Issue 22 APRIL/MAY 2009 MARKET REPORT A PUBLICATION OF SAAB AIRCRAFT LEASING DELTA LIVERY REPLACES NORTHWEST COLORS ON SAAB 340Bplus FLEET CArpAtAIR MARKS 10 YEARS OF SAAB SERVICE MURRAY AIR EXPANDS SAAB 340 SERVICE UNDER NATIONAL AIRLINES SAAB 2000S FLY JOE GIBBS’ RACE TEAMS IN CORPORATE SHUTTLE STYLE MESSAGE FROM CONTENTS Michael Magnusson SAL posts successful 2008 with entire portfolio allocated ............ 3 I often get asked these days how the Delta livery replaces Northwest colors recession is affecting us, and so far, I on Saab 340Bplus fleet ............................................................................ 4 am happy to respond “not that much”. Saab 340s, Saab 2000s and Saab Carpatair marks 10-year anniversary ................................................... 6 Aircraft Leasing’s services are still in strong demand. Activity associated with the small percentage of Saab Saab 340 operates in National Airlines Air Cargo 340s and Saab 2000s available is in- forwarding business ................................................................................... 9 credible! We have at least three to four prospects with our available portfolio aircraft and of the eight Saab 340s Saab 2000s fly Joe Gibbs’ Race teams in returned to headlessors over the past corporate shuttle style ............................................................................. 10 year, all have been placed within 30-60 days. One customer that recently had Argentine Air Force to accept two more to park a few aircraft is now putting them back into service to cover routes Saab 340Bs this summer ........................................................12 once flown by a major airline. Western Air grows Saab 340 fleet for Bahamian services ........... 13 Now that we are well into the year 2009, it is apparent that the effects of the economic down-turn is wreaking havoc on our industry. Traffic is typically falling about 10 percent for North American and European regions. Thus airlines are Loganair uses two of its Saab 340s for freight flights ................... 13 cutting back, especially in international markets. One advantage with being a bit more “mature” is that I have seen similar scenarios play out before. This down- Saab website redesigned www.saabaircraftleasing.com ............ 14 turn is especially severe, and as usual has an immediate impact on the travel industry. Air travel is something everyone, whether it’s business or leisure, will scale back on quickly. It is an easy decision to make. But the advantages of this Mark your calendar .................................................................................. 14 sector has already been proven; once people feel a bit more optimistic about the future, they tend to return to air travel quickly. Airline travel has many examples Saab destination: Lynden Pindling of this. Obviously the severity of this global recession makes it more difficult to International Airport (NAS/MYNN) ....................................................... 15 predict the pace of the recovery. After September 11, travel did recover quickly. The real question is “How long will it take this time?”. Saab operators map ................................................................................ 16 The advantage with a smaller aircraft like the Saab 340 is that it gives an airline much flexibility to cut capacity while still maintaining a decent service and frequency. If you are flying larger aircraft, there is less flexibility, unless you are serving a very large market. Another advantage is that the Saab 340 does not require a large number of passengers to justify adding frequencies or service. As a matter of fact, we have recently been contacted by two regional air carriers that specifically want to add Saab 340s because of the major airline service reduc- tions. It will be interesting to see how many more such cases we will see in 2009. At the upcoming RAA convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, I am sure this will be a hot subject; legacy carrier cut-backs and the possible effect on regional carriers. Within Saab Aircraft Leasing (SAL) we continue with our daily work of supplying our customers with cost-effective aircraft. We had a busy 2008 year end with deliveries to the Argentine Air Force (see related story on page 12) and aircraft we remarketed to Air Panama, both new operators of the Saab 340. We also continue Cover photo by Mesaba Airlines to deliver Saab 340Bplus-WTs to Rex in Australia. In Europe, we were obviously sad to see FlyLAL go out of business but at least all four Saab 2000s have been placed with other existing customers. We have worked with FlyLAL for more than Market Report is published by 10 years and watched that airline grow, but the new economic climate became Saab Aircraft Leasing too much for them to overcome. In Australia, we have seen an established Saab 340 operator, Macair, go out of business as the economic climate took its toll. Editor: