As Transportation Partners, the Lion Air Group leasing arm, announce a deal for three new 737-800s to 9 Air, the low-cost arm of China's Juneyao Airlines, it is left once again for other lessors to consider the strong position that Transportation Partners will be in in the future. Many overlook the facets of the Lion Air Group that are at the disposal of Transportation Partners and its customers, including, primarily, the Batam MRO facility just off Singapore. The argument that other airlines will not open the books to Transportation Partners because of its association to a competitor (the Lion Air Group) is in reality a false trail as of course the information is held confidentially with the lessor. We highlighted this venture some months ago and we maintain that the Lion Air Group operations of Batam MRO and Transportation Partners are very good examples of quick thinking diversification that can not only save an airline venture but also make it highly investible if ever the need occurred.
But as the Lion Air Group looks more attractive by the month, Skymark looks less so: This week Japanese travel agency H.I.S reduced its holding in Skymark to 6.49% from 7.68%, according to a report filed Tuesday with a finance bureau of the Finance Ministry.
H.I.S sold shares in the Japanese airline between June 11 to July 29 on the open market at a gain, reducing the number of Skymark shares it holds to 5,926,100. On July 29, Airbus cancelled the A380 order and then the quarterly earnings report published on July 31, revealed that the auditors have raised serious questions over the visibility of the airline going forward. Good timing from H.I.S.
Meanwhile, there are two stories of interest this week. Firstly another GE engine failed on a 787 that has not seen much reporting. Thomson Airways 787-800 reg G-TUIE while on flight BY157 on August 4th, 2014, from Puerto Plata to Manchester, England with 288 people on board, had to undergo an in-flight engine shutdown of a GEnx after low oil pressure warning indicators came on for the right hand engine at FL410. The aircraft then had to cruise down to FL230 and land at Terceira's Lajes Airport. A replacement Boeing 767-300 registration G-OBYH was dispatched to Lajes, resumed the flight and reached Manchester with a delay of 15 hours. GE has dispatched an engine to the island for replacement. The delay cost to Thompson could amount to over £300,000 in damages claims, if all passengers choose to take action.
Meanwhile the general news channels seem to be forgetting about the very serious problems in the East China Sea, mainly because Russia and Gaza are taking the news time across the globe. But we in aviation should not forget the affect that political tensions are having in the South China Sea on local airlines.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport has sent a report to the country’s Prime Minister proposing assistance policies for domestic airlines following very serious loss of business due to anti-China tensions. The report details the collapse in China/Vietnam tourist traffic, much like the Japanese/China fallout two years ago. The tensions were caused when China deployed an oil platform well inside of Vietnamese territorial waters. Following this were serious anti-Chinese riots across Vietnam.
Vietnam Airlines is the worst affected airline having cancelled 13 routes to 12 destinations in China from mid-May to the end of October. Currently, it maintains routes to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou with load factors well below their peaks. In total, 1,476 flights had been canceled between Vietnam and China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand since May 2014 that will not to be reviewed until October 2014. Vietnam Airways estimated revenue loss to date stands at VND2.88tr ($136m). But K6, the joint venture between Cambodian Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, has also been badly affected and it has had to shorten lease contracts and return aircraft to Vietnam Airlines.
New lease customer for Transportation Partners; Skymark shareholder sells out; Vietnam aids airlines
