AIRLINE NEWS

SIGNIFICANT GROWTH AND INCREASED PROFITS AT VLM AIRLINES
VLM Airlines has reported a pre-tax profit of ¤2m (£1.4m) for the year ending 31 December 2005, up 32.7% compared to ¤1.5m (£1m) in 2004. Net profit for the full year amounted to ¤1.4m (£0.9m), an increase of 43% compared to the year before, when the net results totalled ¤948,000 (£662,000), making 2005 the eighth consecutive year of net profit for the airline. The operating profit for the 12 months ending 31 December 2005 was ¤2.6m (£1.8m), compared to ¤1.8m (£1.3m) the previous year.

Jaap Rosen Jacobson, Chairman of VLM Airlines stated: “our ongoing drive to offer reliable, high quality and time-saving services to our passengers has been greatly appreciated. I’m extremely proud of these achievements, and the continuous efforts of our staff to offer our passengers fast and convenient travel solutions to key business destinations. These were the main reasons why VLM Airlines was named Regional Airline of the Year by the renowned industry magazine, Air Transport World.” He continued: “Our company is growing, and is doing so whilst continuing to maintain and raise its profitability. We are not just growing in quantity, but equally in quality too. Passengers who expect faster, better and more flexible services for a fair price appreciate what we have to offer, and I would equally like to thank them for their loyalty and regular feedback.”

VLM AIRLINES BUSINESS EVENTS CALENDAR
10-11 May Supply Chain Solutions Event – Brussels Expo www.businesslogistics.com “The art of doing worldwide business.”
13-21 May Foire Internationale de Luxembourg – Luxexpo www.luxexpo.lu “The Luxembourg international trade show for consumer goods.”
16-18 May ITEC – ExCel London www.itec.co.uk “Europe’s only conference and exhibition dedicated to defence training, education and simulation.”
16-19 May Wind Energy – Hamburg Messe und Conference www.hamburg-messe.de/windenergy “Europe’s leading manufacturers present their most recent offshore developments and turbines as well as their very latest inland turbines.”

5-9 June 23rd World Gas Conference – Amsterdam RAI www.wgc2006.nl “IGU is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2006, and with 86 members from 66 countries and regions and representing 95% of all gas sales, IGU is the world’s most important non-governmental and non-profit gas organisation.”

27-29 June Microscience – ExCel London www.microscience2006.org.uk “A unique opportunity to hear about the topics at the cutting edge of microscopy from an array of the world’s leading experts. Test the very latest developments in light and electron microscopes, together with associated equipment and image analysis systems.”

ONLINE GROWTH With over 8,800 online bookings in the month of March 2006, VLM Airlines has seen another steady increase in the number of bookings being processed via its website flyvlm.com. This rise amounts to 35% more online bookings compared to March 2005.

Last year VLM Airlines was also the first regional airline to introduce e-ticketing, a decision that proved to be successful, as now 95% of all tickets are issued electronically.

AMSTERDAM – LONDON CITY: DOUBLING THE FREQUENCY!
After one year of offering daily flights between Amsterdam and London City Airport, we are extremely pleased to announce extra flights between these two cosmopolitan cities. Now with six flights every weekday, VLM Airlines offers even more flexibility to business passengers on the route. VLM Airlines also offers 11 flights from Rotterdam to London City Airport, and altogether offers more flights to London City Airport than any other airline in the Netherlands. Check-in times at London City are just 15 minutes prior to departure, and at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam check-in is only 30 minutes prior to departure, thanks mainly to the fact that our Fokker 50 aircraft is parked at the gate, with no long bus ride required to the parking stand further away at the airport.

NEW TIMETABLES
The new summer timetables with updated schedules on all our routes are now available at all VLM ticket desks.

TO THE POINT – YOUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
We always like to keep our passengers up to date and informed of our progress, so we recently introduced our first newsletter.
If you have not yet subscribed to the newsletter but would like to do so, you can either subscribe via our website or send an email to: newsletter@flyvlm.com

WERNER MALOMGRE JOINS VLM AIRLINES AS SALES MANAGER CONTINENTAL EUROPE
With the growing number of customers and frequencies on a large number of its routes, VLM Airlines has appointed a sales manager for continental Europe. Werner Malomgré, 34 years old, will be responsible for the further development of the sales strategy within the Benelux. He brings with him a large amount of insight and expertise, which he has gained over the years at British Midland (now bmi), Continental Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Etihad Airways. Werner also brings experience from Travel Trade thanks to his time at Connections and TQ3 Travel Solutions.

OUR DIAMOND WINNER
Our Valentine’s promotion in February was an enormous success. Not only were our passengers delighted with the delicious Belgian chocolates offered to them as a small token of gratitude on that day, but also with the opportunity to win a fabulous diamond from Antwerp, the world’s diamond capital.

