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China Eastern ramps up Jilin, Hubei base, hub investments
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Air France-KLM launches €2.26bn share issue
26.05.2022 - 02:57 UTCAir France-KLM has launched a capital increase to bolster its finances and repay more of the state aid it received during the pandemic, saying that now is the right time to seek shareholder support amid an invigorated air travel market, it said in a statement and prospectus released on May 24.
The rights issue for existing shareholders targets a gross amount of EUR2,255,645,459 euros (USD2.41 billion), with 1,927,902,102 new shares to be subscribed in cash, “by payment in cash or by offsetting receivables”, at a unit price of EUR1.17 (USD1.25) on the basis of three new shares for one existing share. It will run from May 27 to June 9, inclusive.
The issue is the Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines parent's second in just over a year and was widely expected. It takes it closer to repaying Covid-era government support and meeting European Union conditions for taking part in future mergers and acquisitions - such as the imminent privatisation of ITA Airways (AZ, Rome Fiumicino).
“The company...
US, EU, Chinese regulators stall Korean Air-Asiana merger
20.05.2022 - 02:05 UTCKorean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) is experiencing turbulence in obtaining approval from competition authorities in the United States, Europe, and China for its planned KRW1.8 trillion won (USD1.5 billion) acquisition of a 63.88% stake in rival Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon), the JoongAng Daily and Business Korea reported.
A South Korean government official told local media that “the US Justice Department strongly believes that a marriage between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines will impose restrictions on fair competition, so the merger will face difficulties in obtaining approval.”
The issue was reportedly discussed during a business trip to the United States by Cho Sung-wook, chair of South Korea’s antitrust agency the Korea Fair Trade Commission, in early April. The Justice Department reportedly told the Korean flag carrier to present detailed measures addressing certain competition issues, but Korean Air submitted its plans with a significant delay.
A spokesperson for Korean Air Lines cautioned: “This happens often and doesn’t mean the merger could be cancelled,” adding that the airline is “communicating with US regulators to...
China Eastern Airlines resumes B737-800 operations
20.04.2022 - 01:22 UTCChina Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) restarted scheduled B737-800 operations on April 17, 2022, nearly a month after it grounded the type following the crash of flight MU5735.
The first B737-800 to be reactivated by the airline was B-207L (msn 63075), which flew from Kunming Changshui to Chengdu Shuangliu on April 17, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.
The ch-aviation fleets advanced module indicates the airline operates 106 B737-800s. The decision to ground the sub-fleet was taken by the carrier and not by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which promised close scrutiny of the -800's safety but did not ground it countrywide.
Subsidiary China United Airlines (KN, Beijing Daxing Int'l) resumed B737-800 operations on April 19, according to AirNav RadarBox ADS-B data, while sister carrier Shanghai Airlines (FM, Shanghai Hongqiao) remains nearly fully grounded by a strict lockdown of Shanghai. It has therefore not yet reactivated its B737-800s.
The crash of China Eastern's B737-800 B-1791 (msn 41474) on March 21 killed all 132...
Egypt's CIAF Leasing exits ACMI/charter market
05.04.2022 - 02:43 UTC
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