AirAsia X (AAX) will acquire Capital A’s AirAsia Aviation Group and AirAsia Berhad for MYR6.8 billion ($1.42 billion) to form a new company that will house all airlines operating under the AirAsia brand. AirAsia X entered into a sale and purchase agreement on 25 April to acquire AirAsia Aviation Group for consideration of MYR3 billion, and AirAsia Berhad for MYR3.8 billion, says the group. The proposed acquisition of AirAsia Aviation Group will be satisfied entirely through the allotment and issuance of 2.31 billion shares of the new company at an issue price of MYR1.30, while the acquisition of AirAsia Berhad will be done entirely through debt settlement. The newly formed entity will have seven airlines operating under it, namely Malaysia AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, Philippines AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, AirAsia Cambodia, AirAsia X and Thai Air Asia X. “This allows the AAX Group to be part of an enlarged aviation group with award-winning airlines with over 22 years of established history and track record instead of being run and managed distinctively as a separate entity from the AAAGL Group and AAB Group,” the company states. “The New Aviation Group will operate and provide a full spectrum of short, medium and long-haul low-cost air transportation services, with domestic flights and international flights from Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia to numerous destination countries.” The newly formed entity also plans to raise MYR1 billion through the private placement of new shares, with third-party investors and issue price to be determined at a later time. Gross proceeds will be used for funding aircraft, engines and other aircraft parts, repayment of AirAsia Berhad’s term loan facilities and general working capital, states AirAsia X. AAX says the airlines to be housed under the new entity collectively have an order of about 400 aircraft from Airbus, mainly secured by AirAsia Berhad, with scheduled delivery commencing from 2024 up until 2035. Capital A is expected to record a gain of MYR10.76 billion from the disposals, it says, and is expected to retain 18.39% of the enlarged issued shares of the newly formed company. “The Proposed Disposals are intended to be undertaken by the Company to streamline the Group’s core business activities to focus on aviation services and digital businesses which are essential and complementary to the passenger airlines business”, states Capital A. AAX entered into a non-binding letter of acceptance with Capital A on 8 January for the proposed acquisition of the two aviation business units.

UK low-cost airline Jet2 has disclosed that pricing for summer flights is showing a “modest increase” against last year, although it has been "more competitive" in recent weeks, particularly for April and May travel. In a trading update that covers the year to end-March 2024 as well as looking ahead to the summer, Jet2 says higher fares are helping to offset an increase in costs amid a generally inflationary environment. The carrier is 90% fuel hedged for the coming season and 80% for the full year, "providing important cost certainty given unfolding events in the Middle East". Meanwhile, summer seat capacity is up 12% on last year to 17.1 million seats, currently 55% sold with load factors a percentage point higher. Package holiday bookings are up 13%, "and we are also seeing healthy demand from flight-only passengers for which bookings are currently up by over 18%", says Jet2. It has narrowed its guidance range for its full-year pre-tax and forex adjusted profit to £515-520 million ($641-647 million), from £510-525 million previously. That would represent a rise of around a third on the year to end-March 2023. In February, the carrier upped its guidance from £480-520 million, citing a strong winter season and well-performing forward bookings. Its full-year results will be announced on 7 July. "We are pleased with the strong financial results for FY24 which underlines the resilience, flexibility and popularity of our product offering, plus the outstanding customer service provided by our colleagues," states chief executive Steve Heapy. Investment firm Goodbody notes that the market consensus for the year to end-March 2025 is a profit before tax of £543 million, "and we do not expect a material change to this number after the update today". The mostly upbeat assessment of the market tallies with the positive sentiment in the European sector as the summer season gets underway. EasyJet said as part of a mid-month trading update that bookings for the summer were continuing to "build well", with higher volumes and pricing compared with last year, underpinned by strong demand across its network.

Loganair will remove Aberdeen-Teesside, Aberdeen-Newcastle, and Glasgow-Southampton routes from its network, effective 10 May. The UK carrier says this is part of an "initial root and branch" review of its operations under new chief Luke Farajallah, as it seeks to stabilise and improve resilience in its network. It adds that several other routes will see frequency adjustments until the end of the summer schedule on 26 October. "We are ruthlessly focused on confidently serving our core markets and core customers, who must be able to book with certainty, and experience a stable and resilient flying programme, says Farajallah. "This is especially true for the Highlands and Islands communities who rely on Loganair for being so much more than an airline serving a leisure market."