Many of you handed over your business cards but only one could win, and it was Mr. Martin Pugh from Manchester. Mr. Pugh was delighted with this unique prize, and stated: “I regularly fly with VLM Airlines from London City to Manchester, and I’m really pleased with this beautiful prize. Thank you VLM Airlines for this great initiative!”

This promotion was so tremendously successful that we will be repeating it again next year, so keep it in mind when you need to fly with us around Valentine’s Day in 2007!

KOEN GEERTS – LUXEMBOURG’S FIRST FLYING HERO
Many Luxembourg passengers will know Koen, as he is our man in Luxembourg who takes care of our aircraft. From daily checks to weekly checks, Koen is the one who keeps the aircraft flying at all times, making sure all technical details are constantly checked and maintained.

Koen, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday, has been working for VLM Airlines for more than 12 years as a technical engineer. He has worked at several VLM stations including Antwerp and Manchester, and has been based in Luxembourg for nearly two years now. Koen was nominated because of his motivation and the pride and dedication that he brings to his work. His job has earned him a lot of respect from his colleagues throughout the airline, from pilots to ticket desk agents.

FLY TO DELIGHT
During the months of February and March a large number of passengers filled in the 'Fly to Delight’ survey. Thank you to everybody who took the time to give us their feedback. The objective of this survey was to discover just how delighted you are by our products and services, and what exactly affects your levels of delight. We received a stunning 1,340 completed questionnaires, of which 449 were collected via our online survey and 891 came from the paper copies that were distributed onboard.

The main conclusion that came from this survey is that VLM Airlines has a lot of delighted customers! An incredible 31.8% of all the passengers who filled in the survey are delighted by the service offered by the airline. Only 1.9% were unsatisfied, leaving
66.3% of customers satisfied.

The survey also allowed us to update the profile of the VLM Airlines passenger with some interesting facts and figures:

MOST PASSENGERS (76%) FLY WITH VLM AIRLINES FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, 75% OF OUR PASSENGERS ARE MALE AND 25% ARE FEMALE, WITH ONE BIG EXCEPTION: ANTWERP-LONDON CITY HAS OVER 85% MALE PASSENGERS.
MOST OF OUR PASSENGERS ARE BETWEEN 36 AND 45 YEARS OF AGE.
59.6% OF OUR PASSENGERS ARE BRITISH, 15.3% ARE BELGIAN AND 14.1% ARE DUTCH, THOUGH THE NATIONALITY OF OUR PASSENGERS CLEARLY VARIES DEPENDING ON THE ROUTE.
25.6% OF ALL PASSENGERS WORK IN PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES, CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY PASSENGERS WORKING IN FINANCE.
THE TOP THREE CARS OUR CUSTOMERS DRIVE ARE BMW, MERCEDES AND AUDI.
AND FINALLY, THE TOP THREE REASONS FOR CHOOSING TO FLY WITH VLM AIRLINES ARE:
1. AIRPORTS LOCATED CLOSE TO CITY CENTRES
2. ABILITY TO FLY TO LONDON CITY AIRPORT
3. SHORT CHECK-IN TIMES AND FAST BOARDING AND DISEMBARKATION

The survey’s main results can be found on our website, flyvlm.com. VLM Airlines takes pride in its commitment to offering the best possible service to its business passengers and has already taken some important feedback into account for further developments and improvement. The eight winners of lunch at Plateau restaurant have been contacted personally and will be able to give additional feedback and suggestions to Jaap Rosen Jacobson and Johan Vanneste when they have lunch with them at this exclusive restaurant.

ALL TOGETHER
Managing director Johan Vanneste dedicates award to VLM Airlines staff and their “immense contribution”

On 20 February VLM Airlines chairman Jaap Rosen Jacobson and managing director Johan Vanneste were presented with the ATW Regional Airline of the Year award at a sparkling ceremony in Singapore. As the champagne flowed, both men were clear that the airline’s success was owed to the men and women who make it all happen, from the pilots and cabin crew to the engineers and ticketing agents. So just four days later, and in the somewhat less glamorous environs of Antwerp airport, Johan Vanneste held a ceremony to dedicate the award to the airline’s various staff.

Speaking at the event, Johan said: “It is thanks to the hard work of all our employees that we were awarded with this important honour, and it therefore represents a great motivation to continue our growth.” He continued; “This is a milestone in the history of our company. This award in Singapore is a fantastic reward for our achievements of the past few years. VLM Airlines has placed its stamp on the worldwide map and this official ceremony is the ultimate proof that we have achieved fantastic results as a regional airline. We are now even more determined to maintain the high quality product our passengers are accustomed to.”

Such determination and drive is characteristic of VLM Airlines, which transported a total of 625,300 passengers in 2005, an overall growth of 12 per cent compared to the previous year. With more passengers, more flights and more destinations covered, VLM Airlines is flying high thanks to what Vanneste called the “immense contribution” of its dedicated staff.