CAMBODIA: Small Planet Airlines Announces €5.1 million For Year 2017, Wants To Become Largest Carrier In The Baltics

Leisure carrier Small Planet Airlines has announced financial results for the year 2017, reporting a profit of €5.1 million and full recovery from a loss incurred in 2016.

The company grew its yearly revenue to €323.1 million, a 45% increase from the year 2016, and transported 2.7 million passengers – 35% more as compared to the previous year.

Small Planet Airlines reported EBITDA topped €9.6 million, a significant increase from the loss of €0.5 million in 2016.

According to the airline’s estimates, it should become the largest carrier in the Baltic states by passenger flow, revenue, and fleet size already in 2018.

We dedicated last year to stabilizing our operations and learning from mistakes we have made, adding just 1 aircraft to the fleet.

I am glad that this year we can go for a full-speed growth again! 6 additional aircraft will join us in 2018, increasing our fleet to 28 Airbus aircraft.

Passenger numbers are set to increase accordingly – we hope to carry nearly 4 million holidaymakers in 2018.

Revenue should increase by one-third, says Kristijonas Kaikaris, the CEO of Small Planet Airlines.

Improving on-time performance was a key priority in Small Planet Airlines Get it Right strategy last year.

The decision to dedicate two stand-by aircraft paid-off well: only 1.36% of flights encountered delays of 3 hours or longer. The airline is determined to improve this indicator further in 2018.

This year Germany is becoming the fastest-growing market for Small Planet Airlines with 10 aircraft to be based in various German airports.

For years, Poland was the largest market for Small Planet Airlines operations.

However, this year we do not plan any significant growth there, the situation is stable and good, and 1 additional aircraft will join the Polish fleet.

In Germany, on the other hand, the growth exceeds 200% and is influenced by various factors. Firstly, Germany is Europe’s largest aviation market, so the demand is naturally high there.

The insolvency of Air Berlin opened an additional niche.

Secondly, diversification of markets was always among our goals, it is not business-wise to keep your eggs in one basket, says Mr. Kaikaris.

According to him, the airline’s growth in Germany is key to balancing seasonality, since German holidaymakers are less impacted by winter time.

Small Planet Airlines has already sold all available seats in Germany for the upcoming Winter season.

Another strategic market for improving utilization, Asia, is on a way to triple growth.

At the moment, Small Planet Airlines Co. Ltd. operates a fleet of two Airbus aircraft, but the number is estimated to grow to six or even eight aircraft by the end of 2018.

Based in Cambodia, the company focuses on outbound Chinese tourism, currently operating flights between Palau and Hong Kong as well as between Macau and Cambodia, Vietnam, Bali.

Small Planet Airlines will fly 240 routes from 15 European bases in Summer 2018.

The airline’s European fleet will grow to 28 aircraft – 20 Airbus A320s and 8 Airbus A321s.



Tourism Observer

UNITED KINGDOM: BAA Training For 650 New Pilots

BAA Training, one of the largest aviation training centres in Northern Europe, announces that more than 650 future pilots will enrol on BAA Training’s Ab Initio programmes until the end of 2021.

Recently, BAA Training has launched five new cadet programmes. Partnership agreements to support future talents were signed with Wizz Air, Lao Skyway, Small Planet Airlines, SmartLynx Airlines and Vietnam Airlines.

The list of partners is expected to extend to at least three more as contracts are about to-be-singed soon.

In 2017, the number of students at BAA Training has increased sharply: those enrolling on Ab Initio programmes almost doubled compared to the previous year.

To respond to the increasing demand and growing capacities, we have started delivering practical training at two more locations in Lithuania.

In addition to S. Darius and S. Girenas aerodrome in Kaunas, we provide flight training at Istra and Kyviskes aerodromes located in Panevezys and Vilnius,” comments Egle Vaitkeviciute, CEO of BAA Training.

BAA Training has developed and implemented new standardization, as well as training programmes for instructors.

