The government of Tunisia stated yesterday that it could not finance Tunisair anymore.
The 65 years old carrier has lost 135MDT in 2011, 125MDT in 2012 and 91MDT during the three first quarters this year. 4000 subcontractors joined the 4500 TU employees last years due to political pressures, heavily increasing the payroll.
The 2010-11 Jasmine revolution has had a disastrous impact on Tunisian tourism especially from France, its main market. Moreover newcomer Syphax Airlines is smartly growing and has just received its first A330.
In french : 28-11-2013 : C’est officiel, l’Etat lâche Tunisair, bientôt en cessation de paiement
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- goosebayguy
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RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
Terribly sad to see. Do hope it can survive.
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- bennett123
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RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
Given that 91MDT is £33M, and assuming the trend continues, we are looking at a loss of £45M to £50M for the year.
Not good, but surely not cause for panic either.
IMO, the large number of sub contractors is more worrying.
I assume that the main payroll of 4,500 was roughly in line with expectations.
Not good, but surely not cause for panic either.
IMO, the large number of sub contractors is more worrying.
I assume that the main payroll of 4,500 was roughly in line with expectations.
RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
Well it's not a big airline from a big economy, and the economy is not poised to improve in the short term, such losses might be OK if the state finances it, but if not, it's huge.
One of the last A300 operators.
One of the last A300 operators.
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RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
| Quoting Alsatian (Thread starter): The 2010-11 Jasmine revolution has had a disastrous impact on Tunisian tourism especially from France |
True, it's a nail in the coffin...
BUT, let's be realistic, the problems are self-made: starting with the non-existent hub airport, a mixed Airbus/Boeing fleet, poor reliability etc.
RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
| Quoting bennett123 (Reply 2): Given that 91MDT is £33M, and assuming the trend continues, we are looking at a loss of £45M to £50M for the year. Not good, but surely not cause for panic either. |
Only in this industry would a loss of £50M in one year that followed on from losses of £93.6M in the last two years combined be considered "not a cause for panic"
Forget A vs B - Give me E or BAe any day of the week!
RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
IMHO:
shut this airline down.
i fly around 10x per year to Tunis, mainly with Tunisair.
the staff is unfriendly, the existent IFE is never turned on, the seats are dirty, the entire "handling" from check in to arrival is not worth to call Tunisair an airline.
Their Frequent Flyer program is not worth to be mentioned. Even i signed up - it is even more hard to get any benefits than in Star Alliance. I.e.: I mentioned to receive my emails in english language. So far i received all emails in french. Only after replying that i cannot read this they answered in english. My request for changing the language to english has not been answered so far (waiting now for 4 years).
And we should not forget Tunis Airport. Although a small and more or less a convenient airport - the staff of Tunisair makes it a nightmare. Usually I travel with hand luggage only. It is not possible to check in 3 hours before - the signs on the check in counter are not true. Staff is unfriendly and absolutely not willing to assist.
There is only one positive point of Tunisair:
they are cheap. Booking in the morning for an evening departure Tunis to Frankfurt: I booked last week and paid EUR90 all in .....
I wish Tunisair will continue to exist only in one point of view: the cheap fares. for all other things: shut that airline down.
So far i have done no flight with Syphax - but i think i should give them a chance. I hope they will fly to my home city soon ...... then thanks for flying Tunisair .....
shut this airline down.
i fly around 10x per year to Tunis, mainly with Tunisair.
the staff is unfriendly, the existent IFE is never turned on, the seats are dirty, the entire "handling" from check in to arrival is not worth to call Tunisair an airline.
Their Frequent Flyer program is not worth to be mentioned. Even i signed up - it is even more hard to get any benefits than in Star Alliance. I.e.: I mentioned to receive my emails in english language. So far i received all emails in french. Only after replying that i cannot read this they answered in english. My request for changing the language to english has not been answered so far (waiting now for 4 years).
And we should not forget Tunis Airport. Although a small and more or less a convenient airport - the staff of Tunisair makes it a nightmare. Usually I travel with hand luggage only. It is not possible to check in 3 hours before - the signs on the check in counter are not true. Staff is unfriendly and absolutely not willing to assist.
There is only one positive point of Tunisair:
they are cheap. Booking in the morning for an evening departure Tunis to Frankfurt: I booked last week and paid EUR90 all in .....
I wish Tunisair will continue to exist only in one point of view: the cheap fares. for all other things: shut that airline down.
So far i have done no flight with Syphax - but i think i should give them a chance. I hope they will fly to my home city soon ...... then thanks for flying Tunisair .....
RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
It's all for the better. TU is one of the worst airlines I had to work with. At GVA aircrafts are always running late, and the duty station manager refuse that we advice the passenger. We often had to wait for staff leaving the airport while on duty! Let's just hope that Syphax will take most of TU aircraft and staff. But 8500 people for merrily 30-40 aircrafts that enormous.
RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
It is always sad to learn an airline may disappear soon, specially when it is a 65 year old airline like Tunisair (TU)...
The political situation in Tunisia, and the collapse of the tourism, have not helped the airline for sure. Yet, the other Tunisian Airline, Syphax (FS) seems to be doing well.
TU is one more example of a poorly managed airline that has undergone constant political interference (it is state-owned) with all its consequences : overstaffing, poor quality of service, etc.
Of course FS is privately-owned.
As an example of the overstaffing, there are 103 employees per plane at TU, only 29 at FS.
Source in French
I am not sure whether TU can survive, but if not, Tunisia will not be left without an airline. The virtue of competition....
The political situation in Tunisia, and the collapse of the tourism, have not helped the airline for sure. Yet, the other Tunisian Airline, Syphax (FS) seems to be doing well.
TU is one more example of a poorly managed airline that has undergone constant political interference (it is state-owned) with all its consequences : overstaffing, poor quality of service, etc.
Of course FS is privately-owned.
As an example of the overstaffing, there are 103 employees per plane at TU, only 29 at FS.
Source in French
I am not sure whether TU can survive, but if not, Tunisia will not be left without an airline. The virtue of competition....
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- vinniewinnie
- Posts: 729
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RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
| Quoting Loadsheet (Reply 6): i fly around 10x per year to Tunis, mainly with Tunisair. the staff is unfriendly, the existent IFE is never turned on, the seats are dirty, the entire "handling" from check in to arrival is not worth to call Tunisair an airline. Their Frequent Flyer program is not worth to be mentioned. Even i signed up - it is even more hard to get any benefits than in Star Alliance. I.e.: I mentioned to receive my emails in english language. So far i received all emails in french. Only after replying that i cannot read this they answered in english. My request for changing the language to english has not been answered so far (waiting now for 4 years). And we should not forget Tunis Airport. Although a small and more or less a convenient airport - the staff of Tunisair makes it a nightmare. Usually I travel with hand luggage only. It is not possible to check in 3 hours before - the signs on the check in counter are not true. Staff is unfriendly and absolutely not willing to assist. There is only one positive point of Tunisair: they are cheap. Booking in the morning for an evening departure Tunis to Frankfurt: I booked last week and paid EUR90 all in ..... I wish Tunisair will continue to exist only in one point of view: the cheap fares. for all other things: shut that airline down. So far i have done no flight with Syphax - but i think i should give them a chance. I hope they will fly to my home city soon ...... then thanks for flying Tunisair ..... |
You pretty much nailed it! I have been using it a fair bit and the delays & unfriendly staff make the airline a big joke. Prices are ludicrously low (I paid once 400 euros for an open ticket 3 days in advance from Tunis to Paris) and Tunis airport is a messy experience (like the whole country btw)
Tunis could be a good airport given its good infrastructure. Tunisair could have been a good little airline bringing tourists and VFR trafic to Tunisia whilst also being a connection point for people travelling to central Africa. Sadly Tunisair only started to look at the later only recently. They lost a lot of ground in this market compared to its other competitors (air marocco amongst other)
I think Tunisair has a role to play for the Tunisian Economy and should continue to exist (even with subsidies) but it need to become a lean airline first...
RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
| Quoting SR380 (Reply 7): Let's just hope that Syphax will take most of TU aircraft |
Otherwise, it would be fun to see who else might be interested in TU's little fat Alberts.....
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- ETinCaribe
- Posts: 474
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RE: Tunisair Near Bankruptcy
Indeed, this would be sad news. But I also hope the government is not just going to burn cash just to keep a carrier alive.
But why? I hope they don't get forced to do such a thing. They have a good bargaining position so should be able to get some good concessions in return for taking over parts of TU.
True, that would have helped partially weather the storm.
| Quoting SR380 (Reply 7): Let's just hope that Syphax will take most of TU aircraft and staff. |
But why? I hope they don't get forced to do such a thing. They have a good bargaining position so should be able to get some good concessions in return for taking over parts of TU.
| Quoting vinniewinnie (Reply 9): Tunis could be a good airport given its good infrastructure. Tunisair could have been a good little airline bringing tourists and VFR trafic to Tunisia whilst also being a connection point for people travelling to central Africa. Sadly Tunisair only started to look at the later only recently. |
True, that would have helped partially weather the storm.
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