Interview: Michael O'Leary, Ryanair CEO

O'Leary maps out growth plans

Ryanair's expanding fleet of Boeing 737-800s will mainly be put to work restoring capacity in European markets whose home carriers are faltering, chief executive Michael O'Leary tells Routes News, though he adds that talks are ongoing with several countries on the peripheries of the continent.

"The big growth for us in the next five years will be taking more of the traffic from airlines that will be imploding, like SAS, Iberia, Alitalia, and the central European airlines," O'Leary says. The low-cost carrier ordered 175 737-800s at the 2013 Paris Air Show, with 70 aircraft slated for expansion and 105 due to replace older units in the fleet.

Interview: Cathal O'Connell, BMI Regional CEO

Full article in JPG format: page 22/23, page 24 & page 26

When International Airlines Group (IAG) acquired rival British carrier BMI in 2012, CEO Willie Walsh was unequivocal that he had no interest in retaining its two loss-making subsidiaries. That meant the end of the road for bmibaby, the airline's troubled low-cost unit. But BMI Regional lived on after a £8 million buyout by Sector Aviation Holdings, an Aberdeen-based consortium funded by aviation entrepreneurs Stephen and Peter Bond.

Alongside chairman Ian Woodley and chief operating officer Graeme Ross – the founders of BMI Regional's precursor, Business Air – CEO Cathal O'Connell is leading the charge to re-define BMI Regional in the absence of its former Star Alliance partners. In doing so he is exploring new paradigms for Europe's beleaguered regional airlines, whose smaller fleets have been hardest hit by the rampant fuel price hikes of the past decade...

Interview: Farhad Parvaresh, Iran Air Chairman

Full article in PDF format: page 18-22 & cover

Although all flag carriers are to some extent entwined with the vagaries and fortunes of their home government, few will have their course through history as profoundly and irrevocably altered as Iran Air.

From its founding as Iranian Airways in 1946 up until its rapid expansion in the 1970s, the airline was considered an early success story for Gulf aviation. It became one of the first carriers to operate the Boeing 747SP – deploying it on daily nonstop flights from Tehran to New York – and had even placed an order for two supersonic Concordes.

But halfway through its history, the 1979 Islamic Revolution completely reconfigured Iran's standing on the international stage. Iran Air came to be seen as a dangerous wing of a hostile government by America, and its route network began contracting in tandem with its list of overseas partners...

Interview: Ahmed Alwani, Yemenia Chairman

Full article in PDF format

The final report into the June 2009 crash of Yemenia Flight 626 off the Comoros Islands surprised no-one when it was completed this summer. Chief investigator Bourhane Ahmed Bourhane said that "inappropriate action by the crew" during "an un-stabilised manoeuvre" resulted in the A310 stalling. Though pilot error was ultimately to blame, the report acknowledged that concurrent alarms within the cockpit had created a "stressful situation" for the crew of the night-time flight.

The joint probe by Comorian, Yemeni and French investigators – dozens of the 152 fatalities were French – brings to an end the darkest chapter in Yemenia's history, which stretches back more than six decades. However, it is unlikely to usher in any sweeping changes at the flag carrier...

South Africa's crash landing

Full article in JPG format: page 68/69 & page 70

Constant bickering between incumbent and future operators in South Africa underscores how its aviation sector – though by far the most developed on the continent – remains beset by problems. Ten of the 11 independent airlines created since market deregulation in 1991 have collapsed, most recently including 1time and Velvet Sky.

The tense atmosphere has begun spilling over into the country's courts. Private operator Comair is now challenging the 5 billion rand ($490 million) government guarantee afforded to flag carrier South African Airways (SAA). "We just have to wait for a court date," chief executive Erik Venter says when asked about his next move. He believes that state support enables SAA to under-cut fair market ticket prices, driving private carriers out of business...

Interview: Basma Majali, Royal Jordanian Airlines Acting VP Commercial

Full article in JPG format: page 20/21 & page 22

Few companies were worse affected by the Arab Spring that those in the region's tourism and travel sector. Although protests on the streets of Amman reached neither the scale nor the ferocity seen in neighbouring countries, Royal Jordanian Airlines plunged to a record annual loss of 57.9 million dinar ($82 million) in 2011. The alarming result prompted former chief executive Hussein Dabbas to call for downsizing and even a strategic merger.

The airline's subsequent move into the black in 2012 – albeit on a razor-thin margin of 0.14 per cent – raised expectations that it was emerging from the difficulties. But with civil war across the border in Syria now in its third year, the flag carrier is coming to terms with the uncomfortable reality that tourists could stay away for many years to come...

Iranian sanctions: Winging it

Full article on economist.com

Regular travellers to Iran would have had some doubts about a report last month on Press TV, a state-run English-language news channel, which claimed that direct flights to America were set to be launched. Press TV quoted another Iranian outlet as saying that Iran Air and Delta Air Lines would restore services between the two countries for the first time in three decades. But it was patently ridiculous. The American government has vigorously enforced sanctions against Iran Air since the mid-1990s, and it actively pursues any US-linked companies suspected of co-operating with the flag-carrier.

Quite why the Iranian government disseminated the report is unclear. Optimists might speculate that some officials in Tehran—perhaps buoyed by the election of Hasan Rohani, the relatively reformist new president—wanted to send a message of rapprochement to Washington. Cynics might point out that the report surfaced a week before the 25th anniversary of the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 by an American warship, with the loss of 290 civilian lives...

SkyTeam and the world of tomorrow

Full article on economist.com

Summer has not been kind to SkyTeam, one of the three big airline alliances, which has suffered two very public snubs by incumbent and prospective members. In late June Craig Kreeger, the CEO of Virgin Atlantic, said that his carrier's much-mooted membership of SkyTeam was unlikely to materialise any time soon. "For now, Virgin Atlantic remains very happy with the partners we have," he said, in reference to Virgin’s recent transatlantic tie-up with US-based Delta Air Lines. Less than a week later Reuters quoted a "source close to [Aeroflot's] board" as saying that the Russian carrier would leave SkyTeam if its management could do so without political interference...

Interview: Erik Venter, Comair CEO

Comair to switch 737 options to Max

Comair is likely to renegotiate at least some of its eight Boeing 737-800 options into Max commitments, says chief executive Erik Venter says, as the airline begins planning for its next tranche of deliveries.

The carrier - which operates the British Airways and Kulula brands in South Africa - has a fleet of nine -800s, 10 -400s and seven -300s.

Interview: Nico Bezuidenhout, South African Airways Acting CEO

Full article in PDF format

When Nico Bezuidenhout stepped down as interim CEO at South African Airways (SAA) on 1 June, he handed successor Monwabisi Kalawe the daunting task of executing a 20-year turnaround strategy at the troubled flag carrier. Martin Rivers investigates whether SAA is at long last embarking on the path to profitability.

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, SAA's shareholder, has voiced strong optimism that Kalawe will "hit the ground running" in his new role, despite lacking any experience in the airline industry.

The new man takes over the helm from Bezuidenhout, an experienced industry executive who co-hosted the IATA AGM in Cape Town this June and now returns to his role as CEO of Mango, SAA's low-cost subsidiary. Kalawe's immediate priority will be implementing the turnaround plan – drafted collaboratively by Bezuidenhout and Gigaba – which aims to lessen the carrier's reliance on state support...