Flybe plunges after it warns on its profits October 5, 2011 REGIONAL airline group Flybe yesterday saw its shares plummet by 36 per cent after it slashed guidance for its 2012 profits, due to a slowdown in demand on domestic flights. In its second profit warning this year, Flybe said revenues in the six months to October were one per cent behind management’s expectations while costs [...]
Europe’s airlines hit by turbulence in US October 4, 2011 EUROPEAN airline shares followed US counterparts in a downward spiral yesterday as investors’ confidence in the sector ebbed away. International passenger numbers across airlines dropped in August, a month that traditionally provides a boost with summer holidays in full swing. Air France-KLM was down more than nine per cent as the sector took a hammering [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 2, 2011 Baker & McKenzie Gavin Bushell, formerly of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has been appointed as a partner in the law firm’s European & Competition Law Practice, based in Brussels. Bushell specialises in EU competition and state aid law, Euratom Treaty law, aviation law and regulation, and litigation before the European Courts in Luxembourg. He was recently [...]
WORLD CUP RUGBY STAR REVEALS AN UNEXPECTED WEAKNESS September 29, 2011 THERE HAS only been one occasion when Jason Leonard, the most-capped England rugby player of all time, has been intimidated on the pitch. That moment came when Leonard met Norman Hadley, a six foot nine Canadian rugby union player with a scar down his cheek that “didn’t come from rugby”. For reasons best known to [...]
Ryanair boss steps up attack on Aer Lingus September 29, 2011 MICHAEL O’Leary, the chief executive of low-cost airline Ryanair, yesterday stepped up his attacks on Ireland’s national carrier Aer Lingus. He called for the company to pay a special dividend to give them value for their investments. In an open letter to the airline’s management, Ryanair – which owns 30 per cent of Aer Lingus – ridiculed [...]
Aer Lingus hits back at Ryanair over criticism September 22, 2011 IRELAND’S Aer Lingus has written to its shareholder and rival Ryanair to reject the latter’s complaints that it is “continually ignored” by the Aer Lingus board. In a letter sent to Ryanair and released yesterday, Aer Lingus said Ryanair was a source of concern to other investors and welcomed its recent statement that it would [...]
Ryanair hits out at Aer Lingus September 14, 2011 RYANAIR attacked the board of Irish airline Aer Lingus yesterday, demanding it ask shareholders their views on three issues in a bid to rebuild value at the company. Ryanair, currently one of the biggest shareholders in Aer Lingus, said investors should decide whether they receive an €0.20 per share special dividend to compensate for the [...]
Passengers through Heathrow on the up September 12, 2011 A RECORD number of passengers flew from Heathrow airport last month despite the impact of Hurricane Irene, which disrupted flights to the east coast of the US. Heathrow’s owner BAA said 6.6m travellers passed through London’s biggest airport last month, up 0.7 per cent on the previous year. Much of the growth in passenger flights [...]
Ireland may sell Aer Lingus stake September 7, 2011 IRELAND is considering the sale of its 25 per cent stake in airline Aer Lingus as it no longer considers it a strategic asset, the transport minister said yesterday. The government’s stake would be worth €84m (£74m) at yesterday’s share price. “It’s certainly under consideration, it’s definitely one of the candidates,” Leo Varadkar said yesterday. [...]
OFT renews its probe of Ryanair deal September 1, 2011 THE OFFICE of Fair Trading has resumed its investigation into Ryanair’s minority stake in Irish rival Aer Lingus and said it expected to reach a decision by the end of next month. The move, which Ryanair slammed as “unnecessary” and “damaging”, is part of an OFT probe into whether Ryanair’s 30 per cent holding in [...]