Tag: indigo (Page 2 of 2)

India’s Debt-laden Jet Airways’ Rocky Ride

January 11, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Jet Airways Ltd, India’s biggest full-service carrier, has been under dark clouds for the most part of the past year, and several efforts are on to save the sinking airline.

While intense pricing competition, weak rupee and rising fuel costs have hurt Indian airlines like IndiGo owned by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd, Jet Airways is in a league of its own.

Saddled with a debt of about 80.52 billion rupees ($1.14 billion) as of Sept. 30, Jet is desperately searching for a deal that could help mitigate its severe liquidity crunch. The airline has a market capitalisation of 28.81 billion rupees as of Friday’s close.

Here’s how Jet has fared:

May 3 – Jet shares fall 12.3 percent after InterGlobe Aviation reported a slump in net profit for March-quarter a day earlier

May 23 – Jet posts first quarterly loss in at least 12 quarters, says it has a negative net worth that ‘may create uncertainties’

Aug 1 – Media report says Jet asked employees to take an up to 25 percent cut in salaries as a part of a cost cutting measure

Aug 3 – Jet denies report that it cannot fly beyond 60 days, and dismisses conjecture of stake sale

Aug 9 – Airline defers board meet for first-quarter results

Aug 11 – After State Bank of India chairman says Jet’s loan is on the bank’s watch list, Jet says it is regular in payment obligations to all banks

Aug 13 – Airline reaffirms that it is considering various options to meet its funding requirements

Aug 15 – Report says U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group LP is in talks to buy a stake in Jet’s frequent-flier loyalty programme JetPrivilege

Aug 20 – Sources tell Reuters that private equity firm TPG Capital is considering investing in Jet, but is not close to finalising a deal

Aug 27 – Jet posts loss for the June-quarter, says it will inject funds and cut costs by more than 20 billion rupees in two years

Sept 4 – Government plans relief package for airlines

Sept 6 – Jet says it paid salaries to 84 percent of its employees after reports emerge that pilots warned ‘non-cooperation’ over salary default

Sept 20 – Income Tax department conducts survey at Jet’s premises

• Over two dozen passengers on a Jet flight are treated for minor injuries after the plane loses cabin pressure

Oct 4 – Rating agency ICRA downgrades the company’s long term loans and NCDs, citing impact of steep increase in jet fuel prices, rupee depreciation, delay in implementation of liquidity initiatives

Oct 18 – Report says Indian conglomerate Tata Group is in talks to buy stake in Jet. Jet calls report “speculative”

Oct 30 – U.S.-based Delta Air Lines Inc expresses interest to buy Jet stake from promoter Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airways

Nov 5 – Report says Tata aims to buy the 51 percent stake in the airline owned by Naresh Goyal, and Etihad Airways’ 24 percent stake, and merge Jet with Vistara

Nov 12 – Jet posts third straight quarterly loss, chief executive officer Vinay Dube expresses confidence in overcoming current challenges

Nov 13 – Tata Sons begins due diligence to buy Jet, reports say

Jet executive says company is in talks with multiple parties for a stake sale in its loyalty program, and equity infusion in the airline

Nov 15 – Shares surge nearly 25 percent following reports that the debt-laden airline was nearing a rescue deal with Tata Sons; another report says the Indian government asked Tata to explore buying Jet

Nov 16 – Tata Sons says discussions on Jet is preliminary and no proposal has been made

Nov 20 – Tata Sons may go slow on Jet deal after some directors from Tata’s board expressed concerns, according to media reports

Nov 21 – The airline says news on Naresh Goyal, Etihad discussing merger of JetPrivilege with Jet Airways is speculative

Nov 22 – Independent director Ranjan Mathai resigns, citing rising pressure from other commitments

Nov 26 – Report says Naresh Goyal may hand over Jet Airways ops to Etihad Airways

Dec 3 – Jet says it will stop providing free meals to most domestic economy class passengers from January, in its latest move to cut costs and boost revenues

Dec 5 – Jet and Etihad Airways have been holding rescue talks with Jet’s bankers, sources tell Reuters

Dec 6 – Jet tells its pilot union it will clear all salary dues by April, and gives them schedule outlining when the payments will be made, source tells Reuters

Dec 7 – ICRA cuts Jet rating yet again, cites delays in implementation of the proposed liquidity initiatives by Jet’s management

