Airline Finance News - Europe.Oct 9, 2006 Aer Lingus Aer Lingus is Ireland's national airline. Based in Dublin, it operates 41 Airbus aircraft serving Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East. The airline is 28% owned by the Irish government; it was floated on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges on 2 October 2006, , Ryanair The Irish Independent newspaper reported on Saturday that Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary Michael O'Leary is the name of a number of prominent people:
In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Euro. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 800 million (USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. $1 billion) costs by EUR150 million (USD$189 million)," the paper said. The paper said Ryanair would begin by outsourcing Aer Lingus' catering department, which employs about 200 people, and would then look to cutting most of the staff at the company's 100-strong American operations. It did not say where it got the information. "All that is just wild speculation -- nothing more," Ryanair responded in a brief statement. "Ryanair's offer confirms its intention to lower Aer Lingus' short haul Short distance. Short haul implies traversing a small geographic area such as a few miles at most. Contrast with long haul. See line driver. fares by at least 10 percent over the next 4 years and to reducing Aer Lingus' fuel surcharge," it added. O'Leary said on Thursday he planned to continue a rationalization plan already underway at Aer Lingus if Ryanair's offer was successful. Oct 8, 2006 Aer Lingus, Ryanair Ryanair Aer Lingus Bid May Serve As Industry Model. Ryanair's USD$1.9 billion bid for Aer Lingus, which would pair a low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (also known as a no-frills or discount carrier / airline) is an airline that offers generally low fares in exchange for eliminating many traditional passenger services. with a traditional airline, could represent the model for consolidation in the industry, experts say. Merger speculation, especially in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , has been rampant recently as the financial performance of airlines improves. And with over 260 carriers in the world, the industry is seen as unwieldy and ripe for thinning. Although the Aer Lingus board has rejected the bid made on Thursday as undervalued Undervalued A stock or other security that is trading below its true value. Notes: The difficulty is knowing what the "true" value actually is. Analysts will usually recommend an undervalued stock with a strong buy rating. , Ryanair's plan would link a rapidly growing point-to-point carrier with a long-haul national carrier. Traditional carriers have for years been losing domestic or short-haul market share to low-cost carriers and the trend is expected to continue. This has led many legacy carriers, such as United Airlines and American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the to expand international routes, which are less contested, but often more complex to operate. Oct 6, 2006 Aer Lingus, Ryanair Ireland Outlines Need For Aer Lingus Blocking Stake. Ireland's finance minister said in a newspaper interview published on Monday it was important for the government to keep a blocking minority stake in Aer Lingus to show its commitment to the airline. Brian Cowen Brian Cowen (Irish: Brian Ó Comhain; born 10 January, 1960) is a senior Irish Fianna Fáil politician and the current Tánaiste of Ireland. said the move was to prevent a foreign takeover of the Irish state carrier, which floated last week. The FT said Aer Lingus' 23 landing slots Landing slots or Airport slots are rights allocated to an airline by an airport or government agency granting an airline the right to schedule a landing or departure at a specific time. at London's Heathrow Airport were a key part of its development. The carrier is still seen as Ireland's national airline despite a reduction in the state's shareholding from 85 percent to 34.8 percent last week, the newspaper reported. Cowen told the Financial Times the government's decision to maintain its stake was also to prevent the business being taken over by foreign interests. The newspaper said the government's stake would fall to just under 28 percent as it sells a further 6.5 percent over the coming weeks. Aer Lingus priced its initial public offering at 2.20 euros a share last Wednesday, valuing the group at EUR1.13 billion euros (USD$1.43 billion). Oct 2, 2006 Air France Air France in full Compagnie Internationale Air France French passenger and cargo airline with more than 200 destinations in some 80 countries. It introduced supersonic Concorde service in 1976, but financial loss led the company to cease its Concorde Air France announced a reduction of its fuel surcharge following a 30-day stretch during which oil prices remained below $65 per barrel. Effective on tickets issued from today, the surcharge will drop [euro]7 ($8.90) on long-haul flights, [euro]2 on medium-haul