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MARCH 2013 PAge 26
THE FLYING COLUMN
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare
TURKISH Airlines have started operations to Yaounde and Douala in Cameroon adding a 96th country to its network and bring the number of cities served to 216. Turkish Airlines now flies to 33 destinations in Africa alone. Turkish added a sixth destination in Iran, Kermanshah. AER ARANN is to discontinue its Southend crew base and operate the first flight on the Dublin-Southend route out of Dublin instead of Southend. NEW ERA, the agency advising the
Government on the sale of various assets, has tendered for an adviser in relation to the State’s 25pc shareholding in Aer Lingus.
FLYBE recommenced Birmingham to Waterford two weeks earlier than initially planned. Flights started on Friday 22 February, operated on Sunday 24 February then operate on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday until Monday 11 March when it reverts to four weekly Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun until 26 October. SOUTHWEST Airlines is to charge
new travel fees next year in a plan to increase revenue by USD$1.1 bn. It will raise fees on third bags and overweight baggage, increase fees for flights on AirTran, the carrier it bought last year, and roll out new fees tied to the sale of open and premium boarding positions at airport gates. The company is going to implement a no-show fee for restricted tickets that are not cancelled by passengers prior to departure.
FINNAIR has announced plans to start
flying to Xi´an in summer 2013 with three frequencies per week with A330-300, operating June 14 to Oct 26. This will be first direct connection between Xi´an and Europe.
AIRBUS say production rates for the A320, A330 and A380 will remain the same this year, A320 production rate will stay at 42.
EMIRATES has ensured a daily service between Dublin and Adelaide thanks to an extra three flights a week Abu Dhabi-Adelaide. SAS has re-registered all its A330 fleet in
Norway.
UNITED has confirmed a third daily
service from London Heathrow to Houston from March 31.
WARSAW Modlin runway opening date has been moved back to Apr 30. JETBLUE Airways has introduced mo-
bile boarding passes with a refreshed app.
AIR ASIA X has launched child free
zones.
ASIANA Airlines stewardesses have won their battle against a ban on trousers.
AIR EUROPA has a new route from Gatwick to Montevideo, via Madrid from June. LOT has applied for PLN400m (US$127m) as a first tranche of state aid.
ETIHAD has increased flights to Lahore from 7 to 11 a week.
A new airline Flybe Ireland is central to the Ryanair takeover plans for Aer Lingus
Endgame begins
Ryanair’s court appeal was always going to decide
S
ix months after they launched their third takeover bid for Aer Lingus, the real action is about to begin for Ryanair. Ryanair announced the appeal in advance of the EU decision on March 6th, after a briefing in Brussels. “It appears clear from this morning’s meeting, that no matter what remedies Ryanair offered, we were not going to get a fair hearing and were going to be prohibited regardless of competition rules.” “Given Ryanair’s remedies package addresses every issue raised in the
EU’s Statement of Objections, any decision to prohibit would be manifestly unfair and in contravention of EU competition rules.” “Ryanair has no alternative but to appeal any prohibition decision and we expect to get a fair hearing at the European Courts, as we haven’t received one from Commissioner Almunia and his case team.” “This decision is clearly a political one to meet the narrow, vested interests of the Irish Government and is not based on competition law.” The statement gave an indication of
the thinking behind the Ryanair package of remedies, which included a three-year commitment to a new airline, Flybe Ireland. It cited the fact that the EU Commission recently approved IAG’s acquisition of BMI at London-Heathrow on the basis of three year commitments. The decision to divest the Gatwick rather than the Heathrow routes caught people unawares. Even after it had been announced the Chambers of Commerce protest against the takeover pointed out Heathrow was important for connectivity to Ireland.
JIM FRENCH STRAINS TO MAKE FLYBE IRELAND FLY
F
lybe Ireland will offer increased frequencies on a number of routes to establish itself as a viable alternative to Ryanair. As revealed in last month’s Travel Extra, a routes and cash transfer to Flybe is at the heart of Ryanair’s takeover bid for Aer Lingus. The new airline would be guaranteed a €20m profit in the first year and use the Aer Lingus brand for three years. Flybe CEO Jim French says Flybe will service the
43 handover routes with a mix of smaller capacity jet aircraft it has on order with Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, and the existing Airbus aircraft currently used by Aer Lingus. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has offered lossmaking Flybe €100m in cash, as well as €50m from forward ticket sales. In a round of interview with Irish media, Flybe CEO Jim French stressed his airline recognised trade unions and that a substantial percentage of its em-
ployees had been with the airline for a decade or more. Its pension scheme is in surplus, so staff at Aer Lingus had nothing to fear from Flybe. He said Flybe’s average fare is €80 and €95 when ancillary fees are included and that Flybe’s costs were lower than Aer Lingus although higher than Jim French Ryanair. within the network for the Flybe will be allowed to first three years..” terminate between 5-10 per Flybe Ireland would cent of routes a year with- have its own distinct manout penalty, but it will have agement team. to retain the same capacity