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Oasis Hong Kong Airlines

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Scott9432 (talk | contribs) at 13:29, 3 March 2009 (added information about the fate of all the fleet except B-LFD, not sure what happened to it. Information from airfleets.net and airliners.net). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Oasis Hong Kong Airlines
甘泉香港航空
IATA ICAO Callsign
O8 OHK OASIS
FoundedFebruary 2005
Ceased operationsApril 2008
HubsHong Kong International Airport
Fleet size5
Destinations Hong Kong International Airport, London Gatwick Airport, Vancouver International Airport
HeadquartersHong Kong
Key peopleStephen H. Miller, (CEO) Rev. Raymond C. Lee & Priscilla H. Lee, (Chairman and Executive Director)
Websitehttp://www.oasishongkong.com/

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Limited (Chinese: 甘泉香港航空有限公司) is a now-defunct long-haul low-cost airline that was based in Hong Kong. It operated scheduled services to London Gatwick Airport and Vancouver International Airport from its hub, Hong Kong International Airport.[1]

Oasis was one of a growing number of long-haul passenger airlines, such as Zoom Airlines, to adopt a budget airline model pioneered by the now defunct Laker Airways Skytrain service in the 1970s. Oasis offered non-stop service from Hong Kong to London, and began a service to Vancouver on June 28, 2007.[2] The airline was voted "World’s Leading New Airline" at the Annual World Travel Awards 2007.[3]

Much of the original success of Oasis Hong Kong was due to the airline's widely advertised minimum fares beginning at just GBP£75 one way. However, fares later became much less competitive.

On 9 April 2008 Oasis Hong Kong announced that it had ceased operations, with a provisional liquidator, KPMG China, appointed to oversee the liquidation of the company. KPMG China is appointed as the liquidator. [4] [5]

On 8 July 2008 it was announced that unsecured creditors of collapsed Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, including ticket holders, will eventually receive no more than 10 percent of what they are owed, according to the airline's provisional liquidator, KPMG.[6]

On 16 September 2008 this estimate was reduced to 'less than 5%'. No timetable was given for distribution of these funds[7].

History

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines was founded by Rev. Raymond C. Lee, and his wife, Priscilla H. Lee in February 2005. The chief executive, Steve Miller, was founder and first chief executive of another Hong Kong-based airline, Dragonair. Its inaugural route to London commenced service on October 26, 2006,[8]The first flight, flight O8 700, took off from Hong Kong International Airport after a 24-hour delay.[8] The airline had been scheduled to begin operations on October 25, but Russia revoked the London-bound flight's fly-over rights at 12:09 PM, one hour before the flight's scheduled departure.[9]

Oasis originally operated as a low-fare airline, and claimed that it had already broken-even after the first six months of operations.[citation needed] The airline said that this was achieved through flying long-haul so as to decrease maintenance and fuel costs.[10]It also has a lower cost per passenger-kilometer compared to other airlines in Hong Kong.[10] Business passengers,[10] and those who used to have to transfer en-route to get to London,[11] would be Oasis' main sources of revenue. Like many other airlines, Oasis planned to hedge a proportion of its fuel purchases to guard against future fuel price increases.[11]

Oasis's subsequent liquidation proved much of these claims to be a fallacy. Flying long haul sectors burns more fuel and requires similar maintenance to short-haul aircraft in order to ensure airworthiness. Further, Oasis's failure to properly price its product caused it to fail to generate enough revenue to cover its costs. In an attempt to be competitive, it offered low fares, but these were insufficient to cover its operating expenses, leading to rapidly accumulating losses. Oasis was also hurt by the high number of carriers already operating on the Hong Kong-London route - the most competitive long-haul route out of Hong Kong, operated by Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Qantas, Air New Zealand and Virgin Atlantic - and by the fact that its competitors flew into the more convenient and centrally located Heathrow while Oasis was consigned to Gatwick.

