Strategy – Page 940
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Karat expands fleet as it aims for bigger network and longer range
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Western Russian regional carrier Karat Airlines is expanding its fleet and network. The Moscow Vnukovo-based airline recently added seven aircraft to its fleet of six Yakovlev Yak-42s and one Antonov An-24 - two Tupolev Tu-134s, a Tu-154, two Yakovlev Yak-40s and two An-24s. The Tupolevs will ...
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Crossair closes on MD-80 replacement decision
Andrew Doyle/BASLE Crossair is negotiating an order for up to 30 single-aisled aircraft with Airbus and Boeing and expects to present a recommendation to its board for approval on 23 August. In the meantime, the Swiss regional has signed a letter of intent with General Electric Capital Aviation ...
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US bill opens door to new routes
US President Bill Clinton has signed into law the US Federal Aviation Administration $40 billion reauthorisation bill (AIR-21), prompting more US carriers to submit route applications to take advantage of the relaxation in access to Washington National, New York LaGuardia and Kennedy, and Chicago O'Hare airports. AIR-21 includes a ...
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Thai attempts bridge-building with new Star partner SIA
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The Star Alliance's latest member, Singapore Airlines (SIA), has sent a senior management delegation to Bangkok to try to iron out much-publicised differences with neighbour and new ally Thai Airways International. The meeting, set for 10 April, is also being attended by supervisory board members of ...
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Sibir takes over Siberian carriers
Paul Duffy/MOSCOWSibir, Russia's fastest-growing airline, is expanding again through the effective takeover of more Siberian carriers. It aims to formalise an alliance with a major European airline by the middle of this year. Vladislav Filiov, Sibir's general director, is continuing his strategy of linking airlines into a partnership under the ...
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Alitalia considers KLM merger
Andy Nativi/GENOA Alitalia is to carry out a study into a possible merger with KLM in a move apparently aimed at assuaging Dutch concerns over delays to the privatisation of the Italian flag carrier. KLM is also angry about the curtailed expansion of the new Milan Malpensa Airport, which it ...
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China limits fare discounts and plans airline mergers
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The Civil Aviation Administration of China's (CAAC's) new policy on domestic revenue sharing aims to limit fare discounting in the short term and could lead to the consolidation of the country's airline industry around four major groupings. Beijing has ordered revenue sharing on 100 mainland routes from ...
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Thomson rebuffs first German bid
Thomson Travel Group, parent of UK charter carrier Britannia Airways, has rejected as "wholly inadequate" a proposed €2.2 billion ($2.1 billion) takeover by Germany's C&N Touristic, which is expected to raise its offer. Thomson is advising its shareholders to reject the offer, saying it "sees no purpose in pursuing ...
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Malév to shake up fleet
Julian Moxon/BUDAPEST Malev's new chief executive, Ferencs Kovacs, is planning major fleet rationalisation as the Hungarian airline prepares for privatisation and entry into a global alliance. "I inherited an airline with five different types," he says. If things go according to plan that will be reduced to Boeing ...
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Qantas joins the chase for stake in Air New Zealand
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Qantas has entered the bidding for Air New Zealand (ANZ) in a move that has thrown the make-up of the Australasian air transport system into doubt, but which could result in Singapore Airlines (SIA) reversing the failure of its bid for Ansett Australia. Meanwhile, Ansett New Zealand ...
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SAA pulls out of Ugandan talks
Michael Wakabi/KAMPALA South African Airways (SAA) has scrapped plans to buy 49% of Uganda Airlines, claiming that delays in the latter's privatisation have affected its value. SAA executive vice-president William Meaney says his airline took the decision after commercial realities in Uganda changed markedly during nearly a year of ...
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KLM and UTC to expand alliance
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Netherlands flag carrier KLM and United Technologies (UTC) are discussing a major expansion of their nascent maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) alliance, likely to lead to the creation of a joint venture between the Netherlands airline and the US company's Pratt &Whitney unit. The move appears to ...
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Spread of A320s leads to power struggle among maintainers
The growing influx of International Aero Engine (IAE) V2500-powered Airbus A320s is generating intense competition among powerplant maintenance companies vying for a share of the potentially lucrative after-sales support market. LanChile, TAM and Grupo Taca have collectively ordered 103 A319/A320s and hold options on another 84, all powered by ...
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UPS primes 90 aircraft for ADS-B implementation
Guy Norris/SALEM United Parcel Service (UPS) Airlines aims to have 90 aircraft provisioned for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) by the end of 2000. It plans to equip all its 230 aircraft with operational systems by the end of 2002 - the deadline for installing collision avoidance systems in US heavy ...
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Aeroflot and Volga-Dnepr plot new courses
Alexander Velovich and Paul Duffy/MOSCOW Aeroflot Russian International Airlines has launched a new corporate strategy with the introduction of its summer timetable. It incorporates the results of a 600-page report produced after a four-month study by US analysts McKinsey. The Russian carrier's new timetable features 450 scheduled weekly flights ...
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El Al faces bleak future as plans to privatise slip down Israel's agenda
Arie Egozi/TEL AVIVIsrael has effectively suspended preparation for the privatisation of El Al, causing the flag carrier's president Joel Feldschu to warn that its entire future may be under threat. Feldschu says that while it remains under state control, El Al - which is banned from flying on the Jewish ...
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Ansett's Eddington in line for top BA post
British Airways is expected within the next few weeks to name Ansett Australia executive chairman Rod Eddington as its new chief executive. If final negotiations are completed he will succeed Robert Ayling. Eddington was recruited by Ansett's 50% shareholder News Corporation in 1997, having previously occupied the top job at ...
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EasyJet orders 17 more Boeings
EasyJet has ordered up to 47 Boeing 737-700s, including options and 17 firm orders, as it prepares to create a new hub at Amsterdam Schiphol by the end of the year. The London Luton-based low-cost airline is gearing up for a tripling of traffic to 15 million passengers annually ...
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Air Canada loath to sell regional
Chris Jasper/LONDON Air Canada is to put Canadian Regional Airlines (CRA) up for sale "in the near future", although it hopes no buyer will come forward as it plans to fold the carrier into its own regional operation. CRA must be offered for purchase as a condition of Air Canada's ...
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A people business
The departure of Bob Ayling from British Airways may have had more than one simple cause, but his apparent lack of ability to motivate staff and sell his vision provide important lessons as the airline looks for a new head. It may be a well-worn maxim, but the airline ...