A Kenyan parliamentary committee on Tuesday recommended nationalising Kenya Airways as part of an effort to turn around the loss-making airline. The transport, public works and housing committee also proposed setting up of an aviation holding company with four subsidiaries, one of which would run Kenya Airways, which is 48.9% owned by the state and 7.8% by Air France-KLM. Under the proposals, which still need to be debated and voted on by parliament, another arm of the holding company would operate Nairobi’s main international airport. The cabinet backed a plan last year to hand over management of Nairobi’s profitable Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Kenya Airways to boost the airline’s balance sheet and help it buy new planes. The plan was later shelved. “The committee recommends ... that Kenya Airways be nationalised,” the committee’s report said, adding the proposals were based on the airline’s “current financial status”. Kenya Airways, which restructured $2b of debt last year, wants to expand its business to boost earnings from catering, fuel distribution, cargo and maintenance. It is planning to open up new routes in a bid to become profitable.<br/>
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Vietnam Airlines has submitted proposals for a 100-aircraft purchase to the government for approval, CEO Duong Tri Thanh said. The Asian carrier has been examining proposals for the Airbus SE A320 and Boeing’s 737 Max to meet the narrow-body requirement of 50 firm orders and 50 options, but hasn’t yet decided between the two, he said Tuesday at the Paris Air Show. Matters have been complicated by the grounding of the Max after two fatal crashes, he said. Vietnam Air needs the aircraft for delivery from 2021 through 2025, though it might have to lease some aircraft initially because of a lack of available production slots amid record industry order backlogs, Thanh said. The carrier also needs regional jets to replace its ATR turboprops, and is considering the Bombardier CRJ -- a program that may be sold to Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- and the Embraer ERJ series, the CEO said. Again, it could lease planes initially before buying about 10.<br/>
Korean Air Lines agreed to buy 20 widebody Boeing 787 aircraft and lease 10 more as the US planemaker got off the mark at the Paris Air Show after rival Airbus clinched a series of sales. The Seoul-based airline will buy 10 new 787-10s and 10 additional 787-9 airplanes valued at $6.3b at current list prices, the carrier said Tuesday. That will quadruple the long-haul fleet of Korea’s flagship airline, which is expanding its fleet and replacing aging jets following a transpacific joint venture with Delta. The Korean deal is a welcome boost to Boeing, which is battling to restore its reputation after two fatal crashes of its 737 Max planes in Indonesia and Ethiopia over a five-month period. Airbus secured $13b in new jet orders on the first day of the Paris industry event Monday, compared with zero for its Seattle-based competitor, including deals with Air Lease Corp. and Virgin Atlantic Airways. <br/>