New European cargo airline Aerospace One will offer wide-body freighters for charter or ACMI lease. The fleet, which is already in operation, will use 747-200s and new 747-400 jumbo jets. It will operate from a home base at Châteauroux, France.

Jaideep Mirchandani is the founder. He states that Aerospace One will target charter businesses worldwide specializing in the freighter transport of heavy loads.

“We aim to provide cargo bridges between continents,” Mirchandani said. “We will serve a particular niche in this market. Our companies have been operating successfully for nearly a decade in the field of transportation of heavy loads and ACMI lease. The accumulated experience coupled with the experienced team of professionals that surrounds the new company, forms the platform for further development of the group’s activities and will prepare the ground for the inclusion of additional cargo aircrafts in the fleet.”

EU antitrust regulators will decide by June 20 whether to clear a bid by Delta Air Lines for a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic.

The EU is reported to be concerned about the reduced incentive for the two companies to compete against each other once they set up the joint venture.

Amentum, the Dublin based commercial aircraft asset management company, has arranged the sale of two Airbus A310-324F (MSNs 693 and 697) to Pennant Aviation LLC on behalf of HSH Nordbank. Both aircraft were originally built in 1994 and are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4152-3A engines. The sale of these aircraft follows the earlier sale of MSN 684 to Pennant in a transaction also arranged by Amentum. 

Simon Clements, Head of Marketing and Sales at Amentum, said: “We were very pleased to work with Pennant in disposing of these somewhat challenging aircraft to market. Despite our modern fleet, we occasionally have clients who need solutions for older, less popular assets and we believe these transactions with Pennant demonstrate our marketing flexibility and our ability to find solutions for a diverse range of asset types.”

Santos Dumont, the aviation technical consultancy and aircraft re-delivery management firm, has managed the sale of two aircraft of behalf of Oak Hill Advisors.  Santos Dumont managed the sale of an Airbus 319 for Oak Hill Advisors to Allegiant Travel Company. The aircraft was previously operated by easyJet. Santos Dumont also managed the sale of a Boeing 737-300 for Oak Hill Advisors to Dart Group (owner of Jet2.com). The aircraft was previously operated by Air Baltic.

Global lessor FLY Leasing has announced the further re-pricing of its 2012 Term Loan.  The interest rate on the amended loan will be LIBOR plus 3.50%, a 1.00% reduction from the previous interest rate. In addition, the LIBOR floor has been reduced to 1.00%, a reduction of 0.25%.

“This is the second re-pricing of our 2012 Term Loan, demonstrating our active approach to managing our capital structure. The transaction will lower FLY’s overall cost of funding, which has been steadily decreasing over the last two years. Lender support for this transaction is a testimony to FLY’s positive operating and financial performance as well as a reflection of the continuing strength of the aircraft leasing sector,” said Colm Barrington, CEO of FLY.

In conjunction with the re-pricing, FLY will pay its current Term Loan lenders a one-time prepayment fee of 1.00% of the current outstanding principal of $380 million. The transaction is anticipated to close before the end of May 2013, subject to customary closing conditions.

Virgin Atlantic Airways has posted a full-year loss of £69.9 million ($107 million), which includes Virgin Holidays. The main airline lost £93 million, which was partially offset by a one-time gain of £35.4 million and a £23.1 million contribution from other units.

The group blamed higher costs, sluggish economies and a dip in business travel during the London Olympics for the poor performance. However it reiterated that the airline would return to profit by Spring 2015, buoyed by a trans-Atlantic alliance with new shareholder Delta Air Lines.

Virgin flew 188,000 more passengers during the 12 months to end of February 2013, bringing the total flown to 5.5 million.

As Sole Bookrunner, BNP Paribas has successfully closed a US$155.55 million Ex-Im Prefunded Bond for Cargolux. The transaction also featured a 12-year stretched overall amortisation repayment (SOAR) loan arranged by Crédit Agricole-CIB.

The bond was oversubscribed that allowed Cargolux to achieve a competitive coupon of 1.736% (Mid-Swap+49bp) through the vehicle VCH Lease.

It is the first Prefunded US Ex-Im Bank guaranteed bond for Cargolux and the very first time an Ex-Im Bond is combined with a non-US issuer SPV and a SOAR Loan.

Cargolux, based in Luxembourg, is Europe’s leading all-cargo airline with a modern and efficient fleet composed of 8 Boeing 747-8 freighters and 11 Boeing 747-400 freighters.

Ryanair has welcomed the EU Court’s ruling which confirmed that the European Commission has failed to investigate state aid granted to Alitalia.

Ryanair had initially notified the European Commission of Alitalia’s state aid in June 2006. However, the Commission failed to act and Ryanair was left with no choice but to bring this case before the European Courts. The court’s decision reaffirms the 2011 decision of the European General Court, which also ruled that the Commission had failed in its duty to investigate this “State Aid”.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said: “We welcome today’s ruling of the EU Court of Justice which upholds the EU General Court’s ruling that the EU Commission failed to investigate repeated “State Aid” to Alitalia, which has harmed competition in Europe and propped up a failing high-cost flag carrier to the detriment of European passengers.

“We look forward to the Commission finally investigating this repeated “State Aid” and call on Alitalia to immediately repay the taxpayers’ money it has illegally received.”

The Russian Duma has adopted a bill that gives people with disabilities unimpeded access to air services. Airlines are not allowed to refuse to board wheelchair-bound passengers due the lack of the proper equipment and tour operators and carriers are no longer allowed to request medical documents confirming their health status from people with disabilities while booking their flights.

Moreover, airlines will be required to provide wheelchairs and other services based on the federal air services rules, while the equipment purchase costs are to be met by the airline.

Espirito Santo Investment Bank Research has reaffirmed its neutral rating on shares of Flybe Group. Oriel Securities and Liberum Capital have both separately reiterated hold ratings on shares of Flybe Group. Analysts at HSBC however downgraded shares of Flybe Group to a neutral rating.