unaligned

Saudi Arabia's new budget carrier Flyadeal said on Thursday it will start flying next month, as the kingdom seeks to expand air services to boost tourism in a radical overhaul of its oil-dependent economy. Flyadeal, a subsidiary of the state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines corporation, will operate a fleet of eight Airbus A320ceo aircraft and initially fly domestic routes before expanding in the Middle East. "The launch is essential to contributing to the continued growth in air travel in Saudi Arabia and beyond," said Flyadeal chairman Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser after taking delivery of the first aircraft in the German city of Hamburg. "Saudi Arabia has launched its Vision 2030; a strategic platform for the future development of the Kingdom where transportation and tourism are key pillars," he said. The airline said it will commence operations on the Saudi National Day on Sep 23, with the entire fleet expected to be delivered by mid-2018. Saudi Arabia's ambitious "Vision 2030" plan, unveiled last year, aims to broaden its investment base and diversify the once oil-dependent economy following a sharp fall in crude prices.<br/>

Questions about the ownership and corporate structure of the HNA Group, one of China’s biggest companies, are mounting, prompting scrutiny by regulators in the US and Europe and leading at least one Wall Street bank to step away from it. The mystery surrounding HNA is illustrated by its relationship with a New York-based company, the Pacific American Corporation. HNA has previously said that PAC, as it is known, is an independent company that buys engines, spare parts and other airline equipment for HNA’s subsidiary, Hainan Airlines. HNA has said that it has no ownership stake in PAC. Previously unreported corporate documents reviewed by The New York Times show a closer relationship. PAC is run by the son and younger brother of HNA’s co-founder and co-chairman Chen Feng, and was once controlled by HNA. The younger brother of HNA’s co-chairman was also instrumental in helping create the initial ownership structure of HNA Group, these records show, through the use of entities set up outside China, in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands. These offshore companies effectively obscured the control wielded by top executives and their relatives. The lack of such disclosures in HNA’s regulatory filings may have violated China’s securities laws on “connected” transactions, two experts in Chinese law say. The omissions are likely to raise more questions about who ultimately controls HNA.<br/>

Ryanair has cut ticket prices for its flights to Spain to avoid any impact on demand from last week's attacks in Catalonia, CE Michael O'Leary said Thursday. He said the airline, the largest carrier to Spain in terms of passengers, had "generally" not seen any impact on bookings to the country since Islamist militants killed 15 people last week in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. But Ryanair has reduced air fares to Spain by up to 7%, in a similar precautionary step to the one it took after attacks in London, Paris and Brussels, O'Leary said. "We lowered the fares to keep people moving," he told a news conference marking the opening of a new technical centre in Spain, which will create 250 jobs. Spain's Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Thursday he did not expect the attacks to have any significant short-term impact on tourism, which accounts for about 11% of Spain's economy. O'Leary said Ryanair continued to be confident of growing in Spain despite heavy competition in some regions.<br/>

Oman’s national carrier Oman Air and Bahrain-based Gulf Air will codeshare between their respective hubs at Muscat and Muharraq. Passengers will be able to choose from a combined daily frequency of six flights between the two airports. Describing Gulf Air as “a strategic and important partner,” Oman Air’s deputy CEO and CCO Abdulrahman Al Busaidy noted that travelers on the route would soon be able to fly through the new Muscat International Airport, which will provide enhanced facilities compared to the current terminal. “This codeshare reflects Gulf Air’s consistent drive to offer our customers attractive options to fly to popular travel destinations,” Gulf Air CCO Ahmed Janahi said. “With this agreement we are not only increasing our flight frequencies to and from Muscat, but also giving Muscat-based passengers an expanded range of connections with Gulf Air via Bahrain International Airport to various destinations across our network.”<br/>

AirAsia X, Malaysia's long-haul budget airline, posted a seventh straight quarterly profit which surged largely due to foreign exchange gains and deferred taxes. The carrier reported a net profit of 47.4m ringgit (US$11.1m) for Q2 ended June, versus 1m ringgit a year ago. Revenue rose 17% to a record 1.04b ringgit, from 883.2m ringgit a year ago. For the full year earnings were estimated by seven analysts polled by Reuters to be around 193m ringgit. The quarterly performance was helped by aircraft leasing income growing 15% over the period to 123m ringgit, mainly due to the depreciation of the ringgit, while ancillary revenue grew 41% from a year ago to 193.5m ringgit. Operating performance in Q2 trended slightly above expectations despite the period historically being a lean travelling season. Passenger load factor improved 5 percentage points to 80%, in line with the 26% year-on-year growth in ASK to 8,449m. Total passengers carried in the quarter rose 34% to 1.39m.<br/>

Azerbaijan Airlines has taken delivery of an Embraer E190 from regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for its new LCC subsidiary Buta Airways, which will launch Sept. 1. The aircraft will be operated by the new brand of Azerbaijan Airlines—Buta Airways. NAC said Buta Airways is the first LCC in Azerbaijan, a subdivision of the CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines. The airline is based in Baku, at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport. AZAL’s board established Buta Airways as a 100% subsidiary in December 2016. All-Embraer operator Buta Airways will have its own fleet, livery and staff. Initial flights will be to Antalya, Kazan, Kiev Zhuliany, Mineralnye Vody, Moscow Vnukovo, Tbilisi and Tehran. Starting from the winter season, Buta Airways will add flights from Baku to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport and St. Petersburg, as well as from Ganja to Moscow Vnukovo. <br/>

Pilots at UK leisure carrier Thomas Cook Airlines are to strike for 12 hours on Sept. 8 over a pay dispute. The airline said it expects to operate all services as normal. The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) authorized the strike following a ballot in which 91% of pilots voted to take action; turnout was 88%. BALPA said the decision to take strike action—which will last from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. BST—followed nearly eight months of negotiations over a pay raise that had been due in April. It said the airline had offered a 1.5% raise, while it had asked for a pay increase that at least matched UK inflation—currently around 2.5%—plus an amount to catch up with comparable airlines and ancillary benefits. Two days of talks have taken place at the UK industrial arbitration service ACAS, without progress.<br/>