WestJet is to be acquired by Toronto-based private equity firm Onex for around C$5b (US$3.7b), including debt. The airline says it will be a privately-held company after the deal closes, and continue to be based in Calgary. Onex and its affiliated funds will acquire all of WestJet's outstanding shares for $31 per share, a 67% premium over the 10 May closing price of $18.52 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The proposed price is a 63% premium to the airline's 20-day volume-weighted average trading price. Subject to approvals from shareholders and Canadian regulators, the deal will close in "the latter part of 2019 or early 2020", the carrier expects. Onex approached the carrier in March 2019, prompting the formation of a special committee of independent directors to advise the airline's board on the proposed purchase. <br/>
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Southwest Airlines has started a new route in the Hawaiian islands with plans to add more service between islands. The airline began service Sunday between Honolulu on Oahu and Kona on Hawaii Island. Southwest plans to begin 4-times daily service to Hilo on the eastern side of the Big Island in late 2019 or early 2020, officials said. Southwest entered the Hawaii market in March when it initiated service between Honolulu and Oakland, Calif. With the addition of Kona, Southwest has 16 Hawaii interisland flights, or 1,800 daily interisland air seats. The Hilo service would add 1,400 more seats each day to the interisland market, where Southwest flies 175-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The carrier has added 2,100 daily seats through the 12 daily trans-Pacific flights that it offers to and from Hawaii, officials said. <br/>
Emirates Airline has said it sees potential for growth in Africa, with plans to increase its frequencies to some destinations there including Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, Egypt, and South Africa. Orhan Abbas, senior VP of commercial operations in Africa for Emirates, said Africa has been one of the strong performing markets for the carrier over the past 2 years, even amid challenges there. In the year ending March 31, 2019, Emirates saw a 9% rise year-on-year in revenues from its operations to and from Africa, with the region registering the strongest growth compared to other markets. “The potential going forward in Africa looks very good. I see it as an untouched market until today, in terms of its aviation sector, trade, tourism — there’s a lot to discover in Africa,” he said. <br/>
The parent company of Thai AirAsia, Asia Aviation, saw Q1 operating profit fall 46% to THB1.1b (US$34.7m). Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was flat at THB11.6b, but expenses rose 10% to THB10.5b. Net profit fell 50% to THB497m. The company says that fuel costs rose during the quarter, as did airport and MRO costs. Despite this, the carrier’s CASK was flat compared with a year ago at THB1.53 due to a 10% increase in ASKs and a longer average stage length. RPKs grew 9%, while load factor was flat at 91%. The carrier’s average fare for Q1 was THB1554, down 7%. In its outlook, the carrier notes that international trade frictions could hurt the global economy and affect exchange rates. However, it adds that Thailand’s tourism industry will remain strong in 2019. <br/>
South African regional airline CemAir is hoping to resume operations after an appeal committee overturned the South African CAA’s (SACAA) decision to ground the airline twice in 2 months. The SACAA suspended CemAir’s Part 121 and 135 air operator’s certificates in Dec 2018 and recommended revoking them completely over what it described as Level One infractions that posed a serious safety risk to the public. CemAir strongly rejected the accusations and won a high-court appeal to get the suspension lifted. However, in Jan 2019, the SACAA grounded CemAir for a second time, claiming the airline had failed to prove the airworthiness of its fleet. Following a 5-day hearing, a Civil Aviation Appeal Committee overturned both groundings April 29, describing them as “irrational, arbitrary, unreasonable and procedurally unfair.” <br/>