Etihad Airways: Australia mercato chiave e long-term

[kenyaprince]

Etihad Airways: 'Australia mercato chiave e long-term'


Secondo quanto dichiarato dal presidente e ceo di Etihad Airways, James Hogan, la compagnia si è già mossa per aumentare la sua partecipazione in Virgin Australia, a seguito di recente approvazione da parte del Foreign Investment Review Board per un aumento delle quote dal 10% al 19,9%. "Virgin Australia è un membro chiave nella continua espansione della nostra equity alliance aerea, e Etihad Airways è un investitore attivo e a lungo termine in Virgin - ha affermato Hogan -. Abbiamo una presenza significativa in Australia, con 28 partenze settimanali, una spesa annuale di oltre $ 100 milioni, occupazione diretta di 106 dipendenti e l'impegno con 415 partner locali. La partnership con Virgin Australia ci permette di collegarci con 45 destinazioni in Australia, Nuova Zelanda e nel Sudest asiatico, che noi ricambiamo fornendo connessioni attraverso il nostro hub di Abu Dhabi verso un ampio numero di destinazioni in Europa, Regno Unito, Irlanda e Africa". Hogan ha anche evidenziato il contributo dei partner in codeshare, come Air France, Klm, Alitalia e Air Serbia che rafforzano la posizione di Etihad Airways tra l'Australia e l'Europa.
"Insieme ai nostri partner, abbiamo un flusso continuo di voli dall’Europa attraverso il nostro hub internazionale di Abu Dhabi con connessioni verso un network significativo di destinazioni" ha aggiunto.
Hogan ha inoltre aggiunto che l’equity alliance di Etihad Airways "Un’alternativa alle alleanze delle compagnie aeree legacy" ora conta cinque membri, incluso il patto sottoscritto con la compagnia aerea nazionale della Serbia. Etihad Airways sta inoltre attendendo l’approvazione governativa per l’investimento in una sesta compagnia aerea, l’indiana Jet Airways, che fornisce alla equity alliance una combinazione complessiva di oltre 420 destinationi, 500 aeromobili e più di 96 milioni di passeggeri ogni anno. Il vettore ha previsto dei piani di crescita interessanti sul Paese ed ha definito una serie di novità in termini di aeromobili, rotte, voli aggiuntivi e servizi aeroportuali
Parlando al Capa Australia Pacific Aviation Summit di Sydney, il presidente e ceo di Etihad Airways, James Hogan, ha affermato che l’Australia è un mercato chiave e long-term per la compagnia aerea, per cui sono stati previsti piani di crescita interessanti. Secondo quanto annunciato dal manager i futuri passi della compagnia aerea in l’Australia prevedono un Airbus A380 che collegherà Sydney e Melbourne ad Abu Dhabi, la costruzione di lounge premium negli aeroporti di Sydney e Melbourne dal 2014, voli aggiuntivi da Melbourne e Brisbane ad Abu Dhabi e l'inizio di voli nonstop tra Perth e Abu Dhabi.

 

[AZ209]

Virgin Australia Gets Samoa, Etihad Debt to Fight Qantas

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. (VAH) is stepping up its efforts to take on Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN)’s dominance of the country’s domestic travel market.

The Brisbane-based company has the third-highest debt ratio among global airlines as it takes on loans to fund this battle. Virgin is pledging its head office building for a new bank loan, taking out credit lines from Air New Zealand Ltd., Etihad Airways PJSC, and Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA), all big shareholders in Virgin Australia. It also has a credit line from a joint venture with the Samoan government.


“It’s their way of saying, ‘We’re behind you and if you need some help we’re here’,” Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti said in a telephone interview on Aug. 30, referring to the three airlines. The carriers are extending the financing “because of their belief in our strategy, their belief in what we’re doing and that we’re on the right track.”

