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Airline Reports / Mediterranean Airlines PW#1474.

« on: September 27, 2011, 09:09:33 pm »

Mediterranean Airlines Siège
Bâtiment 3
Blagnac - Aéroport de Toulouse
31492 Toulouse Cédex
Haute-Garonne
FRANCE

July 1986 (Mediterranean Airlines board of directors second half analysis).

The month of July was a significant one for the airline. After the previous A310 fiasco that saw over 30% of the airline's value wiped in a month, everyone was keen to shift back into the black and has started by returning the last of twelve leased Boeing 737's to their owners. Since the airline started operations three years ago it has operated 13 Boeings, leased (and bought) from 5 separate airlines. The CEO will always rate these airlines highly, without them Mediterranean would not be where it is today.

Now all of Mediterranean's Boeing fleet has been replaced by short-range Dassault Mercure's, an aircraft purchased to lower overheads. All 737 operations have been replaced by the Mercure, with exception of the Figari (FSC) - Dublin (DUB) route which is now operated by an ATR-42 due to the Mercure's inadequate range.

By October the airline will have acquired 14 new BAe-146-100's from British Aerospace, one of these aircraft will be positioned at each of Mediterranean's 14 (South of France) hub airports. The new BAe aircraft will complement the Mercure fleet perfectly as they will be able to operate longer routes that perhaps don't need the passenger capacity of the Mercure. Likely destinations for the 146 include, Domodedovo, Moscow (DME)/Atatürk, Istanbul (IST)/Copenhagen (CPH)/Palma de Mallorca (PMI).

In August the airline hopes to order between three and six new MD-80 series aircraft. The first three aircraft will be stationed at the airline's newest base at CDG and the later aircraft will be positioned at the airline's, yet to be negotiated, planned base at ORY. The new McDonnell Douglas aircraft (as well as the two new bases) will be part of the airline's first continental expansion outside the Mediterranean region.

The last piece of news is the airline's re-branding decision. Matthew Phillips (CEO) expressed his opinion on the old French logo, making quite clear he thought it was "too out of date and too French for an airline that claims to be going international". The French Aériennes Méditerranéenne logo

has now been replaced by the English Mediterranean Airlines logo (as seen at the top of this report). The type face, Cooper Black, is also noticeably thicker than the original which gives it a fun/laid back appearance which Matthew commends. The final change was the addition of the strap line 'for the right flight', showing there really is only one dedicated airline to choose from if you want to fly to the southern French coast. The new logo will be painted on all aircraft delivered from the start of July, this includes the eight recently delivered Mercures and the to be delivered BAe-146 aircraft. From September aircraft already painted in the old colours will be repainted in the new colours at the airline's Toulouse maintenance hangar.

Thank-you for your ongoing support and commitment, together we will make MED the number one European holiday and pleasure airline.

Written on behalf of Matthew Phillips (CEO Mediterranean Airlines)