group expenses were down 1.8% to $177.3m mainly due to lower fuel. <br/>
Vietjet Air reported a 2015 revenue of VND10.9t (US$490.7m), up 34.5% from VND8.1t in 2014. The airline said the revenue increase was achieved “despite increasing challenges in the wake of the ASEAN Open Skies policy.” The result was lower than the VND13.8t forecast at the start of 2015, and came during a year when the carrier added 11 Airbus A320s and A321s to its fleet and increased passenger numbers by 66% to 9.3m passengers during the 12-month period, compared to 2014. “The company met its targets,” Vietjet said, adding that it saw an average 88% load factor, with an on-time performance (OTP) ratio of 82.58% for the 58,355 flights it made during the period. The company has expanded rapidly and Vietjet has set a target of 15m passengers in 2016, with an OTP ratio of 85%. <br/>