All Strategy articles – Page 1036
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The size equation
Airbus forcasts show that demand for the A3XX rests partly on the shifting balance between high and low yield traffic. Few new airliner births can have had such an agonisingly slow and controversial labour as that which has accompanied the launch of a new large aircraft. After almost a ...
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Food for thought
Most airlines are contracting out in-flight catering and are increasingly looking for suppliers with a global presence. When casting around for ways to reduce costs and strip out non-core businesses, airline chief executives did not take long to focus on the opportunities to be had from outsourcing their in-flight ...
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Maintenance gets smart
Every business has its dark corners. Secret fiefdoms or forgotten Cinderellas, where planning is a black art and true costs difficult to pin down. By tradition, maintenance has been one such corner of the airline industry. The label may be an exaggeration, but the boardroom drive to get a stronger ...
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Malev restructures and hunts for partners
Hungarian flag carrier Malev is gearing up to join one of the global alliance groupings while pushing ahead with a restructuring programme. New chief Antal Pongracz is keeping its options open, but re-opening talks with British Airways, which broke off last May, will be high on his agenda. ...
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Israeli skies are opened up
Israel has laid down the basis for a competitive airline industry. Not only has the Government granted international passenger rights to domestic carrier Israir, it has also licensed the Tel Aviv-based air transport company, Cargo Airlines (CAL), to compete fully with El Al on international freight routes. Against ...
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JAL slows on oneworld
Japan Airlines is in no hurry to join the oneworld alliance, despite its growing array of codeshare and reciprocal frequent flier agreements with its members British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Canadian Airlines. For now, JAL says it wants to keep these only as bilateral pacts. "Membership of ...
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SAA profits just in time
After a radical restructuring, South African Airways (SAA) has claimed it is again profitable just as the South African Government confirmed the timetable for its privatisation. The corporatisation of SAA as a separate entity will be completed by the end of March. Privatisation is on schedule for mid-June with ...
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Safety in numbers?
Until now, Air Namibia's future looked limited and its finances precarious. But hopes are pinned on a new managing director, a restructuring programme and an alliance with South African Airways. Jaafar Ahmad freely admits that his first reaction when asked to head up struggling carrier Air Namibia was: "What ...
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Spanair in the works
Straddling the charter-schedule boundary, Spanair is making a name for itself in Europe while also trying to gain a foothold in the transatlantic market. This will be a pivotal year for Spanair, Spain's fast-growing, charter-cum-scheduled airline. Eleven years old this spring, Spanair started scheduled flights just five years ago, ...
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Spanair is first to order heavy A321 as it opts for Airbus fleet
Andrew Doyle/LONDONSpanair plans to launch a new high gross weight version of the Airbus A321 as part of its commitment for up to 45 Airbus narrowbodies to replace its ageing Boeing MD-80 fleet.The carrier - Spain's second largest after Iberia - has signed a memorandum of understanding covering 21 firm ...
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Devaluation forces Varig aircraft and route cuts
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON Brian Homewood/RIO DE JANEIRO Varig Brazil has announced cuts in international services to the USA and Europe and plans to withdraw its fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 passenger aircraft by the end of the year as a massive Brazilian currency devaluation begins to affect airline traffic. ...
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SAA widens alliance with Ghana Airways
South African Airways and Ghana Airways are to extend their codeshare ties into a wider long-term commercial alliance. Signing the memorandum of understanding on the deal in Johannesburg, SAA chief executive Coleman Andrews said Ghana Airways will become a key partner in the South African airline's networking plans in ...
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Alitalia responds to BA's Italian strategy
Chris Jasper/LONDONAlitalia has begun a feasibility study into the launch of a regional carrier serving southern Italy in a move which counters British Airways plans to establish a franchise airline based on Rome and Palermo. The Italian flag carrier's study - which is to be completed by June - aims ...
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SIA buys into Ansett Australia
Paul Phelan/MELBOURNE Singapore Airlines (SIA) is to share ownership of Melbourne-based domestic carrier Ansett Australia with Air New Zealand after agreeing to buy out the 50% stake in Ansett Holdings held by the News Limited media group. The deal means that the two flag carriers will also hold equal stakes ...
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Asian lows
Asia's economic woes continue to trouble the region's airlines Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPOREAsia's airlines are wallowing in the depths of the region's economic crisis, with traffic and yields down and little evidence of any imminent recovery. The depth of the crisis was highlighted by Cathay Pacific Airways' recent revelation that it fell ...
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BA gives Sheffield a boost
Andrew Doyle/SHEFFIELD Newly established Sheffield City airport in the UK has received a major boost with the decision by British Airways franchisee British Regional Airlines (BRAL)to launch a hub operation there later this year. The only scheduled flights at the airport, which opened in February 1998, are operated by KLM ...
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Good business
Air Namibia plans to make its fortune by cutting costs, increasing income and building partnerships Stewart Penney/WINDHOEKA new managing director at Air Namibia is determined to reverse the carrier's flagging fortunes and prepare it for privatisation by aggressively attacking costs while increasing income and creating a series of alliances. The ...
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Proposed US-EU dialogue may ease tensions
Alan George/BRUSSELS The European Union and the US Government have discussed the establishment of a 'structured dialogue' aimed at defusing aviation tensions between the two sides. The talks, between EC Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock and US Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, took place in Brussels last week. Slater went to ...
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Marketplace
Delta Air Lines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 777-200ER ahead of a planned entry into commercial service on transatlantic routes from 1 May. The 277-seat Rolls-Royce Trent-powered aircraft will initially be operated between Atlanta and London and, from September, between Cincinnati and London and Atlanta and Frankfurt. The ...
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Sibir bounces back with turnover up 10%
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Former Aeroflot carrier Sibir is showing signs of rebounding from the Russian economic collapse, with traffic and financial figures showing improvement during 1998. The Novosibirsk-based airline carried 620,000 passengers last year, up 3% on 1997, while cargo volumes were up by 5%, to 5,800t. Sibir's success is all ...