Former motor racing champion Niki Lauda has won the bidding for the Niki airline he founded, convincing the insolvent carrier’s administrators in marathon talks and undoing an agreed deal with British Airways owner IAG. The previously agreed sale of Niki to IAG fell through after two courts ruled the insolvency proceedings had to move to Austria from Germany. That cleared the way for other parties such as budget airline Ryanair (RYA.I) and Lauda to again bid for the carrier, which most recently was part of failed German airline Air Berlin. Niki’s creditors met on Monday to pick the best bid, and their meeting ran past midnight. “In the early hours of this morning Laudamotion GmbH emerged from a transparent bidding process as the best bidder,” Niki’s Austrian and German administrators, Ulla Reisch and Lucas Floether, said in a joint statement, referring to a company controlled by the three-times Formula One world champion. They did not disclose a purchase price and said they expected legal approval for the transaction to follow soon. “Of course, I am delighted,” said Lauda, who founded Niki in 2003 but sold his remaining stake to Air Berlin in 2011. “There’s no doubt that I have always put my heart and soul into Niki.” <br/>
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AirAsia plans to add around 30 jets to its airline affiliates across Asia this year due to strong demand growth across the region, CE Tony Fernandes said Tuesday. AirAsia, which flies close to 200 airplanes and is the largest operator of Airbus’s best-selling A320 jet, has airlines in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Japan and plans to grow in China and Vietnam. “We’ve been able to get the Philippines and Indonesia really rocking, turning them into little gems,” Fernandes said. “Demand is good, the ancillary model is doing well and our JV business using our data has started moving.” Fernandes said the board of AirAsia’s Indian arm, a joint venture with Tata Group, had approved plans to pursue an initial public offering and was appointing bankers for initial work. “India is going to be a real nice surprise for AirAsia,” he said. The Indian government this month said it would allow foreign investors to participate in a planned privatization process for rival state-owned carrier Air India, but Fernandes on Tuesday ruled out AirAsia’s involvement. “We know what we are good at - low cost,” he said. “Air India is a great airline, but it is really not our business model and not something that we would be involved in.” Fernandes said Tuesday the group will look at ordering more airplanes “eventually but not at present”. AirAsia also has no plans to bring forward deliveries despite strong demand, he said.<br/>
Shares in easyJet soared Tuesday after a quarterly revenue rise showed the British budget airline had benefited as rivals struggled, in the first trading update under new boss Johan Lundgren. The industry was reshaped last year after British holiday carrier Monarch collapsed, Germany’s Air Berlin and Italy’s Alitalia went into administration and Europe’s biggest budget airline Ryanair scrapped flights due to pilot rostering issues. That reduction in capacity has helped easyJet, supporting prices and load factors on its flights. It also swept up part of Air Berlin’s operations at Berlin Tegel airport. The first Tegel flight by easyJet was this month. “Clearly there’s been less competitive pressure on certain routes,” said CE Lundgren, who joined in December, citing Monarch, Ryanair, Air Berlin and Alitalia as factors. “We’re always seeing the impact of what’s happening in the competitive landscape, and it has been to our advantage this time,” he said. Shares in easyJet rose 6.3% after Q1 results, hitting a two-year high. The airline said total revenue increased 14.4% to 1.14b pounds in the quarter ending Dec. 31, helped by lower growth from rivals in its markets and positive foreign exchange effects. Lundgren said it was too early to comment on pricing for the summer, but analysts said the positive trading environment for easyJet was likely to continue.<br/>
The head of the aviation leasing arm of China Development Bank said Tuesday that HNA Group has solid airline operations and it would serve nobody’s interest to see the group collapse. “CDB has the highest exposure of anyone in this case, so we are involved in discussing with them,” CEO Peter Chang told the Airline Economics conference in Dublin. “I haven’t been called into the room yet since aviation is a smaller piece of it, but it is a very important piece. I anticipate that we will at some point. We would like to help. It doesn’t serve our purpose to see HNA collapse,” he said. Last week, China’s aviation-to-financial services conglomerate HNA Group acknowledged liquidity problems after a merger spree and a slowdown in Chinese growth. HNA’s airline operations are as good as any, Chang said. “On that basis I presume that from a risk point of view, that would be preserved by all parties involved, government or otherwise,” he also said. “We are watching and reading the paper like everyone else. We are trying to engage and getting ourselves ready. The sooner HNA leadership realise they have a real problem, the sooner we can get to start working on it,” added Chang.<br/>
Emirates has mandated eight banks including HSBC Holdings and Standard Charteredto manage a sale of Islamic bonds, according to two people with knowledge of the transaction. The Dubai government-owned carrier also picked Citigroup, BNP Paribas, Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC and Noor Bank PJSC, said the people. The issue is scheduled for the next few weeks and will aim to raise about $1b, they said. Emirates will join a list of regional issuers seeking funding from international bond markets before expected increases in US interest rates push up borrowing costs. Issuers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes the two biggest Arab economies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, raised a record $84.9b from bond sales last year as they sought to take advantage of low interest rates and sidestep tight liquidity in the local-loans market amid low oil prices. “Emirates always seeks diverse sources of funding, including bank finance, operating leases, Islamic financing, sukuk and bonds," Emirates said in an emailed response to questions. “We are continually engaged in discussions with various financial institutions. We will not offer comment unless a deal is formally announced as per financial market regulations.” <br/>
Virgin Australia and UK long-haul carrier Virgin Atlantic have gained permission to codeshare on the Australian carrier’s flights from Hong Kong and the US to Australia. Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) granted approval for the codesharing under terms of the relevant bilateral agreements. In each case, the IASC determined it is unlikely there will be any harm to competition, and the deal would add to the number of carriers serving these routes. Virgin Australia operates a daily flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong, and is seeking slots to add a Sydney-Hong Kong service. Virgin Atlantic serves Hong Kong from London Heathrow Airport. Highlighting the competition in the Hong Kong-Australia market, the IASC noted that Cathay Pacific Airways operates up to 72 weekly flights and Qantas up to 28 weekly flights. In the US market, Virgin Australia operates routes to Los Angeles from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Virgin Atlantic flies to Los Angeles from London Heathrow, in addition to other US markets. The IASC imposed a condition in each market that the two airlines must “take all reasonable steps to ensure that passengers are informed of the carrier that is actually operating the flight.”<br/>