Noel Josephides gets top post at Viking Airlines

Noel Josephides, former chairman of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) and managing director of Cyprus-specialist Sunvil Holidays, has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Viking Airlines, the Swedish carrier that stepped in to fill the void left in the UK charter market when XL stopped flying at the end of 2008.
The Viking management team approached Noel several months ago with a plan to launch Viking UK. Restrictions on Swedish carriers flying from the UK to certain destinations have made operations difficult and expensive in 2009 and they wanted to establish a UK base for the airline to enable easier growth over the next few years.
Seeing the importance of an independent airline for Sunvil's business and that of the other smaller independent specialist, Noel accepted the appointment, according to a statement issued by Sunvil.
“For Sunvil it was important to have this alternative carrier operating out of the UK as without an alternative the competition would force up prices,” the holiday company said in an announcement.
“Noel's involvement is purely in a steering capacity to ensure that the airline develops in a sound way to serve the needs of the independent specialists. Viking has no investment in Sunvil and Sunvil has no investment in Viking,” it added.
Viking UK is in the process of applying for a UK Air Operating Certificate (AOC) and Sunvil “will continue to buy capacity from the likes of Monarch. Purchasing choices will be based on price and service,” the holiday company said.