Strategy – Page 1033

  • News

    Iberia faces inquisition?

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Doug Cameron Iberia is courting trouble with the Spanish competition authorities after reaching agreement for a franchise deal with its main domestic competitor, Palma-based Air Europa. Iberia suffered capacity shortages during 1997 and was forced to wet lease a variety of aircraft, resulting in a fall in service ...

  • News

    India airlines in doldrums

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    T Ballantyne/R Prasad India's hard pressed domestics are facing a double challenge to their shaky balance sheets: the renewed threat of a Tata Industries local startup and massive hikes in airport landing charges. The Tata group had earlier plans for a joint venture with Singapore Airlines, backed by ...

  • News

    Born free?

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    While government regulations were the downfall of most of India's first batch of startups, it appears that a second cycle - involving new players as well as the return of some old contenders - is underway. Like large tracts of Asia, cloaked in the fog from forest fires, India's ...

  • News

    Tamed by politics

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Report by Tom Ballantyne It seems that every time a new Indian aviation policy ship gently eases itself into port, an election storm rears its head and dashes it onto the rocks. As India's two state-owned airlines, Air-India and Indian Airlines, prepared for the New Year after a ...

  • News

    Going Dutch on Italian job

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Doug Cameron Alitalia can breathe a sigh of relief after securing KLM as a European partner, as KLMlooks forward to its network being boosted. Alitalia rejected Swissair and Air France as possible partners and signed a memorandum of understanding for a broad-based alliance with KLMon 18 December. For ...

  • News

    Red ink rains over Korea

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Tom Ballantyne South Korea's airlines are scrambling to downsize and slash costs as the region staggers from the blow of Asia's worsening economic crisis. Flag carrier Korean Airlines faces more than US$900 million in foreign exchange losses after the local currency, the won, dived 40 per cent against ...

  • News

    Hungary for private eyes

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Peter Bennett The Hungarian privatisation agency, APV, means to privatise its flag carrier Malev by 2000 but a strategic foreign partner is not yet in sight. Malev's sell-off is set to be a complicated one with a 40 per cent state-owned stake floated in an initial public offering ...

  • News

    Eleven men to go at MEA

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Lois Jones Struggling Lebanese flag carrier Middle East Airlines has named a new seven-man board of directors, after the former board was ousted amid corruption allegations. MEA's outgoing 11-man board has been replaced by one headed by Mohammed Hout, the director of real estate affairs at Banque du ...

  • News

    Mexican gulf breaks down

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker Mexico's chief regional airlines mean to work closer together with the possible aim of becoming a single operation while retaining individual names, shunning concerns about monopolistic behaviour among Mexican airlines. Mexico's major airlines, Aeromexico and Mexicana, and the regionals Aerocaribe, Aerocozumel and Aerolitoral, are affiliates of ...

  • News

    Lufthansa say in SAA?

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Roger Makings Lufthansa is set to enter the fray for a stake in South African Airways' partial privatisation, due to be finalised by October this year. Lufthansa had consistently denied that it was interested in buying into SAA, saying acquisitions were 'not its style - we prefer to ...

  • News

    SIA shares its profits

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Tom Ballantyne Asia's big profit-maker Singapore Airlines is to end its dual stock exchange listing by merging its local and foreign shares, providing the move doesn't impact Singapore's air service agreements. Mathew Samuel, the airline's legal and administration director, confirms that SIA is 'actively considering whether or not ...

  • News

    Cheap thrills with no frills

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Lois Jones Low-cost startups are beginning to looking extremely vulnerable as more majors launch low-cost subsidiaries, ignoring the argument that the independent players should instead be left to satisfy the demand for low fares in underserved markets. By Lois Jones. To your corners, please. To the left of the ring ...

  • News

    US hubs need to be consolidated

    1998-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Karen Walker Driven as they are by the shareholder, the major US carriers will no doubt sit up and take notice of a new report from a Wall Street analyst that assesses their growth potential, and therefore investment worth, based on the relative strengths and weaknesses of their hubs. ...

  • News

    Boeing 737-600 takes off

    1998-01-28T00:00:00Z

    Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The Boeing 737-600 had a successful 2h 28min first flight from Renton on 22 January on a day when firm orders for Next Generation aircraft climbed to 811, with the sale of 59 more to launch-customer Southwest Airlines. The -600's take-off weight was a relatively light 50,395kg, ...

  • News

    Blue Sky prepares for launch as PAL 737-300s are secured

    1998-01-28T00:00:00Z

    Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Airways has secured a fleet of eight Boeing 737-300s to launch its low-fare subsidiary at London Stansted Airport. The airline, known as Operation Blue Sky, has also applied for its operating licence. The airline, which is believed to be aiming for a launch in April, has filed ...

  • News

    Iberia delays order plans following Air Europa deal

    1998-01-28T00:00:00Z

    Iberia Has alleviated its fleet-capacity shortfall in the near term by signing a franchise agreement with its Spanish rival Air Europa, while at the same time delaying its planned acquisition of new aircraft. Iberia has been wet-leasing two Boeing 757s from Air Europa for the past six months, along ...

  • News

    KLM finalises rebranding of European partners

    1998-01-28T00:00:00Z

    KLM is to unveil plans to rebrand its European airline partners, co-ordinating the separate companies' images more closely with its own. Air UK is set to cement its role as the UK arm of KLM by unveiling a new image and renaming itself "KLM UK". The new name will ...

  • News

    Airlines want Regional's Saabs

    1998-01-28T00:00:00Z

    Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Two European airlines, Business Air and CityJet, are in negotiations to acquire secondhand Saab 2000s from Regional Airlines, the second-largest operator of the type, which is preparing to standardise on the Embraer RJ145 regional jet. Regional has a fleet of 11 Saab 2000s, including six delivered new to ...

  • News

    Routes

    1998-01-28T00:00:00Z

    -From 21 February Qantas will suspend its twice weekly Brisbane-Jakarta-Kuala Kumpur and Melbourne-Jakarta services, suspend its thrice-weekly Brisbane-Bangkok service and extend its thrice-weekly Perth-Jakarta service to Bangkok, adding one flight a week while suspending its non-stop Perth-Bangkok service. -Dragonair plans to launch a new thrice weekly passenger service from Hong ...

  • News

    SIA may beat Indian ban with support for new TATA airline

    1998-01-28T00:00:00Z

    Singapore Airlines (SIA) has acknowledged that it has a provisional agreement with the TATA Group to provide technical support for its planned start-up carrier, despite an Indian Government ban on allowing any equity investment by foreign airlines. The company stresses that while SIA will provide "assistance and advice," the ...