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AirAsia Zest

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Zest Airways
IATA ICAO Call sign
Z2 EZD ZEST
Founded1995
Hubs
Fleet size10 (+6 orders)
Destinations26
Parent companyAMY Holdings, Inc.
HeadquartersPasay City, Philippines
Key people
Websitewww.zestair.com.ph

Zest Airways Inc. (formerly Asian Spirit) is an airline based in the Asian Aeronautics Hangar in the General Aviation Area in Pasay City, Metro Manila in the Philippines.[1] It operates scheduled domestic and international tourist services, mainly feeder services linking Manila and Cebu with 24 domestic destinations in support of the trunk route operations of other airlines. Its main base is Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, and with a hub at Kalibo International Airport, in Aklan and Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Cebu.

The airline was originally founded as Asian Spirit, the first airline in the Philippines to be run as a cooperative.

History

Beginnings as Asian Spirit

Logo of Asian Spirit

Zest Airways was established as Asian Spirit in September 1995 by three friends: Antonio "Toti" Turalba, Emmanuel "Noel" Oñate and Archibald Po, who contributed $1 million each to start up the Airline Employees Cooperative (AEC). They invited 36 of their friends, mostly former Philippine Airlines employees, to run Asian Spirit through a salary-to-equity swap deal. The Po family held the majority of ownership.[2][3][4]

It started operations in April 1996 with two second hand Dash 7 aircraft servicing only one scheduled commercial route with two flights per day from Manila to Malay, serving the fledging resort island of Boracay. To maximize its aircraft utilization, it introduced new routes to the present-day towns of San Jose, Virac, Daet and Alcantara, and the cities of Cauayan and Masbate, regarded as secondary and tertiary routes by Air Transportation Office, and are not serviced by major airlines. In 1997, the cooperative changed to a corporate set-up with the establishment of Asian Spirit, Inc., whose registration was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2005.

Asian Spirit NAMC YS-11 airliner, at Loakan Airport, Baguio City July, 2006.

At the time, Asian Spirit has the distinction of being the first scheduled airline to serve Boracay. Other operators served the airport on a charter basis then. It became the Philippines' fourth flag carrier (after Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines) in 2003.

Zest Air at the New Bacolod-Silay Airport, Negros Occidental

Transition to Zest Airways

Asian Spirit was sold to AMY Holdings, a holding company controlled by businessman Alfredo M. Yao, in March 2008.[5] After the success of the takeover, Yao expressed interest in merging Asian Spirit with South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR). The two airlines have been in merger talks and were expected to make a decision soon.[6] Yao was supposed to purchase a sixty percent stake in SEAIR,[7] although the deal fell through because of a stolid response from SEAIR management.[8] The merger talks failed and both airlines are operating independent.

On September 30, 2008, Asian Spirit officially announced that it will be re-branding itself as Zest Airways. Reports say the name switch reflects the Yao's stake in the company, as well as an allusion to the flagship business of AMY Holdings: juicemaker Zest-O. The firm’s board approved the name change in August, while the Civil Aeronautics Board approved the switch earlier this month.[9]

The airline wants to fly to three international points to Sandakan( - already stopped), Malaysia from Zamboanga, to Seoul from Kalibo, Laoag, and Davao, and Macau from Angeles City. However these international routings never took off.[10] It has also intended to commence international expansion to Bangkok and Singapore from Manila in 2009.[11]

Ownership Structure

On October 3, 2011, Manila Bulletin, a newspaper of national circulation in the Philippines, reported the signing of memorandum of understanding between Zest Air owner Alfredo Yao and his counterpart from private Chinese airline Hainan Airlines[12] but the share of ownership by the HNA group under the agreement was not disclosed. The signing coincided with the visit of President Aquino to China in September 2011. The constitution of the Philippines allows only up to 40% foreign ownership in any business registered in the Philippines. Zest Airways is majority-owned by the Zest-O group.

Updated October 10, 2011 (The Philippine Star) a newspaper of national circulation in the Philippines, reports that Zest Air denies buy-in of China's Hainan Airlines

MANILA, Philippines - A top official of Zest Airways denied newspaper reports that they have signed an agreement with a Chinese airline during President Aquino’s state visit to China and that the latter bought a 40 percent stake in their company.

In a statement, Arturo M. Alejandrino, Zest Air spokesman and member of its board of directors, said “Zest Air wishes to clarify that no memorandum of understanding has been signed between Hainan Airlines and ZestAir. Further, Hainan Airlines has no investment in Zest Air.”

Destinations

Main article: Zest Airways destinations

Fleet

The Zest Airways fleet includes the following aircraft (as of 16 June 2009)[13][14]

Zest Airways Fleet[15]
Aircraft In service Orders Options Passengers
(Economy) 		Routes
Airbus A319-100 1 0 0 144 Domestic
Airbus A320-200 10 2 0 180 Domestic, International
Airbus A330-300 0 4 0 TBA International
Xian MA60 4 0 0 56 Domestic

Retired

Zest Airways Retired Fleet
Aircraft Year Retired Replaced by
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 2008 Airbus A320-200
BAe 146-200 2008 Xian MA60
BAe 146-100 2008 Xian MA60
BAe ATP 2008 Airbus A319-100
CN-235 2008 Xian MA60
de Havilland Dash 7 2009 Xian MA60
Let-410 2008 Xian MA60
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 2008 Airbus A320-200
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 2008 Airbus A320-200
NAMC YS-11 2008 Xian MA60

Zest Airways has acquired both the Airbus A320 and the Xian MA60, the only Philippine airline to do so, as part of its refleeting strategy.[8]

The Airbus A320 aircraft were originally delivered to JetBlue Airways in 2003. They were purchased in September 2008 and delivered in December 2008 and January 2009. The aircraft were than repainted in Pinal Airpark in Arizona into Zest Airways livery and the seat configuration has been changed from Y 150 to Y 162.[citation needed]

On June 3, 2009, the airliner ordered 6 more Xian MA60's to be delivered starting October.[16] but the delivery has been delayed for unknown reasons.

