EasyJet, the UK's largest budget airline, which carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom airline is set to be faced with shock competition from one of its own in Stelios Haji-Ioannou who, according to reports is set to launch a new airline called FastJet.
Last night, easyJet claimed Sir Stelios would be breaking a non-compete agreement signed in October last year if he launched a rival. EasyJet bosses have vowed to take whatever action needed "to protect the rights of easyJet and the interests of its shareholders", a statement read.
According to easyJet, the agreement signed between the airline and Stelios agreed to pay Sir Stelios £300,000 not to put his name to a new venture for five years. It also says he could not get involved with running another airline in Europe for two years "unless the interest is less than 10% and he is not involved in an executive capacity".
However, the entrepreneur has said that he believes that easyJet broke the terms of that agreement by starting a 'smear campaign conducted by off the record journalists' but made no comment on starting a new airline according to reports from the Financial Times.
The question is, if a new airline is born under the banner of FastJet, can it really rival an alredy inflated and under pressure industry. Hundreds of thousands of planes flly in and out of the UK every year but with rising costs of aviation fuel as well as passengers being firecley loyal to the Easy Jet brand is there any way a new airline could be successful in today's market place.
Aviation economists suggested in 2004 that it was possible to set up a new airline for as little as £5.5m according to a report from the BBC. Those costs have dramatically risen and with the 2008 banking crisis, that saw more than 70 airlines go out of business, such a challenge would require a vast input of cash as well as time.
There is no doubt that if a new business if formed under the brand FastJet by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, it will have an owner that has competed and succeeded in the market place before. Such an owner would give the airline a significant boost and who would bet against FastJet, if it becomes a reality, competing and rivalling the established budget airlines in the UK and Europe.
By Thomas Costello | September 27, 2011 12:56 PM GMT EasyJet, the UK'slargest budget airline, which carries more passengers than any other United Kingdomairline is set to be faced with shock competition from one of its own in Stelios Haji-Ioannou who ...
By Emma Kasprzak BBC News West Midlands The announcement that defence giant BAE Systems will cut almost 3000 jobs at sites across the UKwill have left many staff members distraught. But the news is also likely to cause concern among the company's many...
“The Government should make the aviation industry pay its fair share – it's shocking that it still gets away without paying fuel tax or VAT and highly polluting freight planes remain untaxed. “UK aviationemissions have more than doubled since 1990 ...
By Andrew Parker The UK is at serious risk of missing out on trade with emerging markets worth £14bn during the next decade because of inadequate aviationlinks, according to a report. The inability of London's overstretched Heathrow airport to support ...
Asia Today: The board of UBS meets in Singapore on the heels of a massive rogue trading scandal; Asian aviation growth forecasts aren't as rosy as predicted; Japan's new prime minister speaks with the WSJ exclusively. Chicago-based Boeing currently has ...
By DEBORAH BALL Asia Today: The board of UBS meets in Singapore on the heels of a massive rogue trading scandal; Asian aviation growth forecasts aren't as rosy as predicted; Japan's new prime minister speaks with the WSJ exclusively....
The key component here is, undoubtedly, China – a nation still in the early stages of its global aviationemergence. As we noted in our study of the top 30 airports in 2010, Beijing had risen from position 49 to two in a decade, with Shanghai and ...
The Asia-Pacific region's resilience next year relative to the world at large reflects continued strong bookings growth across the region. Nevertheless, the outlook indicates that a region known as a bright spot foraviation still faces major ...
The ministry of commerce and industry has supported a proposal to allow foreign airlines to invest in the domestic aviation sector, a long-standing demand of the cash-strapped domestic carriers that need infusion of fresh equity to stay afloat.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has repeatedly written letters to the aviation ministry raising the issue, a senior government official said.
The official said that the aviation ministry is considering the proposal to allow foreign airlines to invest in Indian carriers.
So far, FDI up to 49 per cent is allowed in domestic airlines or 100 per cent for investments by non-resident Indians, but the policy bars foreign airlines from investing, primarily on security grounds. “The Indian aviation industry is in a crisis. If they get equity from foreign players, we should not come in the way,” the official said. However, when contacted, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi said, “Nothing has moved so far. It is a policy decision. The matter will go to the Cabinet.” He said that though a series of meetings have been held within the ministry, the meeting with airlines is yet to take place over the issue. The domestic industry is, though, divided on the issue. While major airlines like Jet Airways have raised a red flag over the issue apprehending hostile takeovers, given the financial difficulties they face, Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines has openly supported the proposal.
