CityJet becomes Independent Regional Carrier

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CityJet becomes Independent Regional Carrier

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New Shareholders INTRO Aviation - Projected business plan shows significant financial growth - Fleet Renewal of Avro RJ85s anticipated soon.

CityJet announced today their new independence as a European regional airline with new shareholders INTRO Aviation GmbH through an Irish holding company. The new shareholders bring with them strong leadership and wealth of aviation experience having previously established Eurowings AG and turning around Deutsche BA (dba) and LTU GmbH (LTU).INTRO Aviation is the majority shareholder in Austrian regional airline InterSky.

With the sale process finalised, CityJet will be starting debt-free. The airline has 18 Avro RJ85s and 11 Fokker 50s through subsidiary VLM Airlines. The business plan projection should allow the airline to make significant financial progress. CityJet will do so in part by leveraging their built-in strengths: experienced staff, an established portfolio of customers, and a great quality of service. An important point of the business plan includes fleet renewal for the Avro RJ 85s that will begin as soon as possible.

CityJet will continue to operate around 700 flights a week from its operational hub London City Airport, and satellite networks from Cardiff Airport and Cambridge International Airport. CityJet will also operate flights on behalf of Air France from Charles de Gaulle airport.

Christine Ourmières will continue to serve as CEO and a member of the Board, and the CityJet senior management team will remain the same. Members of the Board include, CityJet CFO and Deputy CEO, Michael Collins, Peter Oncken, MD of INTRO Aviation as the Chairman, Eberhard Simon, Senior Advisor to the INTRO Group as Director, and Hans Rudolf Wöhrl, Founder and CEO, of the INTRO Group will be the Chief Advisor of the Board.

With this new independence, CityJet has embarked on an auspicious journey for a complete rebrand for the Irish based airline to create their own unique identity with a centre of activity from London City Airport. This rebrand will convey CityJet’s distinctive service and style, while also retaining the CityJet name as it is known by passengers. The unveil for the new logo, look, and livery of CityJet will be in June.

Commenting on this new independence, Christine Ourmières, CityJet’s Chief Executive Officer said, “Today marks an exciting new chapter for CityJet. As an established regional airline, with the talented and qualified staff, we embark on an exhilarating new adventure. I am particularly pleased for the CityJet employees. This new ownership will create a stronger company, with a path to improved greater long-term opportunities for all employees.

Our business model is ideal for the point-to-point traffic that is much needed in regional areas across Europe, with our operational hub, London City Airport, being the heart of the source for this demand. With the aviation industry consolidating, and moving towards hub traffic, we are filling much needed gaps. As an independent regional airline, we will be able to quickly and easily adapt to these demands in service, as we’ve recently done with both Cardiff and Cambridge. We remain committed to providing superb quality, exceptional service and improved customer service to our passengers. We look forward to a bright future for our employees and enhanced service and choice for our customers. Together, with our new shareholders, INTRO Aviation, we are confident in our future success.

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Christine Ourmières, Hans Rudolf Wöhrl

Hans Rudolf Wöhrl, Founder and CEO of INTRO Group added, "I hope this unique opportunity of working with a fresh start will give the management and employees the chance to show what a successful airline CityJet can be. In order to empower and fully integrate the management, it is INTRO policy to have the management team as partners and shareholders, so both the CEO, Christine Ourmières, and Deputy CEO, Michael Collins, are now 7.5% shareholders of the company. We are confident that the CityJet team will be successful in their efforts to significantly grow their finances."

The INTRO Group was advised by Barons Financial Services SA of Geneva with a subsidiary in London.

CityJet 01/05/2014
André
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Re: CityJet becomes Independent Regional Carrier

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And less than two years later...

Intro Aviation sells CityJet to group of investors

German airline turnaround specialist, Intro Aviation, has completed the sale of its CityJet unit to founder and current chairman Pat Byrne and a group of investors.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Byrne said the agreement was signed last week while identifying his partners only as "European experts in aviation finance". Following the sale, Byrne added that CityJet was considering going public in the next two to three years given positive growth and cahsflow projections going forward.

Intro Aviation acquired the regional European carrier and its then sister carrier VLM from Air France in May 2014.

According to Byrne, aside from its scheduled regional operations, CityJet will focus on expanding its ACMI operations. The carrier recently took delivery of its first of eight CRJ-900s on order from Bombardier following the arrival of EI-FPA (cn 15398) at Helsinki Vantaa late last week. The aircraft will be wet-leased out to SAS Scandinavian Airlines for use on flights throughout Scandinavia as well as to continental Europe beginning March 27.

CityJet is also expected to add its first of fifteen SSJ 100-95s later on in May. As previously reported, the twinjet will be used on ACMI/charter operations while its London City certification is completed.

Source: ch-aviation
André
ex Sabena #26567

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