On July 11, 2009 RP-C 8989 arrived at Diosdao Macapagal International Airport. The A320 MSN 3621 made its first flight on September 12, 2008 under a French registration F-WWIK as was originally ordered by Kingfisher Airlines but was not accepted. The aircraft was subsequently sold to Asiawide Airways Inc. the holding company for all aircraft of Zest Airways owned by AMY Holding.[17]

On August 2, 2009, the airline revealed that it would be able to mount international flights with the starting delivery of two brand new Airbus 320 in October this year. This is in addition to the first A320 it purchased earlier. The company was eyeing to buy 2 Boeing 767-300 aircraft to bring its total fleet to 11 aircraft by year end, flying to major tourist destinations in the country. This is part of the $150 million second wave of capital expansion. In 2008, the company invested $170 million.[14] This additional fleet expansion never happened.

Incidents and Accidents

As Asian Spirit

  • On September 4, 2002, Asian Spirit Flight 897 was the last flight of the day to Malay, departing Manila at 3:36 pm for a one-hour flight. During the approach to Malay, the right main gear failed to deploy. The approach was abandoned and the crew decided to return to Manila for an emergency landing. The plane circled for about 35 minutes over Las Piñas City to burn off fuel. The crew then carried out an emergency landing with the right gear retracted on Manila's international airport runway 24. After touchdown the aircraft swerved off the runway onto a grassy area.[20]
  • On November 14, 2005, Asian Spirit Flight 587, a BAe-146-200, reportedly hydroplaned and overran runway 04/22, a 4,429-foot (1350 m) long concrete runway at Catarman National Airport. The aircraft came to rest in a muddy rice field.[21]
  • On January 2, 2008, Asian Spirit Flight 321, an NAMC YS-11 departing from Manila, piloted by Captain Alexandro Tiglao with First Officer Dominick Mendoza as co-pilot, overshot the runway at Masbate Airport at 7:30 a.m., due to heavy tailwinds with gusts reaching 14 knots while landing on runway 21. Although none of the 47 passengers were seriously injured, the accident destroyed the aircraft’s nozzle, the plane’s right propeller and its right and nose wheel, and caused the plane’s fuel tank to leak.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Careers." Zest Air. Retrieved on May 18, 2011. "Zest Airways, Inc. - Human Resource Department Asian Aeronautics Hangar General Aviation Area, Pasay City"
  2. ^ "Asian Spirit History". Asian Spirit Website. Archived from the original on 2007-08-19. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  3. ^ "Asian Spirit". Tony Lopez, ABS-CBN Interactive. Retrieved 2007-12-20. [dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Asian Spirit: The Niche Player". Makati Business Club. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  5. ^ Asian Spirit sold for 'around P1B', ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, retrieved April 15, 2008
  6. ^ SEAIR, Asian Spirit merger looms, BusinessWorld, April 14, 2008
  7. ^ Yao Group to acquire Asian Spirit, Manila Bulletin, January 21, 2008
  8. ^ a b Carreon, Don Gil K. (2008-10-23). "Zest Airways getting more aircraft". BusinessWorld. BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  9. ^ Asian Spirit now called Zest Airways, BusinessWorld, retrieved October 2, 2008
  10. ^ Amojelar, Darwin G. (2007-09-13). "Asian Spirit to acquire more aircraft for regional expansion". The Manila Times. Manila Times Publishing Corporation. Retrieved 2007-12-20. [dead link‍]
  11. ^ Amojelar, Darwin G. (2007-11-06). "Asian Spirit joins refleeting bandwagon". The Manila Times. Manila Times Publishing Corporation. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  12. ^ Zest Air Offers 40% Stake To Hainan Air; Eyes Expansion | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online
  13. ^ Zest Air starts second expansion mode, philippineairspace.blogspot.com
  14. ^ a b Zest Air eyes DMIA as hub for int’l flights, Manila Bulletin, August 2, 2009. [1]
  15. ^ Zest Airways Fleet
  16. ^ Zest orders six more MA60s, ATW Daily News, June 3, 2009.
  17. ^ Airbus A320 - MSN 3621, airfleets.net.
  18. ^ "ASN Aviation Safety Database". aviation-safety.net. December 7, 1999. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  19. ^ "Philippines crash claims 17 lives". BBC News. 1999-12-08. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  20. ^ "ASN Aviation Safety Database". aviation-safety.net. 2002-09-04. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  21. ^ "ASN Aviation Safety Database". aviation-safety.net. 2005-11-14. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  22. ^ "Plane overshoots runway in Masbate City". abs-cbnnews.com. 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2008-05-07. [dead link‍]
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