Airline Finance News - Asia / Pacific

AirGuide Business, April 21, 2008

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines agreed to plead guilty to price fixing on international cargo shipments and pay a USD$110 million fine, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday. In the plea agreement, which was filed in the US district court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, Japan Airlines acknowledged conspiring to fix freight prices between 2000 and 2006, the Justice Department said. Apr 17, 2008

Japan Airlines

The Justice Department said Japan Airlines conspired to fix cargo prices to ship products on certain trans-Pacific routes, according to court documents. Japan Airlines told a Japanese newspaper in October 2007 that it anticipated roughly JPY20 billion yen (USD$171 million) in fines from a global price fixing probe by US and EU officials. The plea agreements are part of a continuing, wide-ranging investigation of the air transport industry by the Justice Department's antitrust division. In February 2006, US and European officials raided airlines on both sides of the Atlantic as part of the probe. Apr 17, 2008

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines

Bankrupt budget carrier Oasis Hong Kong Airlines missed a deadline for securing a buyer or investor and is now forced to lay off most of its staff, its court-appointed liquidators said on Friday, cooling speculation the firm had been targeted by several major corporations. Liquidators KPMG told reporters that about 700 people would be fired, including pilots and cabin crew, after receiving no firm investment proposals ahead of a deadline this week. KPMG executives said negotiations were continuing about possible investments but the airline would not fly again in its current corporate form. They added that the situation was not yet clear for laid-off employees. Apr 18, 2008

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines

Its decision to pull the plug on Oasis Hong Kong Airlines operations out of Hong Kong, Asia's third-busiest airport, raised fresh questions about the viability of budget airlines, which are struggling with rapidly rising costs and facing a potential slowdown in demand as world economic growth cools. It was not clear how much the unlisted airline, which flies four jets, would be worth to a buyer. Apr 18, 2008

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines went under this month, halting flights and going abruptly into liquidation after underestimating operation costs, as jet fuel prices soared to record highs. Rumours swirled that Li Ka-shing's property flagship, Cheung Kong, and Cathay Pacific were interested in the embattled carrier, although they denied the speculation. Other potential suitors mentioned by the media included Hainan Airlines, China's No. 4 carrier. Oasis, which began flights in October 2006, had accumulated losses of about HKD$1 billion (USD$128 million) during two years of operation. Apr 18, 2008

Shanghai Airlines

Shanghai Airlines has filed suit in a local court seeking a combined CNY35 million yuan in compensation from nine pilots who want to leave the company, the Shanghai Daily said on Monday. A court in Shanghai's Jingan District has accepted the case, it said. Apr 17, 2008