Cash-strapped Germania banks on investor talks


Ian Taylor ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk


German airline Germania


conϐirmed it is in ϐinancial difϐiculties last week but insisted it has sufϐicient investment to continue ϐlyingǤ Germania suffered a cash


shortfall at the end of December and responded to media reports that it was seeking investment saying: “Germania is examining various ϐinancing options to ensure its short-term liquidity needs.” The problems at the second-


largest German-owned airline highlight the difϐiculties facing second-tier carriers in Europe. Berlin-based Germania


operates a ϐleet of ͵7 aircraft on a mix of scheduled and charter ϐlights mostly between ermany and destinations around the Mediterranean and to Turkey. It became ermanyǯs secondǦbiggest carrier behind Lufthansa when Air Berlin collapsed in October ʹ017Ǥ


ut it faces stiff competition from easyJet, which took over 37


Aircraft operated by Germania on charter and scheduled routes


ir erlinǯs operation in erlinǡ


from yanair and from ufthansaǯs low-cost subsidiary Germanwings. Germania blamed “unforeseeable


events” for its cash shortfall, saying: “The massive increases in fuel prices last summer and the simultaneous weakening of the euro against the US dollar were major burdens.” It also blamed “considerable


delays in phasing aircraft into our ϐleet and an unusually high number of maintenance events”. In a statement, the carrier


saidǣ Dzʹ01ͺ was a particularly challenging year. The entire industry is undergoing transition.” oweverǡ the airline insistedǣ ermania ϐlights continue to


Dz ll operate as planned.”


GERMANIA: The carrier is trying to ease ‘short-term liquidity needs’


Owner and chief executive


Karsten Balke said talks with unnamed investors had progressed to the point that the airline could prove its ϐinancial liquidity to the German civil aviation authority. alke said he was conϐident of


obtaining fresh ϐinancingǤ e saidǣ Dz he serious interest


of the investors makes us optimistic we can continue as an independent airline.” ermania operates ͵4 aircraft in


Germany and three via subsidiaries in Switzerland and Bulgaria. German tour operators contract


about 60Ψ of its capacityǡ typically on ϐlights from smaller airportsǤ Tui is its biggest client in Germany. The airline carried more than


four million passengers last year. t made a loss of ̀ͺ million


in ʹ016 on a turnover of ̀͵69 millionǡ since when it has published no ϐinancial dataǤ


JET AIRWAYS: Fresh funding may rest on its founder stepping down


Air France to close ‘difficult to understand’ subsidiary Joon


Air France is to wind up Joon little more than a year after launching the subsidiary carrier. New chief executive Benjamin


Smith signalled the end of a brand he described as Dzdifϐicult to understand”, saying Joon would be integrated into the


ir rance ϐleet


following a review of its future. is announcement followed a


deal between Air France and trade unions representing cabin crew.


oon was unveiled in uly ʹ017


by then Air France chief executive Franck Terner, who hailed the airline as “designed” to meet “the aspirations” of “a young working clientele whose lifestyles revolve around digital technology”. t launched in


ecember ʹ017ǡ


operating from Paris Charles de Gaulle with pilots and cabin crew on different contracts from those at the parent carrier. Joon began


by offering short and medium- haul ϐlights but expanded to longǦ haul last year. It was due to start ϐlying from anchester in Smith said: “The brand was


archǤ


difϐicult to understand for customers, for employees, for markets and for investors. The plurality of brands has created complexity and weakened the power of the Air France brand.” e conϐirmedǣ Dz ll oon ϐlights


sold or for sale [will] be operated by Joon until the project is completed and then taken over by Air France.” Smith, who took over as Air


France-KLM group chief executive in September, also announced a deal with cabin crew unionsǤ


e


replaced former group chairman and chief executive Jean-Marc Janaillac who resigned in May after staff overwhelmingly rejected a pay deal amid a wave of strikes.


17 January 2019travelweekly.co.uk119


India’s Jet Airways seeks investors to ease credit crunch


Jet Airways was in crisis talks with a consortium of banks, aircraft lessors and stakeholder Etihad Airways this week. The Indian carrier defaulted on


loan repayments in December, has left staff unpaid for months and has missed payments to aircraft leasing companies. et operates a ϐleet of 1ʹ0


aircraft and ϐlies from eathrow to Mumbai and Delhi. It is majority-owned by founder


Naresh Goyal. Abu Dhabi-based tihad owns a ʹ4Ψ stakeǤ ndiaǯs banks have reportedly refused to extend further credit to the airline without investment from Etihad or a new investor, but fresh investment appears conditional on Goyal agreeing to step down. In a statement, Jet Airways said


it has “a comprehensive plan that will ensure business sustainability”. ndiaǯs aviation market is


boomingǡ but most of ndiaǯs airlines remain unproϐitableǤ


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128