Air Ryan

order 200 planes for USD$7 billion with delivery starting in 2013, CEO Michael O'Leary said on Tuesday.

Ryanair is not in advanced talks with either of the two on the order and is happy to wait until the plane makers' "order book collapses" to negotiate a better deal, he said.

The planes have a list price of about USD$70 million each but Ryanair expects to negotiate at least a 50 percent discount to pay about USD$35 million - USD$40 million each for a total order of roughly USD$7 billion, he said.

"The sticker price is USD$70 million, but we would never dream of paying anything like that," he told reporters after a news conference on the airline's plans in Italy.

Despite Ryanair's historic relationship with Boeing, O'Leary said he would order planes from Airbus if they offered a cheaper price. In that case, Ryanair would simply designate some of its airport bases as those for Airbus planes, he said.

The planes would be delivered between 2013 and 2016, he said. Ryanair has a fleet of 171 Boeing 737-800s, and has firm orders to bring that up to 310 planes by 2012, he said.

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Air Canada

Air Canada, the country's biggest airline, could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection if it does not secure additional financing and succeed in renegotiating covenants in credit card agreements, UBS analyst Fadi Chamoun said.

"Notwithstanding lower fuel costs, we believe that cash from operations will be insufficient to meet rising pension funding obligations and over CAD$1 billion (USD$800 million) of debt repayment over the next two years," Chamoun said in a note dated February 13.

Covenants in credit card agreements could tighten further in the second quarter and result in the airline being required to maintain higher cash deposits, said Chamoun, who cut his target price for its shares to CAD$1 from CAD$1.50.

"In the absence of additional financing (sale of assets) and renegotiation of covenants in credit card agreements, Air Canada could be forced to file for bankruptcy in our opinion," he wrote.

Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah declined to comment on the UBS report.

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BAA Agrees UK Tax Exemptions - Report

Spanish construction and services group Ferrovial has agreed a tax break on capital gains by its British airports unit BAA that could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, Expansion reported, citing unnamed sources.

After a year of negotiations with Britain's Inland Revenue, Ferrovial has secured exemptions on capital gains from asset sales in 2008 as well as additional planned disposals, such as London's Gatwick Airport, the newspaper said.

The Spanish company is considering indicative offers for Gatwick after it was told by Britain's antitrust regulator to sell the airport as well as London's Stansted because of competition concerns.

Ferrovial will be allowed to keep Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, with 65 million passengers a year.

Last month, Heathrow was controversially awarded government approval for a third runway for an estimated GBP9 billion pound (USD$12.74 billion) investment.

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First China-Built Airbus Due In July

China's Sichuan Airlines will become the world's first carrier to receive an Airbus built outside Europe when it takes delivery in July of an A320 assembled in China, an Airbus staff memo said.

Details of the historic delivery, almost four decades after the plane maker was born as a four-nation European consortium, were disclosed to employees in the internal note this week.

It comes as Airbus prepares to sign separate deals with China over investment in its next model, the A350, which will include new carbon materials and will be assembled in France.

Airbus began assembling some of its A320 model of jets in Tianjin near Beijing in September from fuselage parts shipped from Europe.

According to the memo, the Tianjin factory is now full, with four airframes assembled and a fifth in position.

Airbus and rival Boeing have been turning to Asian markets, led by China, for growth as demand weakens at home.

However, China too is now succumbing to the global economic crisis. In December, Beijing encouraged airlines to cancel or postpone 2009 deliveries due to falling air traffic.

Tianjin A320s are assembled from fuselage parts shipped from factories in France, Germany, Spain and Britain. Airbus aims to reach local Chinese output of four A320s a month by end-2011.

Under pressure over jobs, Airbus says Tianjin will serve the Chinese market and that most construction will remain in Europe.

It says the move will lock in a good slice of the 3,000 new planes Airbus predicts China will need over the next 20 years.

But it faces criticism from European unions who say the move adds to outsourcing fears amid the recession and could result in the loss of European technology to a potential jet maker rival.

Airbus has suspended plans to lift total A320-family output to 40 planes a month from 36 due to the global economic crisis.

For now its Chinese production plans remain intact. So if the overall output freeze lingers, assembly of up to 4 planes a month could be transferred to China from Europe. However, with the industry in turmoil due to a drop in air travel, Airbus has said it cannot make firm predictions even for 2009.

Most analysts expect production to be hit everywhere as the recession bites before rebounding on signs of recovery.

Sichuan Airlines, a mid-sized carrier partly owned by China Southern Airlines, operates more than 130 routes, almost entirely within China, with a fleet of 40 jets.

Details of the first Airbus to be made in China emerged as EADS invited China to produce high-tech materials for its next generation of Airbus, the future mid-sized lightweight A350.

A deal to build a plant in Harbin was due to be signed on a visit to Spain by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday.

Another deal is expected as he visits Britain on Monday, when Xi'an Aircraft International will sign a parts manufacturing agreement with Airbus, a person familiar with the transaction said.

Spain has a 5 percent stake in EADS, which is controlled by French and German interests with two factories also in Britain.

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Spanair

Spanair was born inspired by the philosophy of providing the best quality in air transport service to all its passengers. After 20 years, the company is very proud to have consolidated itself as the first alternative in Spanish air transport.

The company’s priorities are to offer the best levels of safety, punctuality, comfort and excellence in service. With 327 daily flights (42 charter and 285 scheduled), a fleet comprising 58 aircraft and 3,524 employees, Spanair is a dynamic company that relies on experience and constant growth.

When Spanair began its operations in 1988, it transported 454.624* passengers, with sales of 36 million Euros. In 2007 some 11.2 million passengers flew with the company and consolidated revenues for the Spanair Group, reached 1.171 million Euros.

In 1999, Spanair signed an agreement with the European AIRBUS to renew and increase the fleet with 45 aircraft from the A320 family. It was decided to name these aircraft after some of the Living Spanish Universal Figures including celebrities such as Camilo José Cela (Author), Plácido Domingo (Tenor), Juan de Avalos (Sculptor) and the “Marques de Samaranch” The honoree President of the International Olympic committee).

Punctuality is a priority for Spanair, as well as for its passengers. For this reason, since February 2001, it is the only Spanish airline offering a punctuality guarantee commitment on its domestic routes, in line with the idea of ensuring the highest quality service to all its passengers both in-flight and on the ground. The Punctuality Guarantee system rewards Business Avant travellers with an Avant electronic voucher that can be exchanged for another flight travelling in any class that the passenger chooses and on any Spanair domestic route within the Spanish Peninsula or the Balearic Islands. To receive a free ticket that is valid for any flight to or from the Canary Islands, two Avant electronic vouchers will be required. An electronic voucher will also be given to passengers who travel Economy class that entitles them to a 25% discount based on the online or published fare and valid for the next time they buy any domestic flight operated by the airline. These conditions apply if the aircraft doors close more than 15 minutes after the scheduled departure time due to reasons attributable to the airline.

As well as this, since the 10th of March 2008 Spanair launched its Spanairx4 product, which gives customers flying its domestic routes the option of choosing between four different flight classes: Business, Avant, Economy Plus and Economy. The company is thereby offering its passengers a time-saving product, which enhances flexibility and adds to the advantages offered by the four classes.

Spanair was awarded the ALPHA Excellence in Marketing, which honors the company's initiative towards their passengers and improvement of standards in quality of service. Spanair was also awarded with an ISO 9001:2000 certified Corporate Quality Program and became the first Spanish airline to receive an IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) certification.

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