Oman

Wayne Pearce to take reins from Peter Hill as CEO at Oman Air

After nearly three and a half years as CEO at Oman Air, Peter Hill is due to step down this month. He will be replaced by Wayne Pearce. Mr Pearce is an Australian who has held various regional and planning positions at Qantas as well as serving as chief strategy and planning officer at Etihad Airways. He has also served as group managing director with Gold Medal Travel in the UK, which has a special focus on the Gulf region.

Middle East fleet outlook: widebody popularity increases, Airbus to grow market share

The 163 aircraft ordered at last week's Dubai Airshow will keep the Middle East region with almost as many aircraft on order as in service. While the show was marked by Emirates' order for 50 B777s, adding to the carrier's all-widebody fleet, widebody aircraft currently comprise just over half the region's fleet but are set to grow. Widebodies comprise more than 70% of aircraft on order in the region.

Boeing and Airbus will see their market share increase, but Airbus more so, eventually accounting for more than half of all aircraft in the region and Boeing accounting for just over a third. These latest aircraft orders add to an already substantial order backlog by airlines in the region. Most of the orders are concentrated in the hands of the Gulf region’s three largest sixth-freedom airlines: Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Emirates. The 163 orders from the show were from airlines and leasing companies and had a combined total value at list prices of just under USD32 billion.

ALAFCO ups order for A320neos

Kuwait’s Aviation Lease and Finance Company (ALAFCO) has finalised a purchase order for 50 A320neo family aircraft and took options for 30 more aircraft to be finalised by year-end. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G engine. The order is another big step for the Middle East’s largest leasing company, which now has a fleet of 48 owned and managed aircraft.

The order kicks off what is expected to be another successful year for the leasing company. ALAFCO recently reported a net profit of KWD47 million (USD171.2 million) for the year to 30-Sep-2011, a 335% increase over the KWD10.8 million profit in the previous year. Profit per share also more than quadrupled, up from 14 Kuwaiti fils per share to 60 fils per share. The profits were driven by a combination of the lessor’s expansion and exceptional gains realised through the adjustment of purchase agreements with aircraft manufacturers.

Middle Eastern LCCs driving growth into Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS

Russia, the CIS nations and Central and Eastern Europe have been receiving a great deal of attention from Middle East-based carriers in recent months. Full service and low-cost carriers have announced or added a flurry of routes into Eastern European destinations over the past few weeks. Airlines in the Middle East are looking to tap into the underserved region, which is still showing strong economic growth despite troubles in several European markets and strong growth in business and tourism traffic.

Homegrown LCCs Air Arabia and flydubai are leading a push into the regions, but so too is Qatar Airways. Additionally, Oman Air plans to launch services to Moscow. While Middle Eastern carriers have long dominated traffic into western Europe, they now comprise the majority of traffic between the Middle East and central Europe, eastern Europe, Russia and CIS.

Peter Hill leaving Oman Air – but not quite yet

Oman Air’s CEO, Peter Hill, is on the way out. The CEO was planning to retire during Sep-2011 but has agreed to delay his retirement for several months to allow the carrier to find and hire a replacement. In his three years at Oman Air, Mr Hill has shepherded the carrier though the difficult middle period of its five-year transformation strategy.

He will leave an airline that is far removed from the small regional player he joined in July-2008. Oman Air’s identity, network, fleet, product and long-term strategy have all developed dramatically over the period of his leadership.

Oman’s national carrier considers all-economy service

Oman Air CEO Peter Hill has announced that the carrier is considering configuring four to five of its B737s to an all-economy configuration. The aircraft would be operated on routes where there is little demand for premium travel, such as the Indian subcontinent. The carrier confirmed that it is looking at a number of new seating arrangements, and an all-economy configuration is “one of the options”.