Airline Finance News - Europe

AirGuide Business, Jan 14, 2008

Jan 14, 2008

Aer Lingus

Irish airline Aer Lingus said on Tuesday it carried 695,000 passengers last month or 9.6 percent more than in December 2006, thanks to new routes and planes, but flights were not as full as a year ago. The former state carrier said its load factor fell to 68.0 percent in December from 72.6 percent a year ago. Passenger traffic, measured by revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), rose 14.8 percent on the year. On short-haul routes, the load factor fell to 65.0 percent from 66.6 percent a year earlier, while RPKs gained 14.2 percent. For long-haul routes, the load factor slipped to 71.4 percent from 80.4 percent in December 2006 as RPKs rose 15.4 percent year-on-year. Jan 8, 2008

Air Berlin

Air Berlin now is Airberlin following the release of a revised identity and logo that the airline said will be part of its repositioning as a global company. First aircraft with the familiar red color but new logo, featuring a red tail and stylized lower-case a, will roll out this month, along with a new advertising campaign. Rapp Collins led the rebranding effort. Jan 8, 2008

Air France KLM

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the Dutch arm of Air France KLM, will buy back shares from minority investors who did not tender their KLM shares in 2004, it said on Thursday Jan. 10. KLM said an extraordinary shareholders meeting had authorized it to buy the shares back at 21 euros per share. Jan 10, 2008

Air France KLM

Air France KLM Traffic Up 3.1 Percent. Air France KLM on Tuesday posted a 3.1 percent rise in passenger traffic in December, led by growth on its American and Asian routes, but its passenger load factor fell 0.8 percentage points to 78.6 percent. Business was affected by a strike at Orly Airport, Paris, at the end of the month, the airline said in a statement. Capacity on the airline's routes rose 4.1 percent during the month. Jan 8, 2008

Alitalia

Alitalia's reorganization plan angered union leaders and regional politicians because they feared Malpensa would lose its importance to Rome's Fiumicino Airport. Those fears were heightened after Alitalia's board and the Italian government, owner of 49.9 percent of the flagship carrier, came out in favor of a bid by Air France KLM to take over Alitalia. Regional politicians were meeting Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome on Tuesday to discuss the airport's future. A newspaper report on Tuesday saying rival bidders AirOne and bank Intesa Sanpaolo might make a renewed offer for Alitalia boosted the airline's shares by nearly 4 percent. Ryanair's plan was rejected in December by Malpensa's operator, SEA, which described it as "unacceptable" because the operator would have to change its strategy. Discount carrier easyJet has eight planes based at the airport, serving 21 routes. Dowling declined to elaborate on the reasons for the rejection, but she said Malpensa would have to keep Ryanair in mind if it wanted to increase traffic at its terminals. Jan 9, 2008

Alitalia, Air France KLM

Air France KLM CEO Spinetta also defended plans to scale down Alitalia's presence at its Milan Malpensa hub, which has set off a firestorm of protests from unions and politicians in northern Italy who are lobbying hard against the plans. He also confirmed Air France KLM would cut 1,700 jobs. If it succeeded in buying up all of Alitalia shares, the combined Air France KLM-Alitalia group would be listed on the Milan bourse in addition to its existing listings in Paris, Amsterdam and New York, he said. Spinetta earlier on Wednesday met Alitalia Chairman Maurizio Prato and Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, whose ministry oversees privatizations of state assets. He said he had also wanted to meet Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, but that the premier did not want to meet him until a final decision on the sale was taken. Jan 10, 2008

Alitalia, Air France KLM

Air France KLM CEO Spinetta also met representatives of the UGL union, the first of several key meetings he is expected to have to win their backing. Analysts say getting Alitalia's strike-prone unions on board will be key to closing a deal. Three other major Alitalia unions did not meet Spinetta on Wednesday, but instead wrote to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi seeking an urgent meeting to discuss the airline's sale. Jan 10, 2008

Alitalia, Air France KLM

Air France KLM plans to revive Alitalia through a sizable capital infusion and list the combined group in Milan as well, the French carrier's CEO said during a visit to Rome to drum up local support for its bid. But Air France has yet to decide whether to take over loss-making Alitalia's services and maintenance unit Alitalia Servizi, which is run as a separate company, CEO Jean- Cyril Spinetta told reporters in Rome. Air France received the green light at the end of last year to start exclusive talks to buy Alitalia, but faces hostility from unions and some politicians who fear job losses, mainly at its Milan hub and at the troubled Alitalia Servizi unit. Jan 10, 2008

Alitalia, Air France KLM