Tag: sale (Page 7 of 7)

Norwegian Air to Lease Planes, Turn Profitable in 2019

March 25, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air will lease planes and postpone the sale of older models in its fleet following the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the airline said on Monday.

The budget carrier will also use some of its bigger Boeing 787 Dreamliners to offset the effects of the grounding of its 18 MAX jets – about 11 percent of its fleet.

The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide this month following a deadly crash in Ethiopia.

“In addition to continuing combining flights and reallocating aircraft, the company has decided to delay potential sales of six Boeing 737-800 aircraft and use available 787 Dreamliner capacity on high-volume routes, which will add flexibility,” Norwegian said in a statement.

“The company is further preparing to wetlease aircraft to fill the remaining capacity gap,” it added, referring to the industry practice of renting fully-staffed aircraft for a period of time.

Norwegian said earlier this month it would seek compensation from Boeing for costs resulting from the grounding of the global MAX fleet.

“The company has a good dialogue with Boeing and is confident of reaching a constructive agreement,” Norwegian said, without elaborating.

Norwegian Air CEO repeats plan to turn profitable in 2019

Norwegian Air aims to turn profitable this year, its chief executive said on Monday, reiterating plans to turn around the situation at the loss-making budget airline.

“We aim to become profitable in 2019,” Bjoern Kjos told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. “We’re managing well as an independent company.”

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik)

Jet Airways Planes To Be Redeployed If Restructuring Fails

March 8, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

* FLY Leasing has grounded 3 Boeing 737s

* Jet Airways says 28 planes grounded for non-payment of dues

* Lenders, Etihad yet to approve restructure (Adds graphic)

SINGAPORE, March 8 (Reuters) – FLY Leasing Ltd has grounded three planes on lease to India’s Jet Airways Ltd and will take them back and redeploy them elsewhere if the airline cannot gain approvals for a restructuring plan this month, the lessor’s CEO said.

Jet Airways on Thursday said another three aircraft had been grounded due to its failure to make payments, taking the total number to 28, but it has not specified the lessors involved.

The grounding of nearly one-quarter of the airline’s fleet has led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and complaints from customers on social media.

Several major global aircraft leasing companies, including AerCap Holdings NV and BOC Aviation have exposure to the financially troubled airline, which has defaulted on loans and has not paid pilots, leasing firms and suppliers for months.

“We have grounded our aircraft, we have control over our aircraft, but we have not terminated the leases and we are waiting for the airline to approve all its restructuring with the State Bank of India,” FLY Leasing CEO Colm Barrington told analysts on a results call on Thursday.

“If that goes through at the end of the month, obviously, we will stay with Jet. If they can’t get that done, then we’ll take our aircraft back and redeploy.”

The airline had three relatively young Boeing Co 737-800s on lease to Jet Airways, which accounted for around 3 percent of FLY Leasing’s revenue, he said.

Jet Airways has outlined a draft to sell a majority stake to a consortium led by the State Bank of India at 1 rupee, under regulations that permit banks to convert debt to equity in a defaulting firm.

The stake sale will be followed by an equity raising, debt restructuring and the sale and leaseback of jets to help plug a $1.2 billion funding gap, but the plan needs approvals from several stakeholders, including major shareholder Etihad Airways.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Singapore; Additional reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Aegean Airlines Sets 7-Year Bond Issue for Fleet Renewal

March 4, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

* Aegean aims to raise up to 200 mln eur from sale

* Bond issue set for March 5-7

* Up to 147 mln euro to fund down payments for new planes

ATHENS, March 4 (Reuters) – Greece’s largest carrier Aegean Airlines will proceed with a sale of bonds on March 5-7 to raise up to 200 million euros ($226.86 million) for down payments on new Airbus aircraft and the construction of a new pilot training centre.

According to the public offering prospectus, about 30 percent of the issue will be allocated to retail investors, while 70 percent will go to “qualified investors”.

The seven-year bonds, each with a nominal value of 1,000 euros, will pay a semi-annual coupon. In Greece interest payments are taxed at 15 percent. Trading of the bonds on the Athens stock exchange will start on March 13.

Pricing will be determined via book building.

Aegean, a member of the Star Alliance airline group, will use 75 percent of the proceeds to partly finance down payments on new aircraft based on a deal with Airbus to renew its fleet of single-aisle planes and add capacity for future expansion.

Aegean picked Airbus in March last year for an order of up to 42 aircraft worth $5 billion in one of the biggest investments by a private Greek company since the country’s debt crisis erupted in 2010.

The down payments are due from the first quarter through to the last quarter of 2023 for new generation A320neo and A321 Airbus jets.

Deliveries of the new planes are expected to start in the first half of 2020 and conclude by the end of 2024.

Aegean has picked U.S. engine maker Pratt & Whitney to power the new A320neo aircraft and provide engine maintenance.

The carrier plans to use 14 percent of the proceeds or up to 27.5 million euros to build a new 12,000 square metre training centre with flight simulators for its flight crews at the Athens International Airport (AIA).

About 11 percent of the proceeds or up to 21.6 million will be used as working capital.

Piraeus Bank and Eurobank are the joint coordinators and bookrunners with Alpha Bank and Euroxx Securities the lead underwiters. Euroxx Securities was the issue adviser.

($1 = 0.8816 euros)

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Canada Bids for Mothballed German Prototype Drone

February 20, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German Defence Ministry is evaluating a bid from Canada to buy a high-altitude surveillance drone prototype that has been parked at a German air base for years after the cancellation of the Euro Hawk programme in 2013.