flights and [euro]1 on domestic flights. Oct 6, 2006 Air France-KLM Air France-KLM (Euronext Paris: AF, NYSE: AKH) is an airline company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, France. Air France-KLM merger could deliver up to [euro]1 billion ($1.27 billion) in savings to the airlines by 2009, double the initially anticipated cost benefit of [euro]500 million, Air France KLM KLM Kaiserliche Marine (Enigma: Rising Tide game) KLM Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (Royal Dutch Airlines) KLM Klub Langer Menschen (German: Tall Person Club) Vice Chairman and KLM President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Leo Leo, in astronomy Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. van Wijk told Dutch magazine Zakenreis. Since the 2004 merger, the carriers have realized savings of [euro]660 million, he noted. He also revealed that he is considering relinquishing his titles at KLM when his contract expires in May 2007 in order to take a strategic role in the merged company. He said he expects to be replaced by Deputy CEO Peter Hartman, who will retain a purely operational role as head of the Dutch entity. Final decisions will be taken later this year. Oct 5, 2006 Air France-KLM Air France-KLM's top 20 managers will meet later this year in order to "reflect on what the 'grand plan' should be for next year and how we can take the next steps," Van Wijk said. He did not rule out further integration, "but there must be good reasons for that." Possible investment in China will be on the agenda, while he reiterated that the company would consider a stake in Alitalia if the airline is privatized and profitable. Oct 5, 2006 Air France-KLM Air France KLM Sees Additional Savings. The 2004 merger of Air France and KLM could produce double the initially anticipated cost savings of EUR500 million euros (USD$635.3 million), the chief executive of KLM was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Van Wijk said the merger between the French and Dutch airlines had already saved EUR660 million and added that the top 20 managers of Air France and KLM would meet later this year to assess progress and look to the future. Van Wijk said areas of potential cost saving include joint maintenance of both airlines' Boeing 747s at Schiphol and that of A380s in Paris. Oct 4, 2006 Air France-KLM Air France KLM's Van Wijk when asked about further consolidation in the airline industry, said the company wanted to invest in China, which he said would be the biggest aviation market in 10 years, and also remains interested in Italy's Alitalia. Van Wijk reiterated that Air France KLM could consider taking a stake in Alitalia if the airline was privatized. Oct 4, 2006 Air France-KLM Air France-KLM Group[acute accent acute accent n. A mark (´) indicating: a. that a vowel is close or tense, as é in French été. b. that a vowel or syllable has a high or rising pitch, as in Chinese or Ancient Greek. c. ]s seat capacity for the winter 2006/2007 season will grow overall by 3.6% compared with last year, 3% increase on the long haul Long distance. Long haul implies traversing a state or a country. Contrast with short haul. network and 5.7% on the medium haul routes. Both airlines will expand to long haul destinations, particularly Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. (up 9.5%) and Asia (up 6.1%). Capacity to Africa and the Middle East will be increased by 2.1%. For North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. it remains more or less the same but for the French Caribbean The term French Caribbean varies in meaning with its usage and frame of reference. This ambiguity makes it very different from the term French West Indies, which refers to the specific, formal French possessions in the Caribbean region. and Indian Ocean Indian Ocean, third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It constitutes about 20% of the world's total ocean area. destinations there is a reduction 1.9%. On the medium-haul network, Air France is boosting capacity mainly to Eastern Europe Eastern Europe The countries of eastern Europe, especially those that were allied with the USSR in the Warsaw Pact, which was established in 1955 and dissolved in 1991. . Gatwick - Nantes and Dublin - Bordeaux services are being dropped. The airline will run seven flights a day between Dublin and Paris and three a day between Edinburgh and the French capital. http://www.airfrance.com Oct 2, 2006 Air France-KLM, Alitalia Air France KLM dampened talk of a rapid merger with Alitalia in August, after the Italian flag carrier said a new plan was needed to turn the company around after abandoning a promise to turn a profit in 2006. Oct 4, 2006 Airbus Airlines Review Fleet Needs After A380 Delay. The world's airlines were forced to review growth plans on Wednesday after Airbus revealed more delays to its troubled A380 superjumbo. Airbus on Tuesday delayed deliveries of the world's largest passenger jet by another year, leaving it two years behind schedule, because of wiring installation