UAE: Air Arabia Evaluating Deal With FlyEasy To Tap Indian Growth

Air Arabia said it’s attracted by the growth of Indian aviation and will disclose any updates in due course.

Air Arabia PJSC said it’s considering a deal with India’s FlyEasy, suggesting the Gulf discount specialist may become the latest Middle Eastern operator to invest in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.

“A new opportunity has arisen with FlyEasy in India, which we are currently reviewing and evaluating,” Air Arabia said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. FlyEasy, which is awaiting regulatory approval to start flying, didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.

Air Arabia, the only listed carrier in the UAE, said it’s attracted by the growth of Indian aviation and will disclose any updates in due course. An investment would be the second in India by a Gulf operator after Etihad Airways PJSC bought 24 per cent of Jet Airways India Ltd. Singapore Airlines Ltd and Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd have also started local ventures.

“We believe in the potential that the Indian aviation market represents and we will continue to evaluate opportunities that can positively contribute to the Indian aviation sector, as well as Air Arabia’s customers and shareholders,” Air Arabia said.

Provincial taxes

Air travel in India is expanding as a fast-growing middle-class increasingly shifts to planes from trains and long-distance buses. Turning a profit is still a struggle as provincial taxes make jet fuel the most expensive in the region and below-cost fares mean most carriers lose money.

Air Arabia in January bought a 49 per cent stake in Jordan’s Petra Airlines, making the capital Amman a fifth hub after its home base of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE, Alexandria in Egypt and Casablanca in Morocco. It’s also mulling an aircraft order before 2017.

GUADELOUPE: Winair Increasing Service to Dominica, Guadeloupe

Regional air carrier Winair has announced the launch of additional schedule service to Dominica and Guadeloupe, the company announced.

The twice-weekly service, which will begin Oct. 3, will feature a flight originating in Guadeloupe, stopping in Dominica and returning to the carrier’s hub in St Maarten.

The flights out of St Maarten will stop in Dominica then Guadeloupe.

Winair will operate the flights on ATR 500 aircraft.

The company is also operating DHC 600 Twin Otter flights to Canefield in Dominica five times a week until Oct. 25.

RUSSIA: Airbus Fleets In Russia And CIS To More Than Double By 2034

According to the latest Airbus Global Market Forecast (GMF), the Russia & CIS air passenger market will more than double in the next 20 years, with over 2,000 aircraft needed by 2034, compared to the 922 in operation today to meet the countries’ growing demand for air travel. Airbus’ forecast shows that over 1,280 of these aircraft will be new deliveries, valued at US$150 billion, comprising 1,100 single-aisles, 160 twin-aisles and 24 very large aircraft. These additional aircraft will satisfy both fleet replacement needs and future growth for the intra-regional CIS and international market.

Airbus’ GMF foresees that in the next 20 years airlines in the Russia & CIS region will continue to renew their fleets by introducing more new fuel-efficient models, while gradually phasing out older and second hand aircraft. The region’s economy will gain positive momentum and grow yearly at 2.4% in the coming 20 years, with some countries, such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, demonstrating a higher annual growth of around four to five per cent.

“The Russia & CIS market has always been of key strategic importance to Airbus, and we believe it will continue to grow, even with the recent challenges in the region, as air traffic has proven to be resilient to crisis around the globe. We look forward to seeing Airbus deliveries increasing in Russia & CIS to achieve a 50% market share,” said Christopher Buckley, Airbus Executive Vice President Sales. “We forecast traffic growth in terms of Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK) to, from and within the Russia & CIS region to increase at 4.8 per cent per year on average over the next 20 years, which is above the world average of 4.6 per cent. The region’s highest traffic growth is expected to be on international destinations to the Middle East (+6.6%), followed by traffic to Asia-Pacific (+5.9%) and Latin America (+5.3%).”

Since Airbus delivered its first aircraft to Aeroflot in 1992, 28 airlines in the Russia & CIS region now operate over 340 Airbus models, including both its popular single-aisle and wide-body families. Over the last five years, Airbus’ fleet in Russia has doubled and the number of operators is constantly expanding.