AirAsia expects to sell its aircraft-leasing unit as early as December as the largest customer for Airbus' single-aisle jets aims to net as much as US$1b from the transaction and pare debt. Proceeds from the sale may be used to reduce debt or pay a dividend, Group CE Tony Fernandes said Tuesday. AirAsia’s board approved the sale process for all or a substantial part of the unit, established in 2014 as Asia Aviation Capital, the carrier said in a filing Monday. “Depending on who’s the buyer, and there seems to be tremendous interest, we’ll likely divest all or maybe keep a minority interest for a period and sell out,” Fernandes said. The divestment may help bolster the financials of the company, which had a total debt of US$2.6n at the end of June. <br/>
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AirAsia X reported a RM1.02m (US$252,241) net profit for the 2016 Q2, the first Q2 net profit since the airline’s 2007 inception, the company said. AirAsia X posted a RM133m net loss in 2Q 2015. Revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% year-over-year to RM218m while expenses increased 14.6% YOY to RM863m; the airline group posted an operating profit of RM20m, reversed from a RM99.9m loss in the year-ago quarter. AirAsia X’s Q2 growth was attributable to “better average base fare and load factor improvement … across all core routes, especially China,” the airline said. Australian traffic also contributed to the carrier’s performance during the quarter, as passenger revenue from the country increased 56% YOY. China’s revenue was up 47% YOY during the quarter, the airline said. <br/>
The German pilot who deliberately flew his airliner into a mountainside last year had struggled with learning to fly and had failed a key test of his skills during training in the US, according to FBI interviews with his flight instructors. Andreas Lubitz was promoted anyway. But his training difficulties were one more "red flag" that should have caused Lufthansa and the airline's Arizona flight school to take a closer look and discover his history of depression, asserted attorneys representing families of crash victims. One instructor described Lubitz as "not an ace pilot," and said he failed one flight test because of a "situational awareness issue." Another instructor told the FBI that Lubitz lacked "procedural knowledge" and had trouble with splitting his attention between instruments inside the plane and watching what was happening outside. <br/>
A recent pitch by Boeing Commercial Airplanes boss Ray Conner to Pakistan, offering to swap an order for 5 777 jets into a Dreamliner purchase instead, could benefit both the airline and help the jet maker avoid an embarrassing production cut, an aerospace analyst suggests. Conner told the Pakistan prime minister that switching to Dreamliners would make Pakistanis proud to fly Pakistan International Airways again, but also would restore profitability to the money-losing airline by reducing fuel and maintenance costs on the jets. This would help PIA prepare for privatisation, Conner added. One analyst suggested Boeing had more than PIA's best interests at heart when it proposed the order swap. "To me, the letter is a sign that Boeing is trying to fill delivery slots," he said. <br/>