News of July 2008
31 July 2008
If the proposed merger between British Airways and Iberia is given the go-ahead, it will create the world’s third largest revenue carrier and give the two carriers a combined 13.5% share of the transatlantic market based on capacity.
The oneworld alliance partners announced on 29 July that they are in talks with a view to carrying out an all-share merger, which would see both airlines retaining their brands as part of a combined group.
source: flightglobal.com
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23 July 2008
Budget airline Ryanair has said it will fix a fault on its website that means it is breaking rules on price clarity.
At the moment, its website is breaking rules set by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) by showing prices which do not include taxes and charges.
source: BBC
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23 July 2008
Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it had to cancel more than 500 flights on Wednesday, affecting thousands of passengers across Europe, as a result of a strike by pilots at two subsidiaries.
Lufthansa already had canceled more than 400 flights on Tuesday after pilot union Cockpit called members at the Eurowings and CityLine subsidiaries out on a 36-hour strike in a pay dispute.
source: IHT.com
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20 July 2008
Spain is considering changing commercial airline routes to make them shorter and more direct in order to offset high fuel prices, Public Works minister Magdalena Alvarez said Saturday.
Alvarez said she would ask the defence ministry to alter airspace currently reserved for military use in order to make this possible.
“‘If the problem is the rise in fuel prices, the best measure to support airlines is to study how to reduce fuel consumption,'” the minister told reporters in the southern port of Malaga.
source: AFP
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20 July 2008
As the dust of more job losses, grounded planes and additional capacity cuts starts to settle on the worn tarmac of the aviation industry, three clear things have begun to emerge from the gloom.
The first is that consolidation among the big players in the Asia Pacific is back on the agenda after having been ruled out by regulators such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The second is that the short-lived era of the truly low-cost (as opposed to no-thrills) carrier is over.
The third is that the Qantas name will survive but very few of its planes will be flown under that logo in 10 years’ time.
source: smh.com.au
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16 July 2008
The national carrier said increasingly tough economic conditions – with oil prices nudging £150 a barrel – made price hikes of up to four per cent “‘absolutely inevitable'”.
The warning came as both BA and Ryanair announced unprecedented cutbacks in their flight schedules to save on fuel costs.
BA has scrapped hundreds of flights over the summer, merging half empty flights to popular destinations to reduce its consumption of fuel.
source: telegraph.co.uk
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16 July 2008
Ryanair is axing 150 weekly Dublin flights this winter, ending the dramatic Dublin expansion kicked off by the airline three years ago.
The move comes as the world’s airlines batten down the hatches amid soaring fuel prices and weakening economic conditions.
The airline last night warned that up to 500 jobs at the airport could be lost as a result of its decision, although the actual losses are likely to be significantly less.
source: independent.ie
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12 July 2008
Passengers of US Airways, Arizona based American airline, would better bring a book on-flight.
That’s what the airline’s operators suggest after the hard and unusual decision to cut movies on domestic flights, to contain costs after last increase of fuel’s prices.
US Airways says it will start removing in-flight entertainment systems on domestic flights in November to save about USD 10 million annually in fuel and other costs.
source: Avionews
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12 July 2008
A union represending thousands of ground and cabin staff at Deutsche Lufthansa AG said Friday that members will vote next week on a possible strike, which could start at the end of this month ” in Germany’s busy summer vacation period.
source: iht.com
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12 July 2008
Thomas Cook has cancelled plans to merge its German charter airline Condor with rival Air Berlin after discussions with the competition regulator.
The German Cartel Office had expressed concerns that the deal could reduce holidaymakers’ choice of flights to popular Mediterranean destinations.
Thomas Cook said Condor was still a “‘strong business'” and was looking for an alternative deal.
The two airlines announced plans to merge in September 2007.
source: BBC News
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