“The Indian aviationindustry is in a crisis. If they get equity from foreign players, we should not come in the way,” the official said. However, when contacted, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi said, “Nothing has moved so far. ...
A joint declaration condemning the EU step will be signed by the attending countries, the Indian aviation ministry note said. In the note that was issued in response to a previous story in Mint, the EU rejected the contention that the inclusion of ...
Air India will lose its first-mover advantage if it cancels its order for 27 Boeing 787 planes, as the waiting period for new orders is upto 10 years, said an aviation industry source. AI will receive its first Boeing 787 plane by the year-end,...
BANGALORE: The central government is open to infusing more funds into the cash-strapped state-run AirIndia Ltd to keep it flying, union CivilAviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said Monday. "The government is committed to look after Air India. ...
The deaths of a Marysville man and two former Bellingham residents at a Reno air race Friday sent shock waves through communities of aviation enthusiasts and their friends and families.
George Hewitt, 60, a retired Air Canada pilot, and his wife, Wendy, 57, were sitting in box seats reserved for members of the Oak Harbor-based Cascade Warbirds group when a World War II-era plane slammed like a missile into the crowded tarmac, killing nine people including the pilot.
Also killed in the tragedy was Greg Morcom, 47, a construction worker who lived with his parents in Marysville and who was attending his first Reno air show with relatives.
"He was such a stand-up guy. He was always there for his friends," Morcom's friend Dana Hicks told KING-TV.
"The Morcoms are lovely, lovely people," said a neighbor, Fran Barnett, who often saw Greg doing yard work for his parents. "He really worked hard for his mom and dad."
Floyd Murrill, a friend of 30 years, recalled Morcom's sense of humor, and said, "He was with family down there, he was doing something he absolutely loved, which was attending his first air-race show."
A snowmobiler and Seahawks fan, Morcom was with his father and brother, Ron Morcom Sr. and Jr., who had attended the event annually for more than 20 years, Ron Morcom Jr. told KOMO-TV. He owns Regal Air at Paine Field.
George Hewitt was born in Winnipeg and flew as a pilot with Air Canada for more than 40 years. He initially flew DC-8s and retired as a Boeing 777 captain. The Hewitts moved from Bellingham to Fort Mohave, Ariz., more than a year ago upon George Hewitt's retirement, his brother Wayne Hewitt said.
He remained an enthusiastic pilot after retiring, Wayne Hewitt said. His retirement place was a "fly-in" community, where residents have airplane hangars by their houses near the runway.
Hewitt owned a small Navion propeller plane, a post-World War II plane originally built by the same company that produced the P-51 Mustang — the model that crashed in Reno.
He took first place this year in one race at a convention in Cody, Wyo., of the Navion Society, a club for owners of that model of airplane.
Romi Singh, president of Aviation Research Corp. of Point Roberts, Whatcom County, grew up with Hewitt in Winnipeg and flew with him for Air Canada.
"We hung around at the flying clubs and learned to fly in the same area," said Singh, who heard the news while traveling in London.
Hewitt's parents owned a pizza place in Winnipeg, and Singh recalls that he gave the Air Canada flight crews a fringe benefit when flights took them to his hometown.
"Every time we flew through Winnipeg, his parents would bring us a ton of pizzas the whole crew enjoyed," said Singh.
In 1982, Singh coordinated a round-the-world flight by two young men to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Hewitt was one of a dozen Air Canada pilots who volunteered to help.
Hewitt was stationed in Shannon, Ireland, for the flight, making sure the fliers had a rest stop arranged and an ongoing flight plan. "He was very well liked," said Singh. "This is tragic."
The Hewitts had four children, all grown and living in British Columbia.
Greg Anders, commanding officer of Cascade Warbirds, a group of about 220 owners of vintage warplanes and their supporters, said the Hewitts "were a great couple that really loved aviation."
After the crash, Anders said, Warbirds members took quick action: "Everybody dusted themselves off and rolled into that first responder role."
Anders, who was at an air show in Idaho at the time of the Reno crash, said air races feature planes that have been modified for racing. "Air racing starts with warbirds but they're not warbirds, they're air racers," he said. "They garner just as much passion as the warbirds."
