Turmoil in Iceland

[ashland]

Fons investment company, owned by Palmi who also owns Astraeus and Iceland Express,
has been decleared bankrupt. After the Sterling bankruptcy this is one more shock that
he does not need in these difficult times. Also note that 70% of Icelandairs shares are
held as collateral by government owned bank as the shareholders themselves are not
solvent. BTW almost no business in Iceland is solvent now after the financial collapse
last October. Air Atlanta is on the brink of collapse and ex-owner Magnus Thorsteinsson
has disappeared in Russia after failed court injunctions in Iceland. JetX is moving from
its Icelandic registration and AOC, they imagine a more relaxed life in Denmark.
You are of course familiar with the collapse of Icelandic owned Excel UK last August.
Seem like Icelanders were involved in two of the largest European airline bankruptcies last
year, Sterling and Excel UK.

[standbyils]

Astraeus is not owned by FONS as is one of the few UK airlines recruiting and expanding.:ok:

[Whiskey Papa]

Correct, standbyils. Astraeus is owned by Northern Travel Holdings. However Northern Travel’s shareholders are Fons (44%), FL Group (34%) and Sund (22%). So ashland is also nearly correct.

WP

[BOAC]

.....and, of course, standby - to point out that 'ashland' never said it did:ugh:

[ashland]

The local media has covered this substantially and Palmi has maintained that his air
transport companies, Iceland Express, Astraeus etc are under new ownership of
Fengur ehf, not Fons or NTH as used to be. Fengur was previously in the fruit and
vegetables business and was involved through its subsidiaries in the largest anti-
compeitition lawsuit ever carried out in Icelandic courts and Palmis companies received
one of the highest fines ever given out here. The cause was price fixing.
For curiosity sake:

Fons í gjaldþrot - mbl.is (http://www.mbl.is/mm/vidskipti/frettir/2009/04/30/fons_i_gjaldthrot/)

Vísir - Fons tekið til gjaldþrotaskipta (http://www.visir.is/article/20090430/VIDSKIPTI06/822904022/-1)

and you guys and girls will probably recognize some faces and names there.

[oceancrosser]

Iceland Express and Astraeus are claimed to be "owned" (or owed) by the same holding company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Apparently things are catching up with Mr.Palmi Haraldsson. Will be interesting to watch. Astraeus folks, beware.

The following quote from Astraeus Airlines (http://www.astraeus.co.uk) is apparently no longer correct, but not updated either. Maybe they dont really know which company currently owns them.

In late 2007 Astraeus Airlines became a 100% subsidiary of Northern Travel Holding (NTH) an Icelandic based travel group that also owns Iceland Express in Iceland

The sooner you Astraeus folks become rid of this ownership, the better.

[Rainboe]

What a daft unreal remark! You can no longer choose who owns a company than a pregnant woman can decide someone else should be the father of her child! Can we get real please? Astraeus IS owned by and is part of Northern Travel Group which owns Iceland Express. The operation is robust and expanding, and is profitable. Your personal comments about the owner are unsubstantiated and really in rather bad taste. He´s put up a lot of money through the bad times, which, you may have noticed, we are still in. Relax a bit about it- it´s really no skin off your nose!

[BOAC]

To update Ashland's Icelandic news link, here it is in English. Fons bankrupt | NewsFrettir - Icelandic news in English (http://newsfrettir.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=604:fons-bankrupt&catid=26:bankruptcies&Itemid=44) . Fons (now bankrupt) owned 100% of Northern Travel who may or may not own 51% of Astraeus and 100% of Iceland Express.:confused:

Difficult at the moment to decide who owns Astraeus who may just be a shuttlecock in this game.

More 'turmoil' in KEF is the strong (denied) rumour of government 'acquisition' of IcelandAir.

Interesting times, as they say.

[Rainboe]

It is reported ownership of Astraeus and Iceland Express devolves to Fengur, not Fons. Those companies are not related to Fons. It would appear a lot of this saga re Fons is an internal Iceland thing, although significant assets are owned abroad. My point was stern lectures about the so-called ownership of companies is a waste of time for everybody! There is no question of the viability of the businesses. Who else is recruiting these days?

[BOAC]

It is reported ownership of Astraeus and Iceland Express devolves to Fengur, not Fons. I wouldn't get too excited about this, since as far as I can see it comes from an old Wiki entry which has not I think been updated since NTH took over. ' SuperMario's' blog indeed says "In late 2007 Astraeus Airlines became a 100% subsidiary of Northern Travel Holding (NTH) an Icelandic based travel group that also owns Iceland Express in Iceland" and it is fact that Fons (owned) 100% of NTH before bankruptcy. "ICELAND - Fons Eignarhaldsfelag hf acquired the remaining 34.8% stake, which it did not aleady own, in Northern Travel Holding hf" in Sep 08 (quote from Thompson Reuters). As to 'who does what to whom and how' right now is anyone's guess.

