Brazil’s civil aviation authority said on Wednesday that it gave low-cost airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes the green light to buy rival air carrier Varig.
The National Civil Aviation Agency or ANAC said it gave Gol “advance authorization” for the deal. Gol now still requires approval from Brazil’s anti-trust agency Cade, ANAC said in an on-line statement.
source: Reuters
The European Commission has stepped up efforts to protect air passengers facing delays and cancellations, giving airlines and EU member states a six month ultimatum to fall in line with EU law or face legal action.
“‘We must make sure that airlines and member states fully comply with their obligations,'” EU transport commissioner Jacques Barrot said on Wednesday (4 April), stressing “‘the commission will give them six months to make the air passengers regulation work.'”
The legislation – meant to protect passengers in cases of denied boarding, cancellations, long delays and involuntary downgrading – came into force two years ago but airlines keep dragging their feet on implementation.
source: EU Observer
LAN, continually rated as the region’s best airline, dominates the domestic market – last year 78 percent of Chile’s domestic passengers chose LAN, 17.6 percent flew Sky and 7.6 percent chose AerolÃneas del Sur.
LAN continues to challenge the competition, with promotional deals cutting ticket prices up to 20 percent in the past month.
LAN has recently shown interest in the lucrative Brazilian market, the company attempted to acquire the defunct Varig airline, but the Brazilian budget airline Gol beat them to it. Shares of Lan stock fell nearly 3 percent only minutes after the buyout was announced.
source: Mercopress
Malév Hungarian Airlines was today welcomed on board oneworld, the world’s leading quality global airline alliance, at a series of special celebration events in its Budapest home base.
Its addition, as one of the alliance’s first new recruits for six years, is a central part of oneworld’s biggest expansion since its launch eight years ago.
It will be joined on board oneworld in the coming days by Japan Airlines, Asia-Pacific’s largest carrier, along with five JAL associates as affiliate members, and by Royal Jordanian, the first airline from the Middle East to find a home with any of the global alliances. Two more members of the LAN alliance will board at the same time as well – LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador, also as affiliates.
source: touristikpresse.net
Afghanistan’s national airline could be days from collapse due to corruption, mismanagement and a crippling aircraft leasing arrangement that has drowned the struggling carrier in debt.
The government is scrambling to court investors to privatize up to 75 percent of state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines, and is tallying its assets in case the company is liquidated, an Associated Press investigation has learned.
The collapse of the 52-year old airline, which survived the Taliban regime despite international sanctions, would be a potent symbol of failure by the administration of President Hamid Karzai and would reinforce growing perceptions of corruption and incompetence.
source: BusinessWeek
Spanish airline Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc has hired Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. to advise it on a possible bid, citing industry sources.
Separately, ABC reports Deutsche Lufthansa AG has hired Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. to advise it on a possible bid, citing industry sources.
source: Market Watch
Delta Air Lines is mulling the sale of its Comair regional airline, which is based in Erlanger, Ky., according to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Delta said it expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 30, and will likely sell off some of its assets.
source: Bizjournals
Globespan, the group behind low-cost airline Flyglobespan, is looking to expand its business in of Edinburgh next year when four more aircraft begin operating in and out of the Capital.
Tom Dalrymple, the founder and chairman of the Colinton-headquartered group, outlined plans as the company revealed its latest results.
While not revealing any specific timetable or targeted routes, Mr Dalrymple said he was aiming to run four Boeing 737-700s from Edinburgh by 2008.
source: Scotsman
Delta Air Lines Inc. expects to emerge from bankruptcy April 30 with an eye on returning to profitability, improving customer service and selling more assets to build shareholder value, the company said in documents prepared for an investor conference Tuesday.
The nation’s third largest carrier did not say in the documents what assets it plans to sell. The documents were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing suggested Delta slightly moved up the date of the company’s planned emergence from Chapter 11 protection. It had said in a statement March 20 it expected to emerge from bankruptcy in early May.
The Mexican government suspended operations of Lineas Aereas Azteca on Monday because the budget airline failed to comply with administrative and technical procedures.
At a news conference, Communications and Transport Minister Luiz Tellez said inspections carried out oMarch 5-23 turned up problems in safety procedures and obligatory training for pilots, technicians and maintenance personnel.
source: Hemscott
