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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3670.PDF
HEADLINES AIR TRANSPORT HERMAN DE WULF / BRUSSELS DAT Plus gets airborne as Virgin Express signs interim co-operation agreement Deal expected to lead to merger as Belgian Government cash puts Sabena subsidiary back in business with new name Just three days after the collapse of Belgium's national airline Sabena, the carrier's low-cost commuter subsidiary Delta Air Transport (DAT) resumed flying as an inde pendent airline. The restart was secured thanks to an €125 million ($111 million) credit from the Bel gian Government and a promise from two of the country's major financiers to invest a further €155 million, with regional govern ments also providing €45 million between them. DAT aims to carry six million pas sengers a year and break even dur ing 2003. Operating a fleet of 14 BAE Systems Avro RJ85s, 12 Avro RJlOOs and six British Aerospace 146s, DAT carried 3.3 million peo ple, 37% of Sabena's passengers, in 2000. Unlike its bankrupt parent the subsidiary made a profit last year. The European Commission ap proved switching the Belgian Gov ernment's €125 million "tempo rary bridging credit", intended for Sabena, to DAT to allow the airline to resume flying and stop rivals i from taking over Sabena slots at j European airports. Virgin Express, ' VIM, Air France and British Mid-1 land are among those who have already stepped in to fill the gap. The first DAT flight to take to the air again on 10 November was flight QG2719 to Geneva. The speedy resumption of services was partly the result of a €200 million investment by the business em pires of Viscount Etienne Davignon and Count Maurice Lippens. The carrier will serve 45 destina tions in Europe using DAT's regional jet fleet plus eight former Sabena Airbus A319s. Routes to the USA and Africa will be served with six ex-Sabena A330s. DAT Plus, as the airline is tem porarily known, was boosted last week by an interim co-operation deal with local rival Virgin Express. The two will codeshare on some flights, and mount joint sales. The deal, which ends next month when DAT is put up for sale by the Sabena receiver, precedes an expected merger. The new DAT will have 2,645 staff. The low-cost airline is hiring former Sabena employees, but on dramatically reduced wage scales. DAT pays pilots 34% less than their FLlGjKTfJf, , isr<m *% - dat DAT Plus launched services on 10 November with a flight to Geneva former employer, while cabin crew get 42% less. Sabena's demise is a social disas ter in Belgium, with an estimated 6,000 or 50% of Sabena staff losing their jobs and twice that many from a wide range of suppliers. • Maintenance specialist Sabena Technics says it is continuing to operate normally despite the sudden demise of Sabena. Doubts had been expressed over the viability of the maintenance arm, but Sabena Technics insists that it is a legal entity "separate from the airline and the bank ruptcy judgement [on Sabena] does not apply to us." Despite that, the company announced it will furlough 700 employees following the demise of Sabena. All Sabena aircraft under maintenance have been towed out to join a 50-strong fleet parked on taxiways. It remains unclear what role Sabena Technics will play in the DAT Plus operations but the main- tainer says that is continuing to "actively seek investors" and that the process is at an advanced stage. Sabena Technics will continue to operate an engine maintenance joint venture with Snecma. BUSINESS Japan merger to form world's sixth-largest airline Japan Airlines (JAL) and Japan Air System (JAS) are to merge, creating the world's sixth-largest air line by revenue passenger kilometres. Together they will control 48% of the domestic market, roughly equal to that of All Nippon Airways (ANA), which has a much smaller international network than JAL. JAL's international business has suffered since the 11 September attacks, and the airline now plans to expand its domestic presence where traffic has held up. If the deal is approved by shareholders and regu lators, a joint holding company should be established in September 2002. The airlines will be fully merged in early 2004. JAL already holds an 8.25% stake in JAS and is its second-largest shareholder after rail company Tokyu Corp, which owns 30%. JAS president Hiromi Funabiki will be chairman of the new holding company, while JAL president and chief executive Isao Kaneko will be president. The new company's name has yet to be decided. The airlines say present bilateral alliances will not be affected. JAL has partnerships with 19 airlines, including most members of Oneworld, while JAS has codeshare partnerships with a handful of inter national carriers including KLM, Northwest and China Southern. A merger between the number one and number three Japanese carriers has long been seen as a good fit - JAL focuses on international routes, while JAS has only a limited overseas network, to main land China, Hong Kong and South Korea. JAL and JAS have been co-operating further, including a Tokyo-Seoul codeshare. While ANA has been silent since the announce ment, some analysts say the deal could spur consolidation among the country's other carriers. Skymark Airlines and Air Do have recently struggled and could be potential partners or take-over targets for ANA. The deal is the first major shake-up of Japan's industry since 1971, when TOA Domestic Airlines and Japan Domestic Airlines merged to form JAS. JAL reports a 61 % drop in net profits for the six months to 30 September and forecasts net losses of ¥40 billion ($328 million) for the full year to 31 March. Net profit fell to ¥16.39 billion for the first half, operating profit fell 45% to ¥38.95 billion while pre-tax profit was also down 45% to ¥21.75 billion. Operating revenue was down 0.3% to ¥871.25 billion. 6 20-26 NOVEMBER 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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