The crucial decisions, as always, lie with the CAA for a Type A licence as per-

"Financial Monitoring and Regulation
25. Articles 5.3 and 5.4 of the Council Licensing Regulation require operators to notify licensing authorities of changes to their operation and, if requested to do so, to supply revised business plans. Article 5.5 gives licensing authorities the power to suspend or revoke a licence if they are no longer satisfied that the holder can meet its financial obligations for the next 12 months. In the UK, decisions by the CAA are subject to published procedures and to appeal to the Secretary of State, as set out in the CAA Regulations (http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1991/uksi_19911672_en_1.htm) as amended by the Licensing of Air Carriers Regulations [8] (http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=213&pagetype=90&pageid=737#8)." and as long as the 12 months' dosh is there is some form or another, all is sweet. I guess Faraday Court's calculators are a bit busy at the moment.:} Maybe Bruce needs to sell some more records...:)

a pregnant woman can decide someone else should be the 'father' of her child - Hmm! Where have you been?

[Rainboe]

Sometimes this board makes your head hurt! If the companies are 100% owned by Fons, and if Fons is 100% bust, then how are both entities trading quite happily (and profitably)? The answer is because Fons is no longer connected to either entity. Fengur is. Blow me! Wikipedia out of date, or plain wrong, or website not updated quickly enough? Well I never!

[oceancrosser]

I seem to have twisted the rainboe... But fact of the matter is that Northern Travel Holdings has apparently been dissolved and its holdings (dunno about the debt) have been moved far far offshore (to the Caribbean).
And the story does smell, even if rainboe can´t (or won´t) smell it

[Rainboe]

Well it may smell to you, but of far more importance than fussing about who or what owns a couple of successful businesses are the more relevant questions about what happened to that wall of money that was invested in Iceland with 'assurances', and blow me down it has evaporated. Not just shrunk, but totally and utterly evaporated, leaving just a small salty residue. Many people all over the world were persuaded that it was a safe place to send their savings, and they´re gone, with the wind. Why fuss about Fons and companies that are still trading happily? That is where the 'smell´is!

[just_registered]

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...

[Rainboe]

They must be very sorry people if they do! Rejkjavik-based Fons Eignarhaldsfelag owns stakes in toy chain Hamleys; Iceland, the convenience food chain; jewellery chains Goldsmiths and Mappin & Webb; specialist retail chain Whittard of Chelsea; and health food chain Julian Graves. I think Pizza Hut or Express is in there too. I think a lot of jobs may be at stake. I wouldn´t be chuckling- I feel immensely sad when people lose their livelihoods. But you may rest assured Fengur is in a different situation.

[just_registered]

incredible how the cod-heads were allowed to dominate many areas of UK Industry, not just aviation, by effectively all investing in each others businesses. Rest assured if AEU are owned by another Icelandic vehicle, then there still may be trouble ahead. Dont get me wrong, I have plenty of mates who got shafted by the Icelandic banana economy, I wish you and your colleagues well, otherwise the only UK independent carrier left of any substance for Charters, will be Viking, horrific prospect on many levels.

[oceancrosser]

Well rainboe, Mr Palmi Haraldsson of Fons, Northern Travel Holding, several failed ventures such as Sterling, a swedich lo-cost whose name eludes me and several other, and now gone off with Fengur and its holdings is intricately linked to everything that went wrong in Iceland.

And with a prior conviction for Competition Issues, he is not a very popular person on the Island up north.

[TBSC]

a swedish lo-cost whose name eludes me

It was FlyMe.

[Ballymoss]

Sometimes this board makes your head hurt!

Probably the most sensible thing you've ever said (If it was brewed by Carlsberg)

Rgds
The Moss:ok:

[James 1077]

I'm not going to get into the debate about who owns what etc but in answer to this question:


If the companies are 100% owned by Fons, and if Fons is 100% bust, then how are both entities trading quite happily (and profitably)? The answer is because Fons is no longer connected to either entity.


Just because the parent company is bust doesn't mean the subsidiaries aren't profitable or trading. They are companies in their own rights and will simply get sold / bought out / transferred to creditors as part of the liquidation / administration of the parent company.

If you owned 100% of a company, and you went bust, it wouldn't mean that the company you owned wouldn't be able to trade - just that your ownership would get transferred to your creditors over time.

Think Excel and its French & German (?) subsidiaries.

[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. :D

[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]

Here it is today:

Vísir - Fyrirtaka í greiðslustöðvun flugrisa (http://www.visir.is/article/20090914/VIDSKIPTI06/677684851)

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]

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]

So IE plans a x4 weekly KEF-JFK from June 2010, while Icelandair plans 10% expansion - see here (http://insidetraveller.co.uk/blog/?p=387) 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]

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 (http://blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2009/10/01/csa-czech-airlines-gets-only-chance-to-fly-on)

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

[VOM1T]

"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 (http://vilniaus.diena.lt/naujienos/transportas/-lithuania-express-zada-nauju-reguliariuju-skrydziu-is-vilniaus-240546)