MERGED: Skywest Airlines Ownership

[flyingfox]

It seems that Skywest Airlines of Perth is considered by most people to be a local Western Australian Company, due to it's origins. But trying to establish who actually owns the company is difficult. So many foreign companies seem to be involved in the ownership, especially Singapore based companies. Even the aircraft being leased to Virgin Australia seem to be Singapore owned, which in itself begs the question of whether the Virgin ATR's are actually Virgin aircraft or just another Skywest vehicle for expanding into the Australian market with a Virgin Australia tie-up. Rumours that the ultimate control of Skywest lies with Singapore Airlines seem to persist and that Skywest is ultimately a Singapore Airlines foray into the Australian domestic market. Is Skywest 50 percent Australian owned and controlled? Is any Ppruner authoritatively able to clarify these Skywest ownership issue?

[triathlon]

That didnt take long !

[flying-spike]

"Rumours that the ultimate control of Skywest lies with Singapore Airlines seem to persist and that Skywest is ultimately a Singapore Airlines foray into the Australian domestic market. Is Skywest 50 percent Australian owned and controlled? Is any Ppruner authoritatively able to clarify these Skywest ownership issue?"

Why is this so surprising? As for ownership of the aircraft. Again, the organisation that the aircraft are leased from owns the aircraft. This has to be a beat up from a "West Australian" competitor not happy about the competition either in W.A. or the deal with Virgin or both.
Page 5 of this document : Company Profile
Should help lift the perceived shroud of mystery
(By authority of a few clicks of a mouse)

[flyingfox]

Skywest Airlines Ownership 2

I strongly object to my thread (quoted below) being locked so quickly by whoever! The flipant answers I received from a couple of smart-Alecs didn't answer any of my questions at all. This has nothing to do with a beat-up from the 'West Australian newspaper' or any other publication. (I rarely read that rag and certainly haven't seen anything about Skywest's ownership in there!) And yes, I HAD DONE THE GOOGLE SEARCH..... and it threw up such a complex web of companies and associates that a corporate lawyer would be needed to wade through the results. So once again I ask if anyone can clear up my query?

It seems that Skywest Airlines of Perth is considered by most people to be a local Western Australian Company, due to it's origins. But trying to establish who actually owns the company is difficult. So many foreign companies seem to be involved in the ownership, especially Singapore based companies. Even the aircraft being leased to Virgin Australia seem to be Singapore owned, which in itself begs the question of whether the Virgin ATR's are actually Virgin aircraft or just another Skywest vehicle for expanding into the Australian market with a Virgin Australia tie-up. Rumours that the ultimate control of Skywest lies with Singapore Airlines seem to persist and that Skywest is ultimately a Singapore Airlines foray into the Australian domestic market. Is Skywest 50 percent Australian owned and controlled? Is any Ppruner authoritatively able to clarify these Skywest ownership issue?

[DrPepz]

Nothing to get so worked up about. They probably incorporate in Singapore for tax purposes. Neither SIA nor any Singapore government-related entity or even any Singaporean owned or controlled company has a significant stake (if any) in Skywest.

Rex, however, is owned by a group of Singaporean investors (private ones, nothing to do with SIA, or the govt).

If ultimate control in Skywest was really in SIA, as a listed company SIA would need to disclose this to the market and consolidate Skywest's accounts line by line into SIA's Group accounts.

[Cargo744]

My thread got closed! Poor baby. Mods should enact mark two

[Chadzat]

I had been meaning to put a thread up about whether Golden Eagle Airlines was a vehicle for the Vatican to get into the Australian aviation market but I thought it would just be just too big a conspiracy for pprune. After this thread im not so sure.....

[flyingfox]

Yes, all very humorous and witty. Answers preceeded with 'probably' are usually speculation, not knowledge. The Rex ownership is easier to follow, but the Skywest issue seems very convoluted. This isn't a jibe at Skywest, just an interest in where our aviation industry is headed. The whole question of where Australia's aviation ownership will ultimately reside covers even Qantas eventually. For instance Cobham is owned by a British company, but previously was Australian owned. The ownership is clear (even by name) and doesn't take much investigation. It seems that fully Australian owned aviation companies will be a rare comodity in years to come.

[gobbledock]

Flyingfox, I sympathize with your comments. Under the watch of successive Australian governments aviation in this country has been taken backwards at breakneck speed. Two-bit airline CEO's, a dysfunctional regulator which also has plummeted to all new depths of incompetence and a succession of Aviation Ministers that could only be described as frightfully pathetic and delusional.

I don't know who it is that ultimately pulls the Skywest strings but sure as **** hope they keep employing Aussies and putting some coin into the Aussie economy.
Things could be worse, Joyce could be the controlling interest of Skywest??

[tail wheel]

I closed the thread because your question regarding Skywest ownership had been answered in full. I have also now merged both threads.

The flipant answers I received from a couple of smart-Alecs didn't answer any of my questions at all.

To the contrary, all your questions were legitimately and fully answered. The responses were not flipant or smart-Alec!

In case you didn't bother to read the links given:

From the links posted in this thread, and the Advent Singapore web site HERE the ultimate holding company is a Singapore Company, registered in Australia as an Foreign Company:

Skywest Airlines Ltd (formerly known as Advent Air Ltd) is a diversified airline, aerospace and investment group incorporated in Singapore.

