Firefly, which resumed operations to Singapore April 21 after services were suspended in December over a bilateral air disagreement, is struggling to fill seats. The airline which has moved from Changi to the new Seletar Airport now operates 6 flights a day between Subang (near Kuala Lumpur) and Singapore, filling up only about 40% of all its seats. Before the suspension, an average of 65-70% of seats were filled, said Firefly's CE Philip See. He said the airline is now focused on winning back customers lost during the suspension. Firefly is also working with Changi Airport Group, travel agents and other industry partners to raise awareness of the new Seletar Airport passenger terminal which opened in October. "Some still think it's an old military airport," See said. <br/>
unaligned
A South Korea-bound Hawaiian Airlines passenger faces a maximum 20-year prison term after a drunken disaster in the skies. Kyong Chol Kim pleaded guilty and told a federal judge that he doesn't remember being put into flex cuffs after lunging at a flight attendant. He was charged on Monday with interfering with flight attendants and flight crew members. He faces a maximum 20-year prison term at sentencing in July. Under the terms of his plea agreement, however, the govt will recommend he be released at his sentencing date. Kim has been in custody since late February. He's not getting off lightly by any stretch; Hawaiian Airlines says it cost US$172,000 to return the aircraft to Honolulu and then to resume the flight for the presumably vexed remaining passengers. Hawaiian and the court will reveal his fine at sentencing. <br/>
Thomas Cook said Thursday it received a bid for its northern European business from the private equity firm Triton Partners. The company confirmed that Triton had put forward a “highly preliminary and unsolicited indicative offer” for the Thomas Cook airline and tour operator business in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, which accounts for about 17% of the company’s revenues. The bid comes after a week in which Thomas Cook’s share price fell nearly 40% after it revealed a record GBP1.5b loss for the first half of the year and had its equity valued at zero by analysts from the investment bank Citi. Thomas Cook said it was looking at the offer from Triton alongside the sale of its profitable airline, which it announced in February as part of a company-wide restructuring process. <br/>
Volotea said it achieved a record operating profit in 2018 as it continues to expand in its niche sector. Volotea connects second- and third-tier European cities, cutting out major hubs and specialising in routes that are generally too thin to attract the major LCCs. The company said revenues rose 29% to E396.1m (US$441.6m) over 2017’s figure of E307.5m. Ticket revenues were up 28% at E258.4m and ancillary revenue up 31% at E137.7m. Operating profit (EBIT) was up 63% at E13.6m, compared to E8.3m in 2017. A company spokesman said that, as a privately owned company, Volotea was not obliged to provide a net profit figure, although records show that in 2017 a net figure of E11.2m was posted. The spokesman added the airline had produced a positive net profit figure since 2015. <br/>