New Virgin Australia (VA) CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, said today the airline under new owners Bain Capital would be a "mid-market carrier” that appealed to customers offering a “great value airfare and better service". Read More » Today was Hrdlicka's first as VA CEO after being named as Paul Scurrah's successor in October. She takes the reins as VA exited voluntary administration. “We emerge today stronger, more competitive and ready to face the challenges ahead," Hrdlicka said in a statement. "We are more resilient than ever and have the backing of Bain Capital who is deeply invested in seeing us succeed over the long term."
Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said during an Aviation Week webinar today the airline group was aiming to reach 60% of its pre-COVID-19 domestic schedule by Christmas, notwithstanding the recent state border closures following a fresh outbreak of the virus in Adelaide earlier this week. "We have real optimism though when people can fly there is huge demand," Joyce said, and added the group had started nine domestic routes in the last eight weeks.
Joyce hopes to begin the evaluation process for replacement of the company’s 717s and 737-800s and also it’s Fokker 100s towards the end of calendar 2021, with any order to be placed in 2022. "I am hoping at some stage towards the end of 2021 we can at least start that process and when we are confident of where we stand with COVID place an order, which we have to do, for the replacement of those aircraft over a long period of time," Joyce said.
Cathay Pacific Group will eliminate seven routes from its network, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper reported yesterday, citing an internal staff memo. The airline group told the newspaper it was unlikely to return to Brussels, Dublin, London Gatwick, the Maldives, Newark, Seattle and Washington D.C in the near future.
Boeing said in its World Air Cargo Forecast (WACF) report, released overnight, some 2,430 freighters, 930 new freighters and 1,500 converted from passenger aircraft, would be needed to meet demand in the next two decades. The biennial WACF report forecast world air cargo traffic would grow at 4% a year for the next two decades "influenced by trade and growing express shipments to support expanding e-commerce operations".
AirAsia Group said yesterday it was reviewing its 49% investment in AirAsia India, citing the poor financial performance of the joint venture that is 51% held by Tata Sons. "Cost containment and reducing cash burns remain key priorities evident by the recent closure of AirAsia Japan and a review of our investment in AirAsia India," AirAsia Group said in a statement. It has implemented a detailed network and fleet optimisation strategy across the network that would put in place the foundations for a sustainable and viable future. "We continually review our network to ensure we fly the most popular and profitable routes. ASEAN is where our brand and foothold is strongest and that’s where our immediate focus will lie," it said.
The company said in a regulatory filing to the Bursa Malaysia yesterday AirAsia Japan, which shut down last month, had filed for bankruptcy "due to insolvency resulting from a demand slump in travel induced by lockdown restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic". AirAsia Group, which held 33% of AirAsia Japan, said its investment in the Japanese carrier had been fully written down.
Across the broader network, AirAsia Group president, Bo Lingam, said there were strong signs of recovery in the LCC group's key domestic markets with Thailand at close to 100% pre-COVID-19 capacity levels. "The general outlook is air travel will be bouncing back real soon. We expect to return to pre-pandemic levels on many routes across the group by mid-2021, if not earlier," Lingam said. “I am not alone in this prediction. It’s a common view shared by many industry colleagues that it won’t take very long before mass tourism returns to normal globally."
Nok Air has reported a net loss of 1.15 billion baht (US$38 million) for the three months to September 30, 2020, compared with a net loss of 1.09 billion baht 12 months ago. Revenue fell 47% to 1.46 billion baht, Nok Air said in a regulatory filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand this week. "Given the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 and other aforementioned factors, the company reported a decline in earnings and an increase in expenses owing to the new financial report standard and the liquidation of NokScoot," the company said.
Bangkok Air has reported a net loss of 1.6 billion baht (US$53 million) for the three months to this September 30, slumping into the red from a net profit of 58 million baht a year ago. Revenue declined by 86.5%, to 903 million baht, Bangkok Air said in a regulatory filing this week. Bangkok Airways president, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, said the result was "largely due to the pandemic which resulted in a shutdown policy by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) that restricted international travel".