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines was liquidated on 9 April, 2008. The last flight, flight O8 901, departed from Vancouver at 10:15 am and arrived at Hong Kong at 3:09pm. The liquidator KPMG announced the liquidation at 2pm on that day and over the following few days it would conduct a search for potential buyers for the airline.[4]

Services

File:Economy Class, Oasis HK Airline.jpg
Economy Class

Tickets were sold through the company website and travel agents. One-way fares between Hong Kong and London were launched from £75 or HK$1,000 (excluding taxes and charges), but there were actually four fare classes[12] and supply varied from time to time.

Seat pitch of economyOasis was 32" (the same as Cathay Pacific and Air Canada; one inch more than British Airways and Virgin Atlantic),[13] and a businessOasis section offered at least 50" seat pitch. The 747-400 cabins were configured for 81 business and 278 economy passengers (for B-LFA, B-LFB) or 71 business and 268 economy passengers (for B-LFC), in which a section of former ANA First Class were sold as Business Class on Oasis flights.[14]

Two hot meals and soft drinks were served free on both long haul routes in all classes. Snacks and alcoholic drinks were also free for business class passengers and available to be ordered in economy. Free headphones, blankets and pillows were also distributed free in all classes, while passengers could purchase noise-canceling headphones and amenity kits onboard.[15] Each passenger had their own seat-back TV which had at least 16 channels available, in addition of up to 12 channels of audio,[16] although these were not on demand.

On 28 February, 2007, Oasis Hong Kong moved all its passenger check-in operation into the newly commissioned Terminal 2 of the Hong Kong International Airport, being the first airline in Hong Kong to do so.[17]

Destinations

The airline operated on two routes, from Hong Kong to London Gatwick Airport and Vancouver International Airport.

On 28 June 2007, Oasis announced it expected to introduce a six-weekly service to Vancouver International Airport, the focus city of another low cost carrier Westjet, from 28 June 2007. The airline's press release which stated that "it’s a market where there is substantially less reliance on feeder traffic" suggested nothing about the Westjet connectivity. It was also believed that the long-awaited Oakland service (near San Francisco) will soon come on line once the Vancouver service is established. Other routes were also planned.[18] Oasis is believed to have wanted to commence service to Chicago and New York before reaching Washington DC.[19]

Asia

On 17 August, 2007, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines expressed their interest to 4 destinations in Asia on HKSAR Government website.[20]

Europe

North America

On 7 September, 2007, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines expressed their interest to 6 destinations in North America on HKSAR Government website.[21]

Fleet

Oasis Hong Kong Boeing 747-481 (registration B-LFC) paying a visit to the RIAT2007

The Oasis Hong Kong Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

The first aircraft, B-LFA (cn 24063/ln 736), was delivered to Singapore Airlines on July 11, 1989, with registration 9V-SMC. It was leased to China Airlines as 3B-SMC in the mid-1990s to cover for the loss of another Boeing 747-400 which overshot the runway at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport in 1993. Later on, it was leased to Iberia Airlines with registration TF-AMA. The aircraft was owned by SIA Engineering Co. Ltd. prior to being sold to Oasis. It was delivered to Oasis on September 19, 2006.[22]

The second aircraft, B-LFB (cn 24065/ln 761), was delivered to Singapore Airlines on December 13, 1989, with registration 9V-SME. It was leased to Air Atlanta Icelandic and Iberia Airlines with registration TF-AMB from 2004 to 2006. It was delivered to Oasis on November 18, 2006. With the two aircraft, Oasis began to offer daily non-stop flights between Hong Kong and London on November 24, 2006.

All Nippon Airways announced on 6 March 2007 that it has successfully sold three Boeing 747-400s to Oasis Growth Income and Investments Limited, for operation by Oasis Hong Kong Airlines. These three 747s are amongst the newest 747s in the entire ANA fleet, which were delivered to ANA by Boeing between February 25, 1999 (JA403A) and June 28, 2000 (JA405A), and were scheduled to retire from ANA between 2007 and 2008 in exchange for the newer Boeing 777s and 787s.[23]

Oasis Hong Kong Boeing 747-400s B-LFA, B-LFB and B-LFE were returned to their lessors and re-registered N240BA, N465BB and N262SG respectively. Boeing were the lessors of B-LFA and B-LFB, while WFBN were the lessor of B-LFE. B-LFC was returned to it's lessor and re-registered N263SG, it currently sits amongst other unused aircraft at Pinal Airpark, near Marana, Arizona. What happened to B-LFD is unknown.

