JAL Group unveils ZIPAIR as new longhaul LCC project

More board reshuffles at Viet Nam's Bamboo Airways

An extraordinary shareholder's meeting on September 15 saw more board upheaval at Bamboo Airways (QH, Hanoi), with three directors resigning and two replacements elected. Three members of the airline's supervisory board were also replaced. The resignations continue a period of board instability at Viet Nam's third-largest airline.

Citing documents released before the shareholders' meeting, multiple Vietnamese media reports said board vice chairman Hideki Oshima, Doan Huu Doan, and Tran Hoa Binh are exiting the board. At the meeting, the three gentlemen were replaced by Phan Dinh Tue and Thi Truc Quynh.

Tue also sits on the board of directors at the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), a major Bamboo Airways creditor. He told shareholders that Sacombank is eyeing a stake in the airline if it can get regulatory approval. He says that despite Bamboo's current challenges, the bank is optimistic about its future and watching the restructuring process. The second new board member, Thi Truc Quynh, is an internal promotion and works as Bamboo's deputy general director. Thi will be the only...

MAG eyes 100% stake in Brahims' catering arm

Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) will have to pay up to MYR129 million ringgit (USD27.72 million) to acquire the remaining 70% stake in in-flight catering entity Brahim's Food Services Sdn Bhd (BFS), according to the New Straits Times.

MAG already owns a 30% stake in the caterer, and majority owner Brahim's Holdings Bhd is reportedly prepared to sell the remaining 70%, along with its employees and airline customers. The sale price was arrived at by contracted consultants Deloitte Malaysia. Deloitte was brought in after MAG and BFS were unable to settle on an agreed price for any buyout.

However, the sale is not a done deal, with an inflight catering contract renewal between BFS and Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) remaining unsigned amid disagreements over terms. The existing three-year contract expired on June 30 and has been extended month-by-month, with the current agreement set to end on August 31. Malaysia Airlines wants to insert a termination for convenience clause into the new contract, which BFS is unhappy about. BFS also wants the new contract to...

Japan's JAL delays B777-200ER phase-out to mid-4Q23

MIAT Mongolian Airlines eyes oneworld connect membership

Saying he wants to get "beyond codeshares," the CEO of MIAT - Mongolian Airlines (OM, Ulaanbaatar) has told CNN that the airline wants to join the Oneworld connect program.

Munkhtamir Batbayar said the limited domestic market and small fleet size made partnerships and alliances the MIAT's best avenue for growth. The airline's key existing partner airlines are oneworld members JAL - Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific. It also has existing codeshare and marketing agreements with Korean Air and Turkish Airlines.

"We are actively pursuing to get into the oneworld connect program," Batbayar said. The connect program allows airlines to provide selected alliance benefits. Program airlines need a fully-fledged oneworld member to sponsor them. The single existing connect member, Fiji Airways, is sponsored by Qantas, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and American Airlines. Batbayar is counting on the support and sponsorship of his two existing oneworld partners but says how his strategy pans out largely depends on them.

"It depends on how they are going to do...