Australian ASIC Registration:
Name SKYWEST AIRLINES LTD.
ARBN 140 631 572
Type Foreign Company (Overseas)
Registration Date 18/11/2009
Next Review Date Unknown
Status Registered
Locality of Registered Office Perth Airport WA 6105

"The Group's current principal subsidiary is a high capacity airline operator and holiday package supplier in the Australasian region, Skywest Airlines (Australia) Pty Ltd (“Skywest”), it holds an Australian High Capacity Air Operators Certificate enabling the operation of large commercial aircraft for charter and regular scheduled air passenger traffic."

Name SKYWEST AIRLINES (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD
ACN 008 997 662
ABN 76 008 997 662
Type Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Registration Date 25/09/1981
Next Review Date 25/09/2012
Status Registered
Locality of Registered Office Perth Airport WA 6105

So........

1. SKYWEST AIRLINES LTD is a Singapore Company, registered in Australia as a Foreign Company, which owns;
2. SKYWEST AIRLINES (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD which is the Australian operating company

.
What is not to understand?

Now, just to confuse you.... The Former Names of this company:

Name PEARL AVIATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
ACN 008 903 017
ABN 40 008 903 017
Type Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Registration Date 24/10/1979
Next Review Date 27/02/2013
Status Registered
Locality of Registered Office Darwin NT 0800

Are:
SKYWEST AVIATION PTY LTD
CHATWIN PTY. LTD.
SKYWEST AIRLINES PTY. LTD.
STILLWELL AIRLINES PTY. LTD.
WOOLSTONE PTY. LTD.

But that is another story and you didn't ask that question..............

[flyingfox]

Thank you Tailwheel!

[Thats what she said]

How then have Skywest passed the Australian ownership tests associated with the awarding of capacity on international routes out of Australia, which require majority Ossie ownership??

[Transition Layer]

But hang on, the Skywest website proudly says:

"Your State. Your Airline"

[Chadzat]

Aaaand here come the Skywest bashers, thankyou for your contibution Transition Layer. how is the 'spirit of Asia, oh sorry Australia' going for you?

[DrPepz]

A quick check of their 2011 annual report shows the following:

http://www.advent.com.sg/files/SXR_AR2011.pdf

Twenty largest holders of quoted equity securities and depository receipts

Name Number Percentage
Apollo Nominees Ltd <CRE> 15,476,153 7.73%
Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited 13,377,538 6.68%
UBS Nominees Pty Ltd <PB SEG A/C> 13,340,403 6.66%
Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited 12,107,440 6.05%
Fitel Nominees Limited <0061403> 10,921,867 5.45%
Hargreave Hale Nominees Limited <LON> 9,798,988 4.89%
Chase Nominees Limited <Artemis> 9,000,000 4.49%
National Nominees Limited 7,025,004 3.51%
Fitel Nominees Limited <0067873> 7,000,000 3.49%
UBS Wealth Management Australia Nominees Pty Ltd 4,700,000 2.34%
HSBC Global Custody Nominee (UK) Limited <993791> 4,500,000 2.24%
Queensland Investment Corporation 4,215,029 2.10%
Smith & Williamson Nominees Limited 3,732,000 1.86%
Fitel Nominees Limited <0070851> 3,173,743 1.58%
L R Nominees Limited <NOMINEE> 2,906,907 1.45%
Pershing Nominees Limited <SKCLT> 2,774,901 1.38%
HSBC Global Custody Nominee (Australia) Pty Limited 2,688,896 1.34%
Barclayshare Nominees Limited 2,556,980 1.27%
TD Waterhouse Nominees (Europe) Limited <SMKTNOMS> 2,410,229 1.20%
Mr Robert Jeffries Chatfield 2,400,000 1.19

======

Looks to be mostly institutional investors, really. They paid 27% of their profit in tax, so probably most of it was taxed at source in Australia, then remitted to Singapore.

[givemewings]

Well their employees are almost all Aussie, which is more than JQ with their foreign cabin crew could claim..... just to keep things in perspective!

[tail wheel]

How then have Skywest passed the Australian ownership tests associated with the awarding of capacity on international routes out of Australia, which require majority Ossie ownership??

Why get hung up on Australian ownership? It is too late - in recent years almost everything that was once Australian has been flogged off to overseas interests.

Concern grows over foreign ownership of Australian farmland | Adelaide Now

It has been brewing for some time, but the revelation that Chinese state-owned company Shenhua Watermark Coal had spent about $200 million buying up 43 farms on prime agricultural land near Gunnedah in New South Wales has led to calls to halt the so-called foreign "land grab".

The Australian Greens fuelled the fire yesterday, claiming that research they commissioned showed Australia's mining wealth was now 87 per cent foreign-owned, and that $50 billion in dividends from mining companies operating on our shores would flow overseas over the next five years.

Foreign ownership of mining: Xstrata, BHP and tax havens | Crikey

Bob Brown played a canny hand yesterday with his National Press Club address by releasing a report on the level of foreign ownership of the mining industry, showing 83% of mining companies are foreign-owned.

The Government do not like our outspoken Australian owned resource sector.

[Transition Layer]

Chadzat,

It's not all bad. It seems almost every time I go to work I'm flying a brand new jet fresh from the Boeing factory with a good group of people and apparently more work on the way. Sure QF has it's problems but there's plenty of positives too...thanks for your concern.

Now back to the original topic