Ireland’s pro-aviation policy, embracing deregulation and liberalising market access, is visionary and helps enable growth among airlines, lessors, MROs and aviation and travel companies, the CE of Aer Lingus said. Aer Lingus CE Stephen Kavanagh spoke about the importance of liberalisation, competition and the advantages that Ireland’s geographic location offers airlines. The company has been growing at a compound rate of 12% since 2010 and in the past 12 months produced operating margins of 8.5%, Kavanagh said. “We’re small, but perfectly formed and fit for purpose,” he said. “Aer Lingus has successfully made that journey from state-owned to private company,” Kavanagh noted. “I would suggest to you that market access, combined with visionary deregulation and a liberalised environment, are key factors in that success.” <br/>
unaligned
NokScoot is aiming to fly through the break-even barrier by the end of this year. "Our financial performance is improving, allowing us to break even or be close to that point at the end of 2016," CE Piya Yodmani said. Such expectations come against the backdrop of a robust performance resulting from the airline's focus on the vast China-to-Thailand travel market. Piya sees a turnaround in NokScoot's balance sheet by year-end. NokScoot posted a THB1.3b net loss over a 15-month period to March this year. The airline got off the ground in May last year. The improved performance is reinvigorating the carrier's growth strategy, which had earlier appeared to be stuck in second gear. Piya said NokScoot was focused on the Chinese market, with more routes linking up with Thailand in the works. <br/>
A request by a new international airline to fly to the US pits the Obama administration against organised labour and its Republican ally: New Jersey Rep Frank LoBiondo. The chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, LoBiondo and others introduced legislation to prevent Norwegian Air International from flying to the US. The lawmakers contend that the airline's business model violates labour protections embedded in the US-EU agreement that ended most barriers to trans-Atlantic flights. "It's an airline set up to put American jobs at risk," said LoBiondo. The bill would prevent the DoT from approving Norwegian's certification. The agency has given a tentative OK with a final decision expected later this month. "This is the future of the airline industry on the table," said the president of the AFL-CIO's transportation trades department. <br/>
Bombardier has removed from its production schedule an order for C Series aircraft placed 6 years ago by bankrupt Republic Airways Holdings. Republic agreed in Feb 2010 to 40 firm orders and 40 options for the CS300 model, with deliveries initially scheduled to start in 2015. While the firm orders remain in the planemaker’s backlog, removal from the production line means there are no set dates for when the aircraft will be built, a Bombardier spokeswoman said Friday. Bombardier and Republic had declined to comment on the status of the order since the airline announced plans in Oct 2014 to use just one type of plane in its fleet by the end of 2016, a move that didn’t include the C Series. ““Until we know the final outcome, it’s hard for us to plan or really to know what the full impact will be,” the spokeswoman said. <br/>