Commercial Aviation News

A private consortium is seeking to raise a USD$2.1 billion syndicated loan to back the purchase of an 81 percent stake in US insurer AIG's aircraft leasing unit ILFC, banking sources said on Thursday. AIG said in December 2012 that it had reached an agreement to sell a stake of up to 90 percent of California-based ILFC to a consortium of investors, based mainly in China, for USD$4.7 billion.

The investor group - P3 Investments and Taiwan's Fubon Group - is now buying an 81 percent stake and AIG will hold the remaining 19 percent, the sources said. This proposal is still at a preliminary stage, but a draft term sheet for a USD$2.1 billion acquisition loan has already been sent to potential lenders, they added. ILFC's employees will receive up to eight percent of the equity interest after the acquisition, which will dilute the private consortium's stake to 74.5 percent and AIG's stake to 17.5 percent, the sources said. P3 Investments has been trying to raise acquisition loans in Asia for nearly a year.

P3 has revealed only background information about the identities of its partners, which it describes as limited partners from regional family offices from Hong Kong and leading financial institutions in Hong Kong, the sources said. Potential lenders are asking for more clarity on the consortium partners to provide funding for the acquisition. P3's partners include a Hong Kong-based asset management company led by Ng Wing-fai, two unnamed Hong Kong real estate companies and the chairman of a Hong Kong diversified conglomerate, the sources said. Ng Wing-fai, co-founder of the now defunct pan-Asia fund Primus Financial Holdings, was on the board of directors for Fubon Hong Kong from 2004 to 2006.

LARGER LOAN

The USD$2.1 billion loan is bigger than a USD$1.5 billion financing that banks were originally approached about in July. It is structured to repay in full at maturity instead of having amortising repayments through the life of the loan as originally proposed, the sources said. The deadline for banks to respond has been extended until the end of the year by co-ordinating lead banks Bank of Taiwan and Mega International Commercial Bank. The loan is being raised through a special purpose vehicle called Jumbo Acquisition. With around 1,000 owned and managed aircraft, ILFC operates with a global network of around 200 airlines in more than 80 countries, including major flag carriers, medium and small-sized airlines and cargo carriers.

(Reuters)

Due to severe weather forecast for Mon 28 Oct we will be operating a reduced flying schedule. Updates & flight info...

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/flightops/public/en_gb?p_faqid=4657&DM1_Mkt=Global&DM1_Channel=Social&DM1_Campaign=CMQ4OctWeatherWarning&DM1_Site=Twitter&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=CMQ4OctWeatherWarning&sf930655=1

JetBlue deal marks 10-thousandth Airbus A320 Family Order! 35 new aircraft plus 18 backlogged A320s upsized to A321s! A good BluesDay!

Emirates making lots of changes to their routes effective TODAY going forward.

http://airlineroute.net/2013/10/29/ek-s14update4/

Qatar Airways, the launch customer for the Airbus A350, expects the European plane maker to start delivering the aircraft by the second half of next year, the airline's chief executive said on Tuesday. The Gulf carrier has ordered 80 A350s. "We are confident that Airbus will deliver the A350 by the second half of 2014," Akbar al Baker said on the sidelines of an event to mark the airline joining the oneworld airline alliance. His comments were in line with Airbus's programme chief Didier Evrard, who had said earlier that the aim was to deliver the lightweight aircraft in the second half of 2014.

The A350, designed to compete with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and the larger Boeing 777, had its first flight in June. There are now two test aircraft flying and they notched up 75 flights and over 370 hours of flight tests. By the end of the year, Airbus aims to freeze the design of the largest member of the A350 family, the 350-seat A350-1000. The aircraft is due to enter service in mid-2017, some three years ahead of a larger revamped version of Boeing's 777.

From Boeing...

Ramping up in Renton! We’re increasing 737 production rate to 47 airplanes per month in 2017.

Tunisian carrier Syphax Airlines, a small success story in the midst of an unstable country

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2013/10/27/Tunisia-Syphax-Airlines-is-rare-Arab-Spring-success-story.aspx

Irish carrier Ryanair has revamed its profit forecast by reducing its full-year profit guidance to €510 million ($690 million) down from €570 million that the carrier predicted. This has been attributed to average fare falling by about 2-percent in the six months to 30 September. The fare drops were due to a number of factors, Easter, the summer heatwave in northern Europe, French ATC strikes in June, and general sterling weakness.

Copa Airlines is looking towards the Boeing 737 MAX as the next 'logical aircraft' for its fleet, says chief executive Pedro Heilbron.