Dec 14 – Goyal’s penchant for control has come up as a major obstacle as the airline tries to negotiate a rescue deal, several people who have worked closely with him or known him over the years tell Reuters

Jan 2 – The airline says it has delayed payment to a consortium of Indian banks, led by SBI; ICRA cuts rating again

Jan 10 – Jet proposes to creditors that it will catch up with debt payments in arrears by September and from April will meet debt payments as they come due, according to a document seen by Reuters

Jan 11 – Crisis talks between Jet and aircraft lessors have failed to ease a row over late payments, prompting some lessors to explore taking back aircraft, three people familiar with the matter tell Reuters. Etihad is not “in any position to sink new equity into Jet at this juncture,” says a person familiar with Etihad’s position.

($1 = 70.5090 rupees)

(Compiled by Arnab Paul and Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

Image from http://www.jetwairways.com

Iceland’s WOW Air To Reduce Fleet, Cut Jobs

December 13, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW air, which is in talks with U.S. private equity fund Indigo Partners about a potential investment, said on Thursday it would reduce its fleet to 11 aircraft from twenty and cut 111 jobs.

Indigo is managed by Bill Franke, the veteran U.S. low-cost airline investor, and has also made investments in U.S.-based Frontier Airlines, Mexico’s Volaris, Chilean carrier JetSmart and Hungary’s Wizz (WIZZ.L).

“After a challenging year, WOW air is now restructuring and simplifying its operations to return to its roots as a profitable ultra-low cost airline while discussions with Indigo Partners progress,” WOW Air said in a statement.

It said it was in negotiations with its lessors to return some of its aircraft including all Airbus A330s. Four Airbus A321s are being sold in a transaction that will improve its liquidity by more than $10 million, it said.

WOW Air will have around 1,000 employees after the job cuts, it said.

Indigo and WOW Air have not disclosed any details about their talks, but WOW Air has said that CEO and primary shareholder, Skuli Mogensen will remain a principal investor in WOW after the deal.

Icelandair (ICEAIR.IC) last month scrapped its plan to buy the privately-held airline.

(Reporting by Teis Jensen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Image from http://wowair.us

Icelandair Group’s Acquisition Of Wow Air Cancelled

November 30, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Icelandair has released the following statement regarding the mutual decision to cancel Icelandair’s takeover of Wow Air:

November 29, 2018 04:00 ET | Source: Icelandair Group hf.

The acquisition of Icelandair Group of Wow air, based on a purchase agreement signed on November 5th, has been cancelled. Both parties agree on this outcome.

Icelandair Group hf. issued a stock exchange release last Monday, November 26th, stating that the company estimated that it would be unlikely that all of the conditions in the share purchase agreement would be fulfilled by the shareholders’ meeting on November 30th. That situation remains unchanged.
Therefore, it is unlikely that the Board of Directors of Icelandair Group can recommend to the shareholders that they agree to the purchase agreement. Furthermore, the Board does not intend to submit to the shareholders’ meeting a proposal to postpone decision-making on the purchase agreement.

Due to this this situation, both parties agree to abandon the aforementioned purchase agreement.
Icelandair Group will hold its shareholders’ meeting on Friday, November 30, as previously announced. An authorisation proposal for the Board to increase the share capital of Icelandair Group is on the agenda of the shareholders’ meeting.

Bogi Nils Bogason, Interim President & CEO of Icelandair Group:
“The planned acquisition of Icelandair Group of Wow air will not go through. The Board of Directors and management of both companies have worked on this project in earnest. This conclusion is certainly disappointing. We want to thank WOW air‘s management for a good cooperation in the project during recent weeks . All our best wishes go out to the owners and staff of the Wow air. “

Skúli Mogensen, CEO and Founder of Wow air:
“It was clear at the outset that it was an ambitious task to complete all the conditions of the share purchase agreement in this short period. We thank the Icelandair Group’s management team for this challenging project, and also wish the management and staff of Icelandair Group all the best.”

Further information:
Bogi Nils Bogason, Interim President & CEO
bogi@icelandairgrop.is

Following the news of the cancelled deal, it has been reported that budget airline roup Indigo Partners has agreed to buy a stake in the struggling discount carrier.

Click the link below for the full Indigo Partners-Wow Air story!

