VLM Airlines news 2014-2015

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RoMax
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by RoMax »

tsv wrote: The deal has some obvious Political risks but IMO most of the risk specific to the Aircraft has been eliminated by Interjet's (apparently) very successful introduction of their SJ fleet. Even Aeroflot seems to have stopped whinging about them which says a lot because they didn't want them but were forced to order them for Political reasons.
With InterJet it has nicknames like the tractor because of its reliability. But not only reliable, also fuel efficient. But it takes courage to add such aircraft to your fleet as a European or North American carrier. This could turn out as a great deal for VLM if their scheduled operations become a success. They must have got a damn cheap deal on these aircraft. Negative side of the story, if VLM's scheduled flights fail (which is still possible ANR is not an easy market...correction: the airline market is about the biggest mess of any industry you can think of making chances of failure relatively high), people could blame it on the aircraft... But that's of course a risk that Ilyushin/Sukhoi is more than willing to take and probably they only gave the best deals to the airlines of which they think can succeed. VLM still has a damn strong reputation in the industry of regional and charter/ACMI operators.

tsv
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by tsv »

Your point about it being risky for Sukhoi is one I agree with. Small Airlines face anything but a certain future and Sukhoi has already sold SSJ's to Airlines in Laos and Indonesia which have stopped operations.

I don't think any serious Analysts blame Sukhoi for their woes but still they need to back some more winners (like Interjet) who can demonstrate the quality of the Aircraft.

Flanker2
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by Flanker2 »

Mr. White is a carpe diem kind of guy :lol:
Belgium’s newly independent regional carrier VLM Airlines is aiming to grow revenue by two thirds with the planned introduction of two Sukhoi Superjet 100s into its Fokker 50 turboprop fleet in 2015.
The Russian-built regional jet should pave the Antwerp-based ACMI and charter operator’s way to starting scheduled flights, but the balance between wet-lease, scheduled and un-scheduled services is not yet clear, says chief executive and majority shareholder Arthur White tells Flightglobal, shortly after completing his management buyout of the carrier from German turnaround specialist Intro Aviation.

VLM has signed a tentative lease deal with Ilyushin Finance for two long-range Superjet 100LRs that are to be delivered in April 2015, options for two additional aircraft, and purchase rights for another 10 of the type. Meanwhile, the airline is planning to reduce its 12-strong Fokker 50 fleet to 10 aircraft next year.

Europe’s further economic development will determine how many additional Superjets VLM will introduce and how far its scheduled network will be built up, says White. He expects turnover to grow from around €37 million ($46 million) in 2014 to somewhere in the €60 million-range next year. But beyond that, he says, it is “difficult to plan”.

Three to four routes from Antwerp airport have been earmarked for scheduled services with the 100-seat regional jet, says White. But he says there are “limited opportunities” as flights must not compete with VLM’s wet-lease and charter custom – which is to remain central to the airline’s business – and any budget or mainline carriers that could operate larger aircraft at lower costs. Thus the Superjets will also be used for ACMI and charter flights, particularly from airports in the Benelux region.

The aircraft’s capability to operate from Antwerp’s 1,500m (5,000ft) runway was a central requirement for the type’s selection. While it is a constraint, White says the short landing and takeoff capability must be employed as a means to find niche routes from small airports where low-cost carriers cannot operate with Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.

VLM also considered the Bombardier CSeries, Embraer 190, Fokker 100/70 and – as an interim solution – the 737-500 for their fleet plans. The 737 was discounted as engine maintenance costs would have exceeded the powerplant’s asset value, says White. The under-development CSeries dropped out of the race as it will not be available in the required timeframe.

Meanwhile, the performance the of E-190 and Superjet were “very close”, he says. But the decision was finally made in the latter’s favour due to its “better passenger experience” – as a result of the Superjet’s wider fuselage versus the E-Jet – and “enthusiasm” by Ilyushin Finance, says White. VLM will be Sukhoi’s second Western customer after Mexico’s Interjet.

