Aviation Thread [Part 5]

[romanSA]

SAA in the black again
29 September 2009 - 09:02
By Sapa

SA Airways reported a surprise profit for the year ending March 2009 due to fundamental restructuring.

Net profit came in at R398 million against a net loss after restructuring costs of R1.085 billion previously, the airline added.

The current year net profit, however, did include a credit of R407 million attributable to the net reversal of the 2004 impairment of pre-delivery payments (PDPs) paid to Airbus on the A320 purchase, the airline explained.

"The PDPs were impaired at the time because the deal was thought to have been cancelled," SAA said.

Agreement had since been reached with Airbus to reinstate the deal under more favourable terms, SAA said.

"SAA delivered a net profit for the year despite unprecedented fuel prices, associated hedging losses and the onset in the second half of the worst recession since 1929," acting CEO Chris Smyth told the results presentation.

"You must be surprised just as we were surprised," Smyth added.

Critically the airline posted a significant turnaround at operating level, recording an operating profit of R1.9 billion against a small operating loss of R72 million the previous financial year, he noted.

"The financial results were achieved despite the industry having entered into a cyclical downturn in mid 2008.

"This was partly as a result of the global economic downturn which affected all airlines, but also due to the oil price hitting a historic peak of US 147 last year," Smyth added.

He noted that airlines around the globe were hard hit, with IATA estimating that the industry would lose US 15 billion in 2009.

Smyth said SAA had been fortunate to begin its restructuring in 2007.

"At the time the airline industry was at a buoyant high," he said.

In the first phase of restructuring which had just ended, the focus had been largely on cutting costs and improved revenue generation, he added.

The next phase would focus on improving customer service, operational performance and ensuring the programme remained in place and was sustainable, he noted.

Smyth said restructuring initiatives had over-delivered at R2.5 billion against a target of R2.3 billion and contributed significantly to SAA's surprise result.

Looking ahead, Smyth added that the airline was expected to break even for the 2009/10 period provided passenger and freight demands did not fall further, yields did not decline, the rand did not weaken and the fuel price did not rise.

"SAA is confident about its future despite the economic challenges that the world economic crisis continues to pose," he said.

"We won't need to ask the government for help if everything goes according to budget, he added.

Turning to SAA's low cost airline Mango, Smyth said although it had not reported its results separately, it had had "a good year".

SAA currently employed 7898 people, including international employees and when SAA's subsidiaries were included, a total of 9821 people were employed, he added.

He said the airline contributed to and supported government's goals as its cargo sector allowed quick movement of critical and high value goods and it promoted SA as a destination.

"By virtue of our name, we sell brand South Africa," Smyth stated.

The acting CEO noted that the airline had to prepare for the inevitable growth that would follow the present downturn.

Africa, he said, would remain SAA's key operational focus for expansion.


http://www.ecr.co.za/kagiso/content/...he-black-again

[Lydon]

A bit old? 2009?

[romanSA]

How wierd! Didn't even notice that! Came up as new alert!

[Mo Rush]

I have SAA's finances somewhere. Lords knows where it now is. If you would like some info in that regard I could try and find it

[Mo Rush]

