Companies: BAY    EZJ    RYA    TVZ   

Aviation sector followers are strapping themselves in for industry consolidation this year, as soaring competition and loftier fuel bills circle the sector skies. One big recent  story involved Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s Easyjet, which gained altitude on reports linking Icelandic firm FL Group with a bid for the budget airline.

The Luton-based low-cost carrier cheered investors with December passenger statistics, reporting an 18 per cent leap in passenger numbers in 2005 to more than 30.3 million.

Attention also centred on blue-chip British Airways, which is re-launching its loss-making regional airline business to compete against budget players such as  EasyJet and Ryanair, with passengers no longer prepared to fly business class on  internal flights.

BA’s CitiExpress, which will be re-branded BA Connect from 26 March, has been given until April 2008 to be in the black by new chief executive Willie Walsh.
Elsewhere, erstwhile OFEX counter VFB, now known as Travelzest and listed on AIM, posted encouraging maiden preliminary figures to October moving neatly into the black.

For the current year, investors can expect profits of £1 million on £36.5 million sales, before any acquisitions are done.