The first-ever regularly scheduled passenger flight on Boeing's stretched 787 Dreamliner will fly from Auckland, New Zealand, to the city of Perth on Australia's West Coast in October 2014. Air New Zealand, the launch customer of the new 787-9 variant, made that announcement Thursday as it begins preparations to receive its first of 10 787-9s next year.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/11/07/first-route-set-for-boeings-new-stretch-dreamliner/3469843/

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways is in talks to buy jets from Airbus even as it puts finishing touches to a reported deal with rival Boeing, people familiar with the matter said. At least one of the deals could be announced at next week's Dubai Airshow, marking the first time the Abu Dhabi carrier has played a significant role at the showcase event hosted by its closest rival, Emirates, the people said. The number of orders being discussed and the value of the deal was not immediately clear.

Etihad's potential interest includes the Airbus A320neo, as well as a modified or expanded order for its long-haul A350 aircraft, one source said. Etihad and Airbus both declined to comment.

(Reuters)

Congrats to JetstarNews on their inaugural 787 revenue flight.

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jetstarairways/sets/72157637616551473/with/10830115864/

Ryanair to hire 300 as it opens nine Dublin routes

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/transport-and-tourism/ryanair-to-hire-300-as-it-opens-nine-dublin-routes-1.1594652

UK to fly first Thomas Cook aircraft in new livery

The first brand-new aircraft to sport Thomas Cook Group's redesigned livery will begin operating in the UK next month. The new Airbus A321-211 aircraft is in its final assembly stage in Germany and will begin flying in mid-December, complete with the company's new 'Sunny Heart' symbol. It will be the second of 23 new Airbus A321 aircraft to be delivered to the Thomas Cook Group Airlines by 2016, and the first to be delivered in the new livery.

Six aircraft will be deployed in the UK and will be in operation by the summer season of 2014. he aircraft will have capacity for 215 passengers. Thomas Cook Airlines UK chief executive Christoph Debus said: "This marks the beginning of an exciting phase for our UK airline as we look ahead to our first new aircraft this December. "It's very symbolic that we will see the first of our new Airbus A321 aircraft in the UK take on our new livery, an icon for the new Thomas Cook. "The aircraft is now in the final assembly stage and we plan to take delivery in early December - with the first commercial flights taking place before Christmas."

http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2008885

Singapore Airlines stops world's longest flight

http://news.yahoo.com/singapore-airlines-stops-worlds-longest-flight-121006835.html

Canadian carrier WestJet has gone all-out with this extravagant new custom livery on one of their Boeing 737-800s. Mickey Mouse time!

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/westjet-unveils-disney-themed-737-1.1570611

As WestJet pilots reject tentative agreement, discord may fuel union drive

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/11/29/westjet-airlines-pilots-reject-new-tentative-agreement/

Richard Branson on encourage competition

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/government-should-encourage-competition

Airbus and Boeing look set for a photo finish in their annual order race this year, but Airbus was well in front of its rival in the first 11 months as negotiators work out the small print of major deals clinched at the Dubai Airshow. Airbus increased the number of orders by more than 100 to 1,373, compared with 1,212 for Boeing, data by both companies showed on Thursday.

After cancellations, Airbus logged 1,314 net orders.

Boeing remained ahead on deliveries, which drive revenue and are the most widely used benchmark for ranking the top two jet makers. It delivered 580 planes compared with 562 from Airbus and looked on course to maintain the industry's number one spot for a second year when full 2013 data is released in January. Encouraged by a mixture of high oil prices and low interest rates, demand for civil airliners remains strong as US airlines replace old models, and carriers from the Gulf to Asia expand their fleets to divert traffic and serve new markets.

Boeing stacked up 259 orders and commitments for a revamped version of its 777 long-haul jet at last month's Dubai Airshow, but more than 200 of them have yet to be posted in its backlog of orders as firm contracts are drawn up. Airbus won an order for 50 A380 superjumbo aircraft from Dubai's Emirates, but this was also waiting to be finalised and has yet to appear in company data. The Emirates A380 deal marked a turnaround in orders for the world's largest airliner after a period of slow sales.

Two industry sources said there was speculation that only half the order for 50 aircraft would definitely be fulfilled and that the remaining 25 were subject to reconfirmation, but senior Emirates and Airbus officials strongly denied this. In its latest monthly order update, Airbus confirmed an order for 50 A350s from Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways. But it suffered a setback for its A330 freighter, whose backlog has been dwindling while cargo markets have been weak.

While celebrating orders for five A330 freighters from Qatar Airways and one from Etihad at last month's air show, Airbus also took a cancellation for eight of the same aircraft from OH-Avion resulting in a net drop in pending orders. The aircraft were originally ordered in 2007 by Avion Aircraft Trading, in part for Icelandair, in a deal that never materialised, and there were doubts whether the aircraft would be delivered, Aviation Week reported earlier this year. Freight markets have been in the doldrums throughout the global financial crisis, but the International Air Transport Association this week reported a 4 percent increase in cargo traffic in October, reflecting an improvement in economic confidence.

(Reuters)

American Airlines and US Airways merger finalised

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25307870