London Report: West’s sanctions on Russia and Malaysia jet crash hit FTSE July 17, 2014 BRITISH airline shares fell sharply yesterday on news that a Malaysian Airline Boeing 777 had been shot down over eastern Ukraine. The FTSE 100 finished 46.35 points down, or 0.68 per cent, on 6,738.32, while gold added $20 to $1,322 an ounce on increased tensions caused by the west’s tougher sanctions on Russia. British Airways [...]
Air traffic rerouted away from Ukraine after MH17 crash July 17, 2014 Several airlines have now confirmed that they are avoiding Ukrainian airspace after a Malaysian Airlines jet crashed in eastern Ukraine. Flight MH17 came down near the Russian border, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, earlier today. The UK's Department for Transport (DfT) has told aircraft already in the air to avoid Ukrainian airspace. A spokesperson [...]
Deals take off at start of Farnborough International Airshow July 14, 2014 The first day of the Farnborough International Airshow kicked off with a wide array of deals, with rivals Airbus and Boeing stacking up orders as they pushed the next generation of commercial airliners. Airbus announced the launch of its upgraded A330neo, with a deal arranged with Rolls Royce to provide its Trent 7000 [...]
Sheer satisfaction: Zendesk founder Mikkel Svane on providing better customer service July 13, 2014 Harriet Green talks IPOs, big data and radical taxis with Zendesk’s founder Mikkel Svane. An O2 survey last year found that 70 per cent of people wouldn’t forgive a company for bad customer service. Two thirds also said they’d share their experience with an average of eight friends and family members. Mikkel [...]
London Report: FTSE spooked by euro market fears and LSE stake sale July 10, 2014 UK STOCKS yesterday retreated, with the FTSE 100 index posting its worst four-day slump since January, as London Stock Exchange (LSE) slid while banks extended losses. The FTSE 100 lost 45.67 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 6,672.37, extending its decline this week to 2.8 per cent. The broader FTSE All-Share Index also slid 0.7 per [...]
British Airways passenger numbers up 8.8 per cent as summer holidays begin July 3, 2014 The summer getaway has got off to a flying start for British Airways’ parent company IAG, which yesterday said its June passenger numbers were up 8.8 per cent on last year. The airline carried 7.1m customers worldwide last month, rising from 6.7m in May and 6.6m in the same month a year ago. As the [...]
London Report: Turbulence for easyJet as FTSE loses altitude June 30, 2014 EASYJET proved to be a drag on the FTSE 100 yesterday as the low-cost airline felt the effect of a broker downgrade. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended down by 0.2 per cent, or 13.83 points, at 6,743.94 points – down more than two per cent from its 2014 peak of 6,894.88 in May, which [...]
British Airways “happiness blanket” tests in-flight experience June 30, 2014 British Airways has been testing out a “happiness blanket” on customers to see how they feel about the in-flight service it offers. Passengers involved in the experiment conducted on flights from London to New York, had their brainwaves monitored and displayed through a blanket made of fibreoptics. Turning blue when customers are content and red [...]
City Moves for 25 June 2014 | Who’s switching jobs June 24, 2014 USS Investment Management Bertrand Biragnet has been appointed head of pan-European equities at the investment arm of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. Biragnet was previously a global equity manager at RIT Capital Partners, and has also held roles at Hermes Focus Asset Management and JP Morgan Asset Management. He also co-launched a long-short equity fund hosted [...]
British Airways settles sleepless passengers with 7-hour train film June 24, 2014 British Airways is adding an unusual film to its in-flight entertainment designed to help weary travellers drift off in the confines of a cramped cabin. Part of the so-called “slow TV” genre, the film is a seven-hour-long Norwegian epic, but it's no Scandi-noir thriller box set. The film is a minute-by-minute recording of a train [...]