This novelty assists us in meeting the record-high training demand. Keeping high training standards is our top priority even during times like now, when the demand for flight training is at absolute peak,” adds E. Vaitkeviciute.

Despite the current record figures, the numbers are expected to elevate even stronger in a five-year period.

E. Vaitkeviciute explains that cadet programmes are becoming increasingly popular among carriers because of more flexible training solutions and possibility to select strong, as well as motivated candidates.

Moreover, students willing to become pilots perceive these programmes as an opportunity to enter aviation job market with more ease: in case training is successful, cadet programmes translate into the guaranteed workplace.

BAA Training plays an important role by ensuring both parties receive services that meet expectations.

We are further strengthening our capabilities across cadet programmes by closely cooperating with our clients. The requirements for quality and more advanced training solutions are increasing, therefore, we regularly collect feedback and improve quality, as well as scope of services provided for both airlines and future pilots. We constantly adapt training programmes to the individual needs of both,” marks E. Vaitkeviciute.

Currently, BAA Training offers a total of 11 different Ab Initio training programmes. Three of which are customized cadet programmes that regularly take place when new group of international students is formed.



Tourism Observer

LITHUANIA: Small Planet Airlines Flying To Asia

Lithuanian leisure charter carrier Small Planet Airlines has announced expansion of its route network in Asia.

Besides Cambodia, where the airline has been operating for some time now, it has added two new countries, Saudi Arabia and India.

The carrier explains that the move comes as a solution to seasonality issue.

In the summer season, we perform most of our flights in Europe.

However, in the winter we face a challenging question of how to utilize all the fleet of 21 aircraft. Asia came as the best answer because it has a reverse seasonality and its holiday market is growing rapidly, Vytautas Kaikaris, CEO of the Small Planet Group explained.

According to him, several aircraft will be based in Asia. Today, the group runs two affiliate offices in Cambodia - in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The later also serves as the airline's base airport in the country. In the winter of 2016 two of the carrier's Airbus A320s are based here.

In cooperation with its local partners Sky Angkor and Cambodia Angkor Air, Small Planet operates domestic flights in Cambodia. It also offers flights to China, South Korea and Vietnam.

Two more A320s have been dispatched to the carrier's Indian base in Mumbai to operate domestic flights in cooperation with the low-cost carrier Go Air.

The third Asian base is Saudi Arabian city Jeddah. Two Airbus A321s and an A320 fly local routes to Jeddah, Ha’il, Riyadh, and Dammam. The airline's partner in the country is Nesma Airlines.

As for the European market, Canary Islands, Dubai, Egypt, and skiing resorts remain among the Small Planet Airlines' main winter destinations.

Before the end of the year Small Planet plans to open its 12th base in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Currently, Small Planet Airlines operates twenty-one aircraft under their AOCs: seventeen 180-seat Airbus A320s and four 220-seat Airbus A321 aircraft. The group operates out of 11 bases and serves more than 45 leisure destinations.

Small Planet Airlines carried 1.8 million people. Its revenue grew to 182 million euro, profit amounted to 19.2 million euro.

Airports in Lithuania posted record cumulative traffic of 4.3 million passengers in 2016. This is 13% more than a year ago.

The number of flights through the country's airports grew 5% to 52,000 movements, according to data published by Vilnius International Airports, the company that manages airports in Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga.

Traffic though Vilnius airport in the country’s capital grew 14% to 3.8 million passengers, the number of flights increased by 5%. The airport served flights to the total of 62 destinations. Notably, European low-cost carrier Ryanair opened a base in Vilnius last October.

Airport in Palanga, on the Baltic Sea shore, demonstrated the highest growth rate - up 60% from the previous year to 233,000 passengers.

The airport doubled the number of destinations in its route network, adding such points as Kyiv, Luton and Stansted in London, Minsk and Warsaw. The number of aircraft movements grew 17%.