White concedes that VLM secured a cost discount that had “much to do “ with becoming European launch customer of the Superjet and its purchase price which, he says, is “far below” that of the CSeries. But he insists that the price reductions were only a “bonus” on top of the aircraft’s performance and passenger comfort levels.

Intro Aviation was not involved in the order negotiations, he says, even though the firm has also evaluated the Superjet as potential replacement for CityJet’s BAE Systems Avro RJ85 regional jet fleet. White says he decided to introduce Superjets based on available information, ahead of any formal sales campaign by any of the manufacturers under consideration.

Both firmly ordered Superjets will be delivered in standard configuration as the long-range variant has not yet been certificated by the European Aviation Safety Agency. White says that Sukhoi has made guarantees in the sales agreement, with EASA approval targeted for September 2015. The aircraft will thereafter be modified to LR configuration, which mainly covers software updates to the engine control computers.

White says Sukhoi made similar concessions to gain steep-approach approval for London City airport in the “relatively near future”. But both sides are still discussing the timeframe for the approval programme, which would involve City airport or another gateway with similar conditions.

The approval will be important for VLM as it wet-leases half of its existing fleet to CityJet, which uses the East London gateway as its network hub.

Meanwhile, VLM is in no rush to replace its Fokker 50 fleet, as there is no equivalent successor model for the 50-seat legacy type, says White. The twin-turboprops belong to the airline and generate low capital cost. Engine maintenance expenses could be a driver for the aircraft’s retirement, but he says this would “certainly” not be the case until 2017 with “good” engine management.

In airframe MRO terms, the landing gear is the main retirement driver with service life limit of 70,000 cycles, but this should cause no restrictions anytime soon, he says.

Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database shows that the 12 aircraft, which have been manufactured between 1987 and 1992, have accumulated between 32,000 and 51,000 cycles. If VLM were to opt for 50-seat ATR 42 or 70-seat ATR 72 turboprops as a potential successor, White says “we would just be another ATR operator, and there are many in Europe”.

Plans for the management buyout of VLM from Intro Aviation in October were made during three months, says White. Intro became the carrier’s sole shareholder, when it acquired Irish carrier CityJet from Air France-KLM in April; VLM was a wholly-owned subsidiary of CityJet.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ts-406368/

Boeing767copilot
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by Boeing767copilot »

Belgian regional wet-lease operator VLM Airlines joined IATA Dec. 1 and has signed an online sales deal with WorldTicket, laying the foundation for its return to scheduled services in 2015.

Antwerp-headquartered VLM Airlines is undergoing a period of rapid development, having just undergone a management buyout and placed an order for up to 14 Sukhoi Superjet SSJ100LRs.


http://atwonline.com/airframes/vlm-airl ... -agreement

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RoMax
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by RoMax »

Flanker2 wrote: Like I said in the other thread, I think that VG is anticipating the demise of SN and is preparing to take advantage of it, even if they have to join the others (FR, VY, JAF) to push it over the cliff.
Attacking their most lucrative shorthaul markets makes sense in that way, so next will probably be the U.K. and Berlin?
VLM is not going directly after any of the major network and low-cost carriers.

From the ATW article linked in the post above.
The new scheduled network will serve routes that do not directly compete with the major network and low-cost carriers, or VLM Airlines’ ACMI clients. The SSJ100LR will give it a potential range of up to 4.5 hours, enabling it to serve a small number of niche city pairs that other airlines cannot serve.
If SN would fail they will of course take advantage of that, but their current planned operation is not sizeable enough to push anyone over the edge. It's a smart thing that they plan to serve mor 'unique' city-pairs. If they start serving destinations already served by SN from BRU, that of course will have its impact, but I doubt it's going to be significant enough. FR also came to the conclusion this summer that even on the routes they launched from BRU, SN is not giving up that easily at all.