Booming tourism attracts airlines

March 17 2011 at 05:21pm

Comment on this story
The growing number of tourists from Europe is tempting Air France, which withdrew its flights to Cape Town 10 years ago, to return in time for the next summer season, according to its commercial director in southern Africa, Ralf Karsenbarg.
And Emirates, which flies daily to the city from the United Arab Emirates, bringing passengers from all over the world, will add a second daily service at the end of this month, increasing the total number of its flights to South Africa to six a day.
Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced earlier this month that tourism to South Africa had grown by 15.1 percent last year – double the rate of that in the rest of the world. He said it was necessary to attract as many airlines as possible to fly to South Africa to achieve further growth. He hoped those already coming here would increase their frequencies.
Air France, which has successfully merged with Dutch national airline KLM, with each airline retaining its individual character, flies daily to Johannesburg with the giant Airbus A380, while KLM flies to both Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Air France withdrew from Cape Town in order to carry more passengers to Johannesburg. Its service to Cape Town was an extension of the Johannesburg flights and carried about half its passengers from each city. This meant that the aircraft flew half empty from Johannesburg to Cape Town on return flights.
Since the merger with KLM, the Dutch airline, which has daily non-stop flights flights to Cape Town in the summer months, has carried most local passengers bound for France to Amsterdam, from where they catch frequent shuttle flights to Paris.
Karsenbarg said the Cape Town market had grown to such an extent that it would be necessary to reintroduce Air France flights, which would be non-stop to Paris, or to increase the KLM service in response to demand.
He said the Air France service to Johannesburg carried a larger proportion of business class passengers than flights to Cape Town, which was mainly a leisure destination with demand mainly for economy or economy-plus seats, and therefore different aircraft would be used on the route.
Emirates, which is increasing its Cape Town service at the start of the winter season when some other airlines withdraw or reduce the number of flights they offer, is one of the three Middle Eastern airlines flying to the city.
It also flies to Johannesburg and Durban. SA Tourism has campaigned to attract more tourists from the United Arab Emirates, where temperatures reach more than 40°C during its summer, to come to South Africa in our winter, in search of cooler weather. - Audrey D’Angelo

[romanSA]

As a compensation for that gaffe, I'll quickly note that Velvet Sky has now launched. Bookings start from tomorrow, and flights, from next Tues.

[GregPz]

Good to see 1Time has taken action producing a postive result for animal transportation after the death of 750 parrots on one of their flights a few months ago.

Transportation of animals at SA airports to undergo extensive changes

Thursday, 17 March 2011: The tragic death of 750 African Grey parrots on a flight during December 2010 from Johannesburg to Durban, led 1time airline, Bid Air Cargo (previously Express Air Services), one of the biggest movers of livestock by air in the country and the NSPCA to instigate an investigation into animal and bird handling procedures at South African airports. A working committee of various stakeholders has been set up to investigate and implement best practice nationally.

Rodney James, CEO of 1time airline says, “All the staff of 1time were deeply distressed by the death of the parrots and when Dr Steve Boyes of the World Parrot Trust explained the problems involved in the wild caught bird trade, we knew we had to act on it. Fortunately, our cargo partner, Bid Air Cargo had already been considering international best practice in the transportation of livestock and their recommendations as well as those of other stakeholders in the cargo and animal and bird industries will now be implemented.”

Dr Steven Boyes of the World Parrot Trust Africa and Wild Bird Trust, believes the death of the parrots was caused by a convergence of factors and that no one party is entirely to blame.

He continues, “South Africa exported almost 25 000 African Greys in 2009, yet still needed to import over 5 000 wild caught African Grey Parrots from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Continued trade in wild-caught African Greys threatens their persistence in the wild, and is unjustifiable, unethical and a significant threat to global biodiversity conservation. Transporting captive-bred birds is one thing. Transporting stressed wild-caught birds, however, is an entirely different undertaking with significant risks to both the birds and human handlers. We are grateful to 1time and to Bid Air Cargo and hope that other airline cargo operators will assist in squeezing the pipeline of wild-caught birds being transported into or out of the country.”

The working committee plans to implement:
- a custom live animal terminal at airports with skilled personnel and a separate check-in counter for livestock
- a national, accessible database of endangered species
- statistics of the movement of birds and animals through airports will be collated by the cargo operators and shared with the National Zoo, NSPCA, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and government
- a panel of experts of animals and birds who can advise and evaluate potentially risky transportation consignments and conditions
- new booking procedures for the acceptance by Bid Air Cargo for animal or bird transportation. 48 hours notification will need to be given prior to travel which will allow ample time to check the bona fides of the cargo as well as best practice for transportation
- recommendations for TETA (Transport Education and Training Authority) industry standards for the transportation of birds and animals via air and road
- assistance through The Association of Air Cargo Operators Committee to raise awareness of the special needs of animal and bird transportation amongst its members and will share best practice
- skills within the airline industry to be improved to be able to better handle the transportation of all animals.
The committee which is to meet monthly is represented by:
- 1time airline
- Bid Air Cargo
- Cargo Learning Academy
- The Airline Cargo Operators Committee
- The National Zoo
- The NSPCA
- The World Parrot Trust
ENDS
Issued on behalf of the working committee by Michelle K Blumenau, Turquoise PR & Marketing Communications T 011 728 5004 / 083 273 9891 / michelle@turquoispr.co.za

[romanSA]

Looks like 1time will also start using Lanseria soon...

