Emirates will add a 10th daily flight to London in October, bolstering its challenge to British Airways in BA’s own backyard. Emirates will operate the service to Gatwick, giving it 4 daily flights there together with 6 at London Heathrow, Emirates said Thursday. London is already the most popular city for Emirates, with the extra service lifting weekly capacity to 4,600 seats on 70 flights. That compares with the 76 flights a week that BA offers from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports to New York, its top long-haul destination. Emirates’ high-frequency operation from London will siphon even more passengers bound for Asia, the Middle East and Africa through its Dubai hub, where coordinated waves of departures maximise potential connections while minimising transfer times. <br/>
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AirAsia Bhd has denied that its founders are planning to privatise the airline. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company referred to a news article earlier this week and said that after making due enquiries with all the company’s directors, it was not aware of the reason for the article. Over the weekend, it had been reported that Tune Air was planning to privatise AirAsia with China Everbright Bank Co Ltd. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report also said company officials had stated that they had not received any formal offers and would not comment. Since AirAsia was listed in Nov 2004, rumours of a privatisation have surfaced about 5times. A privatisation, if true, and at the last share price of RM1.81, would mean RM4.08b to be forked out by both Tune Air and China Everbright. <br/>
Stobart Air and CityJet are exploring a tie-up in a move that could create one of Europe's biggest regional airline groups. The deal would be dependent on the final outcome of a sales process for Stobart Air, however. Stobart Air, which operates the Aer Lingus Regional service, is currently up for sale, with bids likely to value it at between E60m and E65m. Stobart Air management, led by CE Sean Brogan, have tabled a bid to buy the airline as the battle for control heats up. It's likely that such a bid could receive support from Aer Lingus, for instance, which also has a stake in a company that leases aircraft to Stobart Air. The Stobart Air sales process began last year, after shareholder Invesco Perpetual indicated that it wanted to exit its involvement in the business. <br/>
Volaris saw a sharp decline in profitability in 2014, but it bounced back quickly, reporting record results last year. With the company now generating a healthy profit margin, Volaris is looking to capitalise on the numerous growth opportunities ahead of it. Air travel has been rising rapidly in Mexico in recent years. Total passenger volume grew 12.3% in 2015, following 3 consecutive years of 8.3% annual growth. Volaris has played a big role in stimulating this demand growth by significantly reducing the cost of airline tickets in Mexico. The rise of the middle class is also helping. Volaris' management believes that the Mexican air travel market will continue growing at a rapid rate for the foreseeable future. In 2014, the number of air trips per capita was more than 8 times higher in the US than in Mexico. <br/>