National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind said at a Sunday briefing in Reno that the NTSB made recommendations in 1972 for keeping planes a safe distance from spectators at air races. Crash investigators will look at human, mechanical and "environmental" factors, which include plans and policies for the race, Rosekind said.
Federal officials also said they had recovered real-time flight information and memory cards possibly from a video camera aboard the plane.
Romi Singh, president of Aviation Research Corp. of Point Roberts, Whatcom County, grew up with Hewitt in Winnipeg and flew with him for Air Canada. "We hung around at the flying clubs and learned to fly in the same area," said Singh, who heard the ...
Although the company said it has not yet determined how the addition of the two new aircraft models might impact overall head count, Stephane Leblanc, vice president and general manager of the Global program told Aviation Week that the announcement was ...
He later became the founding director of the Royal CanadianAir Force - a designation recently restored to theaviation branch ofCanada's military - before dying tragically, at age 35, in a 1930 crash on the frozen Ottawa River while demonstrating a...
Knapinski says the loss of Leeward was a hit not only to EAA but the entire aviationcommunity. "Anytime you lose a pilot, it's a loss," Knapinski said. "But even more so that it's a long time board member, somebody so heavily involved and such a ...
Bombardier Aerospace is attending the Aviation Expo/China 2011 in Beijing from 21-14 September 2011.
While Bombardier’s relationship with China began more than 50 years ago, its involvement in China’s aviation industry began in the 1970s. Today, this longstanding relationship has grown to include a steady expansion of Bombardier’s customer base and deliveries, along with an increased focus on development and manufacturing opportunities.
Bombardier projects that over the next 20 years, China’s fleet of commercial aircraft will grow to become the world’s third largest, closely following Europe and the United States. As China’s regional aircraft play a key role in feeding traffic to big city hubs and meeting the country’s present and forecast needs, Bombardier predicts a demand for almost 2,400 commercial aircraft in the 60 to 149-seat segment over the forecast period.
Bombardier is well positioned to meet the needs of China’s growing air transportation needs with its CRJ and Q-Series families of regional aircraft and the new CSeries jetliners.
Business aviation in China is experiencing rapid growth. Bombardier’s latest market forecast for the aviation industry predicts a total delivery of 2,360 business jet deliveries destined for China over the next 20 years. With a solid fleet of business jets in the country, and a strong market share of approximately 29% of the business jet market in China, Bombardier’s Learjet, Challenger and Global jets are all represented. The fast-growing fleet of Bombardier business aircraft based in China has already surpassed 50 jets.
To date in 2011, Bombardier has opened a new regional support office (RSO) and parts depot in Hong Kong, added a Line Maintenance Facility (LMF) in Jinan, and hired a new Director, Business Development in Beijing. This is the first phase of a much broader strategy to establish a world-class service and support hub in Asia, supported by satellite facilities throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Aviation Expo/China 2011 welcomes visitors from Wednesday, 21 September to Saturday, 24 September 2011.
The Bombardier exhibit, located in the China National Convention Centre (CNCC) at D-1, will be closed on Saturday, 24 September.
CSeries Aircraft Cabin Mockup
Bombardier will showcase a full-scale cabin mockup of the all-new CSeries jetliner at Aviation Expo/China 2011.
Designed for the growing 100 to 149-seat market, the CSeries family of aircraft combines advanced materials, leading-edge technology and proven methods to meet commercial airline requirements in 2013 and beyond.
To date in 2011, Bombardier has opened a new regional support office (RSO) and parts depot inHong Kong, added a Line Maintenance Facijlity (LMF) in Jinan, and hired a new Director, Business Development in Beijing. This is the first phase of a much...
Hong Kong came second with 50.9 million passengers. Beijing airport was also the world's second busiest in 2010 after London's Heathrow. Wang Jian, former secretary-general of the China Civil Airport Association, cited the country's economic ...
Last year, First Pacific Group received an offer to invest in cash-strapped Philippine Airlines but the Hong Kong-based conglomerate said it was not interested inairline operations. For its part, PAL Holdings Inc., the majority shareholder of ...
Overall, the Hong Kong airline said earlier this year it is aiming for ten percent growth in passenger numbers in 2011, but Chu expects the Gulf to be well above average. “We are on track for double-digit growth. Some of the markets have been down, ...
