Icelandair

WOW Air confirms Iceland is one of Europe's emerging LCC markets

Located in the North Atlantic Sea, the Republic of Iceland's aviation market, like its volcanic geography, is constantly evolving. An increasing number of LCCs are attempting to enter the market. Iceland’s visibility increased significantly in the past few of years - for the wrong reasons - as the volcanic eruptions of the unpronounceable Eyjafjallajökull volcano caused mass-disruption for the European air transportation industry and as the national economy faced meltdown during the global financial crisis.

Aviation in Iceland is in the headlines again. From Jun-2012, a new LCC WOW Air is launching operations from Reykjavik Keflavik International Airport, the country’s main international gateway and home for national carrier Icelandair and Iceland Express, currently the sole LCC in the Icelandic market. WOW Air plans to operate two 158-seat A320 equipment leased from Avion Express, a Lithuanian cargo and charter carrier.

The carrier’s initial network will consist of 12 services to destinations across Europe including Alicante, Basel, Berlin, Cologne, Copenhagen, London Stansted, Lyon, Paris, Stuttgart and Zurich. WOW Air’s first service will be three times weekly Reykjavik Keflavik-London Stansted commencing 01-Jun-2012.

Icelandair Group sees strong organic growth in profitable second quarter

Icelandair Group reported strong organic growth in a profitable second quarter (three months ended 30-Jun-2011) despite a 49% year-on-year increase in fuel costs. The carrier stated the outlook looks “generally good” and it is “well positioned” to address challenges ahead, aided by a “sound” balance sheet, “very positive” liquidity and a “strong” competitive position in the market.

Air China tops airline Enterprise Value rankings; Delta second; no LCCs in top 10

It would appear China has already reached its aim of creating a world-beating "super carrier" – at least in terms of financial size. Air China is by far the world’s biggest airline, based on a current ranking of listed airlines’ Enterprise Values (EV) assembled by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

So you think you know your airline market capitalisation: Part 3

The first part of this three-part report on airline market capitalisations described how Air China is valued more on the stock exchange than US carriers United-Continental, JetBlue, Hawaiian Air, AirTran, US Airways, American Airlines, Republic Airways and Skywest combined. In this final section, CAPA reviews some further interesting facts from the equity investment world.

European airlines report single-digit traffic growth in 2010; profits remain weak

European airlines reported single-digit growth last year - a welcome improvement from 2009's depressed level - but 2010 was a lacklustre year overall. Full year data has been released by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) and EUROCONTROL. As noted by EUROCONTROL, growth across the continent last year was driven mainly by LCCs.

Airlines: surviving in a changing world. CAPA's Hottest Airlines to Watch in 2011

As the international airline industry evolves from a heavily protected, government-run activity into a commercial hybrid, individual airlines are confronted by massive challenges, each of them unique to the company concerned. At the same time, the industry overall remains constantly at risk from any number of external threats.