Hainan Airlines posted a 16% jump in full-year profit as oil prices tumbled, though the gain was limited by foreign-exchange losses. Chen Feng’s airline had net income of CNY3b (US$460.6m) last year, compared with CNY2.6b in 2014, the company reported Thursday. The company recorded a foreign-exchange loss of CNY1.87b, 250 times bigger than a year earlier, following a surprise devaluation of the Chinese yuan in August. China unexpectedly devalued its currency in August, triggering volatility in foreign-exchange markets that has proved problematic for its airlines since aircraft purchases are denominated in dollars. China operators ordered more than $100b worth of aircraft from Boeing and Airbus last year. The yuan ended last year down 4.4% against the greenback, its biggest annual loss since 1994. <br/>
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Hawaiian Airlines said it will restructure its commercial business as part of a long-term strategy for evolution in the market, following more than 5 years of rapid growth in Japan. By the end of June, the airline said it will hire 14 employees based out of its Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo gateway cities to focus on the full complement of commercial activities. According to Hawaiian, the new in-house team will focus on sales, account management, business development, distribution, and partnerships and promotions. Global Service Agency, the airline’s general sales agent partner, will “continue to play an instrumental role under Hawaiian’s redefined business model with the provision of reservations, ticketing, administrative and regulatory support,” the carrier said. <br/>
Scoot and Tigerair will finalise a merger of their reservations systems by the end of H1 2016, Scoot CE said. “This will make Tiger our biggest partner,” he said. He said the two LCCs already shared ground handling and other operational facilities and costs, and that a more complete integration of ticketing systems would bring a greater ability to capitalise on potential opportunities across the two carriers. Both LCCs are subsidiary airlines of SIA, which Wilson says is working to develop long-term working structures that are shared between the two carriers. Wilson noted the need for a strong distribution system in Asia is essential, as many travelers still prefer to use travel agents to book their travel. Wilson added that Scoot would expand its fleet of 10 Boeing 787s with another 10 787s by end July 2019. <br/>
Founder Pat Byrne and private equity backers have repurchased Irish regional airline CityJet from German owners Intro Aviation for an undisclosed sum. The airline, which carried around 2m passengers last year, was bought from Air France-KLM in 2014 by Intro Aviation. CityJet operates 8 routes from London City and a service linking to Air France's hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle. Byrne said that the airline saw an initial public offering within 2 to 3 years as "the ideal way to go." The airline expects to make a modest profit this year and revenue will increase to E300m (US$335m) within 2 years from the E177m earned in 2014 when it posted an operating loss of E22.7m, he said. CityJet is expecting delivery of the first of 8 new CRJ900s from Bombardier this week with subsequent deliveries to continue until June. <br/>