CaviAir
| File:CaviAirLogo2.png The CaviAir logo introduced in 2009 | |||||||
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| Founded | 11 November 1949 | ||||||
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| Hubs | Oscar City International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | CaviTravels Rewards Program | ||||||
| Alliance | Skyworld | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | |||||||
| Fleet size | 329 | ||||||
| Destinations | 118 | ||||||
| Company slogan | CaviAir- The Smile In The Sky | ||||||
| Headquarters | CaviVillage, Oscar City International Airport, Oscar City, The Cavian State | ||||||
| Key people |
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| Revenue |  US$ 13.832 billion (2017) | ||||||
| Operating income | US$ 1.981 billion (2017) | ||||||
| Net income | US$ 1.576 billion (2017) | ||||||
| Total assets |  US$ 14.292 billion (2017) | ||||||
| Total equity | US$ 4.881 billion (2017) | ||||||
| Employees | 21,450 | ||||||
| Website | www.caviair.co.cv | ||||||
CaviAir Limited is the flag carrier of The Cavian State, with its head office and main hub located at Oscar City International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have scheduled passenger and cargo services to 118 destinations in 20 countries worldwide including codeshares and joint ventures. CaviAir operates a fleet of wide-body aircraft, consisting of Boeing 747, Airbus A330 and Airbus A350 equipment. CaviAir Cargo operates two models of the Boeing 747. Wholly owned subsidiary airline InterCity Air operates to 52 destinations around the globe in 29 countries. In 2010, CaviAir and CaviAir Cargo, together with InterCity Air and another subsidiary, FlyAnimalia, carried nearly 72 million passengers and over 12.5 million tons of cargo and mail.
The airline was founded on 11 November 1949 by George Arlton and Cesar Sanchez, who under royal recommendation founded the airline as joint Chief Executives under a Royal Charter. The airline spent over $20 billion to construct the new Oscar City International Airport. CaviAir owns the land the airport sits on and can appoint board members and executives, but the airport is mainly self-functioning. The airline celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2009; and as of October 2017, its major shareholders are Royal Holdings(a joint venture capital group owned by the Cavian royalty) and AnimalAir. It is reciprocally one of the major shareholders of AnimalAir. On January 28, 2018, BOLOBI Holdings acquired 9.6% of the CaviAir stock, becoming the third-largest shareholder.
Cathay Pacific is the world's third largest airline measured in terms of sales, and fifth largest measured in terms of market capitalisation. In 2010, CaviAir became the world's largest international cargo airline, along with main hub Oscar City International Airport as the world's busiest airport in terms of cargo traffic.
CaviAir is also one of the founding members of the Skyworld alliance. CaviAir's subsidiary InterCity Air is an affiliate member of Skyworld.
CaviAir is an award-winning and globally reputed airline, winning the "World's Best Airline" award by internationally-prestigious airline rating company Skytrax three times(the latest was in 2016) and consistently ranking as among the top airlines in the world.
History
1940s and 1950s: Airline beginnings
By the 1940s, Cavia had severely fallen behind in the airplane industry, lacking major aviation infrastructure and equipment. However, a large government undertaking built three new airports in Cavia's major metropolitan areas, as well as funding smaller Cavian airlines. However, the nation still lacked a major flag carrier airline, and in September of 1949 a Royal Charter was sent out to the public for applications. Two men, George Arlton and Cesar Sanchez, had run a medium-sized but prospering airline at the time called Cavian Charter Lines. Both men had previous flying experience as Senior Airmen in the Cavian air force, serving for over 20 years. After two months of deliberation, the Cavian Charter Lines was chosen as the nation's flag carrier, with royal funding directed to the airline. The airline was then renamed as "CaviAir" and operation commenced.
Popular legend says that the name CaviAir originates from Arlton and Sanchez meeting with two foreign Byrdan diplomats who spoke relatively poor Cavian. When Sanchez asked them for a name for the airline, one of the diplomats slurred the words "Cavian" and "Air", saying "CaviAir". Arlton then said "Yes, yes, that's it" and the name was registered to the National Aviation Association as "CaviAir".
CaviAir's maiden flight occurred on 1 December 1949, and it saw a Jetax C3 plane piloted by Cesar Sanchez take off at Oscar City and land in Northhills, a routine flight that many other Cavian airlines already provided. The initial routes only served Oscar City, Mochiville, Port-Au-Porcii, Crested Peak, Northhills, and Sealen City, but quickly grew to accommodate more cities such as Texelton and Rockcliff. The 1950s also saw CaviAir's first international routes, flying to the bordering nations of Byrdï and Bearilea.
