Virgin America is set to announce its sale to Alaska Air on Monday in a deal valuing the US carrier at about $2b — or about $55 a share, said a person familiar with the matter. Alaska first contacted Virgin America at the start of the year, triggering a sale process and interest from other companies — including JetBlue, one of the largest low-cost carriers in the US. The proposed sale terms would represent a significant premium to its Virgin America’s market valuation. The airline went public in a November 2014 listing priced at $23 per share, and its stock stood at $38.90 at the close of trading on Friday. The deal, the first significant airline deal since US Airways and American Airlines combined in 2013 to form the world’s largest carrier, would strengthen Alaska’s position on the west coast, where it competes with the likes of Southwest. Virgin America, now the ninth-largest US carrier by passenger traffic, began flying out of a San Francisco hub in 2007 and currently serves 18 US cities and three Mexican ones. Alaska, which has a market capitalisation of $10.2bn, operates flights in more than 100 cities in the US, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. <br/>
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Malaysia-based AirAsia, the region’s biggest budget carrier by fleet size, said on Friday it plans to raise 1.0b ringgit (US$259m) by selling shares to help cut its debt and finance the purchase of new aircraft. In accordance with the deal, the airliner will issue 559 million new shares to AirAsia founders — group CEO Tony Fernandes and chairman Kamaruddin Meranun. “The gross proceeds raised from the proposed shares issuance will be utilised for the prepayment and repayment of the AAB group’s indebtedness, financing of aircraft, engines and parts ... ,” the company said. AirAsia said the fund raising plan was expected to be completed by Q3 2016.<br/>
Virgin Australia CE John Borghetti said he has no plans to quit and defended his turnaround strategy for the airline, according to a local media report. His comments in the the Australian Financial Review follow a tumultuous week in which Virgin's largest shareholder, Air NZ, flagged plans to sell its 26% stake and Standard & Poor's cut its outlook for the company from stable to negative. "I don't intend to go anywhere," Borghetti said. "I've still got things I need to get done. This week is just one more week."<br/>