problems. EADS EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. EADS Expeditionary Air Defense System (USMC) EADS Extended Air Defense Systems EADS Environmental Assessment Data System EADS Echelons Above Division Study predicted a profit shortfall of EUR2.8 billion euros (USD$3.55 billion) over four years on top of EUR2 billion (USD$2.54 billion) disclosed in June and announced a EUR2 billion annual cost-savings program, far above previous measures. It also took provisions for penalties to airlines and acknowledged the risk of further charges for its new A350 aircraft, which needs to be redesigned to counter Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Debt rating agency Standard & Poor's said overnight it might cut its rating on EADS on the back of the profit warning and the delay, due mainly to problems installing wiring in the USD$300 million double-decker. Oct 4, 2006 Alitalia Italian premier: Alitalia 'completely out of control'. Italian Premier Romano Prodi yesterday told union leaders that the situation at Alitalia is "completely out of control" and that the government will come up with a plan by Jan. 31 to save the ailing flag carrier, likely through some sort of international alliance or merger, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. press reports. Prodi's office reportedly confirmed the latter in a statement following the meeting, which was prompted by Alitalia's admission last week that its new business plan and recent recapitalization will not return it to profitability. Oct 6, 2006 Alitalia ANSA ANSA - Advanced Network Systems Architecture reported that Prodi wants the carrier to be the centerpiece of a national air transport strategy. The government holds 49% of the airline. Press reports from Italy indicated that the unions generally were supportive of Prodi's involvement, although some prefer a more compressed timetable. The government is scheduled to meet with embattled Alitalia CEO Giancarlo Cimoli today. Alitalia said in late September that Alitalia Group's net debt as of Aug. 31 was [euro]932 million ($1.17 billion), an increase of [euro]23 million from July 31. Oct 6, 2006 Alitalia Alitalia To Face New Volare Volare is the Latin and Italian word for the verb to fly; adding an acute accent on the final e (volaré) it is also the Spanish word for I will fly. Bid Battle. Alitalia's EUR38 million euro (USD$48.4 million) acquisition of smaller airline Volare was effectively annulled on Monday by a court ruling which ordered a new bidding process, a judicial source said. Volare, which collapsed in 2004 under heavy losses and debt, has valuable slots at Milan Malpensa Airport and the acquisition was part of Alitalia's strategy to regain domestic market share lost in recent years to lower-cost rivals. The Volare buyout was also a defensive move. Alitalia Chief Executive Giancarlo Cimoli estimated lost revenues of EUR125 million (USD$159.2 million) by 2008 if Volare -- and its slots -- went to Alitalia's closest Italian rival, Air One. The judicial source, who declined to be named, said the court ordered the start of a new bidding process within 60 days. The ruling has immediate effect but is not definitive as the court still needs to rule on the merits on the merits adj. referring to a judgment, decision or ruling of a court based upon the facts presented in evidence and the law applied to that evidence. A judge decides a case "on the merits" when he/she bases the decision on the fundamental issues and considers of the case, the source said. Volare issued a statement saying it was aware of the court decision, but did not confirm the details. Air One, the second-highest bidder for Volare, had argued during its long legal battle that state-controlled Alitalia was an unfair competitor, benefited from state aid and was in no condition to acquire another airline after it narrowly avoided bankruptcy with a EUR1 billion (USD$1.27 billion) capital increase. Alitalia did not immediately comment. Italy's anti-trust agency had already dealt the acquisition a blow by ordering Alitalia to cede four slots at Malpensa for the deal to go ahead. Oct 2, 2006 Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG is the flag carrier airline of Austria, headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled sevices to over 130 destinations. Its main base is Vienna International Airport, with a hub at Innsbruck Airport.