Oasis Hong Kong's aircraft were maintained by HAECO and Lufthansa Technik.

Registration CN Aircraft Engine Previous ID Notes
B-LFA 24063/LN736
 Boeing 747-412 PW 4062 9V-SMC, 3B-SMC, TF-AMA. Original Livery (delivered in Sep 2006)
B-LFB 24065/LN761
 Boeing 747-412 PW 4062 9V-SME, TF-AMB. Original Livery (delivered in Nov 2006)
B-LFC 29263/LN1204
 Boeing 747-481 GE CF6-80C2B5F JA404A Original Livery (delivered in May 2007)
B-LFD 30322/LN1250
 Boeing 747-481 GE CF6-80C2B5F JA405A Original Livery (delivered in Nov 2007)
B-LFE 29262/LN1199
 Boeing 747-481 GE CF6-80C2B5F JA403A Original Livery (delivered in Mar 2008)

The company hired 200 crew members in total.

Awards

In 2007, Oasis Hong Kong was voted "World’s Leading New Airline" and "Asia's Leading Budget/No Frills Airline" at the Annual World Travel Awards 2007. It was also named "New Airline of the Year" by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation of Australia[24], and was voted "Best New Service" and "Best Business Class Carrier" at the 2007 World Low Cost Airline Congress Awards held in London[25].

Liquidation

On 9 April 2008 Oasis's CEO Stephen Miller announced at a press conference that the company would cease operations after suffering an accumulated loss of HK$1 billion (US$128 million) since its launch in October 2006. Accounting firm KPMG were appointed provisional liquidator by the airline.[26]

Management Team

The management staff in 2008 were:

References

  1. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 58.
  2. ^ http://www.oasishongkong.com/ca/en/aboutus/history.aspx
  3. ^ World Travel Awards - World 2007
  4. ^ a b KPMG news -Oasis goes into liquidation
  5. ^ Reuters - HK budget airline Oasis to stop flying
  6. ^ Reuters
  7. ^ http://www.oasishongkong.com/download/Website_notice_031008_Eng.pdf
  8. ^ a b "Travelers find date with Oasis no longer a mirage". The Standard. 2006-10-27. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
  9. ^ "甘泉正午才獲悉取消航權 (Oasis notified of revoke only at noon)". Yahoo! Hong Kong News (in Chinese). Ming Pao. 2006-10-25. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  10. ^ a b c "Budget airline Oasis seeks more destinations before maiden flight". The Standard. 2006-08-28. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  11. ^ a b "甘泉明春推千元飛三藩市 (Oasis flies to SFO for $1000 next Spring)". Yahoo! Hong Kong News (in Chinese). Ming Pao. 2006-08-07. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  12. ^ Oasis Hong Kong Airlines > Fly > Classes & Fares > Fares
  13. ^ Airline Seat Guide for Seat Pitch and Seat Information in First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class
  14. ^ Oasis hong kong Inaugural Vancouver VIP + NZ and EK - FlyerTalk Forums
  15. ^ Oasis Hong Kong Airlines > Fly > Classes & Fares > Travel Classes
  16. ^ Oasis Hong Kong Airlines > On Board > Entertainment > Personal TV at every seat
  17. ^ Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Takes Off With Terminal 2 to Mark Another First http://corp.oasishongkong.com/hk/en/pr.php?pr_id=OHKAGenHKPREN070301
  18. ^ Oasis Hong Kong Airlines > Press Release
  19. ^ Oasis looks to grow fleet with 747s, 777s; readies for US service
  20. ^ "Future Asia destinations". 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  21. ^ "Future North America destinations". 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  22. ^ Oasis Hong Kong Airlines B-LFA (Ex 3B-SMC 9V-SMC TF-AMA ) - Airfleets
  23. ^ "ANA Orders 4 Boeing 777-300ER Aircraft". ANA. 2003-03-06. Retrieved 2003-03-06.
  24. ^ Aviation Outlook 2007 Gallery
  25. ^ Budgies 2007
  26. ^ Oasis budget airline stops flying
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