The beautiful Balearic bubble May 24, 2012 WITH Spain poised to need a bailout, is this a foolish time to think about buying a dream home in Mallorca, Ibiza or Menorca? Not necessarily. Michael Cunnington, of MJC Associates, the Savills Agents in Mallorca, says: “The honest answer is that we still have traffic and people inquiring in the top end but buyers [...]
LONDON 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK May 17, 2012 IN a ceremony in Athens yesterday, the Olympic flame was handed over to a delegation led by Princess Anne. Accompanied by David Beckham, it will travel to the UK on a specially painted golden British Airways plane. Nicknamed the Firefly, the plane will land in Cornwall, where the Torch will begin its 70 day journey [...]
Here’s the real Plan B for Britain: We need a competition revolution May 14, 2012 NO ONE can dispute that the UK economy needs more growth. It seems that the coalition’s essential austerity measures are not enough. But despite its cheerleaders, the usual Plan B, based on debt-financed infrastructure spending, won’t make any difference to growth – while denting confidence. One such plan suggested £30bn in spending. Over three years, [...]
British Airways owner sees losses grow May 11, 2012 International Airlines Group, formed by the merger of British Airways and Iberia, said first quarter losses more than doubled as higher fuel costs and weakness in Spain helped wipe out any benefits from rising revenues. The company reported an operating loss of 249m euros (£199.65m) before exceptional items, up from a 102m euro loss a [...]
IAG sells off BMI Regional May 10, 2012 British Airways parent IAG said yesterday it had sold BMI Regional, a division of the loss-making BMI business it recently acquired, for £8m. IAG, which had planned to close the business, said the sale should secure 330 jobs. It will be taken over by Sector Aviation Holdings, an Aberdeen-based consortium that includes tycoon brothers Stephen [...]
BEST of the BROKERS May 7, 2012 PRUDENTIAL JP Morgan Cazenove has maintained its “underweight” rating on Prudential and a target price of 698p ahead of the firm’s first quarter sales announcement tomorrow. The broker predicts its sales to be weak in the US but remaining strong in Asia. INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP Nomura has maintained its “buy” stance on the British Airways [...]
LONDON 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK May 3, 2012 LONDON 2012 is joining up with British Airways to create Park Live, an outdoor venue set in the newly-created 250 acres of Olympic parklands. A giant double-sided screen, sitting in the River Lea, will broadcast live Olympic coverage for those without tickets for sporting events. Other entertainment will include visits from athletes. Between now and [...]
Lufthansa to shed 3,500 jobs May 3, 2012 Deutsche Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline, announced plans to slash 3,500 administrative jobs around the world as it tries to return to profitability. “We can only safeguard jobs for the long term and create new openings if we reorganise the administrative functions and accept job losses now,” Chief Executive Christoph Franz said in a statement on [...]
Heathrow gets extra staff for border checks May 1, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT has promised to bring in more staff to speed up immigration queues at Heathrow airport following complaints from businesses and passengers. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways parent IAG, warned yesterday that “we have a crisis, it has been there for some time and we need urgent action” to put an [...]
BRITISH AIRWAYS LAUNCHES NEW ROUTE April 25, 2012 BRITISH Airways is launching a new route between London City airport and Aberdeen, with three return flights per day. BA CityFlyer will operate the service starting in September, in addition to the seven return flights it already runs between Heathrow and the Scottish city.