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Established02
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by Established02 »

VLM starts daily ANR-GVA.
Attachments
VLM.JPG

Stij
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by Stij »

Good luck VLM and ANR!

Cheers,

Stij


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sn26567
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Re: VLM Airlines bought by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by sn26567 »

Stij wrote:Good luck VLM and ANR!
Indeed! Let's hope they will be more successful than the first time they tried the route...
André
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AAI
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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by AAI »

we are now in a totally other situation
regional airports become more and more important
and will certainly in the coming years!

DannyVDB
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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by DannyVDB »

Are you sure about that?

I still do not get why you can't go to a main airport 50 km further (people can travel from Breda to BRU, why can people from Antwerp do the same)?

The economic and environmental cost is high ... The return very low

I also saw that NIKKI is starting to offer flights between Bratislava and Vienna. Should be forbidden in my humble opinion ...

Future is for multi-modal transport, not for having an airport in your own backyard ...

Cheers,
Danny

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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by sn26567 »

DannyVDB wrote:I also saw that NIKKI is starting to offer flights between Bratislava and Vienna. Should be forbidden in my humble opinion ...
These flight exist only for operational reasons (positioning from Vienna to Bratislava to operate flights from the Slovakian capital), so why not try to get a few euros by accepting passengers on these flights. Like in the past the Sabena B732 flights on Monday mornings from BRU to ANR and on Friday evenings from ANR to BRU.
André
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Established02
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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by Established02 »

AAI wrote:we are now in a totally other situation
regional airports become more and more important
and will certainly in the coming years!
How is the situation totally different now for both ANR and VLM, AAI?

VLM may have a new, strong management team and a potentially interesting fleet perspective... but it still is a small stand-alone (and thus vulnerable?) carrier.

BRU is still down the road (heavily congested on the E19 but 30 minutes by train), with massive and ever growing competition in terms of both flight frequency and price.

Flanker2
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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by Flanker2 »

ANR-GVA can be succesful with Fokker 50's.
Before they tried with the 146, that's why it didn't work. There is very little that can work with 146's.

BRU is down the road but Antwerp is a huge catchement area for some destinations.

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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by Established02 »

Flanker2 wrote:ANR-GVA can be succesful with Fokker 50's.
Before they tried with the 146, that's why it didn't work.
VLM operated ANR-GVA with F50. This was around 2000, long before 2007 when the 146 briefly entered VLM's fleet. I believe the 146 flew exclusively on RTM-LCY.
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.s ... humbnails=

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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by jan_olieslagers »

VLM operated ANR-GVA with F50.
Thanks for confirming - I was beginning to doubt but my memory isn't that bad as yet, apparently.

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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by jan_olieslagers »

we are now in a totally other situation
regional airports become more and more important
First of all: you can't compare Antwerpen-Deurne to Charleroi-Gosselies, though both are called "regional airports". EBCI has little nimbyism, and doesn't care much - which is a political matter. EBAW otoh is strangled by the green gang.

And even then I'm not so sure. The total market is growing but that must mainly come from growth on the low cost side. An airport like Antwerpen Deurne can indeed only cater to niche markets, which will always be at the other end of the scale. Still, growth in any segment must bring some degree of growth in others, too. And perhaps the VLM marketing department can take some lessons from the earlier failure.

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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by jan_olieslagers »

Future is for multi-modal transport
wahhahah, I've heard that one for at least 30 years now, without seeing much actual change. Just like we've heard "nuclear fusion will be a practical reality within 10 years" for 50 years or so.

AAI
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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by AAI »

Antwerp Airport is a leisurely airport, ideal for f.e. skipax!

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Re: VLM Airlines taken over by management, buys SSJ100 aircraft

Post by jan_olieslagers »

What's your source, AAI? For as much as I know, EBAW/ANR sees a fair deal of skiers getting home in plaster (on Do328 charters), but very few departing. Could it be you are taking your dreams for reality?

Indeed it is 99% a business airport, most pax are either on corporate planes or on scheduled flights to business destinations.

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