All Strategy articles – Page 1049

  • News

    Ryanair passes go in Europe

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Tom Gill With soaring profits, share price and traffic, Europe's largest and longest established low-cost airline may yet achieve its ambition to be the Southwest of Europe. But as it strives to continue its profitable growth path Ryanair can expect to cross swords with the new British Airways ...

  • News

    East joins west skies

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Peter Bennett The European Commission is set to begin talks with 10 nations from central and eastern Europe in a bid to conclude a comprehensive air transport agreement with the region. The agreement is likely to include cabotage rights for east European airlines, airline ownership rights and a full ...

  • News

    Delta ties knot at last

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker To the relief of its new chief executive officer, Delta Air Lines has joined the US matchmaking game. But the planned strategic alliance with United Airlines has union and governmental hurdles ahead. The two airlines confirmed their alliance plans on 30 April. The pair say they will ...

  • News

    Taca lays into US open skies deals

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker Pop! That's the sound of Central American carriers reacting to the open skies agreements they were applauding just a few months ago, but which they now regard as black clouds that have opened the floodgates to US competition and left local airlines with little shelter. The bubble ...

  • News

    Who's ready for a cosy threesome?

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    And then there were three. If things work out as planned - and that's a big 'if' - over 80 per cent of the US airline industry will be in the hands of three alliance groups. Globally, the situation is less clear-cut, but the industry is moving in the same ...

  • News

    Time to climb?

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker From the bottom of the pile, life offers a different perspective. While most US airlines have returned to profitability in the 1990s, the financial haemorrhage at Trans World Airlines has continued. So management was encouraged to note, after announcing 1998's first quarter results, that the words 'beleaguered' ...

  • News

    China seeks foreign cash

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    David Knibb Zhu Rongji may be starting cautiously as China's new premier, but his pro-market plans are clearly visible in recent aviation initiatives. Beijing is cutting its own spending as the Civil Aviation Administration of China considers whether to allow more foreign capital in airlines and how to attract ...

  • News

    Uganda eyes foreign cash

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Tom Gill Uganda Airlines is set to go private, with the sale of a controlling stake slated for mid-year. Six airlines have expressed interest in a yet to be determined majority stake in wholly government-owned Uganda Airlines, according to Michael Opagi, director of the Ugandan government's privatisation unit. The ...

  • News

    Boeing feels the pressure

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker With Boeing's troubles piling up, Airbus threats to become market share leader are no longer the war cries of the underdog. This year, Airbus is likely to take at least 50 per cent of the world market. As Boeing announces another depressing set of results - first ...

  • News

    Bob bows out to Carty

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker For a leader originally set against airline deregulation and then dismissive of strategic alliances, Robert Crandall's frequent description as industry innovator has been earned in a peculiar way. But Crandall's handing over the helm of American Airlines to Donald Carty should ensure that the Crandall legacy continues, ...

  • News

    Bizarre Thai love triangle

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    David Mann Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Qantas are among the latest suitors to be linked with buying a stake in Thai Airways International, as doubts linger over the airline's future membership of the Star Alliance. SIA, due to join Star in the near future, has confirmed its interest in ...

  • News

    American to bed US rival

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker Caution is the key word in the American Airlines and US Airways alliance proposal, but some wonder whether early tiptoeing might lead to a full merger further down the road. The two airlines describe their marketing alliance as 'broad and innovative', but provide few other details. By ...

  • News

    United trusts US alliances

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker It was almost a throwaway comment, but it was deliberately aimed. Gerald Greenwald, United Airlines' chairman, says that for two airlines to approach corporations jointly about discount deals, they would need antitrust immunity. The statement, made during a question and answer period after the announcement of the ...

  • News

    Alitalia has private plans

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    Tom Gill Alitalia's privatisation is well underway but the flag carrier still has to resolve escalating rows at Milan/Malpensa. In mid-May, state holding company IRI was due to sell 27.6 million ordinary shares, equivalent to 18 per cent of equity, to investors for L900 billion (US$512 million). The carrier ...

  • News

    Oz to rescue Air Niugini?

    1998-06-01T00:00:00Z

    David Knibb While Papua New Guinea's government ponders whether to accept Qantas Airways' offer to take over management of Air Niugini, the ailing PNGcarrier is slashing international services in an effort to stem its losses. PNG's prime minister Bill Skate has asked Qantas to manage government-owned Air Niugini and ...

  • News

    Latin link-up

    1998-05-27T15:25:00Z

    Continental Airlines plans to buy a 49% stake in COPA and begin code-sharing with the Panamanian carrier. The deal will require the exclusion of COPA, part of the TACA Group, from the pending American Airlines/ TACA alliance, which would bar group airlines from entering marketing agreements with other carriers. The ...

  • News

    Routes

    1998-05-27T00:00:00Z

    -Cityjet is to start daily services to Dublin from the UK's East Midlands Airport on 8 June using a Saab 2000. -Continental Airlines and VASP have signed a code-sharing alliance, which will come into effect on 1 July and enable VASP to sell half the seats on Continental's flights between ...

  • News

    Marketplace

    1998-05-27T00:00:00Z

    -Augsburg Airways has placed orders for six additional Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8s, including two series 200s and four larger series 300s, and taken options on a further seven aircraft. The order represents the ratification and expansion of a deal originally reached in November 1997 for three aircraft. The options ...

  • News

    Virgin and Go launch London Stansted invasion

    1998-05-27T00:00:00Z

    Virgin is poised to take over a UK airline, probably Sabre Airways, as its Brussels-based low fare division Virgin Express launches services to London Stansted. The airport could eventually become its UK hub. Meanwhile, British Airways' low fare airline Go has begun to operate at the airport. Speaking at the ...

  • News

    SIA warns of harder times to come as growth creeps up

    1998-05-27T00:00:00Z

    Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Singapore Airlines (SIA) has warned of a tougher year ahead in the face of falling passenger loads and anticipated erosion of yields, after announcing only a marginal growth of net profit for the 12 months ending 31 March. The airline turned in a net profit of S$1.03 billion ...