Beverage maker Alfredo Yao, who recently took over Asian Spirit Inc., is expected to formally relaunch the airline soon in time for the arrival of the new planes that will be utilized to serve planned regional routes.

“There are plans to do that, yes. But nothing has been finalized yet. We are still looking into it,” said Yao in a phone interview.

Sources, however, told the BusinessMirror that there might be rebranding involved. From Asian Spirit, the airline is expected to be known as “Zest,” with orange and green as the new company colors.  Yao owns juice-maker Zesto-O Corp. as well as the Philippine Business Bank.

“It’s a new management and the new management simply wants to put in new ideas that will represent the new management,” added Yao.

The budget airline awaits the delivery of four Airbus aircraft next month. It will also take delivery of wide-bodied airplanes and five smaller turbo-propeller planes within the year.

“We plan to fly to Thailand and Hong Kong. We also want to fly from Clark and other points outside Manila. The Airbus planes that will arrive by next month is something that we are looking forward to,” said Yao.

Asian Spirit now flies to Incheon in South Korea, Macau, Malaysia and China. Senior vice president Butch Rodriguez said in a separate interview that flights to China had been suspended pending the arrival of the new Airbus A320 units.

“For Hong Kong and Thailand we want to serve daily flights. We asked the CAB [Civil Aeronautics Board] for 1,250 entitlements each so we could mount daily flights from Manila but it seems there are only less than a thousand left. We are also not the only carrier applying for entitlements there,” said Rodriguez.

Asian Spirit obtained its 25-year congressional franchise in January 2003, and under the terms of the franchise the airline should have conducted an initial public offering last year.  But poor market conditions and continued financial losses trampled the airline’s plan to list in the local bourse.  

Rodriguez said Asian Spirit was not able to meet the requirements set by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). One of which is that a company must show profitability for three consecutive years.

The SEC, in 2005, approved its application to increase the company’s authorized capital stock to P1 billion.

Asian Spirit earlier planned to sell 30 percent of its shares to the public to raise fresh capital and fund its expansion program.

GLOBE Telecom’s plan to enter the mobile television business will involve getting onboard a broadcast firm partner and a content provider.

Asian Spirit up for relaunch soon

Beverage maker Alfredo Yao, who recently took over Asian Spirit Inc., is expected to formally relaunch the airline soon in time for the arrival of the new planes that will be utilized to serve planned regional routes.

Two UK firms to set up Philippine offices

Two British multinational engineering consultancy groups are setting up back-office operations in the Philippines that will provide high work content jobs for Filipino engineers, said the British envoy to Manila.

SMC first-half profit higher on nonrecurring gains

FOOD and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. (SMC) reported a 199-percent jump in its net profit from January to June this year to P19.7 billion.

PLDT Subic unit changes name

Subic Telecommunications Co. Inc. (SubicTel), a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), has changed its name to PLDT Subic Telecom Inc.

The Corporate Corner: Implied and necessary powers

It is a familiar doctrine that every express grant of power to a corporation carries with it all the powers that may be implied from or which are either incidental, necessary or expedient to those expressly conferred, and that the corporation may do whatever is necessary or expedient to their exercise (SEC Opinion 11-02 citing Fletcher Cyclopedia Corporations Volume 6 Sec. 2486).