Aer Lingus looks to sell stake September 16, 2010 Aer Lingus can survive as a standalone airline but it might prefer to sell a stake to a larger player to take part in the sector’s consolidation wave, its chief executive said yesterday. The former Irish state airline has already fended off two hostile bids from rival airline Ryanair. Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 13, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CALLS FOR RYANAIR TO AXE BOSS Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary has for years endured complaints from passengers about his famously no-frills Irish airline. Now a senior Ryanair pilot has taken the rare step of publicly challenging his boss after the outspoken chief executive said he was trying to convince authorities to let his aircraft [...]
Ryanair boss mulls buying spree September 7, 2010 Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has revealed he is considering buying up to 300 planes. The European budget airline boss says he is also writing to aviation authorities, asking for permission to have only one pilot per flight. The airline is preparing to pay its first dividend of €500m (£414m) next month – but a spending [...]
Budget airlines fly a higher number of August passengers September 6, 2010 A HIGHER number of travellers are turning to budget airlines easyJet and Ryanair according to August passenger figures published by the two carriers yesterday. The figures indicate a general move by air passengers towards low cost airlines, as each posted an increase in passenger numbers last month. EasyJet said yesterday that it carried 5.2m passengers [...]
Aer Lingus swings to profit and vows to retain its independence August 24, 2010 IRISH airline Aer Lingus swung to profit in the second quarter after cost cuts more than offset the revenue hit from a volcanic ash cloud, and vowed to defend its independence by cutting costs further into next year. Aer Lingus has cut unprofitable US routes, reduced staff and fuel costs to survive in Ryanair’s shadow [...]
EasyJet boosts its traffic in July as it flies more than five million passengers August 5, 2010 LOW-COST airline easyJet, which is in dispute with founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, said yesterday it flew 7.7 per cent more passengers last month than the previous year. During July, one of the busiest months for air travel, easyJet carried 5.02m passengers, an increase from the same period last year when it flew 4.66m customers. EasyJet [...]
GOODHART: IF I WERE ON TODAY’S MPC, I’D WANT TO BE PUT TO SLEEP August 3, 2010 ATTENDEES at the London School of Economics’ (LSE) monetary policy conference yesterday morning were treated to an A-list talking heads line-up, with former members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Sir John Gieve and Charles Goodhart joining Fitch Ratings’ Brian Coulton to discuss interest rates. Unfortunately, the audience was not about to flatter its illustrious [...]
Eurostar sees ash cloud help lift revenues July 22, 2010 ICELAND’S volcano Eyjafjallajokull significantly bolstered Eurostar’s business after the high-speed European train operator carried 100,000 more passengers during the first half of the year pushing revenue up by 18 per cent. Additional passengers looking to avoid air travel during the last six months boosted Eurostar’s revenue to £404m. Eurostar saw passenger numbers climb six per [...]
Aer Lingus hopes to break even in 2010 July 22, 2010 IRISH airline Aer Lingus said it expected to at least break even in 2010, after first-half trading was boosted by strong revenues and lower fuel and staff costs. The former state carrier, which has been cutting costs to survive competition from former suitor and shareholder Ryanair, said trading in June was stronger than expected. “Recent [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 21, 2010 GOLDMAN SACHS JP Morgan Cazenove rates Goldman Sachs as “overweight” despite disappointing second quarter results. JP Morgan said that it has lowered its earnings per share predictions for Goldman, but believes the bank still maintains a strong position in its peer group, and that its potential for restructuring could help offset any negative impact. GOLDMAN [...]