Turmoil in Iceland

[Rainboe]

That headache is coming back again this morning! How can some of you people be made to understand Fons is not associated with those travel companies? Say after me........'Fengur owns them!'

Are we there yet?

I wonder if anyone who was on the wrong end of the cynical culling of BWA, to create Astraeus the next day, is allowing themselves an inwards chuckle at this sorry state of affairs...

There are some peculiar dementia sufferers like just_registered who permit themselves a chuckle at companies going down. Sadly Fons going down may take some UK High Street stores down- there will be store staff deeply worried about their jobs. Some 'chuckle' eh? From the look of it- those 'chucklers' were well got rid of from BWA!

[757_Driver]

Yeah, its hilarious when people loose their jobs at a time when theres zero chance of getting another one. Oh how we laugh when people loose their jobs, their homes and they and their family end up in a spiral of debt, divorce and misery etc. What joy to wish on other people eh?
Anyhoo Rainboe - just have a look a just-registereds post history - it appears that its not only us that deserve this treatment!
Anyway, regardless of AEU's ownership, and wether it has gone bust or not, AEU is currently a profitable company that is expanding and recruiting, a rare beast in the current climate.

[sam dilly]

Just Viking for charters... I dont think so, we still have many other options
A few being TITAN , Jet 2 , Monarch , Flybe ,Thomsonfly, BMI , and probably
others as well.
So really there are options still in the marketplace in the UK to charter a plane
from a King Air all the way up to A330 / B767 sizes.

[Rainboe]

Then why are Viking basing 6 737s in the UK at LGW and MAN this year? Even with a fallen pound, it is economic to hire a European charter for UK package tours, paid in Euros? Astraeus is the last British airline headquartered at Gatwick. It´s running at a profit and it is currently expanding and recruiting (pilots and cabin crew) in this incredibly dreadful market. Spare the stern lectures about Icelandic ownership and the wanting to chuckle at some imagined disaster! Right now the UK is not pulling its weight in aviation. Whilst it may disappoint some, the company is pressing ahead of several fronts and is a going concern.

[spider_man]

I'm pretty sure Virgin Atlantic is a British airline with its Head Offices at Gatwick.

[Rainboe]

Those are the administrative offices. I don't believe the Virgin Board meets there. I am told that Astraeus is the only airline headquartered at Gatwick where the Board meet on the premesis.

[BOAC]

Yes, but i think Singapore airlines owns 49% of Virgin atlantic!

- and some company - Fengur, apparently (at 0505091526Z, anyway) of Icelandic origins and unknown domicile owns ?51%? of Astraeus?

[spider_man]

Virgin Atlantic website:

Q Where is the Virgin Atlantic HQ?
A Our headquarters are in the UK in Crawley, near London Gatwick Airport, with overseas offices in the US, Caribbean, South Africa, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Delhi and Lagos.

[ashland]

Turmoil in Iceland - Palmi takes NTH to bankruptcy court

Here it is today:

Vísir - Fyrirtaka í greiðslustöðvun flugrisa

the rumour network here says that PH will have his nightset, pyjamas, gown
and domestic shoes to the courtroom, he will be there a lot during the
coming years. The poor Palmi simply cannot pay anymore. Only a year ago
he whisked around in a private jet and enjoyed life to its maximum.

I do hope that Iceland Express survives this as the market need the
competition.

[Shingles]

Gatwick-Akureyri summer 2010

Iceland Express has announced another new service for next summer - Gatwick-Akureyri weekly. Is this bravura or are they indeed riding the crisis out? (Icelandair seems to be surviving despite traffic down 18%.)

[Rainboe]

They are indeed riding the crisis out and I hope it may continue. Iceland needs any good industries, and there are a lot of good people working hard in Iceland Express. The association with Astraeus is working well, at times there have been 2 737s and 2 757s this summer all flying well, and this winter once again the 2 737s will be supplemented by 757s. It's sad though to think there are some embittered people hoping something will fail somewhere, and taking dubious pleasure at any bad news! As for Iceland, the fallout from the crisis will be considerable, but PHs companies are actually providing him with a solid return as we go into the winter. Most entrepreneurs with wide ranging business interests have been hit badly in this crisis, but not all of them come up under this weird aviation 'spotlight' that draws attention so much to them, with so many people apparently desperately hoping that ill will come to them! Very strange, and quite disturbing in a way.

[Shingles]

2110 Iceland Express JFK, Icelandair expansion...

So IE plans a x4 weekly KEF-JFK from June 2010, while Icelandair plans 10% expansion - see here and beyond.

Is FI's move at all in response to IE/Astraeus' plans? It all seems a bit rash - Iceland isn't out of the woods yet by any means - nor is the UK et al for that matter!

[Shingles]

Bid for CSA

Today's WSJ suggests the ongoing story of the Travel Service/Icelandair bid for Czech Airlines may be coming to a head. See here for details:

CSA Czech Airlines Gets Only Chance To Fly On? - New Europe - WSJ

Plus after Malev's experience with Russian money the Czech Govt may well actaully go with this offer.

[VOM1T]

Low cost Icelanders invading the Baltics ?

"Lithuania Express is a planned, low-fare airline to be based in Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania.[1] It will offer regular flights to 6–8 destinations in Europe, such as Amsterdam and Berlin, flying about 20 direct flights in a week. Operations are scheduled to begin at the end of December 2009. Its fleet will consist of wet leased Boeing 737-700 aircraft."

"Lithuania Express" ?ada nauj? reguliari?j? skryd?i? i? Vilniaus - Transportas - Vilniaus diena