Indigo Partners invests in Wow Air

IndiGo Airlines Considering Wide-Body Aircraft From Airbus, Boeing

October 15, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Indian airline IndiGo on Sunday said wide-bodied aircraft are an “aspiration” and talks with manufacturers are ongoing but there is no firm timeline amid difficult market conditions in the Indian market.

The budget airline, owned by InterGlobe Aviation <INGL.NS>, faces fierce competition in the very price sensitive Indian market where carriers are struggling to remain profitable despite filling 90 percent of their seats and rising demand.

IndiGo recently reported a steep fall in quarterly profit due to higher fuel prices and continued pressure on yields reflecting price competition.

“Wide-bodied aircraft are an aspiration, we have talked to manufacturers. We are looking at A330neo and Boeing 787,” Chief Commercial Officer Willy Boulter told Reuters in Abu Dhabi, declining to go into details.

IndiGo, India’s biggest low-cost carrier by market share, announced direct flights, starting Monday from two south Indian cities, Kochi and Kozhikode to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

In the Gulf, the airline has direct flights to Dubai and Sharjah in the UAE as well as to Doha and Muscat. Flights to Kuwait will be launched this week, to Saudi Arabia in November and Hong Kong in December, Boulter said.

In early 2019, IndiGo plans to start flights to London with an Airbus A321 aircraft stopping at a mid-point that is yet to be selected, he said. Other international destinations for launch include Kuala Lumpur and Phuket, Thailand, in November.

IndiGo is working closely with the Indian government to take advantage of opportunities under bilateral agreements where travel rights will become available for additional markets, he said, adding that IndiGo has applied for rights to Europe and Asia.

“We are confident of bilaterals being expanded further,” he said.

IndiGo has a fleet of 192 aircraft and more than 400 aircraft on order. The first batch of Airbus A321neo aircraft with 222 seats will be delivered next month, he said.

(Reporting By Stanley Carvalho)

Airbus looks to land IndiGo A330neo order

March 8, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, plans to order as many as 50 Airbus A330 wide-body jets as it seeks to expand beyond short-haul flights, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The carrier aims to take the upgraded A330neo version of the plane, according the people, who asked not to be named as the discussions aren’t public. The deal would be worth $13 billion at list prices for the smaller of two variants, though some of the aircraft are likely to options to be confirmed later.

Click the link below for the full story!

Airbus IndiGo A330neo order

Hong Kong Express expects six-month A320neo delivery delay

February 18, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd expects at least a six-month delay in deliveries of new Airbus SE (AIR.SE) A320neo jets due to issues with engines made by Pratt & Whitney, according to an internal memo issued by the airline.

The budget carrier has grounded one plane in Hong Kong until May due to a lack of spare engines after the jet made a mid-air turn-back due to engine issues last month, said a person with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly and so declined to be identified.

Another one of its five A320neos remains on the ground at the Airbus final assembly line site in Hamburg and has yet to be delivered to Hong Kong because one of its engines needs a fix, according to a memo to pilots seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The U.S. aviation regulator on Wednesday said the engines from Pratt & Whitney – a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) – posed a potential shutdown risk, in a formal warning that followed similar action by European regulators on Feb. 9.

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (INGL.NS), said on Feb. 10 it had grounded three jets due to issues with Pratt & Whitney engines.

Pratt & Whitney’s priority is to obtain replacement engines for all of the affected jets globally, said the Hong Kong Express memo, the contents of which were first reported by the South China Morning Post earlier on Thursday.

The memo said that could take months, while new A320neos on the production line could be delayed for “six months or more”.

Because replacement engines will need testing, Hong Kong Express is “seriously considering” not introducing any new A320neos into its fleet until next year at the earliest, the memo said.

Representatives of Hong Kong Express – part-owned by HNA Group Co Ltd – were not immediately available for comment. The South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong Express said the memo had been issued to provide relevant details about the fleet and operations to its cockpit crew.

Airbus on Thursday said it was assessing the impact the engine issue would have on 2018 deliveries.

Pratt & Whitney did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The engine maker on Monday said it would discuss the potential affect of the problem on 2018 engine production after regulators respond to its proposed fix. (Story by Jamie Freed)

Airbus Says One Third of A320NEO Jets Have Flaws

February 12, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Airbus said almost a third of its Pratt & Whitney-powered A320neo aircraft are affected by a new engine glitch that has forced the European planemaker to halt some deliveries of the popular narrowbody jet.