[1] In 2006 Austrian had 10 million passengers. , Air France, Lufthansa Austrian Airlines To Raise USD$445 Mln After Losses. Loss-making Austrian Airlines plans to raise EUR350 million euros (USD$445 million) in a rights issue backed by key shareholders to underpin a return to profitability, the carrier said on Tuesday. Austrian Airlines said it will offer up to 68 million new shares in the rights issue at close to market prices, probably this year. The Austrian government and a group of Austrian banks will fully subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; the issue, Austrian said. Austrian had a net loss of EUR129.1 million (USD$164.2 million) last year and in July scrapped its plan to break even this year, predicting another loss as fuel prices rose. The carrier could not even hedge against high fuel prices recently because its share capital base was too thin to underpin such hedges. Austrian media speculated for months that a bigger rival could buy a stake in Austrian and inject fresh cash, mentioning Germany's Lufthansa and Air France as potential buyers. But Austria's government as well as the chief executives of several large companies said an independent Austrian Airlines with its central European network was an important factor for Vienna as a financial and business hub for the region. Austria owns 39.7 percent in the struggling carrier. A consortium including Bank Austria Bank Austria Creditanstalt is a Central and Eastern European bank, 96.35% owned by UniCredit Group. BA-CA's history goes as far back as 1855, the year the Creditanstalt was founded. Creditanstalt, Vienna Insurance Group, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Raiffeisen Zentralbank is a co-operative bank based and founded in Austria and operating throughout central and eastern Europe. "Raiffeisen" is a reference to Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, the founder of the co-operative movement of credit unions. and BAWAG BAWAG Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft (Austria) P.S.K. owns 10.3 percent. Oct 3, 2006 British Airways British Airways in full British Airways PLC International passenger airline based in London. In 1936 British Airways Ltd. was founded through the merger of three smaller airlines. British Airways said its passenger load factor fell 0.8 points in September to 78.8 percent of capacity. The airline said its September passenger traffic rose 1.5 percent on a year ago. BA cancelled 1,280 flights in August after security at UK airports was tightened and stricter baggage rules introduced following a suspected plot to blow up airliners. The airline blamed the rules restricting the size of carry-on luggage for a decline in transfer traffic volumes, particularly in premium cabins, in September. The rules were eased late last month. Low-cost rival Ryanair earlier reported a 17 percent rise in passenger numbers for the month and a load factor of 86 percent of capacity. Oct 4, 2006 British Airways Increased Security Hits British Airways Traffic. British Airways lowered its full-year revenue forecast on Wednesday, blaming the impact of stricter baggage rules on traffic volumes, but said its fuel bill would be less than expected due to lower oil prices. Europe's third-largest airline said it expected revenue for the year to end-March 2007 to rise 5-6 percent, down from its previous growth forecast of 6-7 percent. BA also said the cost of fuel was now expected to be GBP GBP In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the British Pound. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 450 million pounds (USD$849 million) higher than last year, down from an earlier forecast of GBP550 million to GBP600 million (USD$1.04 billion - USD$1.13 billion). Oct 4, 2006 British Airways British Airways Pension Deficit Tops GBP2 Bln. British Airways said on Friday its pension deficit had more than doubled to GBP2.1 billion pounds (USD$3.9 billion), at the top end of its expectations, as it embarked on negotiations with staff to tackle the hefty shortfall. Oct 2, 2006 British Airways British Airways said on Friday its pension deficit had more than doubled to GBP2.1 billion pounds (USD$3.93 billion), at the top end of its expectations. But it also said it was starting talks with staff to tackle the shortfall, fueling speculation that if it gets to grips with the deficit it might attract fresh bid interest. "BA's slots at Heathrow are worth around GBP2.5 billion (USD$4.68 billion) at current market value, and with a free cash flow yield of 8 percent, a bid in excess of GBP6 (USD$11.22) a share would not be unreasonable," they wrote. At least 51 percent of British Airways equity must be British-owned under the airline's ownership rules. Oct 2, 2006 British Airways British Airways Shares Rise On Bid Report. British Airways shares rose over 2 percent in early trade on Monday following a newspaper report that two Middle Eastern groups considered bidding for the airline earlier this year. Dubai's Emirates, the focus of speculation in June around a possible bid for BA, said it still had no intention of bidding for the airline. A BA spokeswoman declined to comment. A source familiar with the situation said they were not aware that Emirates had ever seriously considered a bid. The Times newspaper said on Saturday that two Middle Eastern groups looked at bidding for BA but were put off by the uncertainty over its pension obligations. Oct 2, 2006 Icelandair Icelandair To List This Year. Iceland's FL Group is to sell 51 percent of Icelandair in an initial public offering later this year, Icelandic bank Glitnir said on Tuesday as underwriter. FL Group, which owns 100 percent of the airline, would generate an estimated ISK ISK In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Iceland Krona. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 26 billion Icelandic kronur (USD$371.3 million) profit from the sale of the stake based on the total value of the equity, Glitnir said in a statement. The airline, which carried 1.5 million passengers last years and flies to 22 destinations, has an enterprise value of ISK43 billion (USD$614.1 million), the bank said. Employees of the airline group will have the opportunity to purchase shares, and the stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. said Icelandair Group Icelandair Group is an Icelandic travel industry corporation, the owner of the airline Icelandair and numerous other travel industry companies. Icelandair Group was initially a subsidiary of Icelandic investment company FL GROUP, but in February 2006, FL GROUP announced operations "will continue on all levels as normal," with no plans to change management or reduce the workforce. Oct 3, 2006 SAS (1) (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, www.sas.com) A software company that specializes in data warehousing and decision support software based on the SAS System. Founded in 1976, SAS is one of the world's largest privately held software companies. See SAS System. Scandinavian Airlines SAS Scandinavian Airlines said yesterday it avoided a strike by Swedish cabin staff after reaching a deal with the local HTF HTF Happy Tree Friends HTF Hard To Find HTF Highway Trust Fund HTF Heat Transfer Fluid HTF Hyper-G Text Format HTF Hardlines Technology Forum (American Hardware Manufacturers Association) HTF How To Fight union, which represents most of the airline's flight attendants. Meantime, Reuters reported that Danish cabin staff have threatened to strike and that negotiations on a new work agreement will continue into next week. Oct 5, 2006 SAS Scandinavian Airlines SAS Avoids Swedish Strike, Faces Danish Walk-Out. SAS said on Wednesday it had avoided a strike by Swedish cabin staff, but the airline still faced threats of industrial action from Danish crew members. The carrier said in a statement that SAS Sweden would fly according to its normal timetable on Thursday after sealing a deal with the local HTF union, which represents most of the airline's cabin staff. Cabin staff in Denmark have also threatened to strike over a new collective working agreement. Verner Lundtoft Jensen, the chairman of the Danish Cabin Attendants Union, said a judge had called the union and SAS to mediation on Friday. The carrier, half of which is owned by the governments of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, has suffered in recent years from increasing competition from no-frills rivals, overcapacity and, more recently, record high oil prices. It has reduced costs and sold parts of its operations, but remains under pressure. Jensen said he expected negotiations to continue through to Tuesday next week. However, he thought a strike for all of the Danish union's 1,600 members was all but unavoidable. Oct 4, 2006 SAS Scandinavian Airlines The SAS strike would halt all flights out of Copenhagen, including intercontinental flights. If SAS attempted to circumvent the strike by using Norwegian and Swedish staff to operate Copenhagen flights, Jensen said Danish ground staff unions would block the flights. "If we have to, we'll go down onto the runways to stop them," he said. If the mediator, high court judge Asbjorn Jensen, sees any chance of reaching an agreement between the firm and the union, he may postpone the strike for two weeks, which happened in a previous conflict two years ago, Jensen said. Oct 4, 2006 TUI tui: see honeyeater. (Telephone User Interface) The combination of Touch-tone input from the telephone keypad coupled with speech output from the connected voicemail or IVR application. TUI said the new organizational structure  This article has no lead section.To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, one should be written. "envisages a division of work between flight operations and marketing," allowing "the controlled migration of Hapagfly as a production unit and HLX HLX Hapag Lloyd Express (German airline) HLX High Luxury as a marketing unit to the new low-cost platform with strong Internet sales." Mueller described Hapagfly as "a quality carrier" while HLX is "a successful marketing and sales concept." Highest growth is expected in the low-cost sector and the aim is to generate 60% of bookings from these activities and 40% through the tour operator business. A decision on a common brand will be made by the end of October at the latest. Oct 2, 2006 Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: edit@AirGuideOnline.com For more global news, reviews, features and analysis, please go to: http://www.airguideonline.com/onlinenews.htm To Subscribe to our Newsletters: http://www.airguideonline.com/order_formsubs.htm#news To Advertise: advert@AirGuideOnline.com Oct 2, 2006 |
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