Posts Tagged ‘Lufthansa’
Friday, January 6th, 2012
International Airlines Group, the airline formed by the merger of Iberia and British Airways at the beginning of last year, said that it has recorded a 7.2 per cent rise in passenger traffic. Traffic on British Airways rose by 10.6 per cent, which offset the 0.1 per cent gain by Iberia.
Through 2011, IAG carried 51.7 million customers, which was a 2.1 per cent increase on 2010. IAG is currently the third-largest carrier in Europe behind Air France-KLM and Lufthansa. During the year, British Airways achieved an increase in capacity of 9.8 per cent, where Iberia only pushed up its capacity by 1.2 per cent.
Europe’s number-one budget carrier Ryanair managed to increase its passenger total by five per cent in 2011 compared to a year earlier. The Dublin-based airline sold 76.4 million seats compared to 72.7 million in 2010. However, its load factor remained at 82 per cent.
In December, Ryanair’s passenger numbers dropped by five per cent to 4.8 million because the airline decided that it would take 80 jets out of service for the winter season. The carrier did so because the high price of jet fuel meant that some routes were failing to turn a profit.
IAG is currently valued at £2.7 billion, and Ryanair has a 5.41 billion euros market value. Although many airlines have performed slightly better than expected over the past 12 months, the International Air Transport Association has said that 2012 is expected to be more difficult against still high oil prices and a backdrop of economic uncertainty.
Tags: Air France KLM, British Airways, IAG, Iberia, Lufthansa, Ryanair
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Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Following the introduction of strict rules on aircraft carbon emissions within the European Union, two of the world’s largest airlines have announced that they will be increasing fares. The regulations apply to all planes landing or taking off from European airports, and mean airlines will now have to purchase certificates to compensate for the greenhouse gasses they produce.
America’s Delta Air Lines said that passengers who wish to fly to Europe will now have to pay an extra $6 on a round trip. Lufthansa has said that it too intends to hand on the cost of the emissions charges to passengers, but has not yet announced how much ticket prices will rise by.
The German carrier predicted that it would have to purchase 35 per cent of the certificates that it needs. The estimation is based on recent growth and past emissions, and will cost Lufthansa in the region of 130 million euros over the course of this year. Lufthansa is the second largest European carrier in terms of passenger traffic behind Air France-KLM. It is the world’s fifth largest.
Delta Air Lines is the second largest carrier in the world behind United. At the end of last year a group of Canadian and US airlines petitioned Europe’s highest court over the new emission rules claiming that they were contrary to international law. They were not successful.
A number of countries including India and China have said that if the rules continue to affect their airlines there could be retaliation in the form of similar charges being applied to European carriers entering their airspace.
Tags: Air France KLM, airlines, Delta Air Lines, European Union, Lufthansa, United
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Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
Passengers boarding some of Emirates Airlines’ fleet of Airbus A380s will be able settle back and log onto the internet, check emails, tweet friends and surf the web as the Dubai-based carrier launches it Wi-Fi service. The technology is provided by OnAir, an industry leader.
Customers in possession of laptops, tablets and smart phones follow a few easy steps after requesting the service, and they are logged on. Many Emirates passengers may already have been able to go on line during their journeys as the carrier started to trial the system last year.
According to a spokesman for the airline, the roll out on just a few A380 superjumbos a year ago gave the airline the chance to see what passengers really wanted to get from the OnAir service. He added that Emirates understood that remaining connected while in the air was becoming more important to customers. He went on to say that the airline intended to continue to develop the product.
By the middle of next year, all new Airbus superjumbos being delivered to Emirates will come with the Wi-Fi service on-board. The carrier currently has 71 planes on order with the European planemaker.
Providing a Wi-Fi service for passengers to access the net or in-flight entertainment is something that many larger airlines around the globe are currently investing in. Virgin Australia said it intends to offer the service as of the middle of 2012. The carrier recently signed a deal with Lufthansa to provide and install the system.
Tags: a380, Airbus, airline, Emirates, Lufthansa, OnAir, Virgin Australia, Wi-Fi
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Friday, December 23rd, 2011
British Airways parent International Airlines Group looks set to increase its dominance at Heathrow Airport after Lufthansa agrees a £172.5 million deal to sell BMI to the airline. The takeover will now be subject to an examination by the competition regulators, but if allowed, the deal will see IAG acquire an additional 56 landing slots at one of the world’s busiest airports.
