WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 24, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES WATCHDOG TO PROTECT IRRATIONAL INVESTORS Investors cannot be counted on to make rational choices so regulators need to “step into their footprints” and limit or ban the sale of potentially harmful products, the head of the UK’s new consumer protection watchdog said yesterday. In his first big interview since starting work last autumn, [...]
FTSE hits six month high January 23, 2012 The FTSE 100 hit a six month closing high, driven by increases in bank and commodity stocks and investor optimism regarding the Greek debt crisis. The index closed up 0.9 per cent at 5,782.56, the highest closing mark since July 29 2011. Banks benefited from French Finance Minister Francois Baroin’s declaration that a deal with [...]
Olympic Media Buzz LONDON 2012 PARTNERS January 22, 2012 IN ASSOCIATION with Repskan.com, the media monitoring and analytics platform, City A.M. is measuring the relative Olympic media buzz around the partners for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, week by week. The leaderboard, right, reflects their ranking over the past week, in this case from Wednesday 11 January to Wednesday 18 January. British [...]
Lufthansa closer to sale of BMI Regional January 22, 2012 GERMAN airline Lufthansa has moved a step closer to selling its bmi Regional and bmibaby brands, the parts of the business that were not included in the sale of their parent company to IAG last year. Lufthansa has found a buyer for bmi Regional, which operates from airports including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford and [...]
Bank stocks lead the way as the FTSE continues its climb January 19, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index closed higher yesterday, led by banks after bullish earnings from their US peers and with hopes building that the recent coordinated action by central banks and the IMF would be enough to avoid an economic crisis. The FTSE 100 index rose 38.78 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 5,741.15, after breaking [...]
OPTIONS FOR LONDON AIRPORT EXPANSION January 18, 2012 Expansion of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted For: the government’s three main airports will be full by 2030 and Heathrow is already near to capacity. Expansion would provide a significant economic boost, estimated at £7bn a year at Heathrow alone, and help Britain to remain internationally competitive. Against: people living near all three airports say expansion [...]
Be amazed by Africa’s stunning wilderness January 8, 2012 WE set off from London hotly anticipating both the serenity of the Mozambican beach and the rugged landscape and heart-pounding thrill of hunting (seeking not shooting) big game in the Tanzanian bush. It’s a trip that perfectly encapsulates the word “safari” – “long journey” in Swahili – for it takes in seven flights, five boat [...]
Ryanair traffic dips after fuel cost grounds planes January 5, 2012 RYANAIR suffered a five per cent drop in passenger numbers in December compared to last year, after it grounded up to 80 aircraft to offset higher fuel costs. But the low-cost carrier’s annual traffic has risen 5.1 per cent to 76.4m in spite of the bigger-than-usual stoppages. Ryanair’s load factor, a measure of how many [...]
Steady climb to the top for British Airways January 3, 2012 BRITISH Airways had a difficult time in 2010 with strikes, snow and the Icelandic ash cloud all causing flight delays and cancellations – and the first two of these impacted heavily on consumer perceptions on YouGov’s BrandIndex. The brand’s Index score (a composite of six key measures of perception: general impression, quality, value, corporate reputation, [...]
Virgin vows to fight on as BA wins BMI December 22, 2011 SIR RICHARD Branson was left fuming yesterday after British Airways parent IAG pipped Virgin Atlantic to a deal to buy BMI for £172.5m. Branson said IAG’s purchase of the loss-making airline “simply cuts consumer choice and screws the travelling public. “BA is already dominant at Heathrow and their removal of BMI just tightens their stranglehold [...]