Kelly Murphy But on the flip side of the coin, the Saab 340 fleet in the Bahamaseeps k growing, Emerald Media eight Saab 340s in service and more on the way. The same holds true in Poland. [email protected] With two more acquired from Australia’s Rex, the Polish regional carrier Sprint- Air will now operate a total of 11 Saab 340s. It certainly appears that when one Europe: Alison Chambers operator falls on hard times, another carrier is there to grow! Emerald Media [email protected] 2009 will be an interesting year, and probably one of those years that will be analyzed for years to come. At SAL, not only will we work harder to avoid becom- Design and Layout: ing another statistic, but we will also continue to be a leading provider of Saab Aeris Graphic Design [email protected] aircraft worldwide. I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming RAA in Salt Lake City to discuss this further! Printed in USA May 2009 Michael Magnusson ©2009 Saab Aircraft President and CEO, Saab Aircraft Leasing MARKET REPORT SAAB AIRCRAFT LEASING POSTS SUCCESSFUL 2008 WITH ENTIRE PORTFOLIO ALLOCATED Saab Aircraft Leasing (SAL) In total, SAL completed 17 aircraft two, Murray extended one, and closed a successful 2008 with transactions last year and was limited Western Air leased one.) SAL also all of its portfolio allocated to by the number of aircraft available. refinanced one Saab 340A for an customers. undisclosed customer. All six available Saab 2000s were “Demand for good Saab air- either allocated or extended. OLT During 2008, SAL successfully craft continues to be strong and extended one and Air Express two. placed two Saab 340Bs on behalf steady,” said SAL President and Eastern Airways added two, and of a third party on long-term lease CEO Michael Magnusson. “As Golden Air took delivery of one with Air Panama which is both a always, we are pleased to see ex- Saab 2000. In addition, SAL sold new customer and a new country isting customers extend leases on one Saab 2000 to Joe Gibbs Racing. for Saab. SAL also placed one Saab our aircraft, while others chose to 340A on behalf of Rex with SOL in add more. During 2008, SAL was The only two available Saab 340Bs Argentina. also able to secure new custom- were extended by Loganair. The ers,” he noted, adding “we foresee only four available Saab 340As SAL’s portfolio at the end of the a small turnover of our aircraft were either leased, extended year consisted of 125 aircraft during 2009.” or sold (Loganair purchased leased to 17 clients in 11 countries. MARKET REPORT | April/May 2009 3 MARKET REPORT DELTA LIVERY REPLACES NORTHWEST COLORS ON SAAB 340Bplus FLEET Delta’s red, white and blue signage The largest Saab 340Bplus operator tive Hilton Head Island, South appeared at former Northwest in the world, Mesaba too has been Carolina service which ended in Airlines hubs in Detroit, Memphis undergoing a revitalization of its December. Other short-haul routes and Minneapolis -St. Paul on April fleet with all of its 49 Saab 340Bplus from Atlanta now served by Saab 1, 2009 as part of its $500-million aircraft eventually to be repainted 340Bplus aircraft include Tri-City. integration effort. All domestic with the Delta livery over the next airports will be re-branded by two years. Don Bornhorst, Senior Vice Pres- yearend and the two merged ident-Delta Connection, in charge major airlines will operate under A long history with Northwest, of the nine affiliated regional a single operating certificate by Mesaba was purchased by the partners, tells Saab Market Report MESABA AIRLINES the end of 2009, as well. Some 33 major airline out of bankruptcy “a mainline-like” service remains SAAB 340Bplus ROUTES NWA aircraft have already been to ensure its continued ability to the priority at the Connection NWA repainted with 250 left to complete serve the smaller, but important, level as well as “selling the Delta DL before the end of 2010. cities in Minnesota, North Dakota, experience.” South Dakota, Iowa, Michigan and YQT DVL TVF INL other heartland markets. Mesaba President John Spanjers GFK BJI HIB CMX DLH echoes Bornhorst’s comments not- MQT CIU JMS BRD IMT PLN Now serving as a Delta Connection ing that Mesaba’s 4,000 employees RHI ESC APN ABR STC CWA carrier, Mesaba’s 49 Saab 340Bplus are integrating into “the Delta EAU ATY MSP YKF aircraft fly from Dallas, Memphis, world” and remain focused on PIR ATW MKG FSD YXU ITH MCW DTW Atlanta and intra-Florida as part of “providing a seamless product” to FOD AZO ERI ALO the new network and fleet plan that its passengers by flying reliably and TOL SUX CID SBN CAK the merged airlines have launched. cost-effectively. DSM LBE PIA BMI FWA CMI In March the Saab 340Bplus’ role expanded the network by offering “We have more than doubled our CHO CRW seven daily departures from Delta’s fleet size in a two-year period COU LEX PAH Atlanta hub and in April six daily increasing from 49 Saab 340Bplus’ TRI departures for intra-Florida ser- to 109 aircraft.