Airline Finance News - Africa / Middle East

AirGuide Business, July 21, 2008

7/21/2008

Royal Jordanian, Austrian Airlines

Royal Jordanian is preparing an offer for the Austrian state's stake in loss-making Austrian Airlines and may present it as early as next week, an Austrian newspaper reported on Friday. Royal Jordanian, which was the first Arab airline to be privatized last year, has hired PricewaterhouseCooper to advise it on the bid, Austria's Wiener Zeitung daily reported, quoting unidentified diplomatic sources. A spokeswoman for the Austrian government's holding company OeIAG declined to comment on the report. She said OeIAG was not entitled to discuss a sale of its stake before it received a government mandate to sell it. Royal Jordanian was not available to comment. 7/18/2008

South African Airways

South African Airways reported a ZAR1.09 billion ($142.5 million) loss in the fiscal year ended March 31, widened from ZAR833 million the previous year, Bloomberg News reported. The result reportedly was driven by costs related to a restructuring program that included the grounding of its 747-400 fleet and nearly 2,000 layoffs. Excluding the restructuring costs, it was ZAR123 million in the black. CEO Khaya Ngqula said the airline is on course for a net profit in the current financial year, according to the news service. Sales climbed 9% to ZAR22.5 billion on a 15% increase in fares, although passenger numbers fell 1.3%. 7/18/2008

Kenya Airways

Kenya Airways' 2007/08 annual profit after tax fell to KES3.9 billion Kenya shillings (USD$57.65 million) from KES4.1 billion, due mainly to the impact of the post-election crisis when it was forced to cancel some flights. 7/16/2008

Sama

Sama, the year-old Dammam-based carrier, said shareholders have agreed to contribute an additional SAR200 million ($53.3 million) in financing. SAR300 million was invested at startup and the company said its revenue rose more than 250% in the first half of 2008. It serves 12 Saudi and 10 Middle Eastern destinations. 7/16/2008

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines THY, one of the fastest growing airlines in Europe and the Middle East, carried 10.3 million passengers in the first half of the year, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier, it said on Tuesday. The Turkish flag carrier said in a statement to the stock market that available seat kilometres rose 9.6 percent year-on-year to 21.2 billion for the six-month period, and revenue passenger kilometres rose 14.4 percent to 15.5 million. The airline has said it aims to increase passenger traffic to 23.5 million in 2008, up from 19.6 million passengers last year. 7/15/2008

EgyptAir

EgyptAir's fleet of 50 aircraft carried more than 6.8 million passengers in the 10 months ended April 30, up 20% year-over-year. 7/14/2008

EgyptAir, South African Airways, Star Alliance

EgyptAir and South African Airways are Africa's largest carriers in terms of capacity, fleet and passengers, followed by Royal Air Maroc, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines. Star Alliance holds a 22% market share in Africa, followed by SkyTeam's 17% and oneworld with just 7%. Star is evaluating the possibility that EgyptAir and South African Airways might cooperate to create transfer points in Central Africa to boost intra-continental travel. South African Airways still is reconstructing its own network. The alliance also is reshuffling its schedule in Cairo to create more efficient flight connections and will benefit when the airport's new dedicated Terminal 3 opens this fall with the capacity to serve 11 million passengers per year. The 11 Star members currently serving Africa fly to 78 destinations in 36 countries. The alliance is discussing membership with Ethiopian, which is working on bilateral agreements with alliance members like Lufthansa. 7/14/2008

EgyptAir, Star Alliance

EgyptAir officially became Star's 21st member Friday following a nine-month integration period. "The economic and business climate of Africa is getting the world's attention. Star Alliance is well positioned to serve the business interests of the continent by having EgyptAir in the north, South African Airways in the south and nine other member airlines flying to Africa," Albrecht said in a statement. Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht said during the EgyptAir induction ceremony in Cairo that Star is committed to increasing its presence in Africa and better coordinating the continent's fragmented network. 7/14/2008

ZZ

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