Mongolia’s Eznis Airways has scrapped plans to add a fourth Saab 340B as fuel prices have almost doubled in the country over the past 12 months.
“We have decided not to proceed with the fourth aircraft because fuel prices have almost doubled in the past 12 months and there doesn’t seem to be any let-up in sight,” Eznis Airways CEO Glen Pickard says from the carrier’s headquarters in Ulaanbaatar, the nation’s capital.
“We have decided it’s not the time to expand but to consolidate and look at cost savings.”
Pickard also says that if the airline opts to buy a Saab 340B later, say 12 months from now, the purchase price will probably be cheaper than if it bought the aircraft in 2008.
Eznis currently operates three 340Bs and had earlier been bullish about adding more because of Mongolia’s growing tourist market and the potential for charter work from western mining companies operating in the country.
But in recent days there have been news reports of civil unrest in the nation’s capital following the country’s recent national elections and these reports of rioting could adversely affect tourist traffic.
International news organisations have reported that five people were killed in the rioting and that the ruling Communist Party headquarters was gutted by fire.
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: Flight International