Since Borghetti took over in May 2010, Virgin has spent at least A$1.54 billion on capital projects to buy planes and airlines, renovate lounges and add business-class seats to crack Qantas’s 65 percent dominance of the domestic travel market. Virgin has about one month of operating cash-flow requirements and if economic conditions worsen, the carrier may have to raise equity or sell and lease back aircraft, Deutsche Bank AG said.

Debt

The carrier opened about A$223 million ($199 million) in secured debt, lease-back agreements and loan facilities with associates over the past year. That’s more than Brisbane-based carrier’s net income since September 2004.

“If conditions remain pretty challenging, then there will obviously be more stress on the balance sheet over time,” Mark Williams, an analyst at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. in Sydney, said by phone. “That facility with the airlines gives them a bit of a buffer.”

Virgin shares climbed 3.9 percent to 40.5 Australian cents at the close in Sydney, while the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1 percent. The stock has declined 3.6 percent this year against a 12 percent gain in the index.

Year-end net debt, calculated as the value of Virgin’s interest-bearing liabilities minus its cash and cash-equivalent holdings, rose 50 percent during the period to A$1.31 billion from A$872 million a year earlier, based on a calculation by Bloomberg News.

Unsecured Loans

That’s 22 times last year’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of A$191 million, compared with a 2.3 times multiple a year earlier, the data show. Out of 120 airlines globally, only two had a higher debt ratio, and the median was 2.0, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOLL3) and PAL Holdings Inc. (PAL) topped the list.

Air New Zealand, Singapore Air and Etihad, with a combined 53 percent share in Virgin, are setting up one-year unsecured loan facilities with a joint value of A$90 million to “supplement and diversify the company’s liquidity position”, the carrier said in a regulatory statement.

Virgin has also taken out a A$99 million bank loan secured against its head office northeast of Brisbane’s city center and sold its hangar at the city’s airport, which it’s now leasing back, the company said in its annual results. In addition, it’s taken out a A$9.3 million unsecured facility from Virgin Samoa, a joint venture between the carrier and the government of the South Pacific island state.

Annual Loss

Virgin had a narrower-than-estimated annual loss for the year ended in June as the introduction of business-class services and a new booking system across its network helped support fares. The carrier also bought rural carrier Skywest Airlines Ltd. and a 60 percent stake in Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd.’s money losing local unit to compete with Qantas.

“The last year was a costly one for them,” John O’Shea, an analyst at Bell Financial Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said by phone. “Airlines are a capital-intensive business. If you make a material loss, cash is going to be crucial.”

The investments have been an essential part of Borghetti’s strategy to take a slice of the domestic corporate air travel market, said Oliver Lamb, director of Pacific Aviation Consulting in Sydney. Qantas enjoyed an effective monopoly for a decade after the collapse of Ansett Australia in 2001, he said.

Competitive Market

“The domestic marketplace has become a lot more competitive as a result of Virgin’s actions and everyone’s wearing some pain because of that,” Lamb said. “I’ve got every confidence in Virgin being able to improve over the next 12 months, and the underlying results show they’re on that trajectory anyway.”

Virgin still has further commitments to fund in the year ahead, Chief Financial Officer Sankar Narayan said Aug. 30. It plans to invest as much as A$63 million in Singapore-based Tiger Air’s Australian unit, in which it bought the stake.

Alongside additional funding, Virgin has been looking to increase cash balances by cutting costs, and reduced expenses by more than A$60 million over the course of the year.

It trimmed about A$8 million from its fuel bill by taxiing twin-engine planes around airports using power from just one engine, and saved another A$4 million from staff expenses by adjusting crew rosters to limit the amount of time spent away from home, according to Borghetti.

Still, the increase in debt leaves less of a cushion amid a volatile aviation market, said Evan Lucas, a market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne.
“Their balance sheet isn’t in brilliant shape,” he said. “Fuel costs and costs in general across the globe are ballooning.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...a-gets-samoa-etihad-debt-to-fight-qantas.html