unaligned

Ryanair would move some investment out of Britain if it votes to leave the EU and the "extreme volatility" that would follow such an outcome could put downward pressure on air fares in the short term, CE Michael O'Leary said. The airline flies 40m of its 100m-plus passengers a year to and from the UK and has its largest hub at London Stansted. O'Leary is one of the most vocal business leaders campaigning for a vote to stay in the EU ahead of the June 23 referendum on EU membership. "After 9/11, after every crisis Ryanair is selling cheaper fares, we keep people flying. So the fact is it would have a downward effect on our pricing for 6 to 12 months, but we will keep people flying," O'Leary said. "The longer term effect though is we will invest less in the UK, we will certainly switch some of our existing UK investment into other European countries". <br/>

British air-crash investigators looking into an incident last year involving an EasyJet flight have documented how a bug in an electronic flight-data calculator on many Airbus jetliners could lead to take-off problems. The potential hazard and steps to eliminate it were disclosed in a report released last week by Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Pilots of an EasyJet Airbus A319 unintentionally altered some touchscreen settings on a computerised take-off calculator but failed to recognise the changes until after take-off from Belfast International last June, according to the report. Investigators determined that as a result of the data confusion, the crew set engine thrust so that the jet carrying 161 people used up all but the last roughly 650 feet of the strip before becoming airborne, a significantly smaller safety margin than normal. <br/>

When Saad Hammad took the controls at Flybe almost 3 years ago, he knew he was in for a challenge at the ailing regional airline. But no amount of due diligence could have prepared the former EasyJet executive for the crisis he faced when he touched down. “I literally came in and realised: 'God, this could be very, very serious very quickly’,” he says of Flybe’s finances when he arrived in Aug 2013. “I thought I had a bit more time.” Indeed, there were moments during his first few weeks and months when it looked like Flybe would drop out of the sky altogether. Hammad was forced to make painful cuts to rescue the business. About 1,000 jobs were slashed not long after he took charge; a third of the work-force. And now, “after several years of underlying losses we are going to be profitable this year,” Hammad declares. <br/>

Belgian regional VLM Airlines has filed a formal application asking for creditor protection for 6 months to avoid bankruptcy, a source close to the situation confirmed following media reports in the Belgium and the Netherlands. A hearing will be held May 25. Several media outlets have reported that VLM said in a that “the judicial reorganisation [will give] the necessary breathing space to primarily repay historical debts to suppliers and to ensure the smooth running of daily operations.” CE Hamish Davidson was quoted in Belgium’s De Tijd as saying, “VLM Airlines NV is currently undergoing a major restructuring to secure the company's future and its employees.” The news came as a surprise, as the company said April 11 that data showed an “improving trend with a further improvement in load factors in the first week [of April] to 50%”. <br/>

Executives at Southwest Airlines like to joke that they run a California airline, based in Texas. For good reason. The carrier flies more passengers in and out of California each year than any other airline, thanks primarily to a dominance in midsize cities including Burbank, San Diego, Oakland and San Jose. But there is a new suitor for California fliers. The parent company of Alaska Airlines is rushing forward with a US$2.6b deal to acquire Virgin America in hopes of becoming the predominant airline of the Golden State — and the entire West Coast. “Right now we are not your go-to airline if you live in California,” said Joseph Sprague, a senior VP at Alaska Air Group. “We plan to change that.” The deal sets up a David-and-Goliath battle to reign supreme in California. <br/>

Hong Kong Airlines will start daily services to Auckland in November, the latest in a growing number of carriers to serve New Zealand. The service will further fuel the tourism boom, with the Chinese market the fastest growing of them all. The airline will launch its first daily direct service to Auckland Nov 10. It will use an Airbus A332 aircraft with 283 seats, including 24 business class seats. There had been a steady increase year on year in the number of Hong Kong and China travellers visiting New Zealand. According to official figures as of March 2016, the total number of visitors from Hong Kong and China has recorded a rise in 19.1% and 27.8% respectively. In total about 380,000 Chinese come to New Zealand and within 2 years they are forecast to be the biggest spenders. <br/>

GOL reported BRL757.1m (US$208.4m) Q1 2016 net profit, reversing its Q1 2015 BRL672.7m net loss. However, in its quarterly results release GOL noted an appreciation of the Brazilian real against the US dollar of BRL$653.5m. Excluding the exchange rate variations and a non-recurring event (BRL212.6m in profit for the return of sub-leased aircraft and on sale-leaseback transactions), GOL reported a Q1 2016 net loss, before income taxes, of BRL42.7m. “[Our results] reflect the adoption of measures to enhance the company’s liquidity position and bring its capital structure in line with Brazil’s macroeconomic environment, which has been negatively impacted by political instability and consequent economic volatility,” GOL CE Paulo Kakinoff said, adding the company has initiated measures “to overcome the recessionary environment.” <br/>

Bangkok Airways reported a net profit of THB1.57b (US$44.5m) for Q1 2016, up THB487.9m (44.9%) from the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue rose 15.5% to THB7.8b in Q1 2016. The airline was profitable in 2015, and continues to return solid results from niche marketing of regional short-haul destinations that connect to codeshare majors. Bangkok Airways president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth said the improved performance was mainly because of a “growth in number of passengers and better average fares together with declining fuel costs.” The company said it had registered an overall increase in the number of passengers of 10.5% in Q1 2016. This was helped by an 18.2% rise in sales across Asia including from Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Taiwan—but excluding Thailand. <br/>