A formal bid for the prototype aircraft, which was demilitarised by the United States in 2017, was received from Canada, a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday without providing further details. The Canadian embassy in Berlin had no immediate comment.

NATO was also considering a bid for the drone, but had not yet submitted it, according to sources familiar with the process.

A sale of the drone would end an embarrassing chapter that raised concerns about the German military’s procurement process and triggered the transfer of former Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere to another cabinet post.

The German government told lawmakers last year that it had spent about 700 million euros ($793.5 million) on the Euro Hawk prototype built by U.S. arms maker Northrop Grumman and the ISIS surveillance system built by Airbus.

Berlin initiated plans in 2000 to buy five Euro Hawk drones based on Northrop’s Global Hawk unmanned system at a cost of about 1.2 billion euros but later cancelled the programme because of cost overruns and problems obtaining certification for use in civilian airspace in Germany.

It had only received the one prototype aircraft that is now being sold.

Berlin is now negotiating with Northrop to buy several MQ-4C Triton drones for delivery after 2025. Northrop last year said the process could take years to complete.

German opposition lawmaker Andrej Hunko, a member of the radical Left party, said the German government had declared the aircraft incapable of flight after the U.S. Air Force removed key systems.

“The airplane has salvage value at best,” he told Reuters.

“Any proceeds from the sale would be a drop in the bucket, compared with the huge amounts spent on the programme.”

For NATO, the drone could provide additional support to the fleet of five high-altitude unmanned Global Hawk planes it agreed to buy from Northrop in 2012 for $1.7 billion, along with transportable ground stations.

Industry officials said the Euro Hawk saga highlighted problems in German military procurement, noting that NATO’s sister aircraft regularly traverse German air space to conduct surveillance missions over the North Sea. They also have no blanket approval for use in German civilian airspace but use case-by-case permissions from air traffic authorities.

It was not immediately clear what steps would be needed to return the German Euro Hawk prototype to flight.

($1 = 0.8821 euros)

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by Riham Alkousaa and David Goodman, William Maclean)

Thomas Cook Enlists 3 Banks to Prepare Airline Sale

February 15, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Thomas Cook has enlisted Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to explore the possible sale of its airline business, a source familiar with the discussions said.

The holiday company this month said it was willing to sell its profitable airline business to fund its fightback from losses racked up in 2018.

Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment.

Thomas Cook’s airline, which fared much better last year than the tour operator business, consists of Germany’s Condor and British, Scandinavian and Spanish divisions.

A sale of the airline unit, in whole or in part, would enable the company to invest more in its own hotels, improve its digital sales offering and drive further cost savings.

One banker said the enterprise value of the airline would be around 500-600 million pounds, a little more than the current market value of the whole company.

He added that Lufthansa, Ryanair and easyJet were all vying for bits of the airline business, but that no one wanted the whole unit, and that Thomas Cook had an ageing fleet which would need a massive investment programme to replace it.

Ryanair’s marketing chief said on Thursday that the Irish airline was not interested in any large-scale acquisitions but could vie for airport slots should they become available.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Clara Denina in London and Arno Schuetze and Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt; Editing by David Goodman and Kirsten Donovan)

EasyJet Still Interested In Restructured Alitalia

October 31, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Oct 31 (Reuters) – Budget airline EasyJet said on Wednesday that it had submitted a revised expression of interest for a restructured Alitalia, in response to the new Italian government’s ongoing sales process.

EasyJet had said in September that it was still talking to the Italian government over Alitalia’s short-haul operations, adding that any deal needed to make commercial sense.

Alitalia, a symbol of Italy’s post-war economic boom but now struggling to compete against low-cost carriers and high speed trains, was put under special administration last year and has been looking for a buyer.

EasyJet said the content of the expression of interest was subject to confidentiality, but that the move was in line with its existing strategy for Italy.

Germany’s Lufthansa and Wizz Air had submitted expressions of interest this year for Alitalia or parts of its business, but the lengthy formation of a new anti-establishment government delayed the process.

Wizz Air did not immediately comment when asked if the company had also submitted a revised expression of interest. Lufthansa said on Tuesday that it had no interest in participating in a government-led restructuring of the Italian carrier.

Delta Air Lines declined to comment on Friday on reports that the second biggest U.S. carrier was interested in buying a stake in Alitalia.

The deadline to sell Alitalia was meant to be on Wednesday and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said last week that many private investors were interested in the airline.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Alistair Smout in London; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Jane Merriman)

Ryanair Launches Massive 24 Hour “Million-Air” Sale

October 22, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Ryanair, Europe’s No 1 airline, today (22 Oct) launched a massive one day “Million-Air” seat sale with over 1 million seats on sale for just £9.99 across its European network for travel from November to March, ensuring even more savings for its customers.

These incredible £9.99 fares are available for booking from now until midnight (24:00hrs) Tuesday (23 Oct) and can only be found on the Ryanair.com website.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“We’ve launched a ‘Million-Air’ seat sale with one million £9.99 seats across our entire European network for travel from November to March, ensuring Ryanair customers can holiday like millionaires, on the lowest fares.

This amazing offer will end at midnight (24:00hrs) on Tuesday (23 Oct), so customers should log on quickly and bag a bargain break.”

Book Here: www.ryanair.com/gb/en/plan-trip/explore/flight-deals-and-sales