Traffic through airport in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second largest city, remained roughly level with the previous year, 741,000 passengers, although the number of flights increased by 2%, including to new destinations such as Stavanger, Bergen, Alesund in Norway and Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

Vilnius International Airports emphasized that the Lithuanian aviation companies' accomplishments are due to help from the Route Development Foundation, which facilitated launching flights to new destinations and increasing frequencies.

The Foundation raised 800,000 euro and allocated subsidies to those airlines that opted to use help, among them Belavia, Adria Airways, Ukraine International Airlines, Ryanair and Turkish Airlines.

The foundation's activity is intended to continue throughout 2017, so Lithuanian airports will keep adding destinations and increasing frequencies. The renewed offer for the airlines will be issued before the end of this month, after which the organization will be open to applications from airlines.

Kaunas will be responsible for handling most flights instead of Vilnius in the coming summer, when the latter is scheduled to close for reconstruction.

The works would take up to 35 day. The Kaunas airport is currently rebuilding its passenger terminal to handle the growing traffic, and the process will take five months.

LITHUANIA: Small Planet Airlines Invest Into Improving Passenger Experience

During the first half of the year the charter flight carrier Small Planet Airlines earned EUR 64.3 million and improved its financial performance by a whopping 25.3%. Meanwhile, the company's profits doubled from EUR 2 to EUR 4 million. First and foremost, such positive results should delight the carrier's passengers, as Small Planet Airlines has announced its plans to invest added profits into increasing its passengers' comfort on-board. As soon as next year the carrier intends to spend EUR 6 million on renewing all of its aircraft, marking the largest investment into the fleet renewal in the entire company's history.

Based on the new concept of the salon, Small Planet Airlines plans to renew all of its Airbus A320 aircraft until the launch of the new summer holiday season next year. Amongst the anticipated modifications - brand new Recaro seats, special LED lighting and an internal wireless network which will enable all airline passengers to use their mobile devices for extra entertainment on-board. The company is also set to introduce its new Economy Premium product line for those seeking added comfort. According to the CEO of Small Planet Airlines, Vytautas Kaikaris, the newly introduced improvements and aircraft modifications will surely bring extra comfort to the carrier's passengers, help the company stand out from its competition and positively affect the future development of the airline.

"2015 is the year of massive growth for our company. During the first half [of the year] alone we have supplemented our fleet by 7 aircraft, increased the number of flights by 30% and welcomed 300 new employees to our highly qualified and experienced team," comments V. Kaikaris. "And what is truly praiseworthy is the fact that our employees have managed to handle such an impressive growth and delivered an increased profit. In the first half of the year our profit margin grew from 3.9 to 6.2%," added the executive.

According to V. Kaikaris, the upcoming investment will go directly towards improving the passenger comfort. In fact, the company has already signed a contract with the German manufacturer Recaro and placed an order for as many as 3000 brand new seats. "A multiple award winner for its seat quality and design, Recaro is undoubtedly in the top 3 of the best aircraft seat manufacturers in the world. Therefore, we rest assured that the ergonomic properties of our new leather seats will be highly appreciated by our passengers. An added benefit is the increased private space, courtesy of the significantly slimmer seatbacks. These seats are extremely durable and almost twice as light as the existing ones - a lesser weight of seats translates into a lighter aircraft which, in turn, translates into reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions," shares V.Kaikaris.

Another noteworthy improvement to be introduced on Small Planet Airlines aircraft is the new LED lighting, which can be specifically adapted for distinct phases of a flight. Uniform light will produce no blinding effect, so passengers on-board should not experience eye tiredness for significantly longer periods of time.

Those looking for even more comfort will soon be able to opt for the Economy Premium product line. "We have observed that more and more passengers wish to receive that little bit more added attention and convenience. An increasing number of air travellers decide to pay a little bit more for extra legroom, smoother transition through the checkpoints or a pre-ordered hot lunch on-board. We are here to satisfy those demands and create that feeling of a holiday even prior to reaching its destination," says the CEO.