Shares in FastJet soared after the company secured up to US$12m in emergency funding. The company warned earlier this week that it might go bust, but it announced Friday that it will raise $7m through a share sale, while Solenta Aviation, its biggest shareholder, will provide a further $3m. In addition Fastjet wants to raise up to $1.6m through an open offer. It came after the company revealed Wednesday it had just $3.3m in cash left. The funds will provide the group with “sufficient working capital for the remainder of 2018”, Fastjet said. Fastjet also revealed large annual losses and revenues down by more than a third from $68.5m to $46.2m. <br/>
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IAG is going head-to-head with Ryanair as it launches Level from Vienna next month. It marks further intensification of competition within Europe's aviation market, and will increase pressure on Ryanair to deliver returns for its shareholders from its investment in Lauda Motion. Until now, Level had focused on low-cost, long-haul services from Barcelona and Paris to destinations in North and South America, and the Caribbean Earlier this year, Ryanair acquired an initial 24.9% stake in Lauda Motion, and is waiting for EU approval to increase it to 75%. It recently signed an option to buy all of Lauda Motion in 4 years' time. Ryanair has previously stated that it expects Lauda Motion to be profitable within three years and to eventually have a fleet of at least 30 aircraft. <br/>
Ryanair COO Peter Bellew has a stark warning for airlines that are dragging their feet on introducing better data-sharing technology that helps drive digital sales: get on board or watch the tech community "eat your lunch". The former Malaysia Airlines CE returned to his old employer Ryanair last year, during a period of stress for the carrier. Bellew said that even though IATA was pushing for adoption of API technology by up to 75% of airlines by 2020, many carriers around Europe were dragging their feet. The problem is...If we don't get our heads around it, everyone else - from Amazon and Facebook - to Apple, will eat our lunch." Bellew said that Ryanair - which said it wants to become "the Amazon of travel" - and IAG were both well ahead of their competitors when it came to the use of such technology. <br/>
South Korea’s transport ministry will wait on the outcome of a formal hearing before deciding whether to cancel Jin Air’s business licence, after a former board member was found to hold foreign citizenship. The issue stems from the appointment of Cho Hyun-min to the board of the airline between 2010 and 2016. The daughter of former Jin Air co-CE and Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-Ho was found to be a US citizen, and thus ineligible under Korean law to hold the board position. The hearing is expected to take 2 to 3 months, and will call on senior executives at the carrier to testify on the matter. A separate review into how the transport ministry allowed Cho Hyun-min to sit on the airline’s board will also be held. <br/>
Indonesia’s safety investigators are probing a pressurisation system problem on-board a Lion Air Boeing 737-900ER that resulted in the aircraft having to make a diversion during a routine domestic flight. The jet already had a record in its maintenance log book that the cabin rate of descend was difficult to control during a previous day flight. The issue was not resolved, but an engineer issued a deferred maintenance item that allowed the aircraft to depart with a single cabin pressure controller. Investigations are ongoing but the National Transportation Safety Committee has called on Lion Air to improve pilot training to ensure understanding of aircraft systems and to follow procedures accordingly. <br/>
Virgin Atlantic will no longer help the Home Office carry out involuntary deportations, the airline has said. It added that the decision was taken “in the best interests” of customers and staff, and deportations would not take place on any of its lines. The decision follows months of pressure on the govt over the Windrush scandal, which saw people who arrived in Britain legally decades ago threatened with deportation because they lacked proof of their status. Home secretary Sajid Javid, later promised to do the “right” thing with regards to the Windrush generation of Commonwealth citizens caught up in the govt’s so-called “hostile environment” immigration policy. Javid revealed last month that up to 63 people from the Windrush group may have been wrongly deported. <br/>