Aerospace giants set to check in at Farnborough July 18, 2010 AEROSPACE firms will gather in Farnborough today to launch the industry’s largest trade show. Boeing kick-started the show yesterday with the highly anticipated arrival of its Dreamliner jet. The 787 carrier, which has suffered from crippling production delays, landed after a nine-hour flight from Seattle to an awaiting crowd just outside of London. Boeing’s Dreamliner [...]
EU clears Iberia tie to BA July 14, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) has landed approval from European competition regulators to allow its merger with Iberia and joint venture with American Airlines (AA) to go through. The European Commission (EC) yesterday gave antitrust clearance to the airlines to launch the three-way partnership, which will include slot sharing in London and New York. Although the Department [...]
Regulators approve BA and Iberia merger July 14, 2010 BRITISH Airways and Spain’s Iberia gained EU regulatory approval for their merger to create the world’s third-largest airline. The carriers hope the merger will enable them to compete better with rivals Lufthansa and Air France as well as low-cost carrier Ryanair. It will also clear the way for a tie-up with American Airlines. The European [...]
BA under fire from investors July 13, 2010 BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) executives stood firm on the airline’s approach to crippling cabin crew strikes yesterday after a room of angry shareholders criticised its stance on the matter. At the Annual General Meeting (AGM), chief executive Willie Walsh and chairman Martin Broughton defended BA’s position on the 18-month long dispute and said the new offer [...]
Northern Foods revenues slide July 13, 2010 Food manufacturer Northern Foods said sales fell in the first quarter of its fiscal year, reflecting its decision to pull out of low margin contracts. The company, which makes own-label products for retailers as diverse as premium food seller Marks & Spencer and discounter Aldi, said yesterday comparable sales were down 1.6 per cent in [...]
BAA’s June traffic numbers knocked by BA crew strike July 12, 2010 STRIKES staged by British Airways (BA) cabin crew caused airports group BAA passenger traffic numbers to fall by 1.7 per cent last month. The airport operator, which is majority-owned by Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial, said 9.5m passengers flew from its UK airports last month, down from 9.7m in June 2009. BAA said without the impact [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAVE STRIKES AND THE DRIVE TO AUSTERITY PUT YOU OFF July 12, 2010 SARA ABDOLZADEH | AVIVA “I had to cancel my holiday to Egypt because of the volcanic ash. But it has not deterred me from travelling by air again this year. I am flying out to South Africa this summer. While I didn’t book this trip, having had to cancel Egypt has made me more wary [...]
BAA passenger numbers hit by strike July 12, 2010 BAA has said the number of passengers using its airports fell in June because of disruption sparked by the BA cabin crew dispute. Passenger numbers in BAA’s airports fell 1.7 per cent compared with June 2009. BAA said that without the strike it would have expected traffic to have been at the same levels as [...]
British Airways near to winning antitrust bid July 11, 2010 BRITISH Airways, American Airlines and Iberia are set to win EU antitrust clearance this week to deepen their Oneworld alliance. The news comes as BA and Iberia are on the brink of merging, and BA chief Willie Walsh has revealed he is already planning to buy up another airline within a year. The antitrust decision [...]
BA will grow from Madrid, warns Walsh July 8, 2010 WILLIE WALSH, the British Airways chief executive, yesterday reiterated his warning that the airline would grow in future at Madrid instead of Heathrow if the government failed to build the infrastructure needed to cope with rising demand for air transport. Speaking at the Institute of Directors (IOD), Walsh said the UK could compete effectively for [...]