Sir Richard Branson, boss of Virgin, has said that he will attempt to block the deal going ahead. Virgin had also signed an agreement with Lufthansa to bid for the troubled airline. Branson said that if IAG were to increase its monopoly at Heathrow it would be damaging, not only to the airline industry and consumer choice, but to the UK as a whole.
IAG chief, Willie Walsh, said that he intends to drastically restructure the airline over the next three years. He added that this would inevitably lead to some of BMI’s 3,600 workers becoming redundant.
Since acquiring BMI, Lufthansa has failed to turn a profit from the Castle Donington-based carrier, and said that in 2010 the airline made a loss of £153 million. Both AIG and Lufthansa are hoping that the tie-up will be completed in the first quarter of next year.
Although the competition authorities in Europe have blocked airline mergers in the past, they have usually done so because there is a potential loss of competition on routes, rather than an increased presence for a carrier at a particular airport. IAG will see its slot allocation rise well above 50 per cent at Heathrow if the deal goes ahead.
Tags: BMI, British Airways, Heathrow, IAG, Lufthansa, Richard Branson, virgin, Willie Walsh
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Friday, December 2nd, 2011
An investigation is underway into why an Air France passenger jet was missing 30 screws in one of its protective panels, after it had undergone a thorough investigation in China. According to a spokesman for the airline, jets go through the process of a full service once every six years. The examination takes around a month to complete, and costs the company millions of dollars.
Taeco is a Xiamen-based firm which services jets belonging to airlines including British Airways, Lufthansa, American Airlines, Emirates and JAL. Alexandre de Juniac, the flag-carrier’s chief executive, said that the company would not be using Taeco again until the investigation into the missing screws was completed.
Taeco has announced that it will be conducting its own investigation into the situation. The process is expected to last a few days. The firm has been looking after Boeing 747s for Air France for around four years now, according to Juniac. He added that this represented around 10 per cent of the carrier’s long-haul fleet.
The problem was discovered on the second Airbus 340 to be sent to China for a service. In a previous statement, Air France said that it sent fewer than five planes a year to Taeco, that figure has now been changed to between five and seven aircraft.
In 2010, an Air France passenger plane was found to have been repainted in some areas with a paint which could potentially catch fire. The problem was uncovered after it had been in service for three weeks.
Tags: Air France, American Airlines, Boeing, British Airways, Emirates, JAL, Lufthansa, Taeco
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Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Virgin Atlantic owner, Sir Richard Branson, has said that he will consult with regulators about British Airways’ decision to purchase six landing and take-off slots from troubled BMI at Heathrow. BA is already holds more slots than any other airline at the London hub by far. According to a statement made by Virgin, Sir Richard is concerned that BA is looking to strip the key assets from BMI which will result in unattractive leftovers being put up for sale.
The Virgin boss has been interested in BMI for about a decade and the airline said its interest had been renewed after owners Lufthansa recently announced that they were looking for a way of disposing of the British carrier.
Virgin said it had not entered into the bidding for the six Heathrow slots because it understood that they were being leased, not sold. BA has since announced that it has purchased the slots.
The European Commission and the Office of Fair Trading will now be asked by Virgin Atlantic to become involved in the matter. A spokesman for Lufthansa said the German flag carrier was still examining a range of possibilities for the disposal of BMI. He added that the sale of the slots to British Airways had not affected the value of the carrier because they were not part of its core activities.
Lufthansa has declined to say whether it is in negotiations with any airlines over selling further slots at Heathrow. BMI has been a loss maker since Lufthansa took control in 2009.
Tags: BA, BMI, British Airways, Heathrow, Lufthansa, office of fair trading, sir richard branson, Virgin Atlantic
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Friday, September 23rd, 2011
British Airways has done a deal with BMI for an undisclosed amount to acquire six of the troubled airline’s valuable landing- and take-off slots at Heathrow Airport. The agreement means that IAG, parent of the UK flag carrier, now commands 45 per cent of the capacity at the London hub. In a short statement, BA said that by the end of next month it would be expanding both its short- and long-haul operations using the new slots.
By agreeing to part with what is its most valuable asset, BMI has indicated that owner Lufthansa is looking to break up the British-based airline rather than try and find a buyer. Since being forced to take control of BMI in the middle of 2009, Lufthansa has tried to restructure it but has continued to incur heavy losses.
According to Echelon Research & Advisory analyst, Chris Logan, BMI is a loss maker without a strong brand so it makes sense for Lufthansa to try and dispose of its Heathrow slots. Since 2009, BMI has recorded operating losses of some 223 million euros.