The airline grew quickly, attracting investors, and in 1952 started to generate a turnover, meaning that government financial assistance would no longer be required. This saw the airline hire 7 additional pilots and add another Jetax C3 as well as the top-of-the-range Vixen II to their fleet.
In 1954 AnimalAir, a major airline that did not have any flights to Cavia, and CaviAir struck a deal that saw AnimalAir buy a 31% share in the company. Likewise, Cavia would also buy 31% of AnimalAir's stock. Therefore, both airlines could support each other and share their dividends with each other. The agreement worked and continues today.
In 1958 CaviAir acquired Cavian Civil Air Lines, the other dominant airline in Cavia's aviation industry, by buying a 51% control of their stock. This truly made CaviAir the flag carrier airline in Cavia, but also saw less competition in the market. Many government watchdogs criticized the government after they refused to step in against the monopolizing deal, due to the fact that the royalty owned the majority of CaviAir. The government maintained that they allowed the deal to go forward to promote Cavian aviation, which they pointed out was still relatively behind for the times.
1960s, 1970s, 1980s: Rapid expansion
The airline prospered in the late 1950s and into the 1960s, helped by buying its archrival, Cavian Civil Air Lines, on 14 June 1958. Between 1962 and 1967, the airline recorded double digit growth on average every year and became the world's first airline to operate regular international services to Bearilea. In 1964, it carried its one millionth passenger and acquired its first jet engine aircraft, the Vixen 5800.
In the 1970s, Cathay Pacific installed a computerised reservation system and flight simulators. In 1979, the airline acquired its first Boeing 747 and applied for traffic rights to begin flying to the Savannah Republic in 1980, with the first flight on 16 July. Expansion continued into the 1980s, with nonstop service to Hogrian in 1983, with continuing service on to Cricetinia despite ongoing tensions between the two nations in 1986 when an industry-wide boom encouraged route growth to many developing nations.
On 15 May 1986, the airline went public and was listed in the Main Board of the Oscar City Stock Exchange.
1990s: Reforming airline identity and Skyworld
In January 1990, CaviAir and Royal Holdings, CaviAir's majority shareholder, acquired another Cavian competitor, Channel Airlines. During the early 1990s, the airline launched a program to upgrade its passenger service. The black and white diagonal livery was replaced with the current "blowing wind" livery. In 1994 the airline invested in a new corporate identity, with a US$6.4 million program to update its image. The fleet was expected to have the new logo within four years.
The airline began a US$9 billion fleet replacement program during the mid-1990s that gave it one of the youngest fleets in the world. In 1996, AnimalAir increased its holdings in Cathay Pacific from 31% to 38%, while the Royal Holdings shares were decreased from 64% to 53% as two other Doggerland companies, DCH and CommerSense, bought shares in the airline.
On 1 January 1997 Cavia changed its national flag, meaning that the livery on CaviAir's fleet would have to be updated. The flag was changed from having the old Cavian flag to the new, three-horizontal bar flag that had been introduced in the new year. Cavia's new prefix for airline registration was changed to 'Q', from the old 'V-C'.
On 21 May 1998, CaviAir took the first delivery of the Boeing 777-300 at a ceremony in Everett. On 21 September 1998, CaviAir, together with Alpinas, Singapore Airlines, AeroMexico, and AirJapan, co-founded the Skyworld airline alliance. The five airlines, together with over twenty new members, codeshare and run a unified loyalty program, among other benefits.
Founding of Oscar City International Airport
By the 1990s, Oscar City was desperately in need of a new airport, as the old King Roger III International Airport which lied on the southern coast of Oscar City was reaching maximum capacity. CaviAir decided to spend reportedly US$22 billion to fund construction of the new Oscar City International Airport, which would be built on an artificial island on Jubilee Bay. Construction began in 1991 and finally finished on 3 May 1999, in time for the new year. Because of the deal, CaviAir receives a small commission on the airport's profit and other airline's leasing fees for gates at the airport. It was reported that the deal will pay itself off by 2024.
The airport is CaviAir's main hub, it has hangars, maintenance facilities and fuel storage for the airline, with leasing options available for other airlines. CaviAir also has exclusive rights to Terminal 8, which has gates specifically for CaviAir and other Skyworld airlines.
Currently CaviAir holds a 65% share in the airport, with 20% invested by the RTSCavia Group, 10% by Citigroup and the remaining 5% by private investors.