----------------

Airline 1Time to Fly From Johannesburg’s Lanseria, Plans African Expansion
By Sikonathi Mantshantsha
Mar 18, 2011 7:00 AM GMT+0200

1Time Holdings Ltd. (1TM), the low-cost airline operator, will start flights out from Johannesburg’s Lanseria airport in the third quarter of the year.

“We have agreed in principle with Lanseria’s management to start in the third quarter, right now we are still discussing pricing and congestion at the airport,” said 1Time Holdings Chief Executive Officer Glenn Orsmond in an interview yesterday by phone from Johannesburg. “We’ll start with flights to Durban and Cape Town.”

The privately owned Lanseria serves as an alternative to Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport, Africa’s busiest. 1Time is targeting 20 percent savings from operating flights out of Lanseria versus O.R. Tambo, Orsmond said.

After adding Maputo in neighboring Mozambique three months ago, 1Time has set its sights on both Harare in Zimbabwe and Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, as destinations, Orsmond said. 1Time has been flying to Zanzibar island in Tanzania and the Zambian town of Livingstone, which lies near the Victoria Falls tourist attraction, for the past three years.

“In Harare there are landing slots available and we’re applying for the licence,” Orsmond said, adding that it is 1Time’s policy to apply wherever operating licenses become available.

1Time increased passengers by 6.7 percent to 1.9 million in the year ended in December, the company said in an earnings statement yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sikonathi Mantshantsha in Johannesburg at smantshantsh@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...expansion.html

[p2bsa]

EK Durban II by Oct - not sure if b4 or after Qatar...

[juzzy]

Originally Posted by p2bsa

EK Durban II by Oct - not sure if b4 or after Qatar...

"EK DURBAN II"... what does that mean...2nd daily flight?

[dysan1]

Based on what source?

[p2bsa]

Originally Posted by dysan1

Based on what source?

DTP.

[briker]

Emirates offers second daily flight to CT
March 18 2011 at 07:29pm



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


AFP


Emirates is to strengthen its commitment to South Africa with the launch of a second daily flight to Cape Town. The new service will offer passengers more choice and flexibility, as well as connect seamlessly to a wide range of onward destinations.

Starting on March 27, Emirates will fly non-stop twice a day to Cape Town. - Weekend Argus

[SA BOY]

whats DTP?

[GetDownAdam]

dube tradeport?

[Mo Rush]

CTIA runway timelapse

[briker]

Air France might resume CT flightsMarch 24 2011
REUTERS

Air France, which flies daily between Johannesburg and Paris, withdrew its service from Cape Town about 10 years ago because demand was not high enough. It is now considering a return, according to Ralf Karsenbarg, commercial director of the merged Air France-KLM.

At the time Air France withdrew its flights from Cape Town, which were by way of Johannesburg, to refuel and take on more passengers. This meant that on the return journey the aircraft was half-empty between Johannesburg and here. Most Capetonians hate changing planes in Johannesburg and, especially, having to leave an international flight there on the way home to go through customs before catching a local flight. (I'm one of them, that's why I don't use SAA on intl flights)

So since the two airlines were successfully merged, with each retaining its individual character, most Capetonians bound for Paris have gone with KLM as far as Amsterdam from where they have caught one of the frequent shuttle flights between the two cities.

But now the market has grown sufficiently to justify non-stop flights between here and Paris.

Air France uses the giant Airbus A380 on the route from Johannesburg, where a high proportion of passengers are on business. As a result the aircraft is configured with a larger proportion of business class seats than are wanted on the Cape Town route, which has a higher proportion of leisure passengers booking economy class.