A British Airways spokeswoman said that the airline was still looking to expand its capacity at Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world. Three years ago, the value of having slots at the London hub was illustrated when US carrier Continental Airlines finalised a deal to buy four pairs for $209 million.
According to Stefanie Stotz, a Lufthansa spokeswoman, BMI’s current flight schedule will be unaffected by the deal with BA.
Tags: BA, BMI, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Heathrow, IAG, Lufthansa, slots
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Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
As German flag carrier Lufthansa looks at ways of disposing of BMI, Emirates confirms that it is not interested in acquiring the loss maker. A spokesman for the Middle Eastern giant said that although Emirates is looking to continue expanding, it is not currently looking to do so by purchasing another carrier. Etihad, also rumoured to be interested in the British airline, has said it will not comment on speculation.
Earlier in the week, British Airways said it would be interested in talking to Lufthansa about taking over BMI’s landing and take-off slots at Heathrow. However, because BA currently owns 44 per cent of the capacity at the London hub, there could be some monopoly issues.
Virgin Atlantic has also said it might be interested in a tie-up with BMI. A deal could help Virgin as it competes with British Airways on transatlantic routes. The British flag-carrier recently tightened up its relationship with American Airlines.
Although it is yet to comment, Air France is also reportedly interested in BMI. Lufthansa has been trying to turn the carrier’s fortunes around by concentrating on flying services on the oil routes. This includes flights out of Heathrow to Russia, The Middle East and Scotland. Unfortunately for BMI the social and political problems in the Middle East have impacted on its earnings.
For the first half of this year, BMI made losses of 120 million euros. The first six months of 2010 saw the carrier lose 93 million euros. Lufthansa has said that any improvement at the moment looked unlikely.
Tags: Air France, American Airlines, BMI, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Heathrow, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic
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Monday, September 12th, 2011
German carrier Lufthansa is looking at ways in which it can dispose of struggling subsidiary BMI. The airline has asked investment banks to examine options for breaking up the company or finding a buyer. Lufthansa took control of BMI in 2009, but has been unable to make the carrier profitable.
British Airways has said it would be interested in negotiating for BMI’s slots at Heathrow. Boss of parent company International Airlines Group, Willie Walsh, would like the take off and landing slots as Heathrow continues to stretch to capacity. BA currently controls 42 per cent and any attempt to increase its share is likely to attract the interest of monopoly regulators.
BMI is the second largest holder of slots at the hub with 11 per cent, the value of which was estimated to be in the region of £770 million three year’s ago. IAG, which is presently looking at the possibility of acquiring Portuguese airline TAP, is unlikely to make a bid for BMI itself. A spokesman confirmed that Lufthansa was aware of BA’s interest in the slots and that IAG was now waiting for a response.
In 1999 Lufthansa purchased 20 per cent of BMI. At the time the carrier was supposedly worth around £450 million. However the value dropped to around £96 million after the German flag carrier took control in 2009.
In the first half of this year BMI lost £105 million. Lufthansa has put former executive at Scandinavian Airlines, Vagn Ove Sorensen, in charge of handling the disposal of the airline.
Tags: BA, BMI, British Airways, International Airlines Group, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Willie Walsh
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Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
In a bid to save on the cost of transporting vital aid to the Horn of Africa, airlines are being asked to provide cut-price or free cargo space by the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF spokesperson, Marixie Mercado, explained that the cost of paying for air transport is often as expensive as the food and supplies being carried. Several airlines have already said they will help including British Airways and Lufthansa.
Millions of people are facing starvation as drought grips many parts of Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Humanitarian chief at the UN, Valerie Amos, said the famine was likely to spread to other regions if a large increase in funding is not supplied.
Ms Mercado warned that well over two million children were already suffering from acute malnourishment and that without food aid half could succumb to starvation within weeks. UNICEF needs to transport around 5,000 tonnes of supplementary and therapeutic food each month from storage facilities in Italy, France and Belgium.
Although the agency intends to ship some supplies by sea it warned that this can take weeks and that flying supplies into Nairobi was a preferable solution. Louis-Georges Arsenault, emergency programmes director at UNICEF, said the problem was extraordinary and that he was positive that the air transport community would find a way to help.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has said that it is having difficulty distributing aid within Somalia because of the continued fighting in Mogadishu. Although it remains a war-zone, the drought is forcing tens of thousands of displaced Somalis to enter the capital seeking respite from starvation.
Tags: Africa, air transport, British Airways, drought, famine, food aid, Lufthansa, refugees, Somalia, UNICEF
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