EasyJet has begun moves to suspend the voting rights of some non-EU shareholders to comply with post-Brexit airline ownership rules, the UK airline said on Monday. EU rules state that EU airlines must be owned and controlled by EU nationals or else lose their licences. EasyJet has held an Austrian operating licence since 2017 to retain its EU flying rights despite Britain leaving the EU. But the airline is currently 52.65% owned by non-EU shareholders, meaning it must make changes to meet EU rules following the end of the Brexit transition period on Dec. 31. By restricting voting rights, easyJet and competitors such as British Airways owner IAG, Wizz Air and Ryanair all hope to overcome the Brexit ownership headache. However, concerns persist that the compliance efforts may be unsustainable or open to legal challenge by competitors. The post-Brexit aviation pact includes no flexibility on the treatment of UK shareholders but does acknowledge “potential benefits of the continued liberalisation of ownership and control”, with a pledge to review the rules over the next year.<br/>
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A decade after British Airways abandoned its link from Manchester to New York, its Irish sister airline is set to start flying the route – as well as services to Boston and Orlando. Aer Lingus (UK) Ltd, a newly created subsidiary, will operate the links using Airbus A330 and A321 aircraft based at Manchester airport. The New York and Orlando services will be in direct competition with Virgin Atlantic. All three destinations were previously served by Thomas Cook Airlines, which was based in Manchester but went bust in September 2019. Aer Lingus has asked the US DoT for authorisation “to promote, advertise, and sell those services to United Kingdom passengers as quickly as possible.” The carrier is hoping to start selling seats on Friday 8 January, with flights starting in May. It follows discussions with a number of UK airports, including Edinburgh, about a possible British base for the Irish carrier’s US services. Aer Lingus defines its strategy “to be the leading value carrier across the North Atlantic enabled by a profitable and sustainable short-haul network”.<br/>
Serbia’s government has reinforced its position in flag-carrier Air Serbia, as the air transport system of the former Yugoslavia continues to suffer with the collapse of Montenegro Airlines. Air Serbia emerged in 2013 as the former Jat Airways – a successor to Yugoslav operator JAT – underwent a revamp through investment from Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways. As a result Air Serbia operated as a joint venture with the Serbian government owning 51% of the airline and Etihad holding the balance. But the government has opted to recapitalise the airline, increasing its share to 82% and consequently reducing Etihad’s to 18%. Air Serbia says the investment is intended to “eliminate disturbances” resulting from the effects of the pandemic. Etihad had invested in the airline at a time when it was acquiring interests in several operators, although this strategy has proven controversial after the collapse of Air Berlin and Jet Airways, and the descent of Alitalia into another administrative process. Air Serbia chief Duncan Naysmith says the government’s intervention creates the “foundations” for “uninterrupted business” and a platform to continue measures to “rationalise” the airline’s operations.<br/>
Israeli carrier Israir’s sale trustee has received court approval for BGI Investments’ planned acquisition of the airline, following a drawn-out bidding contest. The Tel Aviv district court has granted approval after Israir bondholders backed the BGI bid and rejected those of two competing suitors. All three had been ordered, in a previous court ruling, to submit final offers for the airline after the sale process became contentious as a result of late bid submissions and repeated adjustments to previous offers. Nearly 76% of bondholders supported the BGI offer, states the court in its approval, while simultaneously rejecting – by 99.4% and 75.9% respectively – offers from Dor Alon Energy and YH Dimri. The court acknowledges the trustee’s satisfaction with the 162m-shekel ($50m) bid from BGI, and the potential for the deal’s value ultimately to exceed 200m shekels.<br/>
AirAsia X is seeking to nullify BOC Aviation’s efforts to enforce a UK court judgement in the High Court of Malaya in Malaysia, where the airline group is based. “As an update, the company wishes to announce that the company had on 14 December 2020, filed and served on the solicitors of [BOC Aviation] an application to set aside the summary judgement as judgment of the High Court of Malaya (‘Application to Set Aside’) and the matter is fixed for further case management on 8 February 2021,” AirAsia X said in a 31 December Bursa Malaysia disclosure. This pertains to summary judgement that the High Court of Justice in the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales granted to BOC Aviation against AirAsia X and AAX Leasing Two, dated 6 November, as AirAsia X detailed in a 20 November disclosure. AirAsia X was ordered to pay the lessor $23.4m in relation to aircraft leases, encompassing a $23m component that includes interest till 30 June, and about $401,000 in relation to interest between 1 July and 6 November. BOC Aviation later filed in the High Court of Malaya to register the foreign judgement on AirAsia X, dated 7 December, according to an 8 December filing by AirAsia X.<br/>