So, if it is decided to bring Air France back it will return when the airline has taken delivery of more Boeing 777s to use on the route.

Both KLM and Air France are growing their route networks in the second half of the year, particularly in southern Africa. This is part of an expansion into Africa by European and US-based airlines providing more competition for SAA, and there have been suggestions by some of these that it should be limited. But, on the other hand, more airlines and more flights mean more tourism and more jobs.

Meanwhile news that Air France may come here is sure to delight our tourism industry and Airports Company South Africa (Acsa). Particularly as SAA has withdrawn most of its international flights from here, with the exception of some to London, to concentrate them in Johannesburg.

Alitalia, also withdrew from South Africa at a time when the rand was weak in order to use its aircraft on a more profitable route to Canada. South Africa has a large Italian community and Italian travel agents said they were pressing for its return. Now that the successful hosting of the World Cup has given us such favourable publicity let’s hope that it, too, will consider coming back – this time to Cape Town and not only to Johannesburg.

[romanSA]

Acsa expects tariff delay to cause its first loss of R500m

March 25 2011 at 06:02am
By Slindile Khanyile

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is expected to post a loss of up to R500 million in the year to March, its first loss since inception 17 years ago, due to delays in finalising new tariffs.

This is likely to affect its ability to borrow in future as its gearing ratio is already high at 65 percent, with a R16 billion debt following its infrastructure investment ahead of the World Cup. Acsa has to pre-fund its capex and it is only allowed to recover its investment from tariffs once the asset is operational.

Yesterday Acsa finance director Priscillah Mabelane said: “The delay in finalising an appropriate tariff structure has resulted in significant erosion of our financial earnings. Further, given the regulatory uncertainty, it is impossible to commit to future infrastructure investment.”

The company had requested a 133 percent hike, but its regulator only approved a 40.7 percent increase. Mabelane said the figure was off the mark.

Acsa did not accept this decision and approached the courts seeking a review of its regulatory regime. But the minister of transport intervened, halted the legal action and set up a task team.

The task team was appointed to assess whether the regulator had done its job in determining the 40.7 percent increase. A final report was submitted to the minister earlier this year with recommendations.

Although Acsa did not implement what the regulator had proposed, it did effect a 33 percent increase as per the current permission. A permission is approved for five years but is reviewed in the third year. Acsa said it would have been in a similar financial position even if it had implemented the 40.7 percent increase.

Mabelane said while encouraged that the task team had completed its review, there were concerns about the impact that the delay would have not only on Acsa, but on the passengers and airlines as the tariff would have to recovered over a short period of time.

Mohammed Sizwe, the chairman of the regulator, said yesterday that the task team had concluded that the regulator had done everything above board. He said the minister had asked it to consider the tariff application again.

“There are a number of issues like the treatment of the old Durban International Airport site. We had considered a figure from the sale of that site based on information from the department (from the previous minister and director-general) that the land would be sold, which would have been income to Acsa,” Sizwe said.

“But the land has not been sold and we have been told it is still going to take some time before it is sold. But that is simple, all we have to do is take that figure out. It was a total of R2bn,” he said.

Acsa is negotiating with Transnet, which wants to build a new dug-out port for R100bn at the site.

Also to be considered, was a figure of about R650m which Acsa received for selling a piece of land around the King Shaka International Airport. Sizwe said the money was taken into account, but Acsa argued that it should not be part of the regulated portion as the land was never used for aviation.

“We are still waiting for some documents from Acsa before deciding on that. We hope we will be done by the end of April because our term ends on April 30, so we are also under pressure,” Sizwe said.

While the regulator would not want to shock the industry with its tariff decision, it was also mindful of the time that had lapsed during which Acsa had relied on old tariff hikes.

Mabelane said financial results would be released sometime during the second quarter.

In the year to March 2010, Acsa posted a 6 percent rise in normalised earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation to R1.8bn. Its cash balance was R434m. - Business Report


http://www.pretorianews.co.za/acsa-e...500m-1.1046973

[Durbsboi]

Mango to start flying to Mauritius soon, you heard it here first.

[Marsupalami]

now that is killer news!