Interview: Serhan Ulga, Pegasus CFO

Pegasus negotiating massive order to triple fleet size

Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines is negotiating with Boeing and Airbus over an order totalling more than 100 aircraft, CFO Serhan Ulga has revealed to Aviation Exchange. The airline, which currently has a fleet of 39 mostly Boeing aircraft, hopes to reach an agreement by the end of the year. It has not yet decided whether to select one manufacturer or place a split order for jets.

"We are in the negotiation process for a big order with both manufacturers," Ulga told this news service. "We are seriously considering the best alternative. We'll go with whatever is the best economic equity value for our entire order."

Interview: Aengus Kelly, AerCap CEO

AerCap ramps up share repurchasing as acquisitions take a backseat

Dutch lessor AerCap is actively buying stock under its USD 50m share repurchase programme, as newly appointed CEO Aengus Kelly tightens the company's funding structure amid uncertainty in the global economy. Having reduced the average age of its 335-aircraft fleet to 5.4 years, the lessor is tempering asset acquisitions in order to focus on shareholder returns, Kelly told Aviation Exchange.

Proceeds from the sale of aircraft teardown subsidiary AeroTurbine, bought by ILFC earlier this month for USD 228m, have yet to be earmarked for specific transactions, but the windfall could be used for further share repurchases. "We are not here for growth for growth's sake. We are here to increase shareholder value," the CEO said. "When we look at an asset acquisition opportunity it has to be a better deal than buying back our own shares."

Interview: Hussein Massoud, EgyptAir CEO

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EgyptAir is no longer in crisis mode. Having lost $140 million in the aftermath of Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow, the flag carrier is bouncing back with a two-phase summer programme which has restored capacity to above 2010 levels. Though its fortunes remain entwined with political events beyond his control, Hussein Massoud, chief executive of EgyptAir Holding Company, is tentatively steering the airline back onto the path of expansion.

“Immediately after the revolution we had a very hard time during February and March,” Massoud tells The Gulf. “There was no previous planning [for civil unrest], and you had a situation where, in just one day in February, we also had to fly home 9,000 Egyptians from Libya.”

The uncertainty that engulfed North Africa led to an immediate drying up of passenger demand. Footfall in Egypt’s airports fell by two thirds as tourists, business people and the country’s diaspora postponed their travel plans, opting to wait until the political situation became clearer. EgyptAir’s revenues plummeted by 80 per cent, and Massoud